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Steven Nielsen

Tod, You've had an interesting life! 

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Dan, I enjoyed reading your very interesting story.    I always like to compare what you were doing at that time to my own life, your's seems to be so much more dramatic.  I agree that Jimmy Carter was a gentle President.  Too bad that his style of leadership isn't as productive as those more vocal Presidents.  I'm sure that's why so many people are rallying around Donald Trump at this time.  What a contrast.  In the months to come it will be interesting to see how the next election goes. Please continue to share more of your experiences with us.  JOY

Steven Nielsen

Two Runs of Stone - Full Circle

Fifth and final novel in an exciting series, Full Circle begins with 1865 pioneer tribulation – Catherine Jensen faces hostile Indians, long winters, privation and romance, while helping her son run a gristmill by a waterfall on the Torrent River, and ends in 1984 in a blood testing laboratory in mo…

KINDLESCOUT.AMAZON.COM

 

 

Tod Maltby

Steve;

If you can locate a copy, the journal of Major Howard Stansbury is a great story. He and his crew were sent out by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1849 to survey what is now Northern Utah and in particular the Great Salt Lake. Stansbury was a good journalist and chronicled both their many ordeals and interspersed it with some amusing anecdotes. My favorite was while crossing the Plains they shot a Bison. After killing it they couldn't figure out what to do with it! They sent a rider to bring some indians they had recently passed. The indians showed them how to butcher it and what parts were most edible. they took a hind quarter and the hump meat and  gave the rest to the indians who were grateful to have a buffalo without the dangers involved in hunting one down. The perils of surveying the North & West sides of the lake made it exceedingly difficult and dangerous. 

I borrowed a copy fro a friend who was a historian; He passed away two years ago and I guess his family took all his stuff to the dumps. Sad!!!

I'm sure the LDS Church History Dept. has a copy and if they have digitized it they could seld you a copy.

Steven Nielsen

Tod, I'm very grateful to you for this information guy! I love true history and old journals etc. and will try to get hold of the one you describe on Major Howard Stansbury.... It's amazing what our forebarers endured. Here's a sample: one pioneer journal I dug through gave a heartbreaking account of a wagon train with a Danish family as members who after fighting off Indians, watched in utter horror as their lovely blonde haired daughter was scooped off her feet and carried off by one of the savages riding bareback on a fast pony. Although search parties were sent out, the girl, a teenager was never rescued or seen alive again. --- Here's another... this one killed me: A German pioneer in a small Utah English speaking community was suffering from a disease that left him hurting and blind in one eye. A frontier doctor came by and insisted that the blind eye be removed or else the disease may infect the good eye. An English speaking group of friends agreed among themselves to hold the German down while the well meaning English doctor attemped to remove the blind eye without anesthetic... which was common in those days. So the English speakers held the German's head and body fast to a table and the country doctor went to work. Screaming and writhing with all his might the German immigrant tried in vane to make them all understand that the doctor was removing the good eye! -- I was thunder struck at this account. Horrified as well. I still don't have words.... The story has an uplifting conclusion thank heaven; now blind as a bat, the German convert to the church remained faithful all the days of his life, maintained a useful occupation (I can't remember what it was) and raised a fine family. Thanks Tod, for sharing the pioneer post.

Mike Liptrot

I generally obay anyone with a gun. Unless mine is bigger and out first! And, of course the other one is not held by a policeman!

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

​Dan, thank you so much for posting my story, I think maybe I should start out on this web-site and if I want to post it somewhere else, I will copy and paste it from here to where I want it. 

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Yes; I agree, this is a great site, and I also wish more people would share some of thier lifes experiences.  I wish we could find more of our classmates too.

Tod Maltby

Like Dan; I compose my posts in Microsoft Word. Before I post I save them to a file so I can refer to them later. Then I cut & paste to the website.

The Browning Gun Museum is located in the Union Station in Ogden. Union Station has been restored to its former glory and is beautiful. The only thing missing are the hordes of traveling passengers.

Dan, the man who appraised your Browning may have been Col. William Betz. He was the curator of the Browning Museum during the ‘80s and he used to drop by my store and we would “talk guns.” I learned a lot from him. He passed away about the time I moved my store to Salt Lake (1990) He was stationed in West Berlin from the end of the war to the ‘60s. Related many interesting stories of the occupation. He was heavily involved with the planning and implementation of the Berlin Airlift.

I have several Browning firearms in my collection. I have two Hi-Powers; one assembled & finished in Portugal (from Belgian parts) and one made in the USA.

The American model is unique in that it has a selector and can be shot either Double-Action or Single-Action. It was a safety thing but never caught on and few of them were made. Most were .380 (Browning 9mm Short) but mine is a 9mm which is even rarer.

I have had to sell most of my large caliber handguns (9mm & 45) because of the arthritis in my wrists. I keep the Brownings more for investment purposes than shooting. Most of my shooting (my friends & I shoot a lot) is with .380 and smaller. My favorite Browning is a .22 Auto rifle. Sweet Shooter!

An interesting one: I have a CZ 50 chambered in 7.65 Browning (.32 ACP) that was worn by a STASI officer in East Germany!

Enough Rambling!

Steven Nielsen

I own a 5 cylinder .38, a 30/30 (a gift from my eldest son) and a couple of 12 ga. shotguns. I still go Elk hunting with my brothers (we usually just tell jokes, laugh and hang out around the campfire) and used to love hunting phesants too. I'm not into guns much but when o was elected president of our fair land and made it clear where he stood on firearms I went out and bought the .38 and trained and obtained a concealed handgun permit. -  When home in Ogden a few years back I had to laugh at a picture of our illustrious president on the wall of a 5points sporting goods store and under his picture were the words, #1 gun salesman of the year! - It was so true. You could hardly even find bullets during o's first two years. - But anyway I thought a few of you might get a kick out of this:

Gun rules: 
1- Never take a knife to a gunfight.
2; Guns have two enemies: rust and politicians.
3- It’s always better to be judged by 12, than carried by 6.
4- Cops carry guns to protect themselves, and you.
5- Never let someone or something that threatens get inside an arm’s length.
6- The first sound an intruder should hear is your shotgun cocking...
The average response time of a 911 call is 23 minutes; the response time of a .357 magnum is 1400 feet per second.
7- Never leave an enemy behind. If you have to shoot, shoot to kill. If you end up in court, yours will be the only testimony.
8- You cannot save the planet, but may be able to save yourself and your family.
9- If you believe in the 2nd Amendment, click Like or say Aye!
10- Have a gun, get familiar with it but pray to God you never have to use it...

And always remember this quote from America's premier Founding Father:

Steven Nielsen

My dear classmates,by now many of you know my novel 'Two Runs of Stone - Full Circle' was not selected by Kindle/Amazon for publication. Although I received 1,943 nominations it must not have been enough for them. It's a little discouraging, but only a bump in the road. Maybe it wasn't the best thing to be thrown in with a bunch of steamy romance, spy thrillers, tough cop and futuristic fiction stuff. Who knows? -- However, the book will be available in a few weeks on Kindle's self publishing portal for download only. (February 28th to be exact) Kindle allows a 5 day free promotion to get things started, after that there is a cost. - But regardless please watch for it. - For now, Thanks a Million for your support during my short campaign, it meant all in the world to me! -- BTW, we're also going to submit the novel to a few regular book publishers, so like they say, it ain't over, till it's over... All my very best, Steven Nielsen

p.s. I received many nominations from Classmates and was quite surprized at the number! It makes me know that there are many out there keeping up with this websitebut not posting. It's o.k. by me, but I really reading posts from old friends. Our Class of 62' was among the best to ever graduate from Ben Lomond!

Val Lasko

Hey Steven,

My favorite gun(s) in Vietnam -  mini-guns on fix forward firing - intervelometer set for both- port and starboard six (6) thousand rounds each per minute.  The canisters behind the pilot seat contained approx. thirty thousand (30k) rounds belt fed to each gun.  The helicopter also carried rocket pods either 14 or 18 high explosive folding fin rockets. They were good for 6,000 yards; totally inaccurate, but fun to fire!  I have not touched a gun since 1972.  I loved my 9mmParabellum, but the military police confiscated it when I boarded the "freedom bird" for home.  Maybe, Todd could help.  It had french markings on the stock and barrel, but some users say it's origin is Belgium. What say you..

Val

Steven Nielsen

Vel, Danny boyall I ken say is ah hope da John Deere a Tractor was impressed! -- Hey just a note here...I like your new picture on your posts. Like Pete Belliston once told me, that's who classmates remember! You were always a  positive and friendly guy in school and for certain here on our webpage. It's just amazing to me that you were once in the CIA! That said I'd like to know more details about the occupations chosen by other classmates as well. For example: I think Dale Thompson was once the Principal of a school. And then Bill Devries the famous heart surgeon, (btw, an indepth, internet review of William Castle Devries, M.D is amazing! What he went through,- the politics and human emotion surrounding implanting the Jarvik 5 artificial heart in Barney Clark's chest, etc. truly an inspiring story!) (fyi, Bill is mentioned in my last novel) Then here's Tod Maltby once the owner of a retail camera store, Val Lasko a chopper pilot in Viet Nam, wow!  -  And I'm not cetain where they are right now, but Pete and Karen Belliston are out on a mission... I'll bet, in fact I know, our classmates have made a major impact on this old world. I for one would love to know more about what everyone did or are doing, who served missions, and for those who spent time in the service of our country; it would be wonderful to know what you did, and where you served! - My life has been fairly mundane, so here's my plea to you my dear friends from 1962: Please share something about your lives! Your children, grandchildren, inlaws, outlaws, and so forth. Some of you have, and those of us reading them have loved it. But for the rest of you please share...And if you already have, a refresher share can't hurt a thing!! 

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Steven, I just read your last post and I will tell you that I was like "Dona Reed" from T.V or as I was told by others (my ex-husband for one) "Molly Mormon". Moreover,  I loved having the cleanest house in town, I loved being Mom to four fantastic children,  and furthermore I loved being a wife.  When after twenty-nine years of marriage I was suddenly single, I went back to school, earned a business degree, while still raising two of my children.  We would do our homework together and take turns on the computer.  I worked in an office for a short time (BORING)  and went to school again to be state certified as an Activity Director.  I worked as an Activity Director for fifteen years, in Sub Acute,  Independant living, Assisted Living and Memory Care.  I thoroughly enjoyed planning, preparing for. and implementing a well rounded program for the residents at each level. Getting to know and love many of the residents was one of the rewards of my job.   After retirement in 2004 and 05 I served a mission in Iowa (Dan, where the John Deere tractors are made) for my church.  I truly loved the work which I do on a local level now. I have also been involved in choirs, quartets, and as a soloist since I was six years old which I have always enjoyed.  Travel is always on the top of my to do list.  I have been to all fifty stated, Canada, England, and Mexico.  My paid career wasn't long, but I am grateful that I was able to help the Residents enjoy a meaningful rest of their life.   I'm sure you were interested in what the guy's have chosen for carers, but I just wanted to share a little bit about me.

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

I just felt like sharing my afternoon with someone so here it is.  About 11:00 AM I got a call from the Missionaries wanting to know if I could go with them to a young man's house to teach him the last lesson before his baptism.  Since I am one of the local Missionaries again, I said of course.  This is my first asignment since I was called one week ago.  We met at his house, and chatted about life in general before getting into the subject of the lesson.  Years ago I was a Stake Missionary, then a full time Missionary, when I lived in Elk Grove I was a Ward Missionary.  Now after several other callings over the past four years, I am a Ward Missionary.  Anyway, back to today.  This young man was more excited than any other person that I have taught or helped teach.  He will be baptized on Saturday and he can hardly wait.  What a wonderful afternoon it was for me to be there and meet him .  He told me that he has had the lessons 3 times before, but something always happened to stop the progress.  I will be there on Saturday for the whole experience.  Life is good. 

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Dan, He came from a less active family.  As a child his dad was excommunicated so there was no continued exposure to the gospel.  He didn't go into detail but one time just before the scheduled date they moved to Michigan.  I guess he has moved around a lot.  Now he is so ready.  It was like a breath of fresh air just to listen to him.  Hi said his dad will be the only family member there at the Baptism.   I am guessing he is in his early 20's.  JOY

Steven Nielsen

Two posts today, first Joy I was very touched by your story. To me, You're a hero! Married women who work and then come home to face more work are also heros of mine. When there are children involved mom is on the front lines. But my heart really goes out to women (and men) who like you, are divorced. I'm gonna' make some folks angry here but here's my experience with divorce; I contemplated divorce about 20 years ago. My wife was so wrapped up in my youngest, drug using, son that I might as well have been single. The kid was running with some punks and let me tell you I was also very involved with him. I was at his football games, parent teacher conferences, civil courts...earlier he and I had always been close, little league baseball, soccer explorer scouts, hiking, church, etc. etc. but negative peer pressure still won out. Meanwhile my wife is abusing prescription drugs herself, (pain pills) Working long hours, I was sympathetic, I knew her back and knee hurt, but I was slow to really understand just what the H- - - was going on in my home. All I can say is I was odd man out. Our other children were married and gone and so living with my wife and last born child was pure misery. It went on for years and frankly is just now straightening out! But anyway, I contemplated divorce big time and felt justified. -- However after talking with tons of divorced people over the years and seeing the train wrecks caused...I decided to try and rebuild my marriage instead. --- It's been a loooonnnnnggg road! Even four of my children advised divorce. But last Thanksgiving as I sat around the table with most of my children, (and grandchildren) and wife I knew I'd made the right choice. -- Now all that said, honest to god I also know divorce is the only option in many cases. One way or the other It's just so d- - - - - d sad. I genuinely hurt for what you've been through Joy Fields. All I can say is LOOK AT THE GREAT THINGS YOU'VE ACCOMPLISHED IN YOUR LIFE! I'm so proud of you! Life ain't easy, especially for divorcees... Even tough on those of us who decided against it. 

Steven Nielsen

Here's my second post to update everyone on one a while back - change of date:

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Steven, this sounds just like my kind of reading.  I plan in the very near future to purchase the whole set.  I always like true stories. Wow! I just read your other post.  Thank you for understanding what a challenge my life was.  My second daughter went through the substance abuse for years, however I am happy to say she is now 14 years clean and sober.  It was hard at times, but also very rewarding, especially when my children stepped up and took on the responsibilities that allowed all of us to be successful.   

I never wanted to go through divorce, I fought it with everything I had, since I was the child victim of divorce.  Steven, I admire you for having the courage to stick it out and work it out.  There is no easy way, but you chose the better way.  My husband didn't even want to try to work out any problems, which involved the companies he worked for shutting down after 20 years at FordMotor C. and 7at Kaiser AL., finding out he had diabetes and alcohol adiction amother things.  He died in 2010 from complications from his medical problems.  It was a hard adjustment for the first year, however MY LIFE IS GREAT NOW.JOY

Kathy Williams (Wilson)

Hi Steve.  I  wanted to let you know how much I am enjoying your books.  I bought the series last week, and have finished the second book.  You should know that the third one has a glitch of some kind.  I have worked with Amazon/Kindle and they can't figure it out, so they are taking book 3 out of circulation until they get it fixed;  hopefully it will be really soon, and all will be available for the promotion. When I try to read it, it just brings up a partial page at about 6 per cent, and won't turn any more pages.   I love your books, and was so excited to get started on the next one, but it's always nice to know there is a book awaiting.  

Historical fiction is my favorite genre, and then to have it connected with Church History is another bonus.  I can't imagine how difficult it was to do all the research you did.  I watched (and helped a little)  my husband write a couple of books, and it isn't an easy process, but rewarding.      Kathy (Williams) Wilson

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

Dan, I enjoyed your list of facts.  When I start to get old I am sure some of them will apply to me too.  However for now, since I am one of the youngest from BLHS class of 62, I have not experienced those OLD AGE issues yet.  And furthermore, sljfkjfwlkrwk;sk. JOY    Life is good.

Steven Nielsen

Just in case you missed this post as promised, TODAY thru Saturday! Book 5 'Full Circle' is FREE on Kindle Select!! Just Click on the Link and this exciting novel is yours! http://goo.gl/fhn7ux Share the Link with friends so they can own the book as well...This Promotion lasts for 5 days only!

All the very best,

Steven Nielsen

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

On Saturday I went to a conference  (Take control of your Diabetes) TCOYD here in Sacramento.  It was good, and I learned about the latest medications on the market plus other new information.  I would rate about a 7 or 8, until the last speaker.  His name is Billy Mills, a diabetic who in 1964 won the 10,000 meter gold medal in Tokyo.  He told the story of his life as a native american and being orphaned by the time he was 12 years old.  His Mother died when he was 9 years old and his father died when he was 12 years.  He spent the rest of his growing years in an orphanage.  He felt like a looser and had little hope of ever being successful.  In High School he was on the track team.  Sometimes he would win the race and sometimes he could hardly make it around the track.  In college he found out that he was Diabetic.  He would have low blood sugars and that's when he did poorly in his race.  I rate his story a 10+++.  He was that motivating.  His whole story can be found on line by just typing his name.  Even the video of the race is there to watch him come from the back to come in first and take home the Gold.  I suggest anyone who needs to have their spirit lifted and learn that we can acomplish anything that we truly desire to we can do it.

Joy Fields (Wardleigh)

​Dan and All, You have really had some fascinating experiences in your life.  Going to Panama City for Christmas sounds like a marvelous way to celebrate.  Your wife must be a great lady to even investigate the church, and then to be baptized, what a blessing for both of you.  I am sure her support helped to give you the strength to immediately give up your Word of Wisdom issues, and to turn over the coffee and ciggarets to the gentleman so they could dispose of it, and avoid tempting you to slip up.  I am always amazed at the determination of people like you who can just turn their back on their old ways and make the necessary sacrifice to move forward.   It takes true tenacity and mostly  blessings from Heavenly Father to be successful. 

As for myself, like I have mentioned before, following The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints was always something that was not always available.  With a non-member father and a Mother who was not active (I only remember her going to church one time in my growing uo years. She did become active the last year of her life).  My husband had all of the Word of Wisdom issues, however we were sealed in the Logan Temple 4 years after our marriage.  We had our girls sealed to that same day.  The commitments that we made only lasted him a few months before he started to pick up his old habits again.  As time went on he turned away from religion and then his family too.  BUT; I don't want to dwell on that life is too wonderful now.  On Sunday I will be teaching the lesson on what it means to  Sacrifiec, and the blessings that we will be privileged to receive.

Kirk Butterfield

I always like what I see and read from/about about you.  Please give me a call at home when you have a chance, 801-393-9764.  I look forward to your call.  Kirk