FIRST YEAR AS A SEMINARY STUDENT
The good people at the Region 6 Bureau of Reclamation office, and some from the Yellowstone District office, where I had worked years before, gave me a fine send-off, though few understood just why I was making such a change. Their major gift to me was a big leather briefcase, which turned out to be a most practical gift. I used it for many years. While in seminary, I carried 15-20 pounds of books to and from school each day--a regular library--in that briefcase!
Finally the time came for us to leave Billings. The U-Haul trailer was heavily loaded, as was our car. Despite having to pull the heavy U-Haul trailer, the little Chevy ran well. We had no problems at all until we arrived in the area of South Pass, in Wyoming. There our heavily loaded trailer proved to be almost too much for the Chevy--not going up hill, but down! The trailer weighed about as much as the car, and it depended solely on the car brakes.
Beginning a long downward grade, I failed to shift down to low gear. As a result, our speed quickly increased until we were travelling far too fast. In those days cars didn't have synchromesh transmissions, so it was impossible to shift down at our speed, though I desperately wanted to. I tried "double clutching," and racing the motor, but I couldn't shift down. We soon were weaving all over the road! Somehow we managed to stay on the pavement. I was shaking like a leaf when we finally coasted to a stop at the next level area! Surely the Lord was watching over us!
Going up the long grades wasn't too bad, though we crawled along for miles in low gear, with the temperature indicator showing that the radiator was boiling. However, we didn't lose a drop of water, despite the warning signals. The old car was doing very well. We stayed our first night in Lander, Wyoming, and were in Salt Lake City the second night. We had heard much about Salt Lake and the Mormons, and were curious to see their temple and tabernacle. So we drove right up the beautiful wide main street leading to the temple grounds, pulling our big orange-colored trailer behind us. It was late in the evening, so we didn't linger, not even long enough to take any pictures. We found a low-priced motel in which we stayed the night,and were on our way early the next morning.
As I recall, the next day was a long, hot day of travel. We finally came to the outskirts of Las Vegas late at night, almost midnight. We needed to buy gasoline, and were all very tired, but thought we should not stay in such a wicked place! (Yes, we were that concerned about acting as Christians!) After reluctantly buying gas, we drove on out into the desert, heading toward Los Angeles. About one o'clock in the morning I was too weary to go any farther. The on-coming traffic was scary--a solid line of cars heading for Vegas. There were no towns, no place we could see on the map where we might find any lodging. So we just drove off the road a little way in a flat area, and tried to sleep stretched out on blankets on the ground. We didn't get much sleep, as the traffic continued heavy all night--zoom, zoom, zoom--cars and big trucks passing us.
After getting a few hours' rest, we drove on into California, down through Barstow, I think it was, and on to Pasadena. None of us had ever been in southern California before, and we were curious to see what it looked like. After getting out of the desert area, we saw many groves of olive and orange trees, and stopped at a fruit stand to buy some oranges. Finally, well out on the east side of Pasadena, we stopped at a motel. I parked the loaded trailer out behind the motel, and we got some good rest and food.
The next day we began apartment hunting in earnest. We bought news papers, and searched through the listings of the places available. We were looking for something reasonably close to the seminary, but also inexpensive, as we knew we had to be careful, as our savings wouldn't last long. I hoped to walk or possibly ride a bike to school each day, to save on gasoline and time. We also explored the city. We found the seminary and left word at the reception desk that our household goods would be coming in by truck in a few days. I desperately hoped to find suitable housing before that date, to avoid storage charges for the furniture.
Our search went on for several days. Each day we noticed one particular ad in the paper--an apartment at 545 North Madison, only half a mile or so from the school. Thinking that such a place would surely have rented quickly, we didn't even go to look at it. We were earnestly praying for the Lord's help in finding a place. Then one day we happened to be on North Madison, nearly across the street from the place that we had seen advertised. We had looked at several apartments, but had not found anything we thought adequate, or that we could afford. Noticing the address, I thought we at least ought to go over and ask if the place at 545 Madison were still available. Well--we found that the apartment was the ground floor of a large house, with two bedrooms. An airy garage stood out back. There was even a place for our washer and dryer out on the back porch. Best, the place rented for only $85 per month! That was well within our price range. Also, we learned that although the ad had been running for a week or more, we were the very first to inquire about it! The Lord had been reserving it for us--an answer to our prayers! Of course, we took it, and were very thankful. We lived there through the three years I was in school, and found it a fine home, convenient to the school, stores, and churches. Since our shipment of household goods had not yet arrived, I immediately left our new address at the front desk at the seminary. I asked that the truck driver be instructed to bring the stuff directly to North Madison. But when the van arrived in Pasadena, the driver phoned the seminary, and his call was transferred to a professor whose name I will not mention. That gentleman, without making any effort to find out about us, told the driver he had never heard of me. He told the driver to put our stuff in storage. That cost us over $100!
Having rented a place to live, we returned to our motel. We quickly checked out, hitched up the U-Haul trailer, and spent that afternoon unloading the beds, tables, and other things that we had brought with us. These were the essentials for living until all our goods could be delivered. I remember having a very bad time that afternoon as we became acquainted with the famous Los Angeles smog. The smog was terribly thick, and I coughed and wheezed, and had trouble breathing. Finally the work was done, and the trailer returned to a nearby U-Haul dealer. After we learned that our things were in storage, they were delivered in a day or two. Classes at the seminary were about to begin. I quickly shopped for and bought a well-used English three-speed Indian bicycle, and learned how to ride it. I purchased and attached a wire basket on the handlebars, to carry my briefcase and other gear. Later, after riding that bike a few times on wet pavement, I added fenders, to avoid having the cold water spraying me fore and aft! I also purchased and installed a light and generator, for night riding. The local laws required such a light when riding a bicycle at night.
One of the first things we had to do was set up a bank account, cashing in our remaining travelers' checks and depositing our small savings. We had carried those savings in a certified check. At first the suspicious bank officer refused to accept even the certified check from the Billings bank, or the travelers' checks! We had to wait a few days while they carefully verified the checks! Disgusted with that attitude, I later changed banks!
On registering at the seminary, I learned that I must attend a week-end orientation retreat for new students, before classes began. It was held at a resort several miles from Pasadena. That meant that I must leave Jane alone with the children for two or three days. The orientation was great, with good speakers, opportunities to get acquainted with several professors, and much good food. For recreation, we went swimming one afternoon in the Pacific ocean, in a chilly breeze, with rough surf rolling in. It was a "learning" experience for me! Soon after I returned from the retreat, Martha, and then Mary, suddenly became ill. We had to take them both to a hospital, where we found they were seriously dehydrated. They soon recovered after intravenous feeding and other treatment. We had no medical insurance, so were hit hard by the hospital and doctor bills.
At last classes began. Mary and David enrolled in a nearby elementary school. Mary was fortunate to have a fine Christian lady as her teacher. Martha was too young to go to school. Caring for her at home kept Jane busy. I immediately plunged into a tough course of study. Because I had not had Greek in college, I had to take beginning Greek, five days a week, without credit! That was one of my toughest courses that first year. The school felt that an entering student should have had Greek well in hand before starting. I had lots of company, as most of the men and women in my class had not studied it previously, either. That was a good course, though it took a lot of time. I frankly do not remember what other courses I had, though my transcript contains the record. Everything was new and challenging, and very interesting.
Attending graduate school was different from anything I had experienced before, even my graduate study at the University of Montana. The seminary had very strict requirements regarding the preparation of papers. The professors required literally dozens of research papers, two or three in each course each quarter. Surprise quizes, and scheduled written exams were common. Also, one had to maintain a grade average of "B" or better, to receive credit!
Oh--I forgot to mention getting a job. We had to have some income to avoid using all our savings in the first year. I asked around, and learned that the Pasadena public library was hiring clerks. I went to city hall (a beautiful, impressive building) and was given a standard typing test. I asked the young lady giving the test how fast one needed to type, to qualify, and she said she thought about 50 words a minute would do. I had no trouble typing at that rate. The result--I had a part-time job beginning immediately, at a branch library up in Altadena. The library was more than two miles away from our home. My tight schedule did not allow my struggling up hill those two miles by bicycle, so I had to drive the car to work. We needed income requiring about 25 hours of work per week.
I worked in that branch library several weeks, usually putting in 10 or 12 hours on Saturdays. Then I transferred to a similar position at the main library, about a mile from our apartment. That was much more convenient. Here I worked in various jobs, receiving and checking in returned books, issuing books, shelving, and working the telephone switchboard some evenings. That particular assignment sometimes gave me an opportunity to study, as there were few calls in the evenings.
I worked in that clerical job at the library all three years I was in seminary, working 25 to 40 hours per week. I had a difficult time with all those hours of work, beside keeping up with my studies and family activities. I also missed the casual meetings many students enjoyed, talking at length with professors, and so on. I still don't know how we managed, though I know I often studied until long after midnight, and missed hours of needed sleep! My study space was at a small desk in our bedroom, with a desk lamp for lighting. Jane tried to sleep while I studied. My eyes were very good in those days, though by the time I left seminary I needed glasses. I blamed the poor lighting.
One of the greatest blessings of attending seminary, beside the interesting studies, was the daily chapel service. We had many excellent speakers, including Dr. Charles Fuller of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour, and founder of the seminary; Dr. Harold John Ockenga; Billy Graham, and other well-known Christian leaders.
Of course we looked for a good church to attend, as soon as we had gotten settled in our apartment. The first Sunday we went to Lake Avenue Congregational Church, since we had heard that it was a fine one. We liked it, though it was huge, and somewhat impersonal. The adult Sunday School class Jane and I attended had three hundred or more people attending that Sunday!
We went home after church, and had just finished dinner when we had company--a young couple from Lake Avenue church, following up the morning's visitors. Though we thought that was a great church, we decided to attend the Evangelical Covenant Church, within walking distance of our home. We enjoyed the preaching and Sunday School there. Several other seminary students and their wives were active at that church, too. We soon became acquainted with many fine people in the Covenant church, and felt right at home. We attended there regularly through my first year at seminary, and left only because I began helping co-pastor a little church in Los Angeles in my second year.
Among our new friends in the Covenant church were Eugene and Virginia Lowe, a Chinese couple who had three small children. They helped run a family business, and have been great, faithful friends ever since. They invited us to their home several times, including New Year's Day in 1956. We watched the Rose Parade with them, from a stand only a block from their home. Their house was crowded that day, after the parade, with dozens of Chinese relatives. We were the only "whities" in the big family crowd. We have had the same experience several times since then, as they often took us to exclusive Chinese eating places. As with many lots in Pasadena, there were two houses on the lot where our house was located. The small dwelling placed at the back of the lot housed a Jewish family, a lady with two or three children.
They were really good people. Martha played often with the youngest boy, and they had good times together. One morning they had been playing in the back yard, and came running in together announcing that the garage roof was on fire! A quick look verified the truth of their statement--it really was on fire! We called the fire department, and I quickly moved our Chevy out of the way. Within minutes the fire department was there, to put out the fire. There was very little damage. How did it get started? The children had been lighting matches and tossing them up on the roof, just for fun! Firebugs! Martha was only three at the time. That Jewish family lived there for the first two years we had the apartment. We found very interesting their thorough efforts to remove all leavening from their house in preparation for Passover. The mother and daughter scrubbed every corner!
Next door to us, on either side, were two families with many children. The Neideringhouse family to the south of our house had several children, with the mother, a single parent, taking care of them. Our children played with the children. On the other side of us, the family (whose name I can't recall), had two or three terribly dirty little youngsters who played barefoot most of the time. One day one of their little girls cut her foot seriously on a broken bottle in their yard, and came over for me to give first aid. Her mother wasn't home. The foot was bleeding heavily, but was so dirty I felt I must wash it before trying to put on tape to hold the cut together.
Right in the midst of my first aid efforts, the mother, a colossal fat lady, came home. She jerked the child away to take her to a doctor, and never said a word of thanks for our trying to help. That was a strange family, and we were never close friends with them. The lady had a most infectious laugh, that could be heard a block away.
Despite my grueling study and work schedule, and attending affairs at the church, I found time to sing in the seminary chorus. We had a fine conductor, and took part in televised broadcasts that winter, with Dr. Charles Fuller and the choir of the Old Fashioned Revival Hour. Jane, the children, and I sometimes drove down to Long Beach on Sunday afternoon, to attend the radio broadcasting service of the Revival Hour. That was a great privilege!
A month or two before the end of the school year, we received a letter from Dick Gustafson, the American Sunday School Union worker in Great Falls, Montana. He asked whether we would be available to help him with vacation Bible Schools and summer camp in June and July. My sister, Jean, invited us to stay at her house that summer. We accepted quickly! We arranged to keep our apartment rented. Then we went to a cut-rate sporting goods store, and bought a heavy umbrella tent, a camp stove, and light-weight sleeping bags and air mattresses. The cost of the whole outfit was much less than we might have spent at motels on the way to and from Montana. We planned to camp along the way, both going to Montana, and returning in August.
Final exams were soon over, and we locked up the apartment. We left the apartment key at the seminary office, telling them to let some needy incoming seminary student family use the apartment if such a need came up. Then we were on our way. We had purchased a little one-wheeled trailer to pull behind the Chevy, loaded with our camping gear and clothing for the summer.
That was a fun trip! We camped the first night at Lake Mead, above Hoover (or Boulder) Dam. We got along well with our new tent and equipment, though we found the sleeping bags far too warm. The following day we toured Zion National Park, and stayed in a campground in Bryce Canyon National Park. Highlight (or low point) of that night's camping was when Jane and the girls got lost in the big campground. David and I had a time finding them.
Next day we went on into Yellowstone Park--and back into winter. Heavy snow lay along the roads, and in the timber. We rented a cabin at Old Faithful Geyser Campground, and nearly froze despite having a fire in the little wood-burning stove. We saw many wild animals, and I got a few pictures. We spent one night in Billings, with friends, and then went on to Jean's farm sixteen miles west of Big Sandy.
Without going into details, we had a grand summer. Jane and I conducted six Vacation Bible schools, and we spent a week working at the youth camp in the mountains near Lewistown. We ate too much, but enjoyed the work with the farm children. With only a few exceptions, they were all well-behaved, and appreciated what we were doing. I got to "preach" at the closing exercises after each school, and sometimes at Kenilworth Sunday School, near Jean's. Life at Jean's was somewhat hectic, since beside our five she had my sister, Mary, and her daughter Pam; my father; Judy Eckles, a Bible student from Canada; and Jean's own family. We literally ate in shifts. Jean was very busy, running the big farm, making frequent trips to town for groceries and supplies, and managing the household. I found some spare time evenings and some weekends. One day we found a rattle snake near the front porch of the house; I shot it. Jane and I spent one week working at a Conservative Baptist summer camp for ministers and their wives, up in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming. There we helped some old friends from the Montana Institute of the Bible, who were doing the cooking and maintenance of the camp.
After the summer Bible camp, Jean, her daughter, Faith, Jane, Martha, and I went camping for a few days in Glacier National Park. We had a great time together. When we returned we found that not everything was well at the farm. While doing haying, the children had managed to either fall off a load of hay, or had turned the hayrack over--I don't remember which. More serious, Jean's son, Dave, and our David had been out shooting gophers, and Dave shot himself through the foot! They had taken him to town to the doctor, but the wound gave no trouble, as no bones had been touched.
Near the end of August we packed up and headed back to Pasadena and school. More about that in the next blog!