Tucson Memories Of Bishop Howells

I was so sad not to be able to travel up for the funeral but I felt great comfort in writing down my memories of Bishop Howells. He was my seminary teacher for all four years I was in high school and my Bishop. He has been an important figure in my life.

In high school I had lunch with my bishop every day. Bishop Howells was called to be the bishop of our ward when I was a sophomore. In the stake some people called him the “teenage bishop” because he looked so young and because it seemed he was more comfortable with the youth than with adults sometimes. My friends and I ate lunch at the picnic table in front of the seminary almost every day and Howells would join us. Sometimes we would play games he made up, like the one where someone would name an object or a word and everyone else would try to be the first to recite a line from a song with that word or object in it. Other times we would just talk about things that were only interesting to teenagers. It seems to me that during much of the time I was in high school Bishop Howells knew more about me than any other adult.

Other games Howell’s liked: “Buck, Buck” from Fat Albert, wrestling, and “Samurai.” I can’t remember the rules to Samurai except that it was supposed to be a scripture mastery game, it involved a huge taped-up newspaper stick, whacking it and yelling “Samurai!!” which Howells did with gusto.

He seemed to me to have an incredible amount of energy and be incredibly humble at the same time. It is a combination I have never seen in another person.

There was a music morningside one time when a friend of his had come to speak to us. Afterward we asked Howells what they where planning to do before class started (there was about 90 min) and he said they were going back to his house to have breakfast. Without being invited Heather, Tyler and I climbed into the back of his blue Volvo. Bishop only looked a little annoyed for a minute then laughed and took us with them and fed us breakfast. I think that it was after that they always had bagels or doughnuts after the morningsides.

I remember Howells speaking very reverently of the mountains. He said that in the scriptures temples are called the Mountain of the Lord and that at times on Earth when no temples are available the Lord speaks to his prophets from mountains. He said that in his life he felt a spiritual reverence in the mountains.

Before seminary graduation Howells asked the female students not to hug him during the graduation out of respect for Amy. In the emotion of the moment more than a few of us forgot and tried to hug him anyway. He was very gracious about it. There was never any doubt how much he loved and adored his wife. He spoke about how much he admired her all the time.

I remember in class discussing the prophet Alma’s last words to his sons. I remember Howells saying that he related very much to Shiblon because of the advice his father gave him. Among other things Alma told his son to “bridle all his passions.” Howells said that this meant a lot to him because he considered himself to be a very passionate person. Alma didn’t tell his son to squash his passion or kill or destroy it but to bridle it like a rider does with a horse. A bridal on a horse gives the rider the ability to steer and lead the horse in the direction the horse should take. Howells said that Alma is telling us all to give righteous purpose to our passions.

In the short time he spent as an Institute teacher at the U of A he left an impression because he would hang out in the foyer on the couches talking to students during his breaks between classes, instead of in his office like many of the other teachers.

In my life he was the most powerful spiritual advisor I have ever had. I don’t expect another will match him.

With love, Andrea Messinger Dalton