Wander With Wayne

I thought this was published on 3/22/2021. Publishing it about a year later... When I was around age 8, I was in a play. I had one line in the play, “Mister, can I be in the band.” To which the band leader basically told me that if I work at it, one day I could. In the rehearsals that I went to, and during the nights we performed, my father in the play (Ferrell Dillworth) whittled wood. I thought it was awesome to watch Ferrell whittle. Shortly after that, Mom signed him up as a 4H instructor, so I could learn to whittle. Ferrell passed away recently and I attended his funeral. Here’s his obituary: https://www.wilkscolonialchapel.com/obituaries/Ferrel-Dilworth?obId=21064423#/obituaryInfo At his funeral, I loved several stories that were shared:  First: He was called to lead some of the older boy scouts in his ward. He drove a very small car and the young men loved to pick it up and move it. They often moved it to different parts of the parking lot, and sometimes even hid it....

I thought this was published on 3/22/21. For some reason it doesn't appear to have been published. This week I had several good experiences. Kaneesha and I have been working to get an Instagram following to sell my books, when they’re illustrated. To help us, I connected with a group of graduating BYU-I business students. They gave us some great advice and are putting together a simple website for us and finalizing some suggestions for us. They have been a great group of consultants. They’re from all over the world: South Africa, Ethiopia, Maryland, Hawaii, and Canada, the other two are on campus. Half of them are older than traditional students and one has been a business consultant for years and finally decided to get a degree. I’m grateful for what we’ve learned already and look forward to our final meeting on Tuesday. Back in November, they notified my co-workers and I that donations that have coming directly from the Bishop’s Storehouse will be taken on and supported more dire...

July 1, 2020 we began managing 16 rental units in the Blackfoot area. Prior to that (for about 8 months) I had been working to purchase them. As we worked through the deal to purchase the units, the executor of the estate—fearing he’d be sued if he sold them to us, asked me if I’d manage them. They were in terrible condition, so I turned the offer down. I had way too much to do, so I wasn’t interested. At that moment, Noell felt impressed that we should manage them. She felt that it was something where she could to do most of the work. I definitely didn’t want to manage them, with all that I had to do, but decided that she could. When she began managing them, there were 4 vacant units (the executor chose not to rent them out until they were completely overhauled). While we’ve worked to overhaul the apartments, we’ve done a lot of personal work and used a number of sub-contractors and handymen to get the apartments repaired. After a couple months, the executor sold one and we now manag...

These last few weeks, Tate and Dawson didn’t have their regular sleep schedule. Some days they woke around 5 am. That’s a little different than the 8:30-9:00 when they typically waken. On Friday morning, as I was heading to work, I took these photos: Stailey went to a party at the Wanstrom’s home on Friday. As I drove in their driveway, to pick her up, Hailey Harrison stepped outside. I called out to her, “Oh, so you got kicked out of the party.” She laughed and said that her parents were coming to get her and she’d come outside to cool off. I asked her how school was going, and she said it wasn’t great. I laughed and said that I knew her well enough that it couldn’t be bad grades. She then began to share several things she’s struggling with in her life. Nothing major, just boy troubles, etc. One of the things that I’ve struggled with most since we moved to Blackfoot is that the youth don’t know me. In Payson, I taught a lot of children and youth in primary, young men, or Sunday schoo...

My cousin, Jay Leithead’s wife (Katie) encouraged us to send a birthday card to my Aunt JoAnn. I decided I’d take a moment to share some memories, instead of just sending a card. Here’s what I’ll send to her: Thanksgiving comes to my mind when I think of my Aunt JoAnn. You might guess that’s because our annual Goodworth Thanksgiving reunion happens in Kamas, and that she’s done so much over many years to make it a success. Actually, I’m filled with thanksgiving for the many things JoAnn’s done for me. As a boy and young man, I spent every moment I could at JoAnn’s home. While my mom and sisters tried their best to train me properly, I was a country boy, from Idaho, with 7 brothers to learn from—as well as argue and fight... and play with. I’m certain that I did many things that were backward, and definitely difficult for her to deal with, but she always welcomed me any time we could make arrangements for me to be with her family. Some of my special memories, besides eating (and I’m cer...

Immanuel means “God with us.” At first, I thought that meant God came down from heaven to be with us on this earth. I felt that he came and lived with us so we could call him Immanuel because he lived on this earth. That thought doesn’t make sense. He was given the name Immanuel in the Old Testament. Isaiah called him Immanuel. Before he was born, he was not called “God will be with us.” Now, I believe he’s called Immanuel because he is with us if we will let him. He will not leave us alone. Just because he went to heaven, he is still Immanuel. He is still “God With Us,” if we choose.