When Linda Met Lloyd

     I first noticed Lloyd's broad shoulders and relaxed easy style while sitting behind him in a Sunday school class in our college ward at SUSC (Southern Utah State College) I got acquainted with him in our Family Home Evening Group where I was 'the mom' and he was a member of our group since he was living in the boy's section of our apt complex. While brainstorming with a friend about the dating scene I suggested that she should hustle him since he seemed nice. She said she would but didn't act quite fast enough so I took my own advice and asked him out on a date as an assignment for my 'Celestial Dating' class at institute. We doubled with one of my roommates and his roommate. As a class assignment, my roommate and I planned the creative date (something other than dinner and a movie) and enjoyed a game of tennis, hike up to the water tower with the guys blind-folded and a campfire with an Mc Donald's dinner and roasted marshmallows up at the top. We had lots of fun and I liked his easy-going, relaxed way. I thought he was rugged, handsome and was a very skilled craftsman. He was in the process of building a dune buggy in one of his shop classes at the college with his brother Dave that was also there going to school with his wife.

     After that first date, Lloyd called me the next day to go get pizza. I was so excited because he didn't seem to be all that interested in me in the beginning. He was a lot different than the other guys I had previously dated. He wasn't demonstrative or romantic but I liked his confidence and maturity. I guess I liked the challenge of dating an older man that felt a little hard to get so I was intrigued.

     He had been on a mission and seemed to have a solid testimony and devotion to the gospel so I felt very safe with him. He was also 6 years older than me so I felt secure with him.

     We had a lot of fun playing cards at our apartment with his roommates and my roommates. We started going to dances together and had fun doing that even though he wasn't much for the dancing part . We spent a lot of time with friends at campouts and spending time in Zions Canyon, Red Cliffs and St. George since it was warmer there and lots to do in the canyons and surrounding areas. We both enjoyed being outside and being with our friends. College was lots of fun for both of us. He wasn't very clingy or demanding. Most of the time I wasn't really sure if he liked me a lot or not. At least it wasn't obvious to me.

     When school ended for the summer we stayed in touch via snail mail. His letters were very generic and not really 'love letters' very informational so I wasn't sure how long things would last. There was probably a phone call or two but not much. We had to worry about long-distance charges back then so we didn't talk to each other much. He worked at the train depot in Barstow California and I worked somewhere for the summer (I don't remember where) to earn enough money to go back to school in the fall.

     Fall came and we both met back at school. My mom met Lloyd for the first time when she dropped me off at my apt. He told her about some of his crazy antics in high school and my mom got the impression that he was a radical non-conformist  Looking back, she was partially right. He's a non-conformist but not very radical. I thought it was funny because he seemed so benign to me. She loves him now. She sees he's a good man. but she was nervous there as it started to get more serious.

     We continued going to school and dating the next 2 semesters. We were in the same apartments as the previous year but with different roommates. We went to dances and continued to attend activities and events together and things mostly went smoothly. I dated a few other guys a little since we hadn't committed to being exclusive and he had dates as well. We had a few disagreements about other girls and guys that were threatening the future of our relationships but got through that. The missionary that I was 'waiting for' came home during that time so I had to make sure things with him weren't going to be happening. I'm not really sure how Lloyd liked that but it didn't seem to bother him much. It didn't take me long to choose Lloyd over the old boyfriend. Even though I don't think I had a real commitment to marry Lloyd during that time, we must have expressed the desire to get married to each other because I remember it being a big decision.

     We got engaged while on a dune buggy ride out to see some Indian petroglyphs at Parawan gap. It was a fun day. He wrote Lloyd loves Linda in the dry basin with the tires of his dune buggy. We wanted to go up on the ridge and look down on it to see the letters in the dirt but never did. He had the ring in the pocket of his Levis and when I asked him if he had some gum he said "Yes" he did. so he reached into his pocket and as I held out my hand he put the ring on my finger. I was shocked even though he told me while at    McDonalds that, 'I was the type of girl he wanted to marry.' I kept asking him if we were engaged or not. He said we were but I kept reminding him there was no ring so we couldn't be engaged.

     At the end of the semester we each went home to our respective homes. Lloyd to Barstow and me to American Fork to prepare for our wedding on Aug, 24th 1979. I worked at Skippers Fish & Chips and Lloyd must've worked for the Train Depot again. We wrote letters and he called a couple of times. I rode the bus out to Barstow so we could take our wedding photo on the dune buggy. He also came out and surprised me at work once. That was fun.

     I worked feverishly to make all the preparations for our reception. I made cakes, mints and a my mom made my dress and all the bridesmaids dresses. I took my endowments out at the Provo temple and then we were married the next day at the Salt Lake temple. We had a wedding luncheon at Little America in Salt Lake City and we had our reception at Lloyd's sisters backyard in Orem. It was a lovely day and was very nice. We went on our honeymoon to San Fransico and down the coast and then over to Barstow for an open house at Lloyd's mom and dads in Barstow. That was lots of fun too. His mom and dad were the greatest. Always so loving and supportive. I fell in love with them the moment I met them.