Carl and Glenn
In 1995, as part of our stake (parish) realignment, I met Glenn Rawson as a member of our new congregation in Blackfoot, Idaho. He had taught seminary to three of our daughters - Deserie, Denise, and Tauna - (and later to our daughter Cristy and son Michael). Tauna told us that she loved Glenn as her teacher.
I worked as an air personality and chief engineer for local radio station KLCE, which aired Sounds of Sunday each Sunday morning featuring religious music conducive to Sunday worship. The program was created by Jim Burgoyne, our station manager. However, we both felt that the program could be improved by adding some Gospel related messages. I would have loved to deliver those messages myself, but I lacked the resources, and I felt inappropriate as an already established 'pop music' radio personality.
The first Sunday when my wife Linda and I attended the Gospel Essentials Sunday School class in our new ward, we discovered that Glenn was our teacher. I reflected on how much Tauna enjoyed him as her seminary teacher, and that this was my opportunity to validate her opinion. Tauna was right! Glenn was truly a gifted teacher!
The next Sunday while in his class, I remembered my thought of producing Gospel messages to add to Sounds of Sunday, and wondered if Glenn could deliver such messages. I closed my eyes and listened to him speak for a moment. I then quickly concluded that he had an expressive 'radio-friendly voice’ and he would sound great! Plus he was already rehearsed at giving such messages. I approached him after class and asked him if he would be interested. He was more than willing to participate in such a project. Furthermore, he said that he had hundreds of stories ready to use. I concluded that 'the wheel was already invented,' and Glenn would be the right person to record these.
The First Story
On several occasions for over a year, Glenn and I discussed finding a good time to record. Finally, in determination, on Tuesday night, July 15, 1997, we went into the studio, offered a prayer, and using our newly acquired Audio Technica 4033 condenser microphone, I recorded his first story, "Close Enough to Touch." Glenn brought me some appropriate instrumental music on CD; I edited it to the proper length and mixed it in. As we listened to the finished track, I was overwhelmed! Glenn's recording was more polished and inspirational than anything I could have done. I felt there was a divine purpose in producing this and future stories, and I felt that a major purpose of my life was being revealed to me. A humble man, Glenn had little understanding of the impact his stories would have on listeners.
I played the story to Jim. He was impressed too. A few days later, Glenn and I returned to the studio to produce two more stories. Jim heard them too, and then asked our program director (the late) Wayne Richards to add the stories as regular features during "Sounds of Sunday." At first I thought that we should air one story every half-hour, but Wayne directed us to produce only one story for each hour, three in rotation per Sunday. Glenn and I eagerly complied.
In retrospect, I am grateful that Wayne wanted only one story per hour. I had no idea how many stories I would eventually produce and how much time I would spend producing them. As the length of the stories increased from about 2 minutes to over 4 minutes, it would have been impossible with my limited time to maintain good quality producing twice that number.
A Brief Moment of Reflection
Like a brief moment in time that comes only once in a thousand years, how was it possible that Glenn and I should come together to produce these stories? It was at the right time and in the right place, and precipitated by several factors. It was more than just a coincidence. I believe that our Father in Heaven orchestrated this.
In March 1967, if I had not been sent to Blackfoot, Idaho as a missionary where I grew to love the people there, 21 years later I probably would not have accepted a job there and made our home there. In 1985, if I had not lost my job in Salt Lake City, I probably would never have considered a job at KLCE in Idaho's small radio market. Sometimes, what appears to be a misfortune can be God's way of moving you to where He wants you, and when He wants you. If Glenn had not been Tauna's seminary teacher, I probably would never have known of Glenn. And if our stake had not been realigned, I would not have been placed into Glenn's ward where we became friends and found this common interest. And if Jim had not created "Sounds of Sunday" for KLCE, we would never have considered producing these stories.
I became resolved that this project was greater than anything I had imagined. I received the spiritual impression that someday these stories would be heard by people across the country - maybe even around the world, but I had no idea how that would happen.
For one thing, the stories could not stand alone inserted between pop songs on the radio. They needed to be integral to a program such as Sounds of Sunday like we were airing. So a syndicated version of "Sounds of Sunday" would need to be produced weekly as a proper environment for the stories. Then distribution of the program to other stations was a concern. In those days (the late 90s) the internet was not available. Reel-to-reel tapes had been used for years, and audio cassettes and digital audio cassettes were beginning to find use. But all of these methods were costly. Recordable CDs had not yet become available, and commercially produced CDs were only manufactured in lots of at least 500 - way too expensive! Satellite radio delivery was popular, but at a cost of at least $3,000 per month. We had no budget for any of these means, but I knew that someday - somehow - the way would be opened to us. So I faithfully archived nearly every track of every story onto mini-discs.
Here's one of Linda's favorite stories:
