Brother Stone took on the ambitious task of teaching a Wednesday night class that included both junior high and high school students. Moreover, he designed it as an experiential learning class in the early 1960’s to build a scale model of the tabernacle and its furnishings. We took his direction and lessons seriously and did, in fact, produce this model and present it in a Sunday evening service to the congregation. It was stored for years until mid-1960s, when the burgeoning “youth group,” under the direction of Harold and Veranne Graham, made a slide series that included all of the parts of this model with the scripture references we used for construction. This class made a profound impression on me and has influenced all of my teaching since.
I was also impressed by the home and family produced by Bro. and Sis. Stone. They had three beautiful daughters, each of who I admired in a specific way. Their youngest daughter had Down’s Syndrome. She was cherished and nurtured in this family along with each of her older sisters. She is the one who taught me to tame feral kittens. She was one of the gentlest women I ever met. I was fortunate enough to spend a week in their home when a teenager, while my parents were on a trip. It was one of the highlights of my teen years.