Dell Holland, missionary

In April, 1997, Lou received a letter from Dell Holland, then 92 years old, the missionary who had married Florence and Evan Callaway.  In the letter he recounted the excitement of that wedding day.

Wanda - Dell Holland in 1992

". . . later in the fall Florence asked me if I would perform the marriage ceremony for her and her fiance. I told her I would be happy to. Florence went out to her folks place a week early to prepare, and we accompanied the groom and best man in a 1925 Pontiac - what was then a sedan with wooden bows over the top covered with plastic leather and plastic glass windows. There was no hard surfaced roads or seat belts. Ha! It was beet harvest time and deep ruts in the road. About half way, the groom pointed to the clock in the rear vision mirror and said, 45 minutes (45 miles). We would be there by 1 p.m. Scarcely saying that, and we and the car was leaning against a light pole, the car top was flattened out and we were on the ground. The only body physical damage was a slight scratch on my wrist. The groom caught a ride back about a mile and obtained another car identical to it and rolled on to a hysterical family about 2 hours late.

"The next day en route home, your dad [Jesse Butler], in viewing the wrecked car, stated that there was no doubt that God with his protecting arms was wrapped around the occupants of that car and that there was a man of God in the car. I was told that he soon joined the Church and was placed in the Branch as clerk."