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of such. You have been so faithful working beyond your strength for years without very little sympathy from those that should of been a comfort to you as they should. But cheer up, there's many blessings in store for you, my dear boy. It's through many troubles and trials we enter the kingdom of Heaven and I am sure these blessings is in store for you, so be not dismayed."
A Tough Answer to Prayer: W.W.II
By Nov. 13, 1941, Lyle had only part-time work and was interested in logging, but his brother wrote that there were no jobs available at that time of year. On Dec. 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked and the job market soared.
Lyle found work at McClellan Field, just north of Sacramento, in 1942. Dallas also made herself useful by going to work in the Sacramento Cannery. Lyle served the war effort by working in engineering at McClellan Field for the duration of the war. While there, he survived a near crash as a passenger on a cargo plane taking off. Perhaps that is why is was in Mercy Hospital on April 5, 1942. On another occasion, he was assigned to help remove charred bodies from a plane that did crash and burn while attempting to lift off.
In the meantime, his son, Vern, enlisted in the Navy. Lyle was so proud of his son and touched by his generosity and dedication to the Lord.
Special Training
In April of 1943, Lyle was sent for several weeks training at the Fuel Cell Repair School, in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He spent 8 hours a day in the classroom and shop, then worked 3 or 4 hours on their notebooks every night. He said he liked it. "There is 10 sailors, 40 soldiers and 12 civilians, so we have a nice class. Room rent and food is high, about 20% higher than it is on the west coast... I will start home May the 9th and get in Sacramento May 13th."
In May 1943, Dallas wrote that they had Pete and Margie over for dinner one night, then went to their house for supper another night. Lyle was in Ohio.
A year later, on March 3, 1944, Lyle was in Oklahoma City, at the O.C.A.S.C., perhaps training in sheet metal. He was homesick and wishing for mail. He had been gone 8 days by then and was supposed to be there 30 days. He said they could see movies there on the post for 15 cents, while they cost 52 cents in Oklahoma City. He said he missed her more than the 3 weeks he spent in Akron, perhaps because she was gone when he got home from there and wasn't at the airport to see him take off. He left her a note at the house, but missed seeing her.
On March 12, 1944, Lyle wrote that after 18 days away he had only had 2 letters. He begged Dallas to write him. He had sent her a box of candy, Vern a birthday package, and Fred a gun.
Walking to and From Work
It must have been after the war that Lyle started working for Fred Carnie and Son, down on 15th and L Street, for $18.75 a week. He had to walk to work. They couldn't afford gas, even if they'd had a car. "It was 8 miles from my house into the shop. I'd get up and milk a couple of cows before I went, walk in and work 8 hours, and come home and milk the cows after I got home. So after I'd milk the cows at night, I'd work around the place. We had a group of walnut trees and olive trees. During olive season, I'd cure 20-25 gallons of olives every year, and pick the walnuts."
Lyle spent several years working his way up with Carnie and Son, in the tents and awnings business, until he felt that he had gone as far as he could go with that business. They also earned income from selling their extra milk from their three cows and building and renting two houses on their land.
All Work and No Sleep
Times were hard and Lyle was bent on getting ahead in life. He wrote, "Due to the fact that we were paying $57 a month on the property we bought, and I was only making $18.75 a week and we had other expenses besides, it was necessary that I have a little more income. So I went to work during almond season for the almond growers. I'd put in 8 hours in town, come home and do the chores, sleep for 2 or 3 hours, then get up and go to work for the almond growers at 11:00pm. (This was after I'd been working for Carnie and Son for 2 years, and we'd scrounged up enough money to buy an old jalopy automobile.) I'd work from 11pm to 6:00 in the morning, rush home and milk the cows, and go back to work for Carnie in the daytime.
"Dallas said some nights when she'd go to wake me up to go to work at 11:00 and I'd only had an hour or two of sleep, she'd wait until the very last minute to wake me up. I'd jump up and she'd have my lunch fixed and grab a snack to eat.
"I remember one night I was driving in, I went to sleep. I ran into a man's mailbox and knocked it over. I told him I'd get him a new one and put it up, so I did that.
"One night I drove in to the almond growers' and before I could open the door and get out and go to work, I fell asleep. Two patrolmen came along in an automobile, hammered on the window and woke me up. They were going to take me to jail, because they thought I was a dope addict or a drunk or something. I told them where I was working, so they went with me to find out. We went to the office, and they verified I was an employee, so they left.
"I did this for 2 seasons (about 2 ½ months). I got so tired and worn out for lack of sleep, I didn't know what I was doing half the time. But I was working on the calibrators, which helped, I and another fellow. There were 2 sets of calibrators, and they have to have a man on each one of them. Between the two of us, we worked out a plan and we watched both sides. It kept us running and it was pretty hard, but we got away with that while the other one slept. So we got a little sleep that way, and that helped out, or we wouldn't have been able to make it.
"That supplied us with enough money that we could make the payments. All my family told me when we bought the house that we would never pay for it. We paid $5000, and we paid that off in about 10 years. But when we sold the ranch in Fallon, we got payments on that twice a year, so that helped us out some."
Serving in the Church
Lyle was ordained a high priest in July of 1945. On Aug. 13, 1945, he wrote, "Today I am 42 years old and have only become a high priest in the work of the Lord, acting in the Bishopric. Bro. Elmer C. Gardener is the Bishop, Bro. Oscar E. Larsen and myself are his counselors. I hope the Lord will help and bless me so that I will be worthy of the trust that has been given me.. We have been very busy the past 3 weeks and will continue to be for the next 2 months, but I like it very much and know that most of my time should be spent in working for the Lord.
"I am still out at the Air Depot but don't know how long I will be there after the war is over, but it doesn't matter because there is plenty of work everywhere. Lawrence and Velma are well. Betty is working at the Regional Air Depot. Clyde is working at Camp Coler. Marvin is his boss. Clyde says he only works about one hour a day, but gets paid for 8 hours work, so he gets along very good. Mary is working at the cannery.
"In the letter we received today from Vern he said, 'Daddy, I am very proud of you because you have been MORE
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