Excerpts from William Martell Hodson’s Autobiography

Excerpts from William Martell Hodson’s Autobiography
By Grant

In addition to being a successful, hard working businessman and generous loving father, dad clearly had the priesthood. While mother is normally viewed as the spiritual one of the family, whom dad loved and respected, when he used the priesthood, especially in blessings, it was always efficacious. Indeed, I have been the recipient of several of those miraculous blessings. I remember him telling me of a time when he stood on a cliff and invoked the priesthood to calm the seas, but I couldn’t find it in the autobiographical sketch he wrote in 1978. However, Jane informs me that the power to command the elements was in his patriarchal blessing. The following, starting with one of his poems, is a retyping of his autobiographical sketch through the completion of his mission to Hawaii. (I retyped this principally to have a document that could be sent electronically and to establish a standard 8 ½ by 11 inch format, since he typed on 8 ½ by 14, which was the book of remembrance genealogy format.)

No matter what else you are doing
From cradle right down to the end,
You are writing your life’s secret story
Each night a new page is penned.

Each month is the end of a chapter.
Each year the end of a part.
And never a word is misstated,
Not even a wish of the heart.

Each morn when you awake the book opens,
Revealing a page clean and white.
Each thought, each word and each act
Reveal on its pages by night.

God leaves that to you; you’re the writer,
And never a word will be dimmed
Until someday you write the word “finish”
And give the book back to Him.

I was born at Spanish Fork, Utah. My mother was Eve Martell. My father was Benjamin F. Hodson. I was blessed William Martell Hodson, and most people have called me Martell.

At the age of four my parents moved to Salt Lake. Our first house was in the First Ward. Sightseeing cars, (streetcars without any sides) stopped in from of our house, and the barker through a megaphone informed the people that this was the house of Maude Adams when she lived as a girl in Salt Lake. Maude Adams was then the top actress of the nation, lived in New York, and was making famous the play Peter Pan.

When I was six, mother bought a fairly new house at 761 Windsor Street. It was from this house that I left for an Hawaiian Mission at the age of nineteen, and to which I returned thirty-three months later.

As a lad of eleven I began selling the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and the Ladies Home Journal. The next year there was a contest on in Salt Lake City to see who could sell the most of these magazines from August 1 to December 25. The first prize was an Iver Johnson bicycle, the top make of that time. I won the bicycle. From thirteen to sixteen years of age I carried a newspaper route before or after school.

At sixteen I worked as an usher at the Paramount Theater. During the months of vacation from school on my seventeenth year, I worked in the mill at Arthur, Utah, for the Utah Copper Company.

In high school (East High) I took two years of French, two years of Latin and one year of German. My sciences were zoology, physics and chemistry. I was considered good in English and went from sophomore to senior English at the fixing of my English teacher, Miss Steelman. I was good in Mechanical Drawing and went four times faster in my work than the other students and became the first student to do the four-year course in one year, in the history of the school. I remember myself as being very good in “C” algebra.

Every Monday after school I went to the L.D.S. Salt Lake Temple and was baptized for the dead until I had been baptized for over four thousand names. While only eighteen, the Stake Genealogical Committee kept me busy recording their weekly cottage meetings, and very often had me giving the lesson or a talk.

November 14, in my nineteenth year, I got away on a mission to Hawaii, for the L.D.S. Church. I sailed from Seattle, but first I had my farewell. The memory of my farewell was pleasant, because the church was crowded. I remember the front of the hall was filled with all the Stake and all the Ward Genealogical Committee members, with their partners. They had come early, at the request of Brother George Simons, Chairman, so that they could be together in the front center section of the chapel, and in themselves were a good audience. They presented me with the Book of Mormon-Doctrine and Covenants-Pearl of Great Price combination.

My memory of the old Lurline boat trip to Hawaii was not so pleasant. At sea, a big storm came up, and instead of battling to go forward through the big waves they shut off the engines and floated for four days. Everyone, including the ship personnel, was sick. Big waves were washing over the ship constantly. It was safer to stay in bed than to be knocked about trying to stand or walk in the corridors or rooms, and to go on deck was not to be attempted. To be sick for four days and nights was not nice. It took eleven days to go from Seattle to Honolulu because of the rough sea.

Two years and nine months I remained in the Hawaiian Mission. After about six months, with study, I found that I could understand and speak somewhat the language. My first sixteen months were spent on Kauai, The Garden Isle. On Maui I spent a year. The rest of my mission was at Laie, the place where the temple, church plantation and church school are located.

Hawaii, as you know, is a very beautiful land. This land of paradise is divided into eight botanical islands, with some twelve or more minor islands, some of which are mere shoals. They are all of volcanic origin, being built by Madam Pele herself, that great goddess of mystic lore. The names of the larger islands are: Hawaii, Maui, Oahu, Kauai, Molokai, Lanai and Niihau. They have their names from old war chiefs, kings, etc.

On Kauai there is a large pile of sand. Many tourists have visited this place and have given it the name of the Barking Sands. On a hot day when the sands are dry, they can be made to bark if you slide down the pile, or if you shuffle the sands in your hands they will bark. On the same island is what they call a Spouting Horn. As you near the place you hear a roaring noise and see water shooting seventy-five feet into the air. Examining the place you find that a crest of lava rock extends over the water, in which is a three-foot hole. Each time the tide comes in, water is forced through this hole, spouting seventy five feet into the air. On Kauai is a beautiful canyon called the Miniature Grand Canyon. Thousands of tourists visit this attraction annually.

On Molokai the place of interest is the leper settlement. Most people, however, don’t want to see the lepers. It’s sad to see people covered with scabs, a hand gone, a foot eaten off, an ear gone or a nose. I only had to spend a week on Molokai. It was interesting, the evening I went there with an Hawaiian Brother as a companion that a Catholic Priest was waiting at the wharf too. He told me how he had lost many of his people to our church. He said that sadly enough, it was the better class of his members who had switched to become Mormons. When the boat came it was dark, and it was windy, and water was spraying on us sitting on the deck. A sailor came and told me that the captain wanted me to have his stateroom for the night. I was glad to accept. I saw the captain at breakfast, and he said that he was L.D.S.

I would like to tell of two experiences that happened to me on Kauai. Elder David Kaola Kailimia (a native middle aged man, a missionary for twelve years) was my companion at the time. He told me that President David O. McKay with President Hugh J. Cannon, a son of President George Q. Cannon, among the first missionaries to the islands, visited the islands in 1920. Brother Kailimia was given the assignment of driving these two wherever they wanted to go. For one thing, they wanted to visit the spot where the first baptisms took place. That was at Pulehu. Standing in the shade of the chapel, these men, at the request of President McKay, bowed their heads, while President McKay offered up a prayer. Brother Kailimia said he felt tempted to open his eyes. He said that he saw a personage clothed in white standing by their side. As the prayer ended, this personage in white faded away. Brother Kailimia told the two brethren what he had seen. Elder Cannon replied that the veil was very thin. President McKay, with tears streaming down his face said, “There was no veil.”

This story so impressed me that I prayed fervently to Heavenly Father to give me a manifestation that this story was true. I assume that my prayer was answered, because a few days later I told my companions, Elder Olsen, Van Wagener, Harris and Nelson, that I had dreamed that we were on hand to welcome two lady missionaries, getting off a green ship with the name Utah painted on it in white letters. I described minutely how the ladies were dressed. One lady was slim and had red hair. She was possibly twenty-three years old. She looked frail. She was dressed in a flowered print dress. She had on a soft straw hat and wore black slippers. The other lady was about ten years older. She had on a checkered black and white suit, and wore a stiff straw hat with a wide black band. She had on high-topped, cream-colored shoes that buttoned down the side. Next day we got a letter from the Mission President saying that two lady missionaries had just arrived from Utah, and he was sending them to our island: the older lady to be in charge of the Relief Society and the younger to be in charge of the Primary. When they arrived they looked and were dressed exactly like I had seen them and described them. It was uncanny.

I then dreamed that we went to the other side of the island and that it was raining when we arrived, whereas it was bright and sunny in Kapaa from whence we departed. I dreamed that the car we were in sputtered for about a hundred feet and then stopped dead in front of the sheriff’s home. He also owned the mercantile store situated across the highway from his home. He was half white, half Hawaiian. He was not a member of the church, but his family all belonged. In this dream or vision I saw we four elders run to the house, tell this man, who just happened to be home, our predicament, and have him tell us that our car was getting old, and that he would see that we got a new car, even if he had to buy it all by himself. I told my companions of this dream while we ate breakfast. They were all anxious to hop in the car on this nice sunny day and make the eighty-mile trip to where this particular family lived, just to see what would happen. As we neared the other side of the island, it was just pouring. The car sputtered and stopped in front of this special house. We ran in as fast as we could. We said our car had died on us, and we were amazed to hear this man say. “Your car is getting old. I’m going to see that you get a new car, even if I have to pay for it all by myself.” He went to the phone and ordered us a new Ford. We visited with church members, as soon as the rain stopped, showed them the new car, and asked if they would like to donate to help pay for the car. We got quite a lot of money to give this man, so he didn’t quite pay for the car all by himself.

Before we started back to Kapaa, I awoke with the strong impression that as we neared Kapaa the son of the people we were staying with drove in front of us in an almost new black four-door Dodge, and that we followed him home and found that they had just bought this car. When we left them a few days before, there was no indication that they were thinking of a new car. Here again we were anxious to see what would come of this dream. Strangely enough, as we neared Kapaa, this boy drove out in front of us from a side street, and we followed him home. He was alone driving this black Dodge four-door, and surely enough the family now had this nearly new car.

I took these three happenings that I had dreamed of and which had so impressed me that I could vividly describe them, and wanted to tell of them, and with witnesses saw them so quickly come to pass, as evidence sufficient that my prayer had been answered, and that Brother Kailimia saw correctly a personage in white standing with President David O. McKay and Brother Hugh J. Cannon, and that President McKay had said: “There was no veil.”

A second incident that impressed me was an administration I was called to give in the Lihue Hospital on Kauai. The sick man was a Brother Moki who was the first councilor of the Kapaa Branch. He had been getting sicker and sicker for about six months. Instead of calling in the elders or going to a certified medical doctor, he had chosen to drive about eighty miles where there was still a Kahuna, or witch doctor. At the end of six months, when it looked like he was going to die for sure, they called in a medical doctor who rushed him to the Lihue Hospital, and he was carried in on a stretcher, because he was too weak to walk.

We elders were driving by the hospital and heard an audible groaning. We decided we better take the time and call on this Brother Moki. We found that he was the one doing the heavy groaning. At the office, both the doctor and a nurse told us that this Brother Moki was too sick to ever recover and that we may well see him die while we were with him, as they were expecting him to die at any minute. His wife and daughter were in his room crying. He was vomiting blood into a metal container. His wife asked if we would administer to him. Elder DeHaan, the Conference President, anointed his head and asked me the favor of pronouncing the blessing. I gave him a blessing that he would recover. In leaving the hospital I was chided by my three companions for saying that he would recover, especially when the doctor had told us that he would soon be dead. I felt miserable, but still I had mouthed the words that had come to me to say.

About a week later we were passing the Kapaa Chapel, and sitting on the steps of the same was this Brother Moki. We stopped, and Brother Moki walked out to the car and was so happy to see us. He thanked us for the administration, admitting that our invoking the healing powers of our Heavenly Father had healed him. The ward members felt that it had been a great lesson to them all, to witness such a miraculous healing, and that for sure, they were not to go to the Kahunas.

After the yearly conference in Honolulu, I was sent to the island of Maui. On Maui the Church owned a home where the missionaries would come and go from. It was very nice, other than for the fact that a Japanese Sun Worshiper lived right in back of us. Each morning he would welcome the rising of the sun by chanting at the top of his lungs, and pounding on a drum for about an hour. He would do the same thing each night as the sun went down. There were eight of us missionaries, and each was assigned a permanent seat at the round table at which we ate our meals, which we took turns in cooking. To the right of me sat a left-handed missionary. Half the time I would catch him eating off of my plate.

On Maui I had some strange experiences. One day two of my companions had taken some people to baptize them in the ocean and came to the beach at Wailuku, and there was no water in the harbor. I and my companion were working in Wailuku too and from the street we could see that there was no water in the harbor. There was a big ship from Brazil lying on its side in the mud, as were several large fishing boats. Looking out to sea for about twenty miles, we could see a large wall of water. We felt that this water would come charging in on us, so we made for high ground. The water did come rushing in and threw these large fishing boats against houses and stores, puncturing the buildings. The water then receded, staying out for about twenty minutes and then came charging in again, doing the same things that it had done before. These tidal waves were caused by hot lava getting into the water, coming from the Kilauea Volcano on the big island of Hawaii. (or possibly an earthquake associated with this event)

At Paia we had a small church building but a lot of members. This particular Sunday I was there, speaking and conducting. All the seats were taken, and people were gathered on the outside close to the windows, and the porch was covered with people standing by the open doors and sitting on the porch railings. After the meeting I went outside and was confronted by the Calvinist minister from across the street. His church house was five times as large as our chapel, but he told me that his attendance had been only six persons. He said that all these people, crowded in and around this Mormon chapel, had once been members of his church. He said that he attributed the switch to the fact that we L.D.S. missionaries had the power of healing the sick. As members of his church became sick, they would call in the L.D.S. missionaries, and they would be made well, and out of gratitude would join the Mormon Church.

I had a similar experience in a small town where there was no L.D.S. chapel, but where a few members had large houses. I was conducting Sunday School in this house crowded with members, and in walked a Catholic Priest. I asked him if he wanted to say anything. He stood at our small pulpit and said that he had rung his church bell, opened the doors and waited, and only three people came. He sent them home and then came to our meeting. He said that if he knew of any other way to make a living, he would join our L.D.S. church: that he had in mind joining our church before dying.

Alma chapter 63 says that there was a very curious man named Hagoth, who built exceedingly large ships and set sail (54 B.C.) westward. As I remember it, this was our Sunday School lesson that particular Sunday morning. His ships were loaded with men, women and children and plenty of provisions. We L.D.S. people believe that these people were drawn to the islands by the Japanese Currents.

I remember reading a book of early Polynesian history written by an Hawaiian teacher at the University in Hawaii. He said that natives from Tahiti, of many years ago, were preserving a large ship on which they claimed their forefathers came to Tahiti. From there adventurous people built large outrigger canoes and founded the other islands, Hawaii included. These people had always believed in a white God and worshiped Captain Cook as such when he discovered them in 1778. Other explorers came shortly thereafter and brought livestock and manufactured goods. Regional chiefs ruled the islands at that time. Elder Lazenbe and myself spent a fourth of July day with Brother Sylva who took us up the Waihee Valley on Maui and showed us a stonewall which had separated two kingdoms many years before. This was how Hawaiian chiefs divided their domains. Then if anyone climbed over the fence into another chief’s domain they were sacrificed as a burnt offering or fed to the sharks. This particular place was called The Sacred Grove.

One of the chiefs was Kamehemeha, born on the island of Hawaii in 1782. He was ambitious and proceeded to conquer all the chiefs on all the islands. The battles were bloody, but when it was all over he set himself up as the king, and proved to be a good one. His statue is in front of the Kings Palace in Honolulu. When this man died his son became Kamehameha II. His first act was to abolish the Hawaiian pagan religion, which included human sacrifice and idol worship. Christianity came in 1827. These early missionaries from other churches looked out for themselves, as I see it. I say this because most of the ground and businesses in Hawaii are controlled by five families,; all descendants of these early missionaries. June 22, 1851 George Q. Cannon began baptizing natives on Maui. In 1866 the L.D.S. Church began buying much ground at Laie, Oahu until they had a large plantation. Most of this ground has been sold within the last fifteen years. Walter M. Gibson was given $5,000 to buy the island of Niihau, but he bought it in his own name and wouldn’t turn it over to the L.D.S. Church. A curse was pronounced upon him by President Joseph F. Smith, that he would die in the gutter because of doing this. Saturday 21, 1888 Walter M. Gibson, former member of the church and ex-Premier of Hawaii, died in the gutter in San Francisco from alcoholism.

I remember going to a luau that impressed me so much that I wrote a poem about it. I sent it into Mission Headquarters, and low and behold they printed it up and sent every missionary a copy. If I could find it I would duplicate it here. I did write a poem that I sent to the Improvement Era, and they printed it.

SMILE
When things don’t go to suite you,
And the world seems upside down,
Don’t spend your time in fretting
But chase away that frown.

Since life is oft perplexing,
‘tis much the better plan,
To bear your trials bravely
And smile when’re you can.

Family Celebration!

The reunion was spectacular. Thanks again to Liz and Drake for allowing us to use your amazing yard and home for the reunion. It was great to see posters of people's years and learn how many world travelers and marathon runners we have in our family. We are after all an awesome bunch.

Perhaps next year we can put up a globe and have people put stickers on all th places that they've traveled to. So if you want to et some extra sticker spots then make this the year that you go to Antarctica like I know you've always been dying to do.



Smor'e and hotdog set up for bbqing awesomeness



Jared providing swinging rides for the kids.



Easiest way to make awesome hair.



Poorly taken picture of the amazing plethora of food which people brought. It was divine.




Carolyn finding an easier way to get drinks with the hassle of going up and down the stairs



Explosions + Sugar + Kids = the wonder that is the candy canon



Some family posters people brought to show off the things that have gone on this past year, vacations, weddings, school, missions, ect.

What was your favorite part? Anything you'd like to add? Let me know. We (note how I switch between singular and plural tense?) had a wonderful time and can't wait for the next reunion.

Food Glorious Food

Did the title make you break into song with a slightly cockney accent? I hope so, if not I hope that it at least got you wondering if "please sir, may I have some more?" I'm not sure how I feel about being called a sir, but I can tell you that you'll be able to have a lot more food at the upcoming reunion. Below I've begun to list the food's which people are taking. I've also made it into lists, but don't let that cramp your style. They're nearly suggestions.


Drinks:
Grant-Rootbeer of the homemade variety

Main dish:
Sara-meatballs with skewers
Carolyn-seven layer dip

Fruit:

Pasta Salad:

Veg salad:
Marilyn-at least I believe it will be a salad of greenness

Potato Salad (yeah I know potatoes are veggies too, but they are special so they get their own spot)
Elaine-potato salad

Cole Slaw:

Deviled Eggs:

Other side dish:

Bread:
Sean & Laurel-Italian Bread with butter

Dessert:
Emily - ricecrispies
Carolyn-cookies
Kathy-Chocolate Cake

Plates:

Cups:

forks:

spoons:

organ grinder:
o.k. no one's bring one, but i just wanted to see if you were still reading this

I'll be updating it often, so feel free to come back and check it as often as you'd like until inspiration strikes.

Reunion!!!!!!!!!

O.k. there could be a snappier way to post this , but sometimes the prosaic title is the way to go. August 27th is going to be the Bromley-Hodson Reunion. Also known as the huge ol' hootin-ani by some, and by some I mean me.



(Why the red panda? Because of their severe cutitude. Plus the red panda is my dad's (Grant) favorite animal, so now you know some Hodson trivia. Unless he's changed his mind, in which case it's just a random photo that I took.)

It's going to be from 4pm-7:30pm and will be held at the Busath's. For obvious reasons, the address has been withheld, and will come in a separate email.


As always, the dinner will be pot luck. If you have any food allergies in your families or dietary needs then please post them below so that we can label food accordingly.

O.k. we already have added information:
We're going to make family posters instead of family reports. If you run out of time, there will be poster board and markers at the Busath's, but remember to bring photos so you can post them on as well.


Hope to see you there!

YOu Get to Paint

You get to paint
What should I paint?
Listen, think about it
...
The inspiration wil come
...
Here are your supplies
What do I have to do?
You don't have to do anything, you get to paint whatever you feel like
So if i feel like painting a fish?
Then you can paint a fish.
What if I don't like fish
That's fine, it's up to you.
o.k. (picks up brush) I get it.
I knew you would
Just one thing
Yes?
(points to canvas) Can I put green here?


I had the opportunity to teach Achievement Days (A calling where you teach 8-12 year old girls LDS girls about health, safety, spirituality, and other values) This month we're focusing on art. Crafts have never been my talent or forte, but I love to create art for its own sake and do open ended projects. This month we're following the lds international art competition theme "Make Known his marvelous works and wonders" With that them in mind the girls got to paint whatever they wanted. There's a lovely variety of paintings, but at first it took a while to explain that it didn't have to be one set thing. The theme is extremely open ended and encompasses all the creations on earth and in the skies, but they kept on asking me if it was o.k. if they drew or painted certain things. Hence my "poem".

How often does this transcend our lives? Not only in art, but in all aspects of our lives. What do you do to see the beauty around yourself, try new things, and step out of your comfort zone?

Farewell to Grandma

Many of us were able to attend Rose's 98th birthday party. It was a wonderful time, and I for one am exceptionally grateful that I was able to be there and see her before she died. Michael took photo's of her birthday and was willing to share the ones that he posted on his blog. You can check them out at http://michaelririe.com/mrblog/?p=1251 (I'm sorry that it's not working as a link. THe photos are a wonderful tribute to her life as well as her funeral.