Getting to Know Me!

Andrea N — Times are a changin’

I was born in Provo Utah when my Dad was principal of BY High.  Now that dates me!!!  I had two older brothers and would get two more brothers.  My dad was sent to Tehran, Iran in an educational government exchange.  He was to set up the teachers college at the University of Tehran.  It was when the Shah was in power and wanted to modernize the society including educating women.  Things have changed.  As a family we traveled through Europe both going and coming from Tehran.  I remember playing on the acropolis with my brother and remember also when we were served escargot he made a scene in the restaurant crying at the top of his lungs “Worms” Worms!”  I remember going to the top of the Eiffel Tower and later looking in the canals in Amsterdam.  I was quite a novelty in Iran (Blonde, blue eyes, and fair skin).  The old men on the streets would want to touch me to see if I was real.  One day I was sitting on the ledge of our second store window playing with my Dad’s bible.  I “accidently “dropped it out the window.  A policeman brought it to the front door and my Dad had to buy it back.  The conversation took place in German as my Dad didn’t speak Farsi and the policeman didn’t speak English but they both spoke a little German.  (Probably a hold-over from WWII.)  We met for church in the homes of the members and during Ramadan we didn’t sing hymns too loudly so they couldn’t be heard by passers-by outside the windows. 

When we returned to the states after two years in Tehran my dad was recruited by the new President of the College of Southern Utah to work there and help bring the education department to a 4 year status.  This is now Southern Utah University so I spent most of my growing up in Cedar City Utah.  In fact I remember the first year they staged the Utah Shakespearean festival on a six inch platform for the stage!!  My things have changed.  I have ushered for the festival and got to see many Shakespeare plays, some of them many times.

I took piano lessons and lived on a street with lots of kids.  We all played outside most of the time and slept outside in our backyards in the summers.  We hiked the mountains near our homes and rode bikes.  I watched “I Love Lucy’ before school and remember watching “Honey West” and “Man from U.N.C.L.E.”  I also remember when the Beatles were on Ed Sullivan and my third grade teacher saying it was just a fad and wouldn’t last.  My chores included cleaning the house but I much preferred helping my Dad in the Garden.

While in High School I participated in the band, (saxophone), choir, drill team and debate.  I attended SUU and served a mission in Nagoya Japan.  This was quite a change from my Dad who was a radio operator on a B-29 in WWII and bombed Nagoya -- twice!!!. Most of my companions were Japanese.  The first one didn’t like American’s much but we hung in there.  One Japanese companion had worked at the LTM in Hawaii so she was a real help in teaching me Japanese.  She was also a gourmet cook and didn’t like my cooking.  (The ingredients I used were not in Japan and we didn’t have an oven)  So much for the casseroles I grew up on.  We worked it out so that she did the cooking and I did the cleaning.  Actually I got the better end of the deal as she was a fabulous cook.  One American companion became the sister I never had.  She had all brothers too and we had an immediate connection when she stepped off the train.  We were called the Blonde bombers of Fukui

After my mission I returned to SUU for my final year of college doing my student teaching at Timpview High School in Provo.  I also got engaged just before I graduated and married in 1978.  My husband was a schoolteacher and I was blessed with two daughters. We moved to Southern California in order for my husband to attend a professional music school to become a studio musician.  I managed 4 apartment buildings and had my third daughter.  We moved back to Utah and built a house in American Fork where my son was born.  Not wanting to go back to California without a source of income and 4 children, on my part, my husband, on his part, decided he wanted a change.   I became a single parent with 4 children, with a mortgage and no car, so I had to change my entire plan for life.  I returned to Cedar City, renewed my teaching certificate and taught in the Iron County school district as a Debate coach, and a Japanese and American Government/History teacher.  The teams were very successful always finishing 1st 2nd or 3rd place.  Leaving my children each weekend for debate tournaments for five years necessitated another change, and I obtained employment as the Assistant to the President of MetalCraft Technologies - a company that built airplane parts. 

The summer of 1998 my brother went to a class reunion and met up with his friend with whom he had formed a rock band with in High School - Roice Nelson.  Roice came to my parents’ house after the reunion, and as I was living across the street from my parents, I went over to say hello to a guy I hadn’t seen in many years.  Another change ensued as Roice decided the little sister of his friend was “interesting”.   We were married in the St. George Temple on May 15, 1999, I changed my whole life again, and moved to Houston.  

 Now my life is changing each day as I learn new things teaching seminary, experiencing weddings of children (we have 10) and addition of Grandchildren (12 at present count).  Roice travels with work and I like to travel and learn new things to change my perspective of life and the world.  I also like to quilt, read, and garden. 

The only thing that hasn’t changed is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the truthfulness of the restoration.  Without this knowledge I could not have gone through all these changes and been strengthened each day though scripture and prayer.  I love meeting new people in the ward and am enriched as I learn of their wonderful experiences and testimonies, which then help me continue to change as my testimony is strengthened.