Why Honor Edward Partridge
by Jacob Cowley Nielson
The Lord said in Joshua 24:13, “And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and olive yards which ye planted not do ye eat.”
We are the recipients of the richest blessings the God of Heaven could offer. Generations before us have paid, in untold sacrifice, the heaviest price so we could live in the best of circumstances.
Edward Partridge is the embodiment of a grand principle! His bill of rights was balanced by his bill of duties! And for this we hold his name and sacrifice in sacred remembrance!
Here in lies the great test not only of our faith and character but of our loyalty and devotion to something bigger than ourselves. Grandpa Partridge belonged to something. He was more than himself! He was himself plus what he had given himself to and stood for! The most noble objective that Humanity can achieve is to dedicate one’s life to a cause bigger than oneself!
Edward partridge was not a man that was made of steel, but he was a man made of loyalty, of devotion to great aims that surpassed his private interests, a man committed to his duties, to the will of God and to the cause that eventually would ask all that he had in this world.
From his journal we read! “Since I have torn my affections from this world’s goods; from the vanities and toys of time and sense and been willing to love and serve God with all my heart, and be led by his holy Spirit, my mind has been as it were continually expanding—receiving the things of God, until glories indescribable present themselves before me.”
What we do here as his posterity this weekend is a tribute to his life, his sacrifice, his commitment to the cause that motivated him and still motivates this gathering; to give our lives to something bigger than ourselves.
“On Going to Oak City”
by Lisa Lyman Nielson
There's a feeling that you get
when you take the final bend,
of that long old stretch of roadway
that oft seems it has no end.
And you know that once you round it
you're near close enough to touch
homeland where your heart lies
and the folks you love so much.
Though you've been ‘cross the country
from the Chesapeake to Nome,
there's no grandeur that inspires
like the view of "nearly home."
There runs a tingle down your spine
when you think of all the kin
who'll be there with warm embraces
at the door to bring you in.
You can almost touch the feeling
of contentment that's in store,
as you laugh before the fire
all sitting round the floor.
There's the people who have made
your life a fine and worthy quest.
Who offer you a haven
of solace, peace, and rest.
Search the world ore and ore
and all your good life roam,
but you'll ne're surpass it anywhere,
the view of "nearly home."
Legacy of Willis & Angie
by Mathew Jay Lyman
Grandpa Willis passed away in 1968-his 78th year-when I was 16. One of my best memories, of him, is when he had me build a small greenhouse on the side of their garage in Rexburg. He would sit on a tree stump and give me directions of what to do. He was always kind and positive to me.
Grandma Angie passed away in 1991-her 90th year. I spent a lot of time with Grandma especially after my mission.
Grandma’s life is best portrayed by a statement she made after the Teton Dam Flood in 1976. At her home in Rexburg she was visited by some of the church’s general officers, who were visiting from Salt Lake, and they asked her how she was doing. She said “They can take away my years supply of food but they can’t take away my years supply of spunk!”
As a child, living in Rexburg & Sugar City, when we took family trips it was always to visit family. My friends went to Disneyland and other fun places. We went to Oak City for the Finlinson reunions. For several years, on Thanksgiving, we would travel to Ione & Sacramento to spend time with family. The night before we’d leave our parents would put us to bed in the back of the station wagon then they would get up real early to start driving and we’d wake up somewhere in Nevada. Our cousins would often come to our home in Sugar City. I grew up knowing my 1st cousins really well and to this day when we see each other we’re still good friends.
The Edward Partridge Memorial Day Breakfast, started in 1972 by my dad, Asael, has now become a great gathering for the Willis & Angie Lyman family. Many of the family know their 2nd, 3rd and 4th cousins better than others know their 1st cousins. In 2022 we expect about 250 of their posterity to be in Oak City.
Our legacy is that we are proud of our heritage and we enjoy being together which gives strength to us personally and to our family. Thanks to Willis and Angie Lyman for being “Just Plain Folks” and promoting our being together.
“Cousins”
by Lisa Lyman Nielson
Life is at its finest when the cousins come to stay.
And the troubles of the world seem to fade or melt away.
Anticipations at its greatest when we know they’re headed here.
Whether fair or foul the weather it’s the perfect time of year.
It’s the grandest kind of feeling just to know they’re on their way.
And we’ll embrace with warm affection by the ending of the day.
For there is no better feeling than the cousins’ visit brings.
And the eager moment blossoms when the doorbell finally rings.
Then the door is far flung open and children all descend.
This is joy without its equal ‘till the long awaited visit ends.
When alas it’s time for parting, each must take his homeward track.
We have love enough to hold us ‘till the cousins all come back!
Family Togetherness
by Angie Finlinson Lyman
*some notes on a talk I gave somewhere…
It has been said that Home is the place where you treat the ones the worst that you love the best.
There is a fable of the wind and sun. They wagered as to which could make a man take his coat off. The wind blew furiously but the man just clutched the coat tighter to his body. So then the sun tried his luck. The sun put its warm beams on the man and soon the man was so warm he took his coat off. So we need to follow the sun’s example to get “Family Togetherness”.
We need to make the most of special occasions. Have family reunions, family parties, birthday celebrations, and weddings. At our family parties we play Bunco. That is a good mixer and a game both young and old can play together.
I asked my daughter Mary what she thought made for the family togetherness in our family. She said my being able to put up with mess and confusion when the family get together.
In my grandparent’s the Finlinson Family we have always been very close. I attribute it to holding family reunions. I never remember from the time I was a little child that we didn’t have family reunions. We had the traditional programs that are still carried on. The readings and songs are just as funny now as they were years and years ago. We have had rodeos and we always have a dance and we have a family song.
We had “Family Hour” in my parents home and in our home; before it was called “Family Home Evening”, we held “Family Hour”. Our teenager Asael acted like he didn’t get a thing out of it but in later years testified how much that helped him when he was away from home, on his mission and in the army.
Heavenly Father lost one of His children. I will not be happy unless I have every one of mine. I will do all in my power to save them.
I love my family, they mean everything to me.
The Spirit of Elijah
by Mark Esdras Lyman
At its core, the Spirit of Elijah is about family kinship and unity. It's more than simply reuniting ourselves to our dead ancestors, it's also about reuniting with our living relatives as well. It’s family reunions, it’s family Christmas letters, it’s socializing online, it’s family dinners, it’s attending your kids or grandkids baseball games. Simply put, it's the internal drive to maintain or strengthen the tie to family.
Why does it even matter? Because families are safe. Because families forgive. Because family is allowed to correct you when you’re off course. It's the story of the Prodigal Son, who took his father's money, spent it all, and when he had lost everything and was sleeping with the swine - he STILL had somewhere to go. And when he returned, it was celebrated.
Let me tell you how I've seen the Spirit of Elijah practiced at the Memorial Day Breakfast. Every year, hundreds of us arrive in Oak City on Memorial Day weekend. In its most simple form, we make breakfast in honor of Edward Partridge, the first Bishop of the church. But it goes much deeper than that. It's about getting everyone in one place. It’s about eating hot dogs for lunch until we can no longer stand the sight of them. It's about playing the Saturday morning golf game and being endlessly berated! It's about bringing all our children and showing them that they are part of something big, something amazing. It's telling your kids it's time to head home and them begging you to stay a little longer. It's the yearning to return here and do it again; to feed the town of Oak City breakfast every year so that we have an excuse to gather. And we plan to do it, as we say, “until Bishop Partridge himself sits down to eat."
Tapping into the Spirit of Elijah has a massive payout. Whether you do it for the dead or for the living, or both. Finding each other and remembering why family matters brings immeasurable joy.
In D&C 2, Moroni told Joseph Smith that the Spirit of Elijah must be practiced, or "if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming." And he's right, cause what would be the point?!
“The Stick-Together Families”
by Edgar Albert Guest
The stick-together families are happier by far
Than the brothers and the sisters who take separate highways are.
The gladdest people living are the wholesome folks who make
A circle at the fireside that no power but death can break.
And the finest of conventions ever held beneath the sun
Are the little family gatherings when the busy day is done.
There are rich folk, there are poor folk, who imagine they are wise,
And they're very quick to shatter all the little family ties.
Each goes searching after pleasure in his own selected way,
Each with strangers likes to wander, and with strangers likes to play.
But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's empty joy they find,
For the children that are wisest are the stick-together kind.
There are some who seem to fancy that for gladness they must roam,
That for smiles that are the brightest they must wander far from home.
That the strange friend is the true friend, and they travel far astray
They waste their lives in striving for a joy that's far away,
But the gladdest sort of people, when the busy day is done,
Are the brothers and the sister who together share their fun.
It's the stick-together family that wins the joys of earth,
That hears the sweetest music and that finds the finest mirth;
It's the old home roof that shelters all the charm that life can give;
There you find the gladdest play-ground, there the happiest spot to live.
And, O weary, wandering brother, if contentment you would win,
Come you back unto the fireside and be comrade with your kin.