Small Hometown Life by Wendy Lindsey

Hello!  We’re the Lindsey family and we’ve recently (last August) moved back to St. Johns from Queen Creek.  Both Tony and I were raised here; Tony’s parents are Tony and Yolanda Lindsey, and my parents are Ted and Julie Raban.  We have 7 children with 3 left at home, a son attending ASU, a son serving a mission in Brazil, and our 2 oldest children are married and have blessed us with 4 grandchildren!  Tony has been in IT most of his life and currently manages the IT department at Navopache.  I have been fortunate to be a stay-at-home mom most of our married life. 

It’s a wonderful thing how life slows down in a small town and priorities are realized.  One of the many things we truly love about being home is living near family and being reunited with old friends (many we’ve grown up with) who truly love and care for each other.  There are many larger-than-life individuals (past and present) in this community that we will always look up to who have helped shape our characters.  It’s important to us that our children have the same opportunities to learn and glean from those wisdoms, too.  

We’ve always felt a draw to move home and raise our children in this environment.  We have also had the desire to live near our parents as they are growing older, so when an opening became available at Navopache, Tony applied, and we were blessed to get the job!  Over the years we have wanted our children to enjoy the same experiences and traditions that were afforded to us growing up here, so when it came time to choose where we would live, we had no intention on living anywhere but SJ!  There’s a sense of security, belonging, heritage, and purpose that can pull hometown folks to their roots.  We could not deny that pull and have long felt a responsibility to our family and our community.  We’ve been fortunate to live in many wonderful places such as Utah, Texas, Georgia, etc., but at the end of the day, this is home and “There’s no place like home.”  We’re so happy to be here! 

You're Home by Eva Hinds

The names that adorn my family tree also decorate many others in the town of friendly neighbors: Tanner, Parkinson, Overson, Oveson, Jarvis, Christensen, Morgan, and Linton. Even though I did not grow up in St. Johns, I have very fond memories of spending part of the summers here, and it is always a welcomed surprise to figure out how familiar faces are related to me. 

I am named after my great-grandmother Eva (Overson) Tanner, the daughter of Henry and Margaret (Jarvis) Overson. She was the eldest of nine children—and the only girl. Many will remember my grandparents, Wallace and Maxine Tanner. It was their family reunions that had my family coming to St. Johns. I have always felt that St. Johns was home. Every time I return, a thought comes to my mind: “Take a deep breath. You’re home now.”

After my mission, I had the opportunity to move here. Hearing stories of the past and becoming aware of those around me who are woven into that history has been wonderful. Several times I have had people approach me and tell me how much I look like someone they once knew. When asked, it turned out that the person was one of my immediate relatives.

Even if I didn’t have these family connections (and I am still finding out about new ones), I believe I would still feel at home here. St. Johns allows anyone seeking family to find it. It is the simple every day actions of the town: the quiet acts of service, a warm greeting, the rallying behind a cause, a smile or a hug in passing, the fanfare for victories, and the comfort when mourning. I’m thankful to have the opportunity to live in such a place that also has family history and memories. 

Eva Overson Tanner (author's namesake)

Eva Tanner watching the St. Johns Pioneer Day parade in 1989

Maxine and Wallace Tanner (author's grandparents)

Hinds Family

Sydney and Eva Tanner, St. Johns 1989 for Tanner family reunion

The Lasting Effects of Positive Influences by Brent Overson

The other night, as I was sitting on a bleacher watching my son play in a little league baseball game, a familiar voice said to me, “Does this bring back memories, Brent?” As I looked over my shoulder and saw Gerald Romero, my little league all-star coach, sitting there with that familiar smile – mostly in his eyes – memories indeed came flooding, but I was surprised by what those memories were. I didn’t remember who or where we played, or how far we went in the tournament. I didn’t remember our fancy uniforms or any parties after the games. What I did remember was being a younger kid on the team and being afraid of a few of my teammates, but always feeling safe with Coach Romero around. I remembered practice – where he spent so much time hitting us balls until we felt like we kind of knew what we were doing out there. I remembered him running out onto the field and meeting me around second base, giving me a big hug and shaking me up and down a few times after I made a catch in center field to end a game and seal a victory. As I sat there on those bleachers with him, I could still remember the look on his face. What I thought was just pride and joy was probably more surprise and amazement that God had seen fit to answer his quick prayer with the ball in the air. Most of all, I remembered him making me feel like a million bucks - not just at that moment, but all the time. It’s amazing how vivid those feelings still are even as I type these words. I’m surprised by the warmth and love I feel towards that man now, 33 years later. I guess knowing what I know, having raised a couple of kids and experienced a lot of the ups and downs that life has to offer, I have a greater appreciation now for who he was then. I understand more the value of a good man. I was blessed to have been mentored by Coach Romero and so many others as I grew up here in this little town I call home. The names are many – of teachers, coaches, family, and friends – which come attached with these warm feelings because of the great qualities they exhibited to me in my youth. Most of all, I knew that they cared about me. As we raise our family here now, we are so grateful to the good, loving people who care enough to have a positive influence on our kids. I know, personally, how sweet and long lasting that influence can be. 

Kindness vs. Love by Tobie Overson

Last week in our fast and testimony meeting, Sister Jackie Lee stood and bore her testimony and some things that she said have really influenced my thoughts this week.  She was talking about her feelings of the Savior and a specific experience she had where she had the opportunity to feel some of Christ’s feelings.  This is not a direct quote from her, but this is what I got from what she shared.  Christ is very kind and His kindness is way beyond any kindness we can feel on this earth, but He is also VERY loving and His love even surpasses His kindness.  For instance, the money changers in the temple probably didn’t think Christ was being very kind when he rebuked them and overturned their tables; nevertheless, He acted out of love and He loved them (and His Father) enough to correct their behavior.  The young lawyer didn’t perceive the Savior as being kind when He told him to go and sell all that he had and follow Him, yet what better thing could he have done?  Because of the stage of life I am in, when I heard Sister Lee’s words, I thought about them in terms of being a mother. A couple of things in particular came to mind.

First, when our children are little, they would be tickled to eat candy and junk food all the time if we would let them.  (At least this has been the case with my kids!)  It may seem kind to give them what they want, but it would definitely not be loving.  Their health and teeth would obviously suffer as a result of being “kind” in this instance. Our children may currently think otherwise, but they’lllater realize that every time I made them eat what was on their plate or nothing at all, I was acting out of complete love for them.  I have even had the blessing of having older children thank me for making them eat their veggies and that gives me the courage to continue my fight with the younger ones.

Second, our teenagers love to see what they can get away with. It is hard to be a “popular” parent with thembecause when we correct their course we are often met with the words, “This is not fair!” or, “Why are you so mean?”  As parents of teenagers, it is not our job to always do what they believe is “kind” but to do what is most loving, always having in mind their eternal future and how their current decisions will affect that.  It takes a great deal of perspective to be able to do this consistently and it is something that I pray for daily.

Lastly, our loving Heavenly Father sent us to this earth without the memory of what we experienced before we came.  Each of us has been sent to different homes with lots of different situations and trials to deal with, sometimes making it very difficult to choose the right way.  Some may look at that and think it is “unkind” or “unfair” of God to do that.  But if we take a closer look, we see that He is showing complete love for us.  He knows that we only grow and become like Him when we are stretched, so He allows us to have trials and difficulties in our lives that will get us back to Him because He loves us so perfectly.

Thank you, Sister Lee, for your precious testimony. I want to be kind as the Savior is kind and to love as the Savior loves.

I'm a Big Fan of His by Suzanne Hancock (and Cael and Paul)

On the way home from church on Easter Sunday, I had a CD playing in the car. My son, Cael, went to turn it up and said he wanted it louder because "It's beautiful music about Jesus, and I love Jesus. I'm a big fan of His." Of course, this made me chuckle at his choice of words (We obviously love sports at our house!), but as I have reflected on his simple comment over the last month, I have come to see how important it is that we ARE big fans of the one who gave all that we might have all. With this in mind, we, as a family, compiled a top-ten list of how we can show how much we love our Savior, Jesus Christ.

1. "Say a prayer." -Cael

2. "Serve others." -Paul

3. Wear His jersey, or in other words, bear His name as witnesses of Him, at all times and in all things and in all places.

4. "Do anything he wants us to do." -Cael

5. "Treat people with kindness." -Paul

6. Hold up signs proclaiming our love: Testify of Him, in word and in deed.

7. "Listen to His prophet." -Paul

8. Read and study His playbook, the scriptures, to give us direction and answers.

9."Imitate His life, just like you would imitate a favorite player." -Paul

10. Believe in Him and in His promises to us, that we will win if we follow Him.

I know that if we will do our best to emulate Jesus Christ, He will draw nearer to us and His spirit will direct our lives more fully. May we ever be unashamed to declare that we are not only His biggest fans, but that we truly are His dedicated followers.

Everything I Am by Keirsten Nielsen

Kansas City Missouri Temple

​I grew up in the bible belt of eastern Kansas.  I didn’t live in a small town; I was in a suburb of Kansas City.  A lot of who I am came from my upbringing there.  I learned a lot about people and religion that has stuck with me in my journey that has led me to Saint Johns, AZ.

​I was the third child of seven, six of which were boys.  I believe I was always a good natured child and I’ve always had a burning love for my Savior and Heavenly Father.  As a child I can remember I wanted to do things that would make my Father in Heaven happy with me and my choices.  When I was three my mother taught us a lesson on tithing and that next Sunday I took all the coins I had in my little coin purse and eagerly dumped them into a tithing envelope.  I was super excited about the entire experience and could have cared less about the money.  When I was eight I could hardly wait to get baptized, and when the day finally arrived I was literally filled with pure joy.  My biggest dream was to someday go inside the temple.  When I turned 12 I got to go on a temple trip to the Denver Colorado temple (that was the closest one to us at the time).  The greyhound bus was buzzing with excitement as we drove to the temple.  It was dark when we finally arrived.  All the youth were loud and rowdy and most likely just stir crazy from the cramped bus trip.  I’ll never forget the feeling of entering the temple grounds for the first time.  I distinctly remember the spirit change to one of peace and tranquility and I knew I loved the temple even more at that moment.

​There were not many members in the area where I grew up.  I got to see the church grow.  When we first moved to our home in Olathe, Ks there was not a church building nearby.  The closest one was in Paola, 35 minutes away.  Soon word came that a new stake center was being built about a mile from our home.  I recall driving by often to see the progress of the new building. When the stake center was finished and we were able to attend church there my family was thrilled. 

​My experience at school was different than what most youth experience here.  Being a Mormon made my life a little harder at school.  I don’t remember anything standing out until my middle school years.  I started getting questions like, “Aren’t Mormons born with horns?”  In Choir, my favorite class, I would sit with my friends and we would have religious debates.  There were Baptists, Nazarene, non-denominational, Catholic and me.  We had all kinds of discussions.  In the middle school days the debates were sometimes focused on whose church was right and whose was not. As I moved into my high school years the discussions turned more to explaining my religion to my friends.  Some of their churches had classes against the LDS church and these kids would come and ask me questions. I would try to clear up the falsehoods they had learned.  With all the criticism members faced in the area I felt it was my duty to prove that Mormons were good people by my example.  I also gained a realization that all Christians are wonderful people and I love them all, all denominations.  Some of the best kids I knew were not LDS.  

​I am grateful for the friendships I had and for the good people I grew up around.  I’m grateful that I had the fullness of the gospel in my life.  I’m glad I held true to my faith and I’m glad I had the opportunity to stand out in a crowd. 

​Everything I am and everything I hold dear I owe to my Savior Jesus Christ.  I have loved Him since before I can remember.  All the good and all the blessings I have ever received are because of Him.  There has not been one good thing that has happened to me that is not in direct correlation with my knowledge of Jesus Christ and my decision to follow him and be his disciple.  I know if I continue to follow Him I will continue my life in peace and happiness.  I love my Savior with all my heart and I pray we never lose our excitement for all the joys the gospel of Jesus Christs brings to our lives.  I still get excited when I step on the temple grounds.  There is nothing better in this life than entering into the house of the Lord and serving our ancestors.

         Being in St. Johns has been a true blessing to me.  I no longer feel like I’m proving a point with my religion.  I feel like I’m living it and loving every minute of it.  This community is my home and I love the people here.  I love all the denominations and I’m grateful for good people who believe and follow Jesus Christ.

Looking Out, Not In by Natalie Hollembeak

I was asked in February if I would post on this blog, and I have been at a loss as to what I could share. At first I was tempted to share something that was, at minimal, “surface information” that wouldn’t require much time, thought, or feeling.  But, I’ve come to realize that I needed to dig deeper and share more. Forgive me as I ramble for a bit, but I think it is important for you to understand how I came to live in St. Johns.

I grew up as a farm girl in rural southeast Idaho. I am the oldest of eight children. I have four brothers and three sisters. My parents were high school sweethearts and married after my dad served a mission in Brazil. My family’s circumstances were humble as my father worked very hard to make ends meet running the farm he had been raised on and then had bought from his parents before they left on a mission to Ireland.  The house on the family farm that my dad grew up in was purchased along with the farm, and that is where I was raised. My parents loved us, cared for us, and provided for us in those humble circumstances, and we never felt like we were going without. We were taught to work at a young age and spent many hot, long summer days pulling weeds out of the large fields of green beans (raised for Del Monte) and wheat, rolling bales of hay, and helping with the livestock.

Both sets of grandparents lived within ten minutes from us, and we were lucky enough to have several cousins that lived within an hour from us.

The high school I attended, West Side High, consisted of students from five small communities along the mountains on the west side of the valley. There were 38 in my graduating class. I loved growing up in a small community. I felt safe and rooted. In saying that, I know that I took growing up in a small community for granted and didn’t fully appreciate it. After graduating from high school, I attended Utah State University and graduated from there in 1995. I lived in Draper, Utah and completed my student teaching in different schools in the Salt Lake Valley. After serving in the Nebraska, Omaha, Winter Quarters mission, I taught school for a year in Orem, Utah and then moved to Seattle, Washington where I experienced a very eye-opening two years of adventure.

Wanting to get closer to home and family, I decided to apply for jobs in Logan, Utah. As I was trying to get situated there, I was asked to be my Grandpa Bingham’s traveling partner as he traveled to St. Johns, Arizona for my cousin’s (Jason Bingham) mission farewell. This was my first introduction to St. Johns. While visiting, my Aunt Laurine (Bingham) started working on me, encouraging me to move down to St. Johns, live with them, and teach out on the reservation in Sanders, where she was currently teaching. I went back to Idaho, thought about it for a week, was offered a job over the telephone to teach 6^th grade social studies at Sanders Middle School, and decided to do it. I saw it as another adventure that I might as well take advantage of, being single. I enjoyed my first year in St. Johns. Teaching out of town didn’t help me in getting to know people in town. I know of some people who thought that I was crazy as a young, single woman to be living in St. Johns…but to be honest, I had been in the singles scene for nine years and was tired of it.  After the first year of teaching, I again applied for teaching jobs in southeast Idaho to be closer to my family, deciding that if it were meant to be, it would work out. I didn’t get offered a job in Idaho and felt that it meant that I needed to be in St. Johns. I spent the summer in Idaho with my family and returned to St. Johns the first weekend of August 2001. The night that I returned, I got a phone call from Stacey Farr, inviting me to dinner the next evening and asked me if it would be okay if she also invited someone she wanted to introduce me to, Bryan Hollembeak. I agreed, although very hesitantly, as I had many blind dates.

I felt like we were under the limelight that Sunday evening as we had dinner with the Farrs, the Binghams, and Quinn and Michelle Ashton. I was ready to run, but thanks to a very patient, loving, and wise Aunt Laurine, I gave it a chance, AND the rest is history. Bryan and I got married that December, and I became an instant mom. I knew being a stepmom wasn’t going to be easy, but I wasn’t prepared for how hard it was going to be, and it threw me flat on my back. Being a naturally quiet and reserved person, it was easy to turn inward with this new challenge in my life instead of reaching outward. I often wondered what I was doing here so far away from my family that could love me through this new chapter in my life. Down the road, I have sometimes questioned if this is the right place for me, but I have come to realize that the hand of Providence brought me here and provided a wonderful man and other people to love me and teach me. I have made a life with Bryan, and we have added to our family. As I have lived here and learned to extend myself, I have found people in this wonderful town that love my kids, who have taught me how to serve, and have made me feel at home. I am so amazed with how much emphasis is placed on our youth and how our town rallies around one another in times of need. As I continue to learn to extend myself to others, I am coming to realize that our Savior wants us to do the same towards Him. He wants us to look to Him to help us in our trials, to serve others through Him, and to offer the healing balm of love to our fellow men. I am grateful for His love and patience that I have felt through you, the people of St. Johns. Thank you!