Spencer

Spencer Kohler Christensen born October 12, 1962

     We enjoyed the next two years in Moscow seeing progress in the Institute program and the Ward.  There were some remarkable students and ward members who came to be like “family” to us, even to this day.  We could see that there was much more to be accomplished in the years ahead, but changes were in the wind.

     In the spring of 1962, when we knew that a new member of the family would be delivered sometime in October.

     We finished the semester and said our good-byes. 

     Well, all of this occurring along with making a down payment on our home at 1860 Yalecrest Avenue in Salt Lake City.  Brother Lowell Bennion had given me some good advice during one of our visits.  He said that if you were not concerned about having property and animals, it is always wiser to locate your living arrangements as close to your work as possible.  In this way, you have less commuting time and more time with your family.  Good advice.  Our home was just about two miles south of the campus and within manageable biking distance.

     Amy and Susan were registered as students at Bonneville Elementary School and Barbara was close to the delivery of our son, Spencer.  With his birth, we evened up the genders at three and three.

     In those days, the father of the children and the mother’s husband were kept as far away from the delivery room as possible.  I have never witnessed a child’s birth.  I was called in the Fathers’ Waiting Room by Dr. Howard Sharp who said, “You lucky dog, you have another boy!” Spencer weighed in at 7 lbs. 12 oz. and we felt so blessed that he was safely here.

     When Spencer was born our numbers were evened out 3-3. What a joy for our family to welcome darling Spencer. He received more love from older siblings than he probably desired.

     Like the rest of the children, Spencer came with his own unique personality and talents.  He was always a good organizer of others.  When he was four years old, he said to the family, “Dose who want to carry in my train and gun, waze yo’ hands.”  Later he said to me, “Daddy, if you was foost to waze yo’ hand, den you can carry it in.”  When he was in Banida and working on some project on the farm, my Dad said, “Well, Spencer, you haven’t worked up a sweat.” Spencer replied, “ I happen to come from a family that doesn’t sweat.”

     At age seven, Barbara said to him, “Be careful Spencer.  That’s dangerous, and then there wouldn’t even be a Spencer.”  He replied, “There will always be a Spencer Kimball.”

     Very early on, we recognized that Spencer came with a wide variety of talents and skills, in such areas as manual dexterity, carpentry, athletics, personal relations, finance and business.  He started investing in stocks while in high school and even had a hopeful goal of financing his mission “on the interest” from his investments.  In athletics, it seemed that, had he chosen, he could have pursued his golf skills even beyond the amateur level.   One of his early part-time jobs was teaching tennis lessons to some adults in the Provo area.  He served his successful service in the Ecuador Guayaquil Mission and upon returning worked at the Provo Missionary Training Center.  It was from there that the call came to serve as President of the Texas McAllen Mission in which all the missionaries were required to be bi-lingual in English and Spanish.  He received his MPA Degree from BYU.  After returning from the mission, the authorities invited him to leave the MTC in Provo and serve in the Missionary Department as Manager for Missionary Assignments where they would prepare the personal papers for members of the Quorum of the Twelve who would make the assignments for the missionaries.  He was pleased to return to the MTC where he now serves as Director of Operations and, among other duties, has the responsibility to host dignitary visitors from around the world who are authorized to visit.  What a blessing it has been for Spencer to marry his high school sweetheart, Sheila Kerr and for their two children to join them.