My dad, James W. Ford, was baptized in the Radio Church of God in July of 1957. He had been saying, as far back as I can remember, “God has to have a true Church somewhere.” In 1954 he received a Plain Truth magazine in the mail with his name and address on it. We never did find out if someone specifically sent my dad’s name in or if God just decided to have it sent.

My dad tried to get me to see that the Lutheran Church was wrong. But, being a stubborn teenager, I decided I wouldn’t look into it. So, he left some Plain Truth magazines laying on the coffee table. He knew I would read whatever I got my hands on. I was convicted almost instantly, and would often spend four or five hours at a time studying God’s Word.

When the Lutheran minister came out to convince me to go back to church, Dad introduced him to the Plain Truth literature as well. He would take a stack of magazines home, read them, bring them back and get more. We never heard if he started preaching from them but he got kicked out of the Lutheran church and moved back to North Dakota.

On July 11, 1960, my mom, my brother Leslie and I were all baptized in Blackduck Lake in northern Minnesota when Roger Foster and Carn Catherwood came through on a baptism tour. That was the beginning of a wonderful new life!

That fall we attended our first Feast of Tabernacles in Big Sandy, Texas. It was wonderful even though we had to stay in a tent and sort of rough it. That year I met my wonderful husband-to-be, Russell Edelbach. We married on March 19, 1962.

In the fall of 1962, our assigned Feast site was in Squaw Valley, California. So, Russell and I drove out there. We had $265 in second tithe. We camped there and took all our own bedding, canned foods and necessities. Some brethren were running short on funds; we were able to help them out and still have $20 left when we got home!

We didn’t have a local church to attend until the fall of 1963. Before the church congregation was established in Minneapolis, Russell and I went to Chicago for the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

When we were first married, we lived in southern Wisconsin. It was a 138-mile drive to Minneapolis from there. So we decided to move to Minneapolis so we could be close to the church. God provided the way for this to work out. We lived in the Twin Cities area for 37 years and God blessed us very much. Our daughter Beverly was a baby at the time we moved. Later on, Jean and then Tim were born.

We have been through many experiences over the years—both positive and negative.

My wonderful Russell died of cancer in 2009. I still miss him, but I am thankful that God blessed us with 47 years of marriage.

Then in the fall of 2011, my sister-in-law, Karen Edelbach and I decided to go to ABC. That was a wonderful experience!

In the fall of 2013 I met Elmer Salmon at the Feast in Wisconsin Dells. We have now been married six years. This year will be my 61st Feast of Tabernacles.

It has been an exciting and fulfilling life!