Australian Blog

In days gone by, blogs were called albums.

This is Ben's father's missionary album.
His name was Ben, too.
He served a 3 year mission in Australia in the early 1930s.
I scanned in the photos during the conference sessions today.

He took pictures we could expect a missionary to take.
He labeled this, "Aussie Grizzly."

I was impressed with this photo.

Also in the photo album were pictures from his youth.
He was twelve in this picture, a Deacon,
being prepared for three years of suit-wearing.

A portrait just before his mission.

There were many photos of him with other elders.
I loved the details in these photos.
Notice the watch chains. Or the hair.
Yes, please notice their hair.
Definitely not current hair standards for elders.
Elders in those days wore hats.
Elder Markham is on the far right.
There were several formal portraits taken during his mission.

This photo was taken at the time the mission president
and his wife were leaving in 1932.
In a tidbit of information,
Elder Markham served until he got a letter releasing him.
When he left Utah, he did not know how long he would serve.

A lot of the photos showed that Elder Markham enjoyed
having fun with his companions.

Maybe some days they had too much fun.
Ya, definitely too much fun.He definitely got into the spirit of things.But they knew their purpose.

The caption on the back of this said, "Pago Pago."
It's my favorite photo.

There were many photos of outings with other people.
Obviously this is a picnic.
Notice the record player in the lower left corner.
Notice the clothes they are wearing.
Elder Markham is the one standing.

Again, notice the clothing for this hiking trip.
Elder Markham is right in the front.

I was not aware Ben's father was musical.

There were several pictures of this washboard band.

Maybe not all was fun and games.
The caption read, "Job and Doc. Markham."

This photo was also in the album.
It was taken about 1917.
Ben is on the bike. His brother Lynn is on the left.

As a missionary, Ben named his bike.

Elder Markham is second from left in this bike crew.
I can't explain the guy with the baseball bat.

This is the home Elder Markham left behind.
He was raised in Leland, a suburb of Spanish Fork.

This is a snapshot of his brother Lynn and his parents.

Uncle Roy was Ben's mother's brother.
The family worked as farmers to support Ben on his mission.
Another caption on this page said that year they
raised 40 tons of sugar beets per acre.
My Ben has often said his uncles were all short.
No kidding.

This is a photo of Ben's father, Stephen David Markham.
He was a dairy farmer,
and he was a bishop for about 25 years.

Here is Stephen David, his wife Phoebe Isaac,
Lynn and Ben.

Ben clearly liked cars.
We can't identify the man on the left,
but Lynn is next to the car, with Phoebe on the far right.
The license plate says this was taken in 1932,
so we know his family sent Ben this photo.

Elder Markham is in the back of this car.

I can recognize Stephen David, 3rd from right.
Two Chevy's appears to have been a big deal.

Elder Markham returned home in 1933
on the ocean liner Monterey.
I doubt he spent much time in the first class cabin,
but I loved the detail in this photo.
He is in the lower left hand corner of this photo.
You know why missionaries travel third class, right?
It's cause there is no fourth class.

32 Degrees

I love this mountain.
Ben took the photo for me.
I hope this bodes well for a cold, snowy winter.

41 Degrees

Thunder, lightening and lottsa rain moved in this morning.
Now Mt. Timp looks like this!