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Show The baby was very small, weighing only three pounds. Sadie's wedding ring would slip over her tiny hand, like a bracelet. There seemed little chance of her surviving and soon after her birth she went into convulsions. A neighbor, Lenora (Nodie) Robinson, who had a knack for nursing the side, came to lend a hand. The tiny baby was cold and continued to have convulsions. Nodie wrapped her in cotton, placed her on a blanket and placed the little body in the warming oven of the coal stove. She was fed with an eye dropper. Becoming worried about the child's chances of survival, Nodie asked Jim and Sadie if they would allow the Elders of the Church to give the child a blessing. The concerned parents knew nothing about the Mormon Church, but after Nodie explained that this would be a special blessing for the sick, they consented. The Elders arrived and gave the child a blessing. She began to improve immediately. Jim and Sadie were deeply impressed. The baby was named Melba. As Jim worked on the ranch he found that his farming experience in Missouri didn't work in the arid Utah desert country. The first time he cultivated a field he diligently set to work, filling in all the ditches made for irrigating the crops. He remembered later with a chuckle, that his boss was quite upset when he had to make new furrows for watering. While living in Missouri, Jim had supplemented his earnings by trapping wild animals and selling their pelts. That Winter he set out traps after traps and all he could catch were a few scolding magpies. Even when he used poison laced horse meat as coyote bait, he only managed to kill more magpies. He was discouraged. Ruth remembered going to school at Peterson in a canvas covered wagon with a pot-bellied stove set in the wagon box to keep the students warm during the bitter cold days. She remembered that Violet Cragun was her teacher. The children were entranced with the Union Pacific trains which roared through the Canyon about a mile south of the farm house. When the famous 'Liberty Bell' was shown throughout the Country to help raise money during World War I, the family rushed down to the tracks to watch the flat car go by, bedecked in red, white and blue bunting. One day while cleaning out an old sheep camp wagon, Jim found a battered copy of what he described as a Church history book (Book of Mormon). He and Sadie began to read the book. Ward Teachers and Relief Society Block Teachers began to call at the home. The Gospel rang true the first time Sadie heard it, but Jim had doubts. In the Summer of 1915, encouraged by his father, Jim took his family and moved back 288 |