Elvena Sessions

Born into a family of ten children, on 15 January 1894, Elvena was the youngest of five sons and five daughters. Her parents, Byron and Idella Winn Twombly Sessions had worked hard to build their ranch and raise their children in Woodruff, Utah. When she was a baby, the family moved into a lovely two-story home with seventeen rooms. Some of her older siblings were married and lived with them or nearby. When she was six, her father was called by President Lorenzo Snow to help settle the Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. They made preparations to leave their beautiful home and many friends and departed on April 24, 1900. It was quite an undertaking with 200 saints and all their worldly belongings traveling together to settle another new part of the West. They arrived a month later.  The first thing the men did was to begin digging a canal, so the land would have water and could be farmed. The families lived in tents and wagons until the fall, when the men stopped the canal work to build log cabins. She says this about her parents, “Our childhood memories are filled with good examples of my parents. Our devotional exercises where we read from scriptures, gathered around the organ to sing a song or two, and then knelt in prayer each taking our turn, taught us to pray before others as well as in our own secret prayers.” Elvena tells about several experiences where prayers were definitely answered. As a child, she attended school in Woodruff, Utah and then in Byron, Wyoming. She was a member of the Byron girls’ basketball team and played the position of guard. She was blessed with a good voice and a talent in music. She could play the piano and the organ; her sisters having taught her when she was very young. She was the Primary organist when she was thirteen. She first met her future husband, Thales Smith, when she was twelve. They attended the same school when she was fourteen and he, sixteen. They became engaged and then he left on a mission to the Southern states. She kept herself busy with church duties and caring for her invalid mother, remaining loyal to Thales. She met him at the train station at Cowley when he returned in January, 1914. Vena and Thales took the train to Salt Lake and were married in the temple there on April 3^rd. Upon arriving home, they loaded up their wagon and traveled for a whole day to their home on Shell Creek. They worked hard and built a good place to live, developing a ranch. Their family consisted of four sons; Thales Sessions, Jesse Byron, Arthur Callis, Scott Haskell and two younger daughters; Thelma and Ida Mae. While at Shell Creek, they were two days round-trip travel from Byron. There they attended church whenever they could. Some years, Vena would spend winters in Byron with her children, while Thales stayed on the ranch tending the animals. When Thales Jr graduated high school, Vena took most of her children with her to Provo, where they attended BYU, high school, and grade school. Vena also took classes at BYU; music and concert chorus. She enjoyed performing with the chorus all over Utah. In the fall of 1952, Thales and Vena were called on a short tem mission to California. She says that “No greater happiness can come than from being in the constant service of our Father in Heaven.” Vena passed away November 11, 1968, a great woman of many talents and with much love for her friends and family.

From Life History of Elvena Sessions Smith in possession of Darrell and Sherilyn Smith.