Last Sunday in Relief Society we had a wonderful lesson on prayer and feeling the promptings of the spirit.  As different sisters shared experiences with following the spirit, I felt the spirit remind me of a prompting I had felt and nearly didn't follow.  Mom and Dad had said that 2010-2011 would be the last time they would be snowbirds and go south to Yuma, Arizona for the winter.  They had gone down for 18 years.  I felt bad that in that 18 years I had only managed to visit them once.  I talked to my sister and we decided that we would go together in January or February to visit them one last time.  For some reason nothing worked out with arranging a time with my sister and finally it came down to....do I go alone anyway.  By this time it was March and they would be home in a month.  I might as well not go at this point.  I felt a distinct impression that I should go and made a reservation with Southwest airlines and a couple of days later I arrived to spend 5 days with mom and dad.  We had a great time together visiting the old Yuma State Prison where some really famous outlaws had been incarcerated.  They were so happy to show me all the places they had eaten and swap meets they loved.  We talked and laughed and remembered my childhood.  Mom so many times that week gave me long hugs and told me how much she loved me and the family.  Her children and grandchildren meant so much to her.  Little did I know that would be the last time I would see my mom in this life.  The day they got back to Tooele they traded in their 5th wheel and bought a new trailer that would haul their new Razor 4 wheeler.  Mom was ready to embark on a new adventure.  Mom passed away of a massive heart attack a few hours after they got the new trailer home.  I will be forever grateful I listened to the spirit that told me I needed to go and visit.

Mom and Dad were married in the Salt Lake Temple on June 25, 1954.  Mom was only 18 years old.  

 June 25, 2004 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.  I always knew dad loved mom, but it wasn't until she was gone that I saw the depth of his love and how much he truly misses her.  They celebrated 56 anniversaries together.  Today over a year after her death, he cannot talk about her without crying and I know he longs for the day when they can be together again.  ....the love story continues.

Marilyn Twede Jones born September 13, 1935   Died April 5, 2011  Thanks Mom for all you taught me!