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On the Cover
A church on the move. This is the import of the photographs reproduced on this issue's cover. Progress on the new Church office building is portrayed with- the Salt Lake Temple — the old with the new. Members of the Church have always sought the best of both. The smaller photographs were taken at the October general confer- ence. They represent the Church membership on the move — building, growing, doing meaningful things. These seem timely themes on which to close the 878th consecutive issue of the Improvement Era.
Voice of the Church Volume 73, Number 12 December,1970
Special Features
2 "That the Fullness of My Gospel Might Be Proclaimed," President Joseph Fielding Smith
5 Goodbye to the Era, Elder Richard L. Evans
6 The Christmas I Remember Best, Royal R. Meservy 8 Yea, Though I Walk, Melvin DeGraw
10 Sixty-nine Years of the Children's Friend, Mary R. Jack
13 Thorpe B. Isaacson, 1898-1970
14 Emma Ray Riggs McKay, 1877-1970 14 Anonymous Miracle
18 How Children Learn, Rodger A. Pool
26-127 ConferenceAddresses
Regular Features
Witness the Christ, Mabel Jones Gabbott
Lest We Forget: They Who Served, Albert L. Zobell, Jr.
LDS Scene
The Church Moves On
Presiding Bishop's Page: The Presiding Bishop Talks to Youth About
Being in the World But Not of the World, Bishop John H. Vandenberg
Buffs and Rebuffs
Today's Family: "Welcome to My World . . . ," Mabel Jones Gabbott
On This Christmas Day, Greetings
These Times: Ensignship for Future Times, Dr. G. Homer Durham
End of an Era
The Spoken Word, Richard L. Evans 49, 93, 104, 128
bra OT YOUth Marion D. Hanks and Elaine Cannon, Editors And After the Manger Scene, What? Kenneth W. Godfrey A Capsule of Conference for Youth Scout Sub, Dora D. Flack The Fragrance of Christmas, Marion D. Hanks Quiet Thoughts for Christmas Beautiful Things Happen At Christmas, Elaine Cannon
24 129 130 132 136
137 138 140 141
144
146 148 150 152 154 157
Fiction and Poetry
20 19,
A Matter of Direction, Lael J. Littke 105 Poetry
Joseph Fielding Smith, Richard L. Evans, Editors; Doyle L. Green, Managing Editor; Jay M. Todd, Assistant Managing Editor; Eleanor Knowles, Copy Editor; Mabel Jones Gabbott, Manuscript Editor; Albert L. Zobell, Jr., Research Editor; Bernell W. Berrett, Editorial Associate; G. Homer Durham, Hugh Nibley, Albert L. Payne, Truman G. Madsen, Elliott Landau, Leonard Arrington, Contributing Editors; Marion D. Hanks, Era of Youth Editor; Elaine Cannon, Era of Youth Associate Editor; Ralph Reynolds, Art Director; Nor- man Price, Staff Artist.
W. Jay Eldredge, General Manager; Florence S. Jacobsen, Associate General Manager; Verl F. Scott, Business Manager; A, Glen Snarr, Circulation Manager; S. Glenn Smith, Advertising Representative.
© General Superintendent, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1970; published by the Mutual Improvement Associations. All rights reserved.
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The Improvement Era, 79 South State, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
Era, December 1970 1
"That theFulness of My Gospel
The Editor's F&ge
By President Joseph Fielding Smith
• My beloved brethren and sisters, we bid you welcome at the commencement of this the 140th Semiannual Confer- ence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
We are grateful that the Lord has given us this privilege of coming to- gether again to worship him in spirit and in truth, and we pray that there may be a great outpouring of his Spirit in the sessions of this conference.
We extend a special welcome to our Father's other children, devout and good people of many faiths who join with us by listening to the radio and television broadcasts.
I hope that I may now have the sustaining power of your faith and prayers as I speak to you. I rejoice in the privilege of raising my voice in doctrine, in testimony, and in thanks- giving.
For more than sixty years I have preached the gospel in the stakes and missions of the Church — pleading with the Saints to keep the commandments, inviting our Father's other children to accept the truth of salvation which has come to us by revelation in this present dispensation.
All my days I have studied the scriptures and have sought the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord in coming to an understanding of their true mean- ing. The Lord has been good to me, and I rejoice in the knowledge he has given me and in the privilege that has been and is mine to teach his saving principles.
As I ponder the principles of the gos- pel, I am struck forcibly by the uniform manner in which I and all the Breth- ren have taught them over the years. The truths of the gospel are ever- lastingly the same. Like God himself, they are the same yesterday, today, and forever. What I have taught and
written in the past I would teach and write again under the same circum- stances.
And what I say of myself should be true for all the Brethren and for all the elders of the Church. We are all called to preach the gospel, to be ministers of Christ, to. raise the warn- ing voice, and to "teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom."
In the early days of this dispensa- tion, the Lord said to those called in his ministry, "that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world; . . . That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the sim- ple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers." (D&C 1:20, 23.)
To those called "to go forth to preach" his gospel and to all "the elders, priests and teachers" of his church, he said: They "shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon," and the other scriptures, "as they shall be directed by the Spirit." (See D&C 42:11-13.)
As agents of the Lord we are not called or authorized to teach the philosophies of the world or the specu- lative theories of our scientific age. Our mission is to preach the doctrines of salvation in plainness and simplici- ty as they are revealed and recorded in the scriptures.
After directing us to teach the prin- ciples of the gospel found in the stan- dard works, as guided by the Spirit, the Lord then made that great pronounce- ment which governs all the teaching of his gospel by anyone in the Church: "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." (D&C 42:14.)
Might Be Proclaimed' I
Address delivered at general conference Friday morning, October 2, 1970
In harmony with the spirit of these revelations, and with a heart full of love for all men, I ask the members of the Church to learn and live the gospel and to use their strength, energy, and means in proclaiming it to the world. We have received a commission from the Lord. He has given a divine mandate. He has commanded us to go forth with unwearying diligence and offer to his other children those sav- ing truths revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith.
God our Eternal Father is the author of the plan of salvation. This plan is the gospel of Jesus Christ; it is that "through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." (Article of Faith 3.)
In every age when the gospel is on earth, it must be revealed to the Lord's prophets, and they must be called to stand as legal administrators to per- form and to direct the performance of the ordinances of salvation for their fellowmen.
Joseph Smith is the prophet whom the Lord called in this day to restore the truths of salvation and to receive the keys and powers to administer these saving truths.
To him the Lord said: ". . . this generation shall have my word through you." (D&C 5:10.) And then, referring to the gospel restored through Joseph Smith, the Lord said: "This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all na- tions, and then shall the end come, or the destruction of the wicked." (Joseph Smith 1:31.)
Thus we link the names of Jesus Christ and of Joseph Smith. Christ is the Lord; he worked out the atoning sacrifice; he is the resurrection and the life; through him all men are raised
in immortality, while those who be- lieve and obey his laws shall also gain eternal life.
Joseph Smith was a prophet, called in these last days to receive by revela- tion the saving truths of the gospel and to stand as a legal administrator, having power from on high, to admin- ister the ordinances of the gospel.
Since these truths revealed through him are the ones which shall go forth to every nation before the Second Com- ing, it is little wonder that we find Moroni saying to Joseph Smith that his "name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people." (Joseph Smith 2:33.)
Nor is it any wonder when we later find the Lord saying to the Prophet: "The ends of the earth shall inquire after thy name, and fools shall have thee in derision, and hell shall rage against thee;
"While the pure in heart, and the wise, and the noble, and the virtuous, shall seek counsel, and authority, and blessings constantly from under thy hand." (D&C 122:1-2.)
The ends of the earth are now be- ginning to inquire after the name of Joseph Smith, and many people in many nations are rejoicing in the gospel restored through his instru- mentality.
Since the beginning of this dispensa- tion, the testimony of Jesus, as revealed to Joseph Smith, has been preached in the United States, Canada, Great Brit- ain, most of Europe, and the islands of the Pacific.
In recent years there has been an almost unbelievable expansion of the work in Mexico, in the Central Ameri- can countries, and in South America.
And Asia is now being opened to the
message of the gospel in a way that surpasses anything of the past. The Church is becoming established in Japan and Korea, in Taiwan and Hong Kong, and we are getting started in Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia.
And the day will come, in the provi- dence of the Lord, when other nations, now closed to the message of truth, shall have their doors opened to us, and the elders of Israel will go in to tell the honest in heart in those na- tions about Christ and the gospel of his kingdom that has come upon the earth in this day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
Indeed, there are more doors opened to us now than we can enter with the number of missionaries who are avail- able. We hope to see the day when every worthy and qualified young Latter-day Saint man will have the privilege of going forth on the Lord's errand to stand as a witness of the truth in the nations of the earth.
We now have many and can use many more stable and mature couples in this great missionary cause, and we hope that those who are worthy and qualified will set their affairs in order and respond to calls to preach the gos- pel and will perform their obligations acceptably.
We also have and can use many young sisters in this work, although the same responsibility does not rest upon them that rests upon the breth- ren, and our greater concern with reference to young sisters is that they enter proper marital unions in the temples of the Lord.
We invite members of the Church to assist financially in sustaining the missionary cause and to contribute liberally of their means for the spread of the gospel.
We commend those who are serving
Era, December 1970 3
so valiantly in the great missionary cause. Joseph Smith said: "After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the gospel." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 113.)
We invite our Father's children everywhere to give heed to the words of the missionaries who are reaching the nations of the earth.
We plead with them to accept the Lord as their God and to come and worship him in spirit and in truth and in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
We invite all men to believe in Christ, to accept him without reserva- tion as the Son of God, as the Only Begotten of the Father, to have faith in his holy name, and to signify their love for him by keeping his command- ments and receiving those whom he has sent in his name to preach his gospel.
We know that if men will have faith in Christ, repent of their sins, cove- nant in the waters of baptism to keep his commandments, and then receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who are called and ordained unto this power — and if they will then keep the commandments — they shall have peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.
Now may I say to all those who for- sake the world and join the Church, and to all the members of the Church, that Church membership alone will not assure us of the full blessings of the gospel or guarantee us an entrance into the celestial kingdom. After bap- tism we must keep the commandments and endure to the end.
Speaking to members of the church, Nephi said: ". . . after ye have gotten into this straight and narrow path, I would ask if all is done?"
Then he answered: "Behold, I say
unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.
"Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." (2 Ne. 31:19- 20.)
There is no more important thing that anyone in the world can do than to receive the gospel and inherit its glorious blessings.
And there is no more impotrant counsel that can be given to any mem- ber of the Church than to keep the commandments after baptism. The Lord offers us salvation on condition of repentance and faithfulness to his laws.
I plead with the world to repent and believe the truth, to let the light of Christ shine in their lives, to keep every good and true principle they have, and to add to these the further light and knowledge that has come by revelation in this day. I plead with them to join The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and reap the blessings of the gospel.
I plead with the members of the Church to do the works of righteous- ness to keep the commandments, to seek the Spirit, to love the Lord, to put first in their lives the things of God's kingdom, and thereby work out their salvation with fear and trembling be- fore the Lord.
And now to all men — in and out of the Church — I bear my testimony to the truth and divinity of this great latter-day work.
I know that God lives and that Jesus Christ is his Son. I have a perfect knowledge that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820 and gave him commandments to ' usher in the dispensation of the fulness of times.
I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, and that it has come forth "to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations."
I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the king- dom of God on earth, and that as now constituted and officered it has the Lord's approval and is moving in the course so directed.
Let all men know assuredly that this is the Lord's Church and he is directing its affairs. What a privilege it is to have membership in such a divine institution!
And I pray that the gospel cause shall spread, and that the honest in heart in every nation shall be brought to a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray for the preservation and suc- cess of the missionaries and new con- verts, and ask God our Father to look down upon them in love and in mercy and give them the desires of their hearts in righteousness.
I pray for the youth of the Church and of the world in these perilous times, times when gospel standards are needed as much as has been the case in any age of the earth's history.
And I thank the Lord for his good- ness and grace and for all the bless- ings he has so abundantly poured out upon the world, upon his church, and upon us as individuals. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. O
By Elder Richard L. Evans
Editor • And so we come to the end of an Era— an end that is a beginning. The Improvement Era ceases publication with this issue. The Ensign, the New Era, and the Friend begin their mission next month.
Emerson said that "an institution is the lengthened shadow of one man." The Era has been the lengthened shadow of many— too many to mention— and the lengthening of it is beyond measure in the lives it has touched in its seventy-three years of service.
Thanks to all of you— you who brought it into being under difficult conditions, with no money but with a conviction that the need was there.
Thanks to the Presidents of the Church under whose guidance the magazine was started and who served as its editors through all these years— Presidents Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, and Joseph Fielding Smith.
Thanks to you, you other editors— past and present— you business man- agers, you the staff.
Thanks to you the contributors through all the years— an illustrious long list. O what great ones there were— and are.
Thanks to you, the MIA, the general board members, the Presiding Bishopric, the priesthood quorums and committees, the Department of Education, the Genealogical Society, the Era representatives in wards and stakes— thanks to all who have helped make the Era an influence for great good, in many ways helping to hold the Church together— worldwide.
Thanks to you, the subscribers, the readers— for the whole intent is that the message be read and touch the hearts and minds and lives of people.
"The greatest use of a life is to spend it on something that outlasts it."
The Era will forever outlast itself in its far-reaching effects, as it has brought the written word to the homes of countless people— worldwide.
It shouldn't take too long to say goodbye when there is a happy ending— and this one is: an ending that is but a beginning.
Goodbye to the Improvement Era!
Welcome to the Ensign, the New Era, and the Friend!
The old and the new— but the message is constant, and the purpose is that each of us shall find peace and happiness and the highest possibilities of everlasting life.
"God bless us, everyone." O
Era, December 3970 5
0.
• It was the Sunday before Christ- mas, and our family was discussing memorable Chris tmases. After some discussions among the children, my eleven-year-old son Greg asked, "Dad, which Christmas do you re- member best? Will you tell us about it?"
That was a big Order, but after a few minutes' hesitation, I pro- ceeded to tell them this experience:
The Christmas that stands out most in my mind was that of 1944, during World War II. We had, fought through the Battle of the Ardennes and were then sent to the Siegfried Line to replace the Sec- ond Division. We had been "there a week when the German offensive known as the Belgian Bulge began. We were right on the nose of that thrust and were commanded to hold at all costs. For two and a half days we fought and held. But finally, on December 19, 1944, we were forced to surrender.
After we were searched, we stood out in a barnyard all night. The next morning we began a march of thirty-eight miles. There was no food, except part of a raw sugar beet that I dashed into a field to get as we marched along.
The following morning, after sleeping on the cold, damp ground, we moved slowly forward. We ar- rived at a big building about noon and were given two packages of German emergency ration crackers and a ride to the Geroldstein, Ger- many, railway station, where we slept on the hard cement. On December 21, we were loaded aboard a train of boxcars, with 65 men to each car. The sliding doors on either side of the car were wired shut from the outside. There was no food or water.
December 23, 1944, found us out-
Dr. Royal R; Meservy, assistant clerk and choir director in the Whittier (California) Fifth Ward, is counselor at Fullerton Junior Col- lege.
side of Diez, still cramped up m| boxcar, hungry and thirsty. It was* on this memorable afternoon that I learned the true meaning of Christmas.
Just before dark American bombers flew overhead, and bombs fell so close that one boxcar door was ripped entirely off. As the-, bombing continued, someone asked, "Has anybody got a Bible?" I reached into my pocket and handed him my pocket edition of the New Testament. He turned to the sec- ond chapter of St. Luke and read:
"And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
"And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
"And the angel said unto thenv Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
"And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
"And suddenly there was with the angel a'multitude of the heav- enly host praising God, and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:8-14.)
I had heard that scripture read year after year, but never before or since with the emotion and feeling with which It was read in that boxcar.
Peace came over us* He hanaed the Bible back^ to me, and we all sat quietly, each deep in his own thoughts.
The next day, after eighty-eight- hours without water, we were given water and later some food. Christ- mas of 1944 is the one I remember best because I was grateful just to be alive. O
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Jfea,Thoiigh I Walk
By Melvin DeGraw
Illustrated by Richard Bird
• I can remember Jotun very faintly now. As the years have dimmed the recollection of those childhood experiences in central Norway, so also have they intensi- fied my memory of a few events of so many years ago. Tiny white flakes of snow now swirling around my window remind me of Jotun and that Christmas many years ago.
It was 1918 and winter was severe in the northern valley of Jotun, Norway, where my father struggled with a small farm. Al- though the farmland was never blessed with the rich soil so abun- dant in western continents, we man- aged to make ends meet with small crops. It was always hard work, and we enjoyed few luxuries.
Christmas was a day we all looked forward to with impatience. We began to decorate the house early in December, and during the following weeks we would gather around the old piano to sing Christ-
Melvin DeGraw became deeply interested in the Church as a result of read- ing some anti-Mormon literature in the public library. Now a convert of six years, he is an active member of the St. Louis (Missouri) First Ward.
mas songs. There was always much laughter and reverence as the spirit of our Messiah's birthday cheered the atmosphere.
When we were very young, my sisters and I would cut out little decorations for the tree, getting everything ready for the big night when St. Nicholas would pay his nocturnal visit.
It was on the night before Christ- mas that the incident so deeply imbedded in my memory happened. I was bringing the milk out of the barn, walking briskly across the newly fallen snow toward the tiny, brightly lit house. The air was bitterly crisp, and stars twinkled brilliantly through the vast black- ness overhead.
Suddenly I heard the noise— a faint, sharp, cracking sound that echoed slightly through the valley. I stood paralyzed in my tracks, with the heavy milk buckets hanging at my sides. Now I could hear noth- ing, as the silence engulfed the tiny plateau and the immense valley. I strained my ears, every fiber in my body alert to the perception of any- thing audible. As I stood for what seemed to be an eternity, the sound came again, slightly more distinct than the first time. It was a grating, cracking noise, only an echo from the distant peaks by the time it reached me.
Although I had never heard this sound before, I knew what it was. Millions of tons of ice, accumulated layer upon layer over the years, were slipping slowly from one of the gigantic peaks!
I burst into the house with a hysterical scream, the words chok- ing in my throat. "Father, the ice is going to fall! I heard it crack just now. It will fall in the valley and kill all the people!"
My voice seemed to lock on me, arid I stopped suddenly, my hands gripping the back of a chair. My father calmly but swiftly came to my side. He did not doubt what I had heard. He could tell by the frightened look on my face. He went to the open door and stood silently, his breath visible in the quickly chilling room. Turning to us, his handsome face was long and drawn, and the even lines of his brow were fashioned in worry. His simple statement was conclu- sive : "It is the ice on Galdhoping. The people in the valley must be warned."
Should the ice slip, we all knew that it would avalanche devas- tatingly through the valley, annihi- lating everything in its terrible wake. Such a disaster had occurred the year before my older sister was born, and both of my father's parents had perished.
Father thought swiftly. Time would be against him, and the deep snow would be an almost insur- mountable handicap. He could easily fall in one of the treacherous powder snowdrifts, which were im- possible to detect at night; or he might perish along with the people in the valley, should the avalanche develop before he could return.
Our house was relatively safe from danger because it sat on a little plateau, with the descending valley rolling steeply to the south of us. But there were nine houses in the valley. Father would warn each household and invite them to start back with him toward the plateau.
Throughout the long night my mother, my sisters, and I sat in the tiny room, transfixed by the flick- ering yellow candlelight as it re- flected grotesque shadows against the wall. The sound of cracking ice was now audible, echoing through the valley at sporadic intervals. It was slipping maybe an inch, maybe
a foot at a time. How many more seconds, minutes, or hours before disaster would visit the valley below?
As the first rays of dawn came through the windows, we thought of this special day— Christmas. And we thought of father, somewhere in the valley, who, with God's strength and power, was being guided on a dangerous mission.
It was bitterly cold and the sky was clear and crisp as we finally gathered at the door, watching a thin column of people walk slowly toward us on the snowy path below. Father, his face unshaven, was in the lead.
At 11:13 that Sabbath morning, the whole of Mount Galdhoping seemed to empty into the valley with a rumbling that would leave nothing in its wake but destruction. There would be no houses left, no homes to go back to, but the people were alive. Yes, it was Christmas! Despite the destruction, we rejoiced that day and gave our thanks to a kind and merciful God who had spared our lives . . .
Now I rise from my chair and walk to the window, watching a tiny snowflake come to rest against the wide pane. Tears have formed in my eyes as again the memory of that eventful day comes back to me. I turn from the window and my heart warms. Our Christmas tree this year isn't big. The presents for our grandchildren are waiting to be opened by the starry-eyed youngsters on Christmas morning. Youthful and innocent, they do not yet know of winters in Jotun many years ago. Oh, but they will know when they are old enough, for this is a story that must be repeated by them to their children.
It does a man good to pause and recall the stories of his father. It brings humble joy and a spirit that will last long after the memories of Christmas have passed. O
Era, December 1970 9
• Sixty-nine years of joy for the children,
Sixty-nine years of help for the home,
Sixty-nine years of Primary achieve- ment,
Sixty -nine years of a labor of love!
As the Primary Association move- ment spread to the various com- munities and a general board was appointed to prepare lessons and give general supervision, the need for a magazine was felt. The matter was discussed, but there were diffi- culties in the way. There were no funds.
Later the matter was referred to the First Presidency, who replied on April 28, 1896:
"The First Presidency considered the subject matter of your late communication in which you desire their mind in regard to starting a paper in the interest of the Primary Associations. Presidents Woodruff and Smith (President Cannon ab- sent in the east) are clearly of the opinion that such a venture could not be made to pay financially for the reason that papers of years' standing in our community are to-
day on the verge of failure, and in fact the Church is being appealed to to come to their assistance. In the light of these facts, and the in- ability of the Church to render any assistance whatever in such a direc- tion, they could not consent to an attempt on your part to put a new periodical in the field.
"The Presidency send you their kind regards, and hope that you will be able to continue your labors without the assistance of a paper, for the present at least."
But the Primary women were per- sistent, and in 1901 they decided to try again. This time consent was given, and the new magazine was started.
Although there still were no funds and the printer was dubious, the women rolled up their sleeves and went to work. The first edition appeared in January 1902. Sub- scriptions were sold at a rate of one dollar a year. By January 29, 1902, 868 subscriptions had been sold, and the magazine was safely launched.
Olive Derbidge ( Christensen ) is given credit for naming the maga- zine, but she said it named itself.
Mary R. Jack began working on the Children's Friend in 1913 and has since served as associate editor and as managing editor. Since 1940 she has also been secretary to the Tabernacle Choir.
In a Primary general board meeting where a name was being discussed, it was decided that Primary Friend would be a good name. Miss Der- bidge, then assistant secretary, was appointed to write up the notices. When she had completed her task and was showing the papers to the other members of the board, it was found that she had unconsciously written Children's Friend. Every- one thought this was a better name, so the Children's Friend it became.
Miss May Anderson, a convert to the Church from England, a trained kindergarten teacher, and general secretary of the Primary board, be- came its first editor. (Although she was initially appointed for a six- month term, she was to serve for 38 years! )
In the office in the Templeton Building, she and Louie B. Felt- general Primary president, ad- dressed the magazines by hand, wrapped and tied them with mate- rials brought from home, and personally delivered them to the post office. The Children's Friend in the beginning was one-half its present page size.
The opening feature in that first issue was a poem by L. Lula Greene Richards, "Our Work and Our Wealth," which was written during the meeting of the board when the
Sixty-nine Years of the Children's Friend
By Mary R. Jack
THE CHILDREN'S FRIEND.
"- " i» <••' • NUtMIHUi
First edition of
the Children's Friend,
published January 1 902
May Anderson, first editor of the Children's Friend (1902-1939)
LaVern W. Parmley, last editor of the Children's Friend (1 951 -1 970)
10
new magazine was being discussed.
The second feature was a greet- ing signed by Sister Felt:
"Beloved Sisters:— With feelings of intense joy, deep devotion and profound gratitude we introduce this little book. Hope and fear alternately plead for supremacy and we humbly ask that you will exercise charity and assist us by your faith and prayers.
"If in any way our little book will help the young to learn that 'Wis- dom's ways are pleasant ways and all its paths are peace,' our reward will be ample."
Although the magazine contained lessons for the Primary classes, the lessons had many supplementary stories and memory gems that the boys and girls read and reread. Thus the magazine from that very first issue became their magazine. Subscriptions increased, and by the end of February the list of sub- scribers had grown to 1,248.
As time went on, stories, serials, verse, crafts, pictures, and other features were added, and the les- sons were published in bulletins for the teachers.
In 1924, the page of the magazine was enlarged to its present size. The enlarged magazine carried a continuing series of two-color cov- ers by C. Nelson White, a convert
to the Church from Denmark. He also contributed the first illustra- tions and the first picture story series, "Zippo-Zip and His Friends."
With the reorganization of the Primary Association in January 1940, May Green Hinckley became president and editor (1940-1943). She was followed by Adele Cannon Howells (1943-1951) and LaVern W. Parmley (1951-1970).
Outstanding features in the mag- azine during May Green Hinckley's term included Church history arti- cles, articles from Church leaders, cut-out and color pages, excerpts from pioneer diaries, children's hobbies, and series on manners, music, foods, and children's art. The November 1940 number carried the magazine's first birthday greet- ing to a President of the Church, Heber J. Grant, which practice has been followed every year since. The magazine also added a depart- ment of lessons for mission Pri- maries. One particularly interesting cover featured the picture of a child from each stake and mission of the Church (November 1940).
Adele Cannon Howells added to the magazine a department of pen pals and one of children's contribu- tions. An outstanding feature for the Utah pioneer centennial year in 1947 was covers featuring chil-
dren in pioneer settings. The entire year carried features commemora- tive of this important anniversary.
Editor Howells planned and sponsored a series of Book of Mor- mon paintings by a noted artist, Arnold Friberg, for the fiftieth an- niversary of the Children's Friend. In a way, these brought interna- tional renown to Mr. Friberg, for copies of the magazine prompted a representative of Cecil B. de Mille to ask for loan of the artist for The Ten Commandments.
Also honoring the fiftieth anni- versary of the magazine, two Chil- dren's Friend story books, one for younger and one for older children, were published.
A radio series, "Children's Friend of the Air," was carried on a local radio station for several years, with dramatized stories from the maga- zine. The program later moved to television, where a series on kind- ness to animals, an outgrowth of the Children's Friend Kindness to Ani- mals Club, was featured.
Several awards earned by the Children's Friend were presented to LaVern W. Parmley, who fol- lowed Adele Cannon Howells as editor. The National Offset-Lithog- raphy Competition gave the maga- zine its first award in 1953, for the Book of Mormon paintings by
A. Two-color cover by C. Nelson White, March 1926
B. December 1941 cover, featuring sculpture by Avard Fairbanks
C. Wrap-around cover for first International Issue of the Children's Friend, October 1966, designed and painted by Dorothy Wagstaff
D. First of photographic series of children in pioneer settings, January 1947
E. November 1970 Children's Friend in four-color by Neva Schultz
Era, December 1970 11
Arnold Friberg, and its second award in 1954. Three awards were received from the National Safety- Council for "exceptional service to safety." There was also an award from the National Association for Press Women; one from the Simp- son Gallery of Fine Printing and Lithography; and the Mead Award, in national competition for out- standing printing.
... 69 years of a labor of love"
An effort to modernize the Chil- dren's Friend and give it a new look was made in 1961. Many children and their parents were pleased with what was termed its "ultra-modern look," but the vote opposing it was three to one. After six months, the magazine continued to be modern but not "ultra."
The first color in the magazine appeared in 1933. This was very primitive compared to the lovely four- and five-color art introduced later during the editorship of La- Vern W. Parmley.
With a beautiful magazine that was selling for two dollars and fifty cents a year, it was felt that more children should be reached. Under the direction of Editor Parmley, and with Leone W. Doxey as circulation manager, the "Friend on a Mission" campaign was in- augurated, giving children an op- portunity to follow the admonition of President David O. McKay, "every member a missionary." Chil- dren earned and contributed their pennies; ward and stake Primary or- ganizations prepared programs and dinners; and funds were raised to
send the magazine to missions and missionaries everywhere.
The following from a stake Pri- mary president is typical of the response :
"I am writing concerning the 'Friend on a Mission.' My wards are anxious to get started; we had such good results last year. . . . Some of the wards are planning a special banquet for the Primary children and their friends to be held in the afternoon. . . . They really like this 'Friend on a Mis- sion.
A lady missionary wrote that she and her companion had knocked on the door of a home but were not admitted by the mother. Since there were children in the home, the next day the missionaries re- turned with copies of the Children's Friend and asked the mother if the children might look at them. She smiled and said yes. Before long the parents and children were baptized.
From Australia a missionary wrote: "Fredia is a nine-year-old girl. Fredia and her mother have set a date for baptism. They first started investigating the Church when a missionary brought the Children's Friend to their home. Their conversion began with the reading of the magazine."
The Children's Friend has been the "voice of the Church to chil- dren." Its editors and editorial boards have endeavored to supply the children of the Church and children everywhere with materials that inspire testimony, faith, rever- ence, obedience, service, and other virtues in keeping with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, and to oc- cupy their leisure time in a whole- some way.
Under the present able direction of Editor LaVern W. Parmley, her associate editors and editorial board, and with the production skill of Gladys Daines, managing
editor, the magazine has reached an all-time high, with a circula- tion of nearly 170,000.
The following, selected from many such testimonials, will attest to the popularity and editorial qual- ity of the Children's Friend:
"Please convey to the Children's Friend staff my sincere congratula- tions on their splendid work. The format, illustrations, stories, and features are outstanding. Chil- dren's Friend ranks with the best of children's magazines. It is an asset to any home— Mormon or non- Mormon."
"Thanks so much for sending me a sample copy of your magazine. I have ordered several samples of magazines and to me yours is tops! I'm sure children enjoy it."
"May I say how much our twins and my husband and I enjoy your little booklet. It is both educational and amusing. We all love it, and we happen to be Catholics!"
"I take and enjoy reading the Children's Friend even if I am getting old. I especially like to have it in the home for my grandchildren or neighbor children."
"I consider the Children's Friend to be the best publication in its field —bar none."
"I just started to Primary and I am in the Sunbeam class. I didn't like to go to class by myself, but Mommie said if I was good and brave I could have the Children's Friend come to me just like my big sister. Will you send it to me, please? (I have been good and brave for 4 weeks.)"
"I like your books very much. I hope my mother will sign up again. Your stories are very good. I like the things to do. I have learned a lot of things out of your books. My brother likes them, too!"
So end the 69 years of the Chil- dren's Friend— 69 years of joy, help, achievement ... 69 years of a labor of love. O
12
Thorpe B. Isaacson 1898-1970
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, 1961-1965,^970
Counselor to the First Presidency, 1965-1970
First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, 1952-1961
• Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson counseled his sons: "If there is any work that has to be left undone, it must not be the work of the Church." This remark char- acterized his devotion to the Church, expressed in tremendous spiritual and physical energy. For Elder Isaacson, the principles of the gospel were the sources from which he directed his great enthusiasm in many fields of endeavor-in athletics, education, business, civic affairs, and the work of the Lord.
Elder Isaacson was born September 6, 1898, in Ephraim, a little farming cbmmunity in central Utah. His grandparents accepted the gospel in Europe, and it was instilled in him by his pioneer parents, Martin and Mary Beal Isaacson.
An outstanding athlete in his youth, he attended Snow Academy (now Snow College) at Ephraim, Brigham Young University, Utah Agricultural College (now Utah State University), and the University of California at Berkeley.
While teaching in Box Elder County, he met Lula Maughan Jones, and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple June 16, 1920. Following their marriage he worked as a teacher, coach, principal, and a faculty member at various schools in Utah and Idaho. He later became a successful life insurance executive, and one year was selected as the most outstanding life insurance man in America.
Elder Isaacson's civic and church service was greatly diversified. He was chairman of the Church's historical sites committee, vice-president of the board of trustees of Brigham Young University, vice-president of the Church Board of Education, president of the board of trustees of Utah State University, and a member of the University of Utah board of regents.
Serving in government appointments, Elder Isaac- son was a special consultant to the U.S. Commissioner of Education, consultant in U.S. foreign aid adminis- tration, and a member of Utah's Little Hoover Com- mission. He also served on several business and civic boards of directors.
Elder Isaacson was sustained as second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric December 12, 1946; as first counselor to the Presiding Bishop April 6, 1952; as Assistant to the Council of the Twelve September 30, 1961; and set apart and sustained as counselor in the First Presidency to President David O. McKay, October 28, 1965. He was released from that position when President McKay died in January of this year.
President McKay headed the list of distinguished speakers at a public program honoring Elder Isaacson at the Snow College auditorium in 1955.
"As I see it," said President McKay, "Bishop Isaac- son's outstanding success in so many fields springs from three principal sources. First is his strength of character and integrity inherited from his forebears. Second would be his environment-his early life spent in this country. And third would be what he has made of himself, his own industry and effort."
As a General Authority, Elder Isaacson traveled into many parts of the Church, where his friendly spirit and enthusiasm were well received. His special atten- tion to the program for adult members of the Aaronic Priesthood stimulated efforts in this area on a Church- wide scale.
Elder Isaacson died on November 9, 1970. Funeral services were held two days later in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
For Elder Isaacson, death came as a blessing at this time, releasing him from the inactivity that ill health had forced upon him in recent years. But even in his illness he maintained a keen interest in the affairs of the Church.
Survivors include Sister Isaacson; a daughter, Mrs. Royal (Joyce) Tribe; a son, Richard A. Isaacson; nine grandchildren, four brothers, and one sister.
Elder Isaacson's great enthusiasm for the gospel of Jesus Christ will be missed in contemporary Church affairs. "If there is any work that has to be left undone, it must not be the work of the Church" may well be good counsel for all of us. O
Era, December 1970 13
Emma Ray Riggs McKay
1877-1970 J
• Mrs. Emma Ray Riggs McKay, 93, widow of Presi- dent David O. McKay, passed away Saturday, Novem- ber 14, 1970, at her Hotel Utah apartment in Salt Lake City. President McKay died January 18, shortly after the couple celebrated their sixty-ninth wedding anniversary.
Little is publicly known about this remarkable woman who long stood by the President's side as his "sweetheart-wife," as he called her. She was born in Salt Lake City June 23, 1877, a daughter of O. H. and Emma Robbins Riggs.
She met David O. McKay, a young man who planned to be a schoolteacher, when he came to Salt Lake City from Huntsville to enroll at the University of Utah and rented a room at the Riggs home, which was near the university. Their courtship blossomed while they were at the university, but after David's graduation in 1897, their plans for marriage were postponed when he received a call to serve as a mis- sionary in Great Rritain. Meanwhile, Emma Ray completed her university training, graduating in 1898. They were married January 2, 1901.
Emma Ray served in the auxiliaries of the ChurcJi in Ogden, raising her family at Ogden, on the McKay farm at nearby Huntsville, and later in Salt Lake City.
After her husband was called to serve as a member of the Council of the Twelve in 1906, Sister McKay was often left at home to care for their seven children (one of whom died in infancy) while he traveled on assignments.
President McKay once said to their children, "All through the years you have seen how perfectly your mother fills the picture. I want to acknowledge to you and to her, how greatly her loving devotion, inspira- tion, and loyal support have contributed to whatever success may be ours."
As the family grew older, Sister McKay was more and more at her husband's side. He was called as second counselor in the First Presidency at the Octo- ber 1934 semiannual general conference and became President of the Church April 9, 1951. In the years of his presidency they traveled together to the conti- nents of the earth and the islands of the sea.
Sister McKay is survived by four sons, David Law- rence, Llewelyn R., Edward R., and Robert R. McKay, all of Salt Lake City; two daughters, Mrs. Russell H. (Lou Jean) Rlood, Chicago, and Mrs. Conway A. (Emma Rae) Ashton, Salt Lake City; 22 grandchildren and 25 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services were held in the Assembly Hall November 18, under the direction of the First Presidency. O
Geraldine Hurst, the mother of five children, is Relief Society president of the Visalia (California) Stake and an elementary school teacher.
• The first one came early in De- cember. Buried in a pile of colorful advertisements, newsy letters from relatives, and Christmas cards, it was a plain white envelope with no return address and had been mailed in our own city. Inside the envelope was a full sheet of white typewriting paper with only two words on it: "For Mike." Neatly folded inside was a bill of currency.
We received the money with a sort of wondering awe. Along with many others, we had not yet learned how to receive gracefully. It had been our pleasure to be help- ful to others rather than to need assistance from anyone else. The money was welcome, however. Coming as it did in a month when our expenditures had been extra high in order to provide a satisfying Christmas for the four children still at home, it was very welcome in- deed.
Mike was our missionary son. The money was earmarked for him, and receive it he would. A budget still straining from the pur- chase of everything Mike would need for two years could certainly profit from any aid. Our two younger sons had already pledged their support, and they faithfully paid a share of their earnings to- ward the monthly checks that began their long journey from our home to Argentina. We appreciated their helpfulness, but young news- boys need to save for their own missions, too. So we limited the amounts of their contributions.
14
By Geraldine Hurst
Anonymous Miracl
At first we found ourselves won- dering who the generous person might be. There was the excitement of a mystery about the white enve- lope. We all felt quite helpless because we did not know whom to thank. And the air of mystery heightened as each month a similar anonymous gift arrived.
The father of our home soon ad- vanced some wise advice. He has been a bishop and has known about such things happening to others. He assured us that the donor had good reason to wish to remain anonymous. We could feel certain, too, that he would be rewarded by his Father in heaven. Although we could not personally thank the donor, there were many ways that we could show our gratitude.
We realized first of all that this was a wonderful tribute to our fam- ily. As parents we had felt that we had an obligation not to misuse material gains with which we might be blessed. This person was telling us that he approved of our manage- ment enough to want to add to that material increase. As a result, we felt that we must be even more watchful of our earthly stewardship. We felt a duty to him in addition to ourselves and our Heavenly Father.
As a result of the strange monthly gift, we knew that someone of our circle of acquaintances had ex- pressed his love for our son and by so doing had touched our hearts. The gifts had even more far-reach- ing effects. Many dear people
greeted us in our daily pursuits, at church, home, school, and work. We found that now we met each of them with more concern. Our handshakes were a little firmer; our smiles were warmer; and we took no one for granted. One of these gentle persons had awakened within each of us a keen sense of appreciation for our fellowmen.
In South America Michael was most grateful for the support that he received. His every letter mani- fested it. He told his younger brothers that they could find no better place for their money than to put it to work for the Lord. He who had used his own life savings to begin his mission was humbly grateful that we were sustaining him. He who had worked hard at gardening, cleaning, fruit packing, and many other jobs knew that money came by the sweat of the brow.
And because he appreciated the efforts made by many to accumu- late his support, he became a better missionary.
Thus it was that in the form of a simple white envelope there came monthly into our home an increased blessing. By this single act, some- one caused all seven of us to be motivated to live better lives, and the lives of those around us were influenced by thoughtful kindness, gratitude, and love. In fact, people on two continents felt the impact of this loving gift. We hope that the giver realizes what a miracle he has wrought. O
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■ iiaSSissi" IssSti JT :
:i'5i. S(:;j
"v ■■■.. ■ ■.:: :: :...
By Rodger A. Pool
" ! !:■ .. "
Dr. Rodger A. Pool, YMMIA superin- tendent in the Olympia (Washing- ton) Ward, is a first lieutenant in the U.S. Army and aide-de-camp to the commanding general at Mad- igan General Hospital, Tacoma.
child. One psychologist has defined nature of rewards, but also upon
this by stating that "the reward that who gives them.
is most gratifying to the child is
that of love from the adult. When
the child loves the adult, he will
do anything to please him!"1
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has always em- phasized that it is a parental responsibility to teach children. Re- cently, in the face of increasing delinquency and unrest among youth, there has been added em- phasis on this dimension of parental concern. Of increasing importance to the Latter-day Saint parent, therefore, are answers to the ques- tion, How do children learn?
What do we know about the way a child learns? From psychologists we have the following observations:
□ A child learns best when he is motivated to learn. The most basic incentives parents can supply are acceptance and approval, for the motives for most human learn- ing reside in the interpersonal re- lationship between parent and
D Learning takes place best when the act that is performed is rewarded. Rewards may be tangi- ble or intangible. Surprisingly, the most effective rewards for learning seem to be based upon intangible relationships. For children, the most effective rewards for learning are parental acceptance and ap- proval.
The question of who gives re- wards is important. A reward means more if it comes from one who is well-liked and respected. The most successful parents seem to be those whose children are deeply con- cerned about whether their parents approve of them or not. On the other hand, parents who are dis- agreeable and cross often find that the rewards they offer are not sought because they are associated with unpleasantness. Thus learn- ing depends not only upon the
□ What about the influence of punishment on learning? The words of a song say, "Accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative." Hurlock has shown that praise is three to four times superior to reproof as an incentive for learning.2 Several studies have demonstrated that having one's errors pointed out is less effective for learning than having one's cor- rect responses acknowledged.
It should be noted that the effect of punishment is in part a function of the attitude of the punisher. If the punisher is motivated by anger and hate, the child will probably respond in a similar manner. But if punishment is administered in a spirit of love, motivated by the feel- ing that only through punishment can a child be taught self-control, the child may alter his behavior without resentment.
It is important to add that the alternative to punishment is not indifference or submission to the child. Firmness is not synonymous with punishment. By definition,
18
punishment hurts, but firmness need not hurt. It is the parent's obligation to lead, direct, influence, and persuade along desirable paths; and the effective parent is one who is determined, persistent, and as- sertive, if need be, without being domineering or authoritarian.
that those around him will have to exhibit the desired behavior. Or the child may need to be helped in forming a different concept of him- self. It is only through the oppor- tunity to practice new ways of behaving that change in behavior can be effected.
□ Psychologists generally agree that one learns best what he experi- ences. While many parents believe that merely to teach a child what is right is sufficient to determine right behavior, evidence seems to indicate that knowing what is right may be unrelated to doing what is right. One group of college students, asked to express their attitude toward cheating, over- whelmingly disapproved of it. But when given an opportunity to cheat in a situation in which they graded their own papers after they had been secretly graded, three-fourths of the students cheated by changing their answers. One study of de- linquency made some years ago indicated that many delinquents had more religious knowledge than a similar group of nondelinquents.
Telling the child what to do gen- erally results in a behavioral change only with children who have learned to do as they are told. Un- fortunately this method often proves ineffective with children whom parents want to influence most. Such a child can usually be helped to learn new and approved behavior if he is placed in an en- vironment where he will have a chance to practice different be- havior. This may mean that the environment of the home will have to be changed. It may mean also
D The facts of individual differ- ences, as every parent can attest, must be considered before one can determine how a child learns. For parents to expect all their children to behave in the same way is to expect that which never has been and probably never will be.
□ Personality development is primarily a product of learning and is largely formed in infantile experi- ences, especially in the interaction between mother and child. One psychologist concludes from his studies that "barring starvation, dis- ease, or actual physical injury, no other factor is capable of so influ- encing the child's development in every field as its relation to its mother."3 And of course, the rela- tionship between father and child can be equally significant. Another psychologist attempted to trace some of the factors that may have accounted for differences in the way two-year-old children reacted to being taken for an all-day visit to a center for research on
child health and development. Some adjusted well. Others were very upset. The psychologist fi- nally concluded that "a child's level of adjustment depends little upon the extrinsic features of the day, and little even upon his health. It depends much more upon the wholesomeness of his upbringing in the home, and the security and confidence and affection given him by his parents. A secure and whole- somely loved child goes forth to meet new experiences in a spirit of adventure and comes out trium- phant in his encounters with new places, new materials, and new friends, young and old. A child that is oversheltered and under- loved goes forth from home with misgivings and doubts, and gives an impression of inadequacy and immaturity in his encounter with new experiences that make him unwelcome either in the society of adults or children."4
"Every moment of a child's life that he spends in contact with his parents has some effect on both his present behavior and his potentiali- ties for future action."5
Thus we see that learning, which begins shortly after birth and con- tinues in varying degrees through infancy, childhood, and into adult- hood, is strongly interconnected with the basic patterns of person- ality that are formed during the first five or six years of life. This knowledge places a great responsi- bility on parents, for personality and the learning process are largely formed through parent-child rela- tionships. O
FOOTNOTES
1 G. H. J. Pearson, Psychoanalysis and the Education of the Child (New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 1954), pp. 148-50.
2 E. B. Hurlock, "An Evaluation of Certain Incentives Used in School Work," Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 16 (1925), pp. 145-59.
3 R. A. Spitz, "The Role of the Ecological Factors in Emotional Development in Infancy," Child Development, Vol. 20 (1949), pp. 145- 55.
4 M. M. Shirley, "Children's Adjustment to a Strange Situation," Child Development, Vol. 37 (1942), pp. 201-217.
5 R. R. Sears, E. E. Maccoby, and Harry Le- vin, Patterns of Child Rearing (Evanston, Illi- nois: Row, Peterson, 1957), p. 466.
Era, December 1970 19
r
n the morning of her seventieth birthday Amelia Wallace looked into her mirror and saw an old woman. At first she thought it was just bad lighting that made her face look so wrinkled and her hair so white. But when she hurried to the sunny kitchen to reassure herself by a peek in the small mir- ror by the back door, she found the same somber-faced elderly person peering back at her.
"Seventy years old," she whis- pered. "How did it happen so quickly?"
She was still standing there, star- ing numbly at her reflection, when her husband, Harvey, burst through the back door.
"How about a bite of breakfast?" he said. "Think 111 trot over to the nursery and pick up a few more apple trees this morning. There is room for three or perhaps four more along the fence."
Harvey and his apple trees! He just couldn't seem to accept the fact that their small city lot could not produce the volume of apples their farm with its big orchards had.
"Harvey," Amelia said, "it's my seventieth birthday."
Harvey's face fell. "Oh, Amelia, I'm sorry. It clean slipped my mind. I didn't even pick up a box of chocolates."
Amelia was exasperated. "Harvey, I don't care about the chocolates. Don't you understand? I'm seventy years old today. Seventy years old."
Harvey blinked, uncomprehend- ing. "Well," he said, "seventy usual- ly comes after sixty-nine, doesn't it?"
"Harvey," Amelia said softly, "I'm old."
Hajvey came close to her and looked into her face. "You don't look old to me," he said. His blue eyes twinkled. "I'd say you're still
good for twenty-five, maybe thirty years."
Any other time she would have laughed and patted his hand or kissed him on his remarkably smooth cheek. Now, however, she merely turned away, saying, "I'll cook your eggs."
While she prepared the food, Harvey briskly washed his hands and set the table for the two of them, all the while talking about his plans for more apple trees.
"You know Bill at the produce department of Cullen's store?" he asked. "He told me he'd buy all the apples I can supply. Says mine are the best apples around. Cus- tomers ask for them." A note of pride crept into his voice. "I figure if I put in a few more trees, in a few years I'll be producing enough to do some special packaging."
Amelia barely listened to his chatter. How could he think in terms of four or five more years? Didn't he realize that he was now seventy-five years old, and by that time he would be nearly eighty?
Amelia hardly spoke during breakfast, but Harvey had plenty to say. Amelia was glad when he finally left for the nursery, saying as he went, "I think I'll pick up half a dozen new rose bushes for your garden. That's a better birth- day present than chocolates. You can enjoy the roses for years."
She watched him as he strolled whistling down the path toward the battered pick-up truck. He had insisted on keeping the truck when they sold the farm. His step was spry and his lanky body was still wiry and straight, a denial of the rheumatism she knew occasionally afflicted him. He was old too, but she wondered if he ever thought about it.
I just can't stand all that cheer-
fulness today, Amelia thought to herself. / think Til go see Dora. Dora could be counted on to com- miserate with her. Dora always kept her voluminous photograph album handy, which made it easy to remember when they were young and pretty.
Dora was glad to see her. "I was just thinking about you, Amelia," she said, leading her vis- itor into the darkened living room. Usually it annoyed Amelia that Dora kept her blinds down all the time, but today it fitted her mood.
"I just read in the paper from home that Arthur Bronson came back for a visit," Dora continued, "and I was remembering when he was our high school English teacher and all of us girls had such a crush on him. It says in the paper that that was his first teaching assign- ment, so I guess he just came back to see where he got his start."
"Oh, I remember him well," Amelia said, smiling. "We learned so much English that year because we wanted to please him. He was so handsome."
Dora dug into a pile of news- papers and pulled one out. "Look at him now," she said.
The picture Amelia looked at was of an old man, bent and gray, whose only claim to good looks was his still brilliant dark eyes. Amelia was depressed.
"He's changed some, hasn't he?" she said.
Dora nodded gloomily. "I could have cried when I saw his picture. I like to remember him as young and romantic as he was when all the girls in our class thought they were in love with him. Wait just a minute. I'll find our graduation picture. He was in that, since he was our class adviser."
Dora flipped the pages of her
I
Lael J. Littke, a Sunday School teacher in the East Pasadena (California) Ward, is a housewife and mother whose stories have recently appeared in Ladies' Home Journal and other national magazines.
20
Matter of Pi Direction
Fiction
By Lael J. Littke
□dan
D D
photograph album until she came to the picture she wanted of the twenty-three-member senior class of Melton High School. "Look at all of us. We were all so young."
Amelia looked closely at the handsome face of the young teacher and then at the other young faces, some smiling, some sober. Her own was dreamy, a faraway look in her eyes and a small smile on her lips. She tried, for a moment, to recap- ture the thoughts of that eighteen- year-old girl of more than fifty years before, but the girl was like a dif- ferent person, and the seventy-year- old woman she had become could not remember. She had probably been building air castles around her handsome young teacher, Amelia thought, feeling slightly superior to the silly young girl she had been.
Her eyes searched the group of faces for Dora's and she found her standing next to Bill Knowlton, who was to become her husband in a few years. Dora's and Bill's faces were solemn.
"Can you remember what you were thinking that day?" Amelia asked suddenly.
Dora, bent over the album, nodded. "Bill and I had been talk- ing about how the best days of our lives were over now that we were graduating from high school."
Amelia laughed a little. "Funny that you should think that when there was so much to come."
Dora nodded. "But it's all over now." She dug a handkerchief from her apron pocket and wiped her eyes. Dora would always find something to cry about. "Oh, Amelia, I wish we could go back to the time when our children were young. Or when they were grow- ing up and doing so many things. Those were the best times, weren't they?"
Amelia thought back over her vast expanse of years. It would be
Era, December 1970 21
hard to pick the best time. "There were good times all along the way," tt ,4»vshe said. "Even when there was too much work and too little money." Yes, even those had been good years. It was fun to remem- ber them, but Amelia was not at all sure she would care to go back and relive them. When they were going through them they had al- ways been thinking ahead to when life would be better and easier, so what would be the purpose in going back?
"Dora," she said, "did you know it's my seventieth birthday today?"
"Oh, no," Dora said, as if some- one had just told her the roof had fallen in. "That means I'll be sev- enty next month." She shook her head and then echoed Amelia's own earlier thoughts. "Oh, Amelia, how did we get there so fast? Seems like just yesterday that we gradu- ated from high school." She hunched over the photograph al- bum again. "Look at us all there. Thinking we would do something great in the world." She sighed. "Guess none of us ever amounted to much. And now it's too late."
Amelia straightened. "Dora, how can you say we never amounted to much? Maybe none of us ever got our names on the front pages of the newspapers, but we've lived good lives, raised good families. And look at what our children are doing —your Bill, Jr., making a name for himself, and my David, and all the others doing so well. I like to take a little credit for starting them out on the paths they took, even if all I did was fill them full of love and homemade bread. Then look at Arthur Bronson and all the lives he influenced in the years he taught." And as far as its being too late, Amelia thought, Harvey was still working away at his orchard and gaining a little modest fame as a producer of fine apples.
Thinking of Harvey, she sud-
denly wanted to go home. "I guess I'd better go along, Dora," she said. "Harvey will be home soon, and he'll wonder where I am."
Dora walked with her to the lawn gate. "Bill will be sorry he missed you," she said. "He gets so lonely. He went out for a walk this morn- ing. Just can't seem to find anything to do. Just sits around wishing he could work like he used to." She waved as Amelia started down the street. "Come again soon."
Amelia arrived home ahead of Harvey. She could hardly wait to hear his cheery whistle. What was it about him that seemed so young when Dora and Bill— and even she —seemed so old? Was it just his cheerfulness? Why was he so cheerful?
When she heard the chug of his pick-up truck, she went out to greet him.
"Got you some roses you'll really like," Harvey called as the truck came to a shuddering stop. "Climb- ing ones." He opened the squeaky door and got out. "Remember, Amelia, how you always wanted a rose bower? Well, I'm going to build a frame there in the south-
east corner and plant the climbers all around it. In a couple of years you'll be able to sit in there all sur- rounded by roses."
There he went again, thinking in terms of the future years.
"That will be nice, Harvey." She watched him lifting rose bushes and apple striplings from the back of the truck. "Harvey, do you ever think about when we were young? All the things we were going to do then?"
"Not very often," he said, grab- bing his wheelbarrow and loading it full of plants. "Too busy thinking about all the things I'm going to do now." Gripping the handles of the wheelbarrow, Harvey pushed it off toward his small orchard.
There it was. That was the dif- ference. Harvey was facing for- ward, finding things to do now and things to look forward to doing, while Dora and Bill and she, this very day, looked backward to the past, to the things already done. It was the thinking ahead that had made life interesting when they were young. Maybe a big part of feeling old or young was a matter of direction, of which way you faced.
She smiled as she listened to Har- vey's whistling. She felt like whis- tling herself. There were still quite a few things she planned to do. The first of them was to plant those rose bushes so she could look forward to sitting in her bower, completely surrounded by roses.
"So what's wrong with being seventy?" Amelia said aloud. Grasp- ing the side-view mirror of the truck, she adjusted it so she could look at the reflection, which smiled back at her. The hair, though white, was soft and shining and the eyes twinkled merrily in the glow- ing face.
Why, I don't look seventy at all, Amelia thought. Gracious no. I could pass for sixty-five any day. O
22 Era, December 1970
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Mary lifted her eyes to the radiance filling The little stable, as though all heaven and earth Were glad for her small son, the stars spilling Their glory to announce Messiah's birth.
S
Thus had the angel Gabriel, she thought, So thrilled her being ivith the word he brought: "That . . . born of thee shall be .,. . the Son of God. Call his name Jesus, Mary. Fear not."
Now he was here, her firstborn. With great love She wrapped him in soft swaddling clothes. He lay Warm and snug in the manger. And lo, above Their restless flocks the shepherds heard an angel say:
". . . unto you is born ... a Saviour . . . Christ the Lord/' And a multitude of the heavenly host were heard, Praising God in song, in holy hymn. The shepherds hurried unto Bethlehem.
And so it was that wise men from afar Came, bearing gifts of frankincense and myrrh and gold. Long had they journeyed, following the star, Asking, "And where is he . . . born King of the Jews?"
Behold, they too were led to quiet Bethlehem And found the Christ and knelt and worshiped him. And Mary pondered in her heart all these things,
And sang to Jesus — Son of God, Savior, King of kings.
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Addresses delivered at the 140th Semiannual
General Conference
of The Church of Jesus Christ o) c Latter '= day Saints
The Oath andCovenant of the
• My dear brethren of the priesthood:
I welcome this opportunity to speak to the priesthood holders who are gathered in many places throughout the Church.
I desire to call your attention to the oath and covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood. I think if we have a clear understanding of the covenant we make when we receive offices in the priest- hood, and of the promise the Lord gives if we magnify our callings, then we shall have a greater incentive to do all the things we must do to gain eternal life.
May I say further that everything connected with this higher priesthood is designed and intended to prepare us to gain eternal life in the kingdom of God.
In the revelation on priesthood, given to Joseph Smith in September 1832, the Lord says that the Melchizedek Priest- hood is everlasting; that it administers the gospel, is found in the true church in all generations, and holds the keys of the knowledge of God. He says that it enables the Lord's people to be sanc- tified, to see the face of God, and to enter into the rest of the Lord, "which rest is the fulness of his glory." (See D&C 84:17-24.)
Then, speaking of both the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods, the Lord says: "For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnify-
ing their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.
"They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.
"And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;
"For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
"And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
"And he that receiveth my Father re- ceiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
"And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.
"Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and cove- nant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved."
The penalty for breaking the cove- nant and altogether turning therefrom is then given, together with this com- mandment: ". . . beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life.
"For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God." (D&C 84:33-44.)
As all of us know, a covenant is a contract and an agreement between at least two parties. In the case of gospel covenants, the parties are the Lord in heaven and men on earth.
Men agree to keep the commandments and the Lord promises to reward them accordingly. The gospel itself is the new and everlasting covenant and em- braces all of the agreements, promises, and rewards which the Lord offers to his people.
And so when we receive the Mel- chizedek Priesthood we do so by cove- nant. We solemnly promise to receive the priesthood, to magnify our callings in it, and to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. The Lord on his part promises us that if we keep the covenant, we shall receive all that the Father hath, which is life eternal. Can any of us conceive of a greater or more glorious agreement than this?
Sometimes we speak loosely of mag- nifying our priesthood, but what the revelations speak of is magnifying our callings in the priesthood, as elders, seventies, high priests, patriarchs, and apostles.
The priesthood held by man is the power and authority of God delegated to man on earth to act in all things for the salvation of mankind. Priest- hood offices or callings are ministerial assignments to perform specially as- signed service in the priesthood. And the way to magnify these callings is to do the work designed to be per- formed by those who hold the particu- lar office involved.
It does not matter what office we
26
General Conference Index
Speakers
Joseph Anderson Marvin J. Ashton William H. Bennett Ezra Taft Benson Bernard P. Brockban Victor L. Brown Theodore M. Burton James A. Cullimore Lorin C. Dunn Paul H. Dunn Alvin R. Dyer Richard L. Evans David B. Haight Marion D. Hanks Gordon B. Hinckley Howard W. Hunter
54 59 122 46
120
109 57 60 62 37
124
88. 98
87
66
71, 97
115
Spencer W. Kimball Harold B. Lee 28, 103, Neal A. Maxwell Bruce R. McConkie Thomas S. Monson Boyd K. Packer Mark E. Petersen Hartman Rector, Jr. Franklin D. Richards LeGrand Richards Marion G. Romney Sterling W. Sill Robert L. Simpson Eldred G. Smith Joseph Fielding Smith 26,
73 126 92
112 99
106
117 76 82 69 50 78 95 41 2,
127
Delbert L. Stapley N. Eldon Tanner Henry D. Taylor A. Theodore Tuttle John H. Vandenberg
Subjects
Aaronic Priesthood
Action
Beatitudes
Blessings
Book of Mormon !
Children
Church presidency
64 31, 91 43 84 35
91, 109
59 124 127 117
62 126
Church publications
Commandments
Drugs
Education
Ensign magazine
Exaltation
Expo '70
Faith
Family 46,
Family home evenin
Free agency
Friend magazine
Gathering of Israel
Genealogy
God
Great White God
103
88 62 92 92 76
120
43
62, 64
g 106
122 97 69 57 60
117
Heritage
Home
Home teaching
Honesty
Hypocrisy
Indians
Individual
Jesus Christ 35. 112,
Joseph Smith Leadership Life
Locusts Lost souls Love 3 1 ,
Meekness Memory
69,
87 46 35 82 31 117 66 117 112 59 88 73 35 115 124 54
Missionaries
New Era magazine
Oath and covenant
Obedience
41 103,
Objectives
Opportunity
Parents
Patriotism
Personal achievement
program Personal involvement Plan of salvation !
Pornography Priesthood Principles
, 37 98 26 43,
122 66 73 62 78
95
59
, 28
103
84
66
Prophecy
Restoration
Repentance
Resurrection
Self-discipline
Seventy
Spirit
Sunday closing
Spiritual values
69
69
76, 122
76
71, 91
84
66
103
115
Teacher development
Temptation
Testimony 37, 87
Thankfulness
Virtue
Wasted time
War
Word of wisdom
Work
99 91
122
87, 127
71
73
122 91
NOTE: Elder Hugh B. Brown of the Council of the Twelve and Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson, Assistant to the Twelve, did not speak. Elders Alma Sonne and EIRay L. Christian- sen, Assistants to the Twelve, and Presidents S. Dilworth Young and Milton R. Hunter of the First Council of the Seventy offered prayers at the conference.
Py10 cHinnn President Joseph L I ICDlllVUl/L Fielding Smith
hold as long as we are true and faithful to our obligations. One office is not greater than another, although for ad- ministrative reasons one priesthood holder may be called to preside over and direct the labors of another.
My father, President Joseph F. Smith, said: "There is no office growing out of this priesthood that is or can be greater than the priesthood itself. It is from the priesthood that the office de- rives its authority and power. No office gives authority »to the priesthood. No office adds to the power of the priest- hood. But all offices in the Church derive their power, their virtue, their authority, from the priesthood."
We are called upon to magnify our callings in the priesthood and to do the work which goes with the office we receive. And so the Lord says, in the revelation on priesthood: "Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; . . . that the system may be kept perfect." (D&C 84:109-10.)
This is one of the great goals toward which we are working in the priesthood program of the Church, to have elders do the work of elders, seventies the work of seventies, high priests the work of high priests, and so on, so that all priesthood holders may magnify their own callings and reap the rich bless- ings promised from such a course.
Now may I say a few words about the oath which accompanies the recep-
tion of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
To swear with an oath is the most solemn and binding form of speech known to the human tongue; and it was this type of language which the Father chose to have used in the great Messianic prophecy about Christ and the priesthood. Of him it says: "The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou are a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." (Ps. 110:4.)
In explaining this Messianic proph- ecy, Paul says that Jesus had "an unchangeable priesthood," and that through it came "the power of an end- less life." (See Heb. 7:24, 16.) Joseph Smith said that "all those who are or- dained unto this priesthood are made like unto the Son of God, abiding a priest continually," that is, if they are faithful and true.
And so Christ is the great prototype where priesthood is concerned, as he is with reference to baptism and all other things. And so, even as the Father swears with an oath that his Son shall inherit all things through the priest- hood, so he swears with an oath that all of us who magnify our callings in that same priesthood shall receive all that the Father hath.
This is the promise of exaltation of- fered to every man who holds the Melchizedek Priesthood, but it is a con- ditional promise, a promise conditioned upon our magnifying our callings in the priesthood and living by every word
that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.
It is perfectly clear that there are no more glorious promises that have or could be made than those that came to us when we accepted the privilege and assumed the responsibility of holding the holy priesthood and of standing as ministers of Christ.
The Aaronic Priesthood is a prepara- tory priesthood to qualify us to make the covenant and receive the oath that attends this higher priesthood.
It is my prayer that all of us who have been called to represent the Lord and hold his authority may remember who we are and act accordingly.
May I conclude by saying how grate- ful I am that I hold the holy priest- hood. I have sought all my days to magnify my calling in that priesthood and hope to endure to the end in this life and to enjoy the fellowship of the faithful saints in the life to come.
I bear my testimony that we do in fact have the holy priesthood, that it is God's power, and that through it we may inherit the fullness of our Father's kingdom hereafter, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.
Address delivered
at general priesthood session
Saturday, October 3, 1970
O
Era, December 1970 27
Address delivered Sunday morning, October 4, 1970
3s;<
Time to Prepare to Meet God
V::: M:
r
• This morning in my remarks I de- sire to direct your attention to some principles of vital importance to every human soul, by relating an incident with which almost everyone will be familiar, which may serve as some- thing of an introduction to what I would say to you in this great con- ference, on this the Lord's day, in this historic Tabernacle, which has been the forum for some of the greatest discourses given in our generation.
Humbled by this realization, I seek for divine guidance, that I might be in harmony with the spirit of this won- derful occasion.
To introduce my text I want to use, as an illustration, a well-remembered incident to which other speakers at this conference have already made reference.
Some months ago, millions of watch- ers and listeners over the world waited breathlessly and anxiously the precari- ous flight of Apollo 13. The whole world, it seemed, prayed for one signifi- cant result: the safe return to earth of three brave men.
When one of them with restrained anxiety announced the startling infor- mation, "We have had an explosion!" the mission control in Houston imme- diately mobilized all the technically trained scientists who had, over the years, planned every conceivable detail pertaining to that flight.
The safety of those three now de- pended on two -vital qualifications: on the reliability of the skills and the knowledge of those technicians in the mission control center at Houston, and upon the implicit obedience of the men in the Aquarius to every instruction from the technicians, who, because of their understanding of the problems of
the astronauts, were better qualified to find the essential solutions. The de- cisions of the technicians had to be perfect or the Aquarius could have missed the earth by thousands of miles.
This dramatic event is somewhat analogous to these troublous times in which we live. The headlines in the public press only this week made an- other startling announcement by a presidential commission to the Presi- dent of the United States. "U.S. Society Is in Peril." Many are frightened when they see and hear of unbelievable happenings the world over — political intrigues, wars and contention every- where, frustrations of parents, endeav- oring to cope with social problems that threaten to break down the sanc- tity of the home, the frustrations of children and youth as they face chal- lenges to their faith and their morals.
Only if you are willing to listen and obey, as did the astronauts on the Aquarius, can you and all your house- holds be guided to ultimate safety and security in the Lord's own way.
There are, in these troubled times, agonizing cries of distress among the peoples of the earth. There are intense reelings of a need for some way to find a solution to overwhelming problems and to ease this distress from all that affects mankind.
To one who is acquainted with and well versed in the prophetic teachings of the past generations, there should be little question as to the meaning of all that is going on among us today, when it seems as though everything is in turmoil.
Prophecy may well be defined as history in reverse. Before our very eyes we are witnessing the fulfillment of prophecies made by inspired prophets
in ages past. In the very beginning of this dispensation we were plainly told in a revelation from the Lord that the time was nigh at hand when peace would be taken from the earth and the devil would have power over his own dominion. (See D&G 1:35.) The prophets of our day also foretold that there should be wars and rumors of wars, and "the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men's hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth. And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound." (D&C 45:26-27.)
When the disciples asked the Mas- ter, prior to his crucifixion, as to signs that should immediately precede his coming again to the earth, as he fore- told, he answered by saying that "in those days, shall be great tribulations on the Jews, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem;
". . . and except those days should be shortened, there should none of their flesh be saved.
"But for the elect's sake, according to the covenant, those days shall be shortened.
"For nation shall rise against na- tion, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be famine and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places." (In- spired Version, Matt. 24:18-20, 30; see also Joseph Smith 1:18-20, 29.)
The Master undoubtedly spoke of times such as these when he foretold that a man would be "at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
"And a man's foes shall be they of his own household." (Matt. 10:35-36.)
With all of this in mind, one may
28
ask: To whom may those in distress and in great anxiety look for the an- swer and for "refuge from this storm"' raging all about them?
Almighty God, through his Son, our Lord, has pointed the way and has given to all mankind a sure guide to safety, when he declared that the Lord shall have power over his saints and would reign in their midst, when his mighty judgments would descend upon the world. (SeeD&C 1:36.)
He said to all men: "Watch there- fore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." (Matt. 24:42, 44.)
He has counseled that his "disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved; but among the wicked, men shall lift up their voices and curse God and die." (D&C 45:32.)
From the incident of the Apollo 13 as I have related, and having in mind the promises of the Lord to which I have made . reference, I will now, in a few moments, undertake to outline briefly the wondrously conceived plan upon obedience to which the salvation of every soul depends in his journey through mortality to his ultimate des- tiny— a return to that God who gave him life. This is that way by which the Lord will keep his promise "to have power over his saints and to reign in their midst."
This plan is identified by name, and the overarching purpose is clearly set forth in an announcement to the Church in the beginning of this gospel dispensation.
More than a century ago the Lord declared:
"And even so I have sent mine ever- lasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me." (D&C 45:9.)
This plan, then, was to be as a cove- nant, which implied a contract to be participated in by more than one per- son. It was to be a standard for the Lord's elect and for all the world to benefit by it. Its purpose was to serve the needs of all men and to prepare the world for the second coming of the Lord.
The participants in the formulation of this plan in the premortal world were all the spirit children of our Heavenly Father. Our oldest scriptures, from the writings of the ancient prophets Abraham and Jeremiah, af- firm also that God, or Eloheim, was there; his Firstborn Son, Jehovah, Abraham, Jeremiah, and many others of great stature were there.
All the organized intelligences be- fore the earth was formed, who had become spirits, were there, including many great and noble ones whose per- formance and conduct in that premor- tal sphere qualified them to become rulers and leaders in carrying out this eternal plan.
The apostle Paul in his writings to the Corinthians taught that "there be gods many, and lords many," and then he added, "But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." (1 Cor. 8:5-6. Italics added.)
I would have you note particularly the use of the preposition "of," in ref- erence to the Father, and the preposi- tion "by," in reference to our Lord, Jesus Christ. In this statement is clearly defined the role of each, the Lord to do the bidding of the Father, in the execution of the whole plan of salvation for all mankind. (See Abr.
4.)
Understanding this principle in the plan of the government of God, we are given a glimpse of the council meeting of_ Gods, as briefly recorded in revela- tions to ancient prophets.
Under the Father's instruction and by Jehovah's direction, the earth and all pertaining thereto was organized and formed. They "ordered," they "watched over" and "prepared" the earth. They took "counsel among them- selves" as to the bringing of all man- ner of life to the earth and all things, including man, and prepared it for the carrying out of the plan, which we could well liken to a blueprint, by which the children of God could be tutored and trained in all that was necessary for the divine purpose of bringing to pass, "to the glory of God," the opportunity of every soul to gain "immortality and eternal life." Eternal life means to have everlasting life in that celestial sphere where God and Christ dwell, by doing all things we are commanded. (See Abr. 3:25.)
The plan embodied three distinctive principles:
First, the privilege to be given to every soul to choose for himself "lib- erty and eternal life" through obedi- ence to the laws of God, or "captivity and death" as to spiritual things be- cause of disobedience. (See 2 Ne. 2:27.)
Next to life itself, free agency is God's greatest gift to mankind, provid- ing thereby the greatest opportunity for the children of God to advance in this second estate of mortality. A prophet-leader on this continent ex- plained this to his son as recorded in an ancient scripture: that to bring about these, the Lord's eternal pur-
poses, there must be opposites, an enticement by the good on the one hand and by the evil on the other, or to say it in the language of the scrip- tures, ". . . the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other being bitter." This father further explained, "Where- fore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other." (2 Ne. 2:15-16.)
The second distinctive principle in this divine plan involved the necessity of providing a savior by whose atone- ment the most favored Son of God be- came our Savior, as a "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8), as revealed to John on the Isle of Patmos. Another prophet-teacher explained that the mission of the Son of God was to "make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be saved." (2 Ne. 2:9.)
We hear much from some of limited understanding about the possibility of one's being saved by grace alone. But it requires the explanation of another prophet to understand the true doctrine of grace as he explained in these mean- ingful words:
"For," said this prophet, "we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to be- lieve in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Ne. 25:23.) Truly we are redeemed by the atoning blood of the Savior of the world, but only after each has done all he can to work out his own sal- vation.
The third great distinctive principle in the plan of salvation was the provi- sion that "all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." (Article of Faith 3.) These fundamental laws and ordi- nances by which salvation comes are clearly set forth:
First, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Second, repentance from sin, mean- ing the turning away from the sins of disobedience to God's laws and never returning again thereto. The Lord spoke plainly on this point. Said he: ", . . go your ways and sin no more; but unto that soul who sinneth [mean- ing, of course, returning again to the sins from which he has repented] shall the former sins return, saith the Lord your God." (D&C 82:7.)
Third, baptism by water and of the Spirit, by which ordinances only, as the Master taught Nicodemus, could one see or enter into the kingdom of God. (See John 3:4-5.)
This same teaching was forcibly
Era, December 1970 29
impressed by the resurrected Savior to the saints on this continent, in what it appears likely was his final message to his disciples. The Master taught his faithful saints that "no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel. . . ." (3 Ne. 27:19-21.)
If the children of the Lord, which includes all who are upon this earth, regardless of nationality, color, or creed, will heed the call of the true messenger of the gospel of Jesus Christ, as did the three astronauts on the Aquarius to the trained technicians at Mission Control in the hour of their peril, each may in time see the Lord and know that he is, as the Lord has promised, then their calling and elec- tion will be made sure. They will "become the sons of Moses and of Aaron, and the seed of Abraham, . . . and the elect of God." (D&C 84:34.)
This promise of the glory which awaits those who are faithful to the end was plainly portrayed in the Mas- ter's parable of the Prodigal Son. To the son who was faithful and did not squander his birthright, the father, who in the Master's lesson would be our Father and our God, promised this faithful son: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." (Luke 15:31.)
In a revelation through a modern prophet, the Lord promises to the faithful and obedient today: ". . . all that mv Father hath shall be given unto him." (D&C 84:38.)
Or will we be like those foolhardy ones on the river above the Niagara Falls who were approaching the dan- gerous rapids? Despite warnings of the river guards to go toward safety before it was too late, and in complete disregard of the warnings, they laughed, they danced, they drank, they mocked, and they perished.
So would have been the fate of the three astronauts on the Aquarius if they had refused to give heed to the minutest instruction from Houston Control. Their very lives depended upon obedience to the basic laws which govern and control the forces of the universe.
Jesus wept as he witnessed the world about him in his day which had seem- ingly gone mad, and continually mocked his pleading that they come unto him along "the strait and narrow way," so plainly marked out in God's eternal plan of salvation.
O that we could hear again his pleadings today as he then cried out: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" (Matt. 23:37.)
O that the world would see in an- other parable to John the Revelator the sacred figure of the Master calling to us today as he did to those of Jeru- salem:
Said the Master, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." (Rev. 3:20-21.)
Here, then, is the plan of salvation as taught by the true church, which is founded upon apostles and prophets, with Christ, the Lord, as the chief
cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), by which only can peace come, not as the world giveth, but as only the Lord can give to those who overcome the things of the world, as did the Master.
"Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, where- by we must be saved." (Acts 4:12.)
To all of this I bear my sincere wit- ness in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In a recent meeting I listened to a young girl's heartwarming testimony. Her father was afflicted with what the doctors had pronounced was an incur- able malady. To his wife one morning, this stricken father, after a night of pain and suffering, had said with great reeling, "I am so thankful today." "For what?" she asked. He replied, "For God's giving me the privilege of one more day with you."
Today I could desire with all my heart that all within the sound of this broadcast would likewise thank God for one more day! For what? For the opportunity to take care of some un- finished business. To repent; to right some wrongs; to influence for good some wayward child; to reach out to someone who cries for help — in short, to thank God for one more day to pre- pare to meet God.
Don't try to live too many days ahead. Seek for strength to attend to the problems of today. In his Sermon on the Mount, the Master admonished: "Take therefore no thought of the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Suffi- cient unto the day is the evil thereof." (Matt. 6:34.)
Do all that you can do and leave the rest to God, the Father of us all. It is not enough to say I will do my best, but rather, I will do everything which is within my power; I will do all that is necessary.
In a plaque on the walls of the Radio City Music Hall in New York City are these profound words of wisdom:
"Man's ultimate destiny depends, not upon whether he can learn new lessons, or make new discoveries, and conquests, but upon his acceptance of the lessons taught."
My prayer is that the message of those words of wisdom may be trans- lated into a determination on the part of all of us listening here this day, to the end that our eyes will be so single to God, that our whole bodies shall be so filled with light, that there shall be no darkness in us, to the end that we may be able to comprehend all things. (See D&C 88:67.)
God grant that it might be so, I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. O
30
• This great audience assembled here in this historic Tabernacle is an inspir- ing sight indeed. I wish to welcome you and all those who are listening in this morning, and invite you to partici- pate with us in our discussions. It is our purpose to disseminate the teach- ings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and by so doing to strengthen the faith and testimony of all who will believe on his name, for his is the only name under heaven whereby we may be saved, and following his teachings is the only way for us to enjoy peace on earth and eternal life hereafter.
Just the other day I was talking to someone who said, "There goes a man in whom you can place full confidence. You always know where he stands. He never pretends, but is always sincere and just his best self."
The same day, someone, referring to another man, said, "Isn't it too bad that you never know just where he stands? You are never sure you can depend on what he says. I think the Lord would have called him a hypo- crite." I felt to agree with him.
It is about hypocrisy that I wish to address my remarks today, especially to the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, wherever they may be. We have approximately three million members, made up of all kinds of people, ranging from those who are fully dedicated and prepared to give all that they have in the service of the Lord and their fellowmen, to those who have not yet been fully con- verted and who do not see the im- portance of living the teachings of Jesus Christ or of being active and prepared to give service wherever possible.
If we are to enjoy the blessings of the Lord and the confidence of the people with whom we associate, we must be prepared to live the gospel and to be honestly and actively en- gaged in practicing and teaching its concepts, never pretending to be what
we are not. The gospel of Jesus Christ tells us how we should live. Let us refer to some of its great truths.
The Lord has said: ". . . this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.)
"I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (John 11:25- 26.)
And then in answer to the lawyer who asked, tempting him, ". . . which is the great commandment in the law?" he replied: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
"This is the first and great com- mandment.
"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22:36-40.)
We are told that "pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." (Jas. 1:27.)
The Ten Commandments are given to us in very clear language, and need- ing no enlargement, and leaving no question. The Sermon on the Mount leaves no doubt as to Christ's message to the human race and what our re- sponsibilities are if we wish to enjoy his blessings and his Spirit to guide us. We also have our Articles of Faith, which outline the high code by which we should govern our lives.
Jesus said: "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 7:21.)
In these, the latter days, he said: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what
I say, ye have no promise." (D&C 82:10.)
And he gave us this glorious promise: "All saints who . . . [walk] in obedi- ence to the commandments, shall re- ceive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;
"And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
"And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
"And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them." (D&C 89:18-21.)
We are admonished to be true to the faith, and warned against evil and hypocrisy. In fact, the Savior placed great emphasis on the evils of hypoc- risy. He was very severe in his con- demnation of those who professed one thing and practiced another. He said: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ... Ye serpents, ye genera- tion of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" (Matt. 23:29, 33. Italics added.)
"Woe," according to the dictionary, means miserable or sorrowful state, a condition of deep suffering, misfortune, affliction, grief. "Hypocrite" is one who pretends to have beliefs or princi- ples which he does not have, or to be what he is not, especially a false as- sumption of an appearance of virtue or religion.
As recorded in the Gospels, the Savior refers to different examples of hypoc- risy, and in each case he says: "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo- crites!"
I should like to refer to these and other charges of hypocrisy. As I do so, we might well look at ourselves to see how these apply to us. As we look at the conditions in the world today, I am sure we will find that hypocrisy and the violation of the principles of righ- teousness and decency have brought our national and individual affairs to
Era, December 1970 31
the sorry state in which they are now.
The Lord said: ". . . they bind heavy burdens ... on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
"But all their works they do for to be seen of men. . . .
"And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the syna- gogues.
". . . ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: there- fore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
". . . ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
"Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
". . . ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
". . . ye are like unto whited sepul- chres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
"Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
". . . ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
"And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets." (Matt. 23:4-6, 14, 23-25, 27-30.)
We might well ask ourselves if such fallacies are present in our own alleged Christianity. In those days, as is so common today, they had brotherhoods in which the law was strictly kept, but they ignored those on the outside by regarding all others with contempt and condemnation, thereby avoiding the heresy of form but committing the heresy of the spirit.
How many of us are guilty of keep- ing the letter of the law and forgetting the spirit of the law in that we fail to show mercy and faith in our fellow- men? Do we place more stress on an external act to be seen of men than on a change of heart? The only way to cleanse the inside of the cup is to be pure in heart by being humble and turning from our evil ways and by living the gospel of Jesus Christ to the best of our ability. We may be able to deceive men, but we cannot deceive God.
Is there danger that our whole civilization is like whitewashed tombs? We have marvelous machines, tower- ing buildings, and thousands of signs of what we call progress; but within we have unrest, strife between men and
nations, and unrelieved burden of the poor, and the dead men's bones of wholesale wars. Someone has said: "Still we try to safeguard ourselves by calcimining the tomb."
With all the crime, changing of population from rural to urban, loos- ened morals, pornographic movies and literature, etc., we must stand firm in the cause of right. How can persons for selfish reasons be hypocrites enough to urge the opening or widening of the liquor laws when they know that where consumption of liquor is greatly increased, there is a similar increase in multitudes of social problems?
How can a newspaper which records the highway accidents, the deaths, the health problems, and broken homes as a result of drinking advocate making liquor more easily available in order to attract more tourists and industry? The cost to communities and individuals far outweighs any benefits.
The American Council on Alcohol Problems passed a resolution which states: "While we share the concern of a majority of our citizens about the dangers in the use of marijuana, we are firmly convinced that alcohol remains the number one drug problem in Amer- ica and that its damage to life, limb and the welfare of our people is vastly greater."
We must be equally concerned about the use of drugs that destroy lives and bring crushing misery, not only to users but to those around them. But hypoc- risy in the lives of adults has a serious influence on our young people who are turning to this form of protest. What we are trying to say is that the kids are affected by the hypocrisy of those who accept the cocktail hour and other evil practices and yet get hysterical because the kids have found other ways to imitate their parents' behavior. The kids will pay attention only when the adults set the proper example.
As great as our responsibility is through legislation or other means to prevent our young citizens from falling prey to those intent on their becoming victims of these evil habits, we cannot minimize our responsibility to help rehabilitate those who have succumbed. How can we call ourselves Christians and say we love our neighbor — who is anyone in need of help — and fail to work with others who are endeavoring to set up facilities to assist alcoholics, drug-users, or parolees from our pris- ons? Yet there are those who would actually hamper such efforts because they object to having such facilities in their midst. These unfortunate people need our help. Surely we must be prepared to be the good Samaritan and help wherever possible.
How many of us keep the Word of
Wisdom strictly, but are most in- temperate in our prejudices and con- demnations of others? Are there any of us who, as businessmen, are meticu- lously polite and most regular in church attendance and yet accept glaring in- equalities in the social structure, and who may be unfair or dishonest in dealing with our neighbor?
Are we truly interested in and con- cerned with the well-being of our neighbors? Do we visit the widows and fatherless, and feed, clothe, and com- fort the poor and needy? The prophet Alma in his day "saw great inequality among the people, some lifting them- selves up with their pride, despising others, turning their backs upon the needy and the naked and those who were hungry, and those who were athirst, and those who were sick and afflicted."
We read: "Now this was a great cause for lamentations among the people, while others were . . . succor- ing those who stood in need of their succor, such as imparting their sub- stance to the poor and the needy, feed- ing the hungry. . . ." (Al. 4:12-13.)
Recent changes in their structure and program will now enable our Relief Society sisters to devote more of their time and energy to the main purposes for which they were organized — namely, to look after the spiritual, mental, and moral welfare of the mothers and daughters in Zion. They should be teaching the gospel, prepar- ing our women of all ages to be better homemakers, and giving compassionate service to those in need.
The sisters of this great organization give thousands of hours weekly in com- passionate service, yet there are still many who are sick or lonely or in need of comfort who are not reached. We all should be seeking for opportunities to give aid and comfort to the needy among us. We should not neglect this duty and opportunity in order to engage ourselves in seeking only after our own selfish worldly pleasures and material gain.
Too often we excuse ourselves from religious activity, which includes both showing love for our neighbors and regular church attendance, by com- paring our activities with those of others, and by saying we are doing just as much as they, or we are no worse than they. Some say: "I don't go to church because I don't want to be a hypocrite, as he is. I can be religious without going to church. I can worship God on the lake or in the mountains, communing with nature."
Hear what the Lord has said:
"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer
32
and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day;
"For verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions unto the Most High;
"Nevertheless thy vows shall be of- fered up in righteousness on all days and at all times." (D&C 59:9-11.)
We cannot choose which part of the gospel we think is true or which part we should live. We cannot compart- mentalize our lives. As the Savior said: ". . . these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matt. 23:23.) We must be Christians in very deed, and by our lives show our love for the Lord, our God, and show love for and be interested in one another. We, you and I, must put our personal houses in order. We must not be hypocrites.
Harry Emerson Fosdick observed that there are two kinds of hypocrisy: when we try to appear better than we are, and when we let ourselves appear worse than we are. We have been speaking of the kind of hypocrisy where people pretend to be more or better than they are. Too often, how- ever, we see members of the Church who in their hearts know and believe, but through fear of public opinion fail to stand up and be counted. This kind of hypocrisy is as serious as the other; it makes it difficult for others to respect us, and often adversely affects or influences the lives of other mem- bers of the Church who expect us to stand by our commitments to the Church and not hesitate to manifest our faith.
Only when we are seriously striving to live the teachings of Christ can we
make any real spiritual progress. We must not fear, wherever we are, to live up to our convictions and to the standards of the Church. People, though they may criticize and ridicule, expect us to and respect us if we do. Living high standards cannot offend conscientious, fair-minded people.
Not long ago I was talking to a father and mother and their little boy who were converts of not many months. During our conversation the father said they had become inactive and were not attending church, and I asked them why. He explained that the mission- aries were such fine examples of good and clean-living, righteous people; but when they came to the ward they found so many people who were not living what the Church teaches, or what they professed to be, and as a result they became discouraged and lost faith in
Era, December 1970 33
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the Church. I think this gives us two very important lessons: First, it is our responsibility to live so that we will influence the lives of people for good and that we will never cause doubt in their minds because of hypocrisy in our own lives.
The other lesson is that we should always guard against letting hypocrisy in the lives of others influence our lives or cause us to doubt and fail to live according to the teachings of the gospel.
It is most important that we as members of the Church stand firmly and unitedly in the cause of truth and righteousness. We have declared to the world that we have the gospel of Christ, that we are going to stand against vice. Shall we stand firm, or shall we waver and be driven by the wind and tossed? Shall we forsake the cause of righteousness in order to please men, because we desire to give lip
service rather than heart service, or be- cause of some political power that is brought to bear upon us?
We must not be like those to whom John referred when he said: "Neverthe- less among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, . . .
"For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." (John 12:42-43.)
Imagine the great influence the Church, with its approximately three million members, could have upon the world if each of us would be what we profess to be; if everyone were a real, truly dedicated Christian, living every day and not pretending; if we were honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtu- ous, doing good to all men, and always seeking for things virtuous, lovely, or of good report and praiseworthy.
Let us listen to the prophets and live
by their words. Let us not be guilty, as were the scribes and Pharisees of old, of increasing the agony of our Savior by rejecting him and his teach- ings, which he gave to us, together with his life, that we might have hap- piness here and eternal life hereafter. Let us not find ourselves in the condi- tion which he describes as he concludes his chastisement of the hypocrites:
"Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
"For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." (Matt. 23:38-39.)
I bear testimony that God lives; that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; that the gospel has been restored; and that by living its teachings we will gain eternal life, for which I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My dear brothers and sisters: I hope that what I might say will be in keep- ing with the spirit of this conference.
Recently I was perusing a newspaper and observed a column entitled "Lost and Found." Some of the lost items seemed particularly valuable, and un- doubtedly those of less monetary value would have sentimental significance to the owner. One notice read as follows: "Lost — in local department store, folder containing photos of a little boy and girl. Cannot be replaced. Re- ward."
"Cannot be replaced." It might have been that the little boy and girl had grown up and left home, and these photos were precious memories of their childhood. To the owner they are priceless. It occurred to me that many
people would be made very happy if all the items listed as "lost" could be transferred to the "found" list.
In a very real way there are not only valuable items lost, but, of far greater value, lives that become lost — men and women and young people whose lives have been caught in the current maze of political economics and social strife that is causing crosscurrents of con- fusion, neglect, apathy, permissiveness, and wrongdoing.
In our office, we frequently receive letters from bishops and parents in various parts of the country asking for help in locating a teenager who has left home. These letters tear at our emotions as we share the feelings of parents in their great concern for the welfare of their son or daughter.
Notices are sent to all the wards, containing pictures and descriptions of these young people, with the hope that they may be located and persuaded to return home. We usually hear nothing more, and we wonder if these "lost" young people are ever found, for we know they "cannot be replaced."
We hope that in all cases they "come to themselves" or "find" themselves and return home, as did the prodigal son who took his inheritance and went to a far country and spent it in riotous living.
And we hope also that when and if they do return, they will receive the kind of welcome described in the parable Jesus taught. For this father, ever praying and ever watching, saw his son from a great way off and had corn-
Era, December 1970 35
passion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. It is hoped also that those who return are as penitent as was the son when he said to his father, 'I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son," and that parents are as loving and as forgiving as the father who said to his servants, "Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
"And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and be merry:
"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found " (Luke 15:21-24.)
I imagine this son was a sorry sight after what he had been through, hav- ing just left a job as a swineherd, but his rather did not treat him like the vagrant he appeared to be. He put the best robe upon him and treated him like a prince. Do you suppose this made any difference in the way the son reacted? Do you believe the statement of the German dramatist Goethe when he said: "If you treat a man as he is he will stay as he is, but if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be, and could be, he will be that bigger and better man."
From the teachings of the Savior we know that he was greatly concerned with those who were lost.
You will remember the story of Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. When Jesus received the mes- sage, "Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick," he stated, "This sick- ness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."
Nevertheless, Lazarus died, and Jesus knew he was dead; yet he tarried for two days where he was before saying to his apostles, "Let us go into Judea again." Apparently astonished, they tried to dissuade the Master, saying, ". . . the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?" Then, in his teaching wisdom, Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
"But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."
Having taught his disciples that he was the "light and life" of the world, is it possible that he was teaching them again that, regardless of whatever ob- stacles might present themselves, the real purpose of his gospel and of their mission was to bring light into the lives of those who are in darkness, that they might not stumble? Was he saying
that reclaiming men from sin and darkness was one of the prime purposes of his gospel?
After this lesson, Jesus then stated to his disciples: "Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep." The disciples re- marked that if the man was sleeping it would be well with him. Jesus made it plain by saying, "Lazarus is dead."
When Jesus arrived on the outskirts of the town, Martha met him, saying, "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." And when Jesus told her, "Thy brother shall rise again," Martha, understanding the meaning of the resurrection, answered, "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Then Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
"And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. . . ."
Having asked to be taken to the tomb, Jesus directed that it be opened, answering the objection that the body had lain in the tomb four days by saying, "Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?"
The stone was removed, and Jesus, standing before the open portal, after praying to his Father in heaven, cried, "Lazarus, come forth." (See John 11:3- 44.) The dead man heard this voice of command, and Lazarus, restored to life, came forth. He came forth to life and light — to the light of this world, Jesus Christ — that light to which all of us are entitled. If we walk in that light we will not stumble. Without it we will stumble in darkness.
A number of years ago a group of Americans stood on a hilltop in north- ern France looking down on one of the old cities that had been partially de- stroyed during the war. As they watched, they saw the French lamp- lighter begin to light the lamps of the city, moving from one to another. Some lamps he found easy to light; others needed to be cleaned or adjusted before the light came forth. The old lamp- lighter moved from one side of the street to the other, performing his duty, and finally his faithfulness was re- warded as the highway was lighted and made safe for the traveler.
So does Christ light the way for all of us, that we may not stumble in darkness on the path to eternal life. And so it is our responsibility to light the way for others.
Some of these young people about whom the bishops write may be like the sheep that wandered off in igno- rance, bewildered in the darkness, as the rest of the flock returned to the
fold. But the good shepherd left the ninety and nine who were safe and went in search of the one that was lost until he found it. This parable shows the great love of the Master for all of his children, for Jesus gave it in answer to the criticism of the Pharisees who felt that he should not associate with the publicans and sinners.
Jesus knew the status of these so- called "outcasts." They had come to him as he supped. They knew that in him they had a friend who would give them courage to live a good life.
Someone has said, "Some men die at thirty but are not buried until they are seventy," having observed that when a person ceases to grow in knowledge, ceases to grow in spirit, and fails to live up to his responsibilities, he withers and dies, even though he still walks upon the earth. People bring this premature death upon themselves by their own attitudes, as a self- inflicted punishment for turning away from the light of truth. Jesus may have had reference to these, hoping that they might change, when he said: ". . . he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; And who- soever liveth and believeth in me shall never die " (John 11:25-26.)
The Master knows that even men in such a dormant status, more dead than alive, can be changed, and so he pur- sues them in his ever-loving, ever- caring, ever-forgiving way.
Just as he organized his church in his day, conferring his authority upon his brethren, commanding them to pursue the salvation of mankind, so has he in these latter days restored his church and revealed his priesthood and com- missioned those who receive the priest- hood to warn, expound, exhort, teach, and invite all to come unto Christ. Then, as members do come into his church, he also commissions his priest- hood to visit the house of each member, exhorting them to pray vocally and in secret and to attend to all family duties. For this is the only way to keep his kingdom strong. His charge to us is to be with and strengthen our brethren.
To those who diligently pursue such a course, miracles come to pass, evi- denced by testimonies that declare: "He was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."
So wrote one sister : She, having been born and raised in another church, states that she and her Mormon hus- band lived the first years of their marriage without any religious activity. One evening two pleasant fellows ap- peared at their door and introduced themselves as home teachers. With little encouragement, they kept coming, month after month. Then the hus-
36
band began, for the first time, to read such Church books as he had.
The sister said that when they moved to another town she packed the books away where she hoped her husband would never find them again. Sure enough, the couple again forgot about religion until other home teachers ar- rived at their new home.
After the first visit of these new teachers, her husband searched for his books until he found them. The sister states that the one teacher was so friendly that they couldn't help liking him, and when he began inviting them to church affairs, they accepted because he seemed to really want them there, and they didn't want to disappoint him.
"Finally," said the sister, "after call- ing for many months, he asked if he could offer a prayer in our home, and we didn't know how to refuse. So the first prayer ever offered in our home was by this home teacher.
"About this time our teenage son began to complain at being sent to my church while neither his father nor
I was attending church ourselves. So we compromised by attending the Mor- mon Church and my church on alter- nate Sundays.
"Our home teachers had been call- ing on us for about two years when they asked if the missionaries might call. (We had had them in our former town, but I had refused to listen to them.) This time I agreed to hear the missionaries but failed to make any effort to listen or understand and re- fused to read any of the material that was given to me. After the fourth call, the missionaries handed me more pamphlets and suggested that I read fifty more pages in the Book of Mormon (I had read none of the book yet) ; then one of them said good-naturedly, 'Now you can get further behind.'
"Suddenly I was ashamed of my attitude and determined to read the entire Book of Mormon before his next visit. I carried out this promise, and when the missionaries returned I told them I wanted to be baptized." As a result of these efforts by the priesthood brethren, the family was unified and is
now enjoying the true purpose of life in harmony with the principles and teachings of the gospel.
Certainly we do not lack for oppor- tunities to help those who have turned away and become dormant. Nor do we need to lack courage in our pursuit as we listen to the words of the Lord:
"Verily I say, men should be anx- iously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
"For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward." (D&C 58:27-28.)
No obstacle can keep a faithful servant from his blessing as he brings light into the life of his brother or sister, for the blessing is this:
"And if it so be that you should labor all your days . . . and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (D&C 18:15.)
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• I am grateful this morning, my brothers and sisters, both seen and unseen, for the message of our great President, for his challenge to us to return to the fundamentals. I thought, if only the world would heed his words and get down to the things that matter most.
It reminded me of a little experi- ence I had recently in Vermont. I was attempting to find a shortcut to the little town of Rutland, and I took one of those exciting back-road routes and soon became hopelessly lost. I came to a fork in the road. I noticed a farmer standing in the field, so I wound down the window and I asked, "Say, fella, does it matter which road I take to Rutland?" He said, "It doesn't matter to me at all." I think sometimes the world has that problem.
In the upper part of New England we sometimes get snowbound, and once after a rather heavy storm I fol- lowed a snowplow into Saint Johns- bury. The town had been isolated some eight days. Again, I was lost. In seeking help I went into a little country store, and sitting there on the typical cracker barrel was another Vermonter. I asked, "Tell me, sir, what do you do all winter when you get snowbound?" He said, "We just sit and think, mostly sit."
I think that might be a major prob- lem in the world: we are sitting rather than thinking and acting.
I am grateful for the opportunity to greet you once again and to bring spe- cial greetings from America's birth- place, New England. It is wonderful to see the mountains of the West and
the beauty of fall as it unfolds before us. I love this great country.
Fall also brings the crisp days and chilly nights- that signal the start of the football season. Those of you who take an active interest in sports, and know of football's importance in turn- ing boys into men, were saddened J recently as I was in learning of the passing of that great football coach and builder of men, Vince Lombardi. Here was a man who came to a last-place team comprised of men who had for- gotten what winning was — a team with no spirit, no confidence, and no respect —and in three short years he turned them into a team of world champions. But being a champion once didn't satisfy Vince Lombardi. He and his team went on to win again and again, game after game, title after title. The
Era, December 1970 37
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Green Bay Packers soon became the winningest team in professional foot- ball. Here was a man who could be as mean as a lion, yet gentle as a lamb. A man who said God and family should come first. A man who taught that not only physical toughness is important, but spiritual and mental toughness are also essential to success, and a man who said to all those who have problems and sometimes get dis- couraged, that "winning isn't every- thing, but wanting to win is."
I submit to you that we as a people, member and nonmember alike, can learn some meaningful and timely lessons from the life of that great man.
One of the great attributes of the Church is that we too are building men. I have under my direction in New England some 175 of the finest young men and women anywhere in the world. I have great faith and confidence in them and the things they do. We appreciate you fine parents who sacrifice so that your sons and daughters can fulfill missions. You are doing them a great service, and you in turn are being blessed. In private in- terview and in testimony meetings, they often express love for you and for their families. You may rest assured they are very happy.
I might just say here parenthetically that one of the challenges of a mission president is to keep a physical balance in missionaries as well as the spiritual and mental. I saw two of my assistants on my return home, and I noticed they had taken off about thirty pounds which was needed. The Saints are good to them in the field. These same two assistants, in trying to help a little 97-pound weakling put on a little weight, on one occasion approached him and said, "Elder, it looks like you've been through a famine." And this sharp little elder came right back and said, "And you two look like you caused it."
Since the days of Joseph Smith, over seven hundred million dollars have been spent by parents to send their children on missions. One mother re- cently said to me, "I agree with you, Brother Dunn, that the accent is on the youth, but the stress is still on the parents."
Sister Dunn and I recently visited with a Harvard professor and his wife who had had some contact with the Church and the missionaries. This learned man, holder of many degrees, and his charming wife had noted some- thing special in these two young men who had borne their testimonies of the reality of God, the divinity of Christ, and of the restoration of the Church in these latter days. As we spoke, this professor said, "Mr. Dunn, what is it that gives these young men such a
38
strong conviction? What is this mis- sionary work really doing for people? What motivates them to give up two years of their lives? Why do you go to those who are already Christian? Wouldn't two years of college be of more value?"
To answer these questions, we turn, as do all missionaries, to the scriptures, both ancient and modern. We read, for example, in Isaiah and Ephesians of the restoration of all things. We turned to Mark and read the words of Jesus, "Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men' (Mark 1:17), and "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15).
As the evening progressed, Sister Dunn and I were able to explain to this couple the very purpose and the fruits of missionary work. We told them that a mission helps a young- man to find out who he really is. It helps him to set patterns, attitudes, and habits that will carry into his adult life. I just personally believe it is easier to build a boy than to mend a man. We told them that for our young people a mission is life in miniature; it's a journey, not a camp.
We answered their inquiry when we explained to them the visitation of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph in 1820. Although we realize the great good that other churches are doing in the world, the Lord said, and I remind you: ". . . they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." (Joseph Smith 2:19.)
A mission most of all provides the chance for people to accept the gospel and to take upon them the name of Christ through faith, repentance, bap- tism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. The reason we go to those who are already of a Christian faith is because we believe that the was in Christianity still is. We believe that Paul on the road to Damascus is no different from Joseph Smith in the grove — now called sacred. God speaks today!
About knowledge: We read from Moses that "the glory of God is intelli- gence." This great educator was much impressed with the Mormon philosophy of education that includes the whole man. College and money are impor- tant, and I don't want to minimize them, but in making a living don't forget to make a life. The words of the Savior, filled with truth and wisdom, sounded again as we read, ". . . what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36.) A mission teaches that spirituality is important.
I related to this educator and his fine wife how acceptance of the gospel
Era, December 1970 39
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and the way of life can provide the opportunity for people to change atti- tudes, and thus their lives.
During the past year I have watched one of society's outcasts, an ex-convict, rise from the depths of a prison cell to become a responsible citizen, a worthy Latter-day Saint. This man's life was changed because two of our mission- aries brought him a message of hope and of salvation. He had thought because of his past all was lost and his chance had passed. But these two young elders brought him the gospel and a new way of life.
Unfortunately there are some in this world who continue to ignore or in- validate the principle of true repen- tance and say, "Once a thief, always a thief," or "Leopards don't change their spots." Need I remind you who say such things that we don't work with leopards; we work with men, and men change every day.
Our missionaries knock on each door knowing and believing that a basic premise of this church is that when men and women are motivated by the proper spirit, they can and do change their lives.
Only a few short years ago President McKay stood at this very pulpit and said that the purpose of the gospel was to make bad men good and good men better. This same young man whose life was once tattered and scarred with sin sat in our living room just a few days ago and said, "Brother Dunn, I
thank God every day for the elders who brought me the gospel and had the patience to teach me. I know the gospel is true for I have lived it; and although I'm not what I ought to be, and I'm not what I'm going to be, I am not what I was."
Such are the fruits of missionary work. Again the words of the Savior ring through the ages to the convert, to the missionaries, to the college pro- fessor, to you, and to me. It was Jesus who said that when we lose ourselves in the service of others, then, and only then, can we find ourselves and possess true joy and happiness. Gratitude, is the memory of the heart, and if a mis- sionary did no more than to help one convert like this catch the vision of the gospel, his two years would be well spent.
The Lord told us that if we labor all our days and bring save it be one soul to him, great shall be our joy with him in the kingdom of our Father.
As the evening passed, Sister Dunn and I gave this couple from Cambridge a brief history of the missionary system of the Church. We told them of the day when Parley P. Pratt stood in a river for six hours, baptizing people one after the other. We told them how Wilford Woodruff converted 1800 people in eight months. We reviewed the proselyting program of the Church from Samuel Smith in 1831 up to 1970, and we noted that close to one thousand of their New England neigh-
bors would join the Church this year.
The visit ended. We closed with our personal testimony and extended an invitation to this couple to come join with us. What a spiritual thrill to see distinguished, capable, academic giants humble themselves before the Master and accept his simple gospel teachings. Yes, missionary work is a calling in which one may find many rewards, for true joy comes in giving and teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The first prophet of this dispensa- tion, Joseph Smith, who lived and died a missionary, gave us his summary of the importance of this work when he penned the following to John Went- worth: "Our missionaries are going forth to different nations, and in Ger- many, Palestine, New Holland, Aus- tralia, the East Indies, and other places, the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done." (Documentary History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 540.) To this I testify as I bear my solemn witness to the work, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• If you want to get the most out of this life — or as a result of this life — you need to know first the purpose for which this earth was created and why we are here.
The Lord revealed to Abraham, in vision, the council of the Gods con- templating the creation of this earth, and God said:
"We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these ma-
terials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things what- soever the Lord their God shall com- mand them;
"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they
who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever." (Abr. 3:24-26.)
This is a concise statement of the primary purpose for this earth.
To "prove them herewith": That means to test us, to see if we will do all things whatsoever the Lord our God shall command us.
No wonder the law of obedience is called the first law of heaven. In 1
Era, December 1970 41
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Samuel 15:22, we read, obedience is better than sacrifice. All the bless- ings and benefits of sacrifice come as a result of obedience.
The first law taught to Adam and Eve was the law of obedience. After they were driven from the Garden of Eden, Adam built an altar and offered sacrifice. An angel of the Lord ap- peared to him and asked why he was offering sacrifice, and he answered, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." (Moses 5:6.)
Then the angel taught him why, saying that "this thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth." (Moses 5:7.)
Often commandments are given without our knowing why; then the reasons come later. ■
We are too often afraid of what is called blind obedience, but obedience to God is always right — blind or other- wise. To Abraham the Lord said:
"And in thy seed shall all the na- tions of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." (Gen. 22:18.)
In Deuteronomy the Lord said:
"Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
"A blessing, if ye obey the command- ments of the Lord your God, . . .
"And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments. . . ." (Deut. 11:26-28.)
Paul declared to the Hebrews, speak- ing of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, "Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered." (Heb. 5:8.)
If it was necessary for Jesus, the Son of God, to learn obedience, then how much more is it necessary for us?
The Prophet Joseph Smith has said:
"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated —
"And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21.)
We have several laws given to us today that are opportunities for us to express in outward evidences that we desire to be obedient to the laws of God. To name a few:
We have tithes and offerings and the Sabbath day. I don't know why we should need legislation to force us to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Also, we are commanded to attend sacrament meetings, and there are other outward evidences.
The Lord has also said:
"And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments. . . ." (D&C 89:18.)
42
This means all the commandments, including tithes and offerings, Sabbath day, sacrament meetings, etc. Then he adds the promise of the blessings of health, then adds this promise: "And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures." (D&C 89:19.)
What is a more "hidden treasure" than a testimony of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ? This comes as a result of obedience to the laws of God, not just because we have good health. I have heard many converts tell how they learned to live the Word of Wisdom to join the Church. Good health is not a requirement to join the Church. Obedience is. Each one has said if that's what the Lord wanted, he would do it.
The next step is natural : If you want to do what the Lord wants, then you must pray to him for help. It is not easy to change these habits; one needs the help of the Lord. After praying for help, it becomes much easier.
Two things naturally follow: One loses the taste or desire for the tobacco, or coffee or other habits. Also, he gets a testimony of the divinity of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A classic and typical example is found in the current September issue of The Instructor. Marion Proctor and his wife, as investigators, had just been shocked with the law of the tithe and the Word of Wisdom.
"... I hope you can appreciate what a shock this was, especially to a Scots- man. At first we said, 'No, we can't pay ten percent of our income.' The elders then promised us that we would be blessed by the Lord if we would do so. I thought this over for a couple of minutes, and told them we would pay tithing.
"My wife slept well that night, but I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned, thinking about my telling the mission- aries I couldn't stop smoking right there and then, but would have to wait until the next night. I got up and went into the living room and knelt in prayer, and I talked to my Father in heaven. I asked him to give me help, to give me strength, to take away my craving for cigarettes, so that I could be baptized and enter His kingdom. I had tried to give up smoking on several previous occasions — even to the point of sending away for a smoker's cure — but had not been successful. As I knelt in prayer that night, however, I felt with all my heart that my Father in heaven would help me. I heard a voice say to me, 'Do not wait until tomor- row, but give up the smoking habit now. I will help you in every way, and you will be successful in giving up tobacco.' I felt joy and peace in my
heart as I arose from my knees.
"The next morning before I went to work, I looked at my tobacco and told myself I would leave it there and not smoke. When I came home I threw it in the fire. And since that time I have not had any desire to use tobacco." ("Halfway Around the World," In- structor, September 1970, pp. 331-32.)
Then his wife tells a similar story of her experiences. I have heard hundreds of similar stories.
I'll never forget the two elderly sisters from down in the southern states — both widows. The older sister told me that when the missionaries told them of the Word of Wisdom, they gave it some serious thought. She asked some of her friends what they thought about her quitting. She had used tobacco all her life. They told her it was foolish at her age — in the mid-80s. She then asked her doctor. He warned her that she couldn't stand the shock — it might even be the end of her.
Then she said she started to reason: "I am over 80 — I don't know how much longer I can live anyway. I need to prepare to meet my Maker. If I try, and I die in the attempt, I can say to my Maker, 'I was trying to do what I thought you wanted me to do.' "
Any way she looked at it she was doing what she thought "He" would want her to do, literally putting her life in the balance.
She quit and waited for something to happen — which didn't. Instead of
its hurting her, she noticed that she was feeling better all the time.
She told her sister what had hap- pened to her, and her sister said, "If you can do it, I can. You wait for me and we'll both join this church."
A year later they came to my office and told me their story. Each had been to the temple and been sealed to her husband.
Though they were in their upper 80s, they had not only gained the blessings of health promised, but had gained the blessings of eternal sealings for ever and ever.
Do you think the blessings for living the Word of Wisdom are just health blessings? If you keep the Word of Wisdom you will be obedient to all the laws, including tithing, keeping the Sabbath day holy, and loving your fellowmen. The Savior has said: "You shall have glory added upon your head for ever and ever."
When Jesus was asked by the lawyer, "Master, which is the great command- ment in the law?
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
"This is the first and great com- mandment.
"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22:36-40.)
What a different world this would be, if we all heeded this counsel.
I like this statement by President George Albert Smith. He said:
". . . When I was a child I recog- nized, or thought I did, that the com- mandments of the Lord were His laws and regulations for my guidance. I thought I recognized in the disobedi- ence to those laws that punishment would follow, and as a child, I presume I may have felt that the Lord had so arranged affairs and so ordained mat- ters in this life that I must obey certain laws or swift retribution would follow. But as I grew older I have learned the lesson from another viewpoint, and now to me the laws of the Lord, so called, the counsels contained in the Holy Scriptures, the revelations of the Lord to us in this day and age of the world, are but the sweet music of the voice of our Father in heaven, in His mercy to us. They are but the advice and counsel of a loving parent, who is more concerned in our welfare than earthly parents can be, and conse- quently that which at one time seemed to bear the harsh name of law to me is now the loving and tender advice of an all-wise heavenly Father." (Conference Report, October 1911, pp. 43-44.)
The Savior said, on another occasion, "If ye love me, keep my command- ments." (John 14:15.) May we all, with all our efforts, be obedient to his com- mandments, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• We are privileged to live in a beau- tiful world. As we admire its majesties and beauties, with man as its final and crowning creation, we are filled with wonderment and awe. Surely these developments did not come about
by mere chance, but must be the re- sult of the handiwork of a divine and inspired architect and creator.
An illustrious biologist, after many years of study and meditation, con- cluded that "the probability of life
originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the Unabridged Dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing office." (Professor Edwin Conklin, as quoted in Reader's Digest, April 1956.)
Era, December 1970 43
We are torn on every hand by man- made intellectual theories and doctrines. And among us we have "doubting Thomases," who lack faith and who do not recognize a Heavenly Being as the creator of all these wonders. They cry out, "There is no God," or "God is dead."
Faithful Latter-day Saints heartily disagree with these extreme, false, un- true statements. We declare to the world that God is not dead, but rather that he is "the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made." (D&C 38:1.) We bear solemn witness that God does live and that the first principle of the gospel is to have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and in God, our Heavenly Father. We further declare to the world and bear witness that we are the spiritual off- spring of heavenly parents.
Our true genesis, we declare, is that we did not come here by chance or by a whim of nature, but we came here by divine right, which we earned be- cause of our faithfulness in a previous estate. Our eternal spirits are clothed in mortal bodies made in the image of our Father. We do not remember what happened in that former estate, as a veil has been drawn that obscures our memory. We don't have all the an- swers here.
The Lord has made it plain that we must be prepared to grope and see as "through a glass darkly," but we have been given the assurance that one bright day we shall see clearly and our vision will be undimmed.
In the meantime we must be con- tent to accept many things on faith. Some have referred to this as blind faith or blind obedience. But I have never been persuaded that faith or obedience was blind when the request to perform some duty or task came from one in whom I had complete confidence and trust. Rather than term it blind obedience, I prefer to call it trusting or implicit faith.
I like the beautiful lesson taught and the impressive example set by our first parent, Father Adam. He was com- manded by the Lord to offer the first- lings of his flocks as a sacrifice. He did not know the reason for the request, but without hesitation he was obedient to the commandment: "And after many days an angel of. the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord?" Adam responded with this magnificent, trust- ing reply: "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." (Moses 5:5-6.) To Adam it was not a matter of blind obedience, but rather it displayed his complete and unwavering confidence
and faith in the word and instruction from the Lord.
During our lifetime there will un- doubtedly come times when we may be asked by our Church leaders to carry out an assignment or perform some duty. We may not be aware of the reason for the request at the time nor after. But I am confident that if we have faith in our leaders and render obedience to them, the Lord will bless and reward us for our faithfulness.
The Lord has endowed some indi- viduals with a gift and capacity for possessing and exercising great powers of faith. Such a man was Henry A^ Dixon. Although married and with a family of many children, when called by the First Presidency to fill a mis- sion to Great Britain, he readily ac- cepted the call without hesitation. With three missionary traveling companions, he embarked from St. John Island at Newfoundland on the steamship Ari- zona.
En route a furious storm arose. As the missionaries were preparing to have their evening prayers prior to retiring, they felt a shocking jolt that caused the entire ship to quiver. As they rushed to the deck they discovered that the ship, traveling at full speed, had rammed a gigantic iceberg. A huge, gaping hole had been torn in the prow of the vessel, which extended even below the water line. The captain advised that only in a calm sea could he and the crew bring the ship to the nearest port, which was some 250 miles away.
The wind and the storm continued unabated. Many hours later and un- able to sleep, Elder Dixon arose, dressed, and walked to the deck. Stand- ing there alone in the dark, with deep humility and great faith, by the power of the Holy Priesthood, he rebuked the waves and commanded them to be still.
Thirty-six hours later the ship was able to return and dock at Port St. John. In accordance with Elder Dixon's promise, not a single life had been lost.
When the ship's owner, a Mr. Guion, learned of the accident, and knowing that Mormon missionaries were aboard, he was quoted as saying: "There is nothing to worry about. My line has transported Mormon missionaries for forty years and has never lost a boat with Mormon missionaries aboard!"
Not only was faith a powerful force in this instance, but it is also a strong and motivating factor in the lives of numerous individuals, bringing to them comfort and peace of mind.
During the winter of 1834-1835 a theological school was established in Kirtland. It was the custom at the school to call upon a certain member
to speak for the edification of the others. Heber C. Kimball, on one occasion, was invited to address them on the subject of faith. He began by relating an incident that had occurred but recently in his own family. "My wife, one day," commenced Brother Kimball, "when going out on a visit, gave our daughter Helen Mar charge not to touch the dishes," as they were very scarce, expensive, and hard to replace. She advised her that if she broke any during her absence, she would punish her when she returned. "While my wife was absent," con- tinued Brother Kimball, "my daughter broke a number of the dishes by letting the table leaf fall "
The little girl was greatly fright- ened and "went out under an apple tree and prayed that her mother's heart might be softened, that when she returned she would not spank her. Her mother was very punctual," said Brother Kimball, "when she made a promise to her children, to fulfill it, and when she returned, she undertook, as a duty, to carry this promise into effect. She retired with [the little girl] into her room, but found herself powerless to chastise her; her heart was so softened that it was impossible for her to raise her hand against the child. Afterwards, Helen told her mother she had prayed to the Lord that she might not whip her."
Brother Heber paused in his simple narrative. Tears glistened in the eyes of his listeners; the Prophet Joseph, who was a warm and tender-hearted man, was also weeping. He told the brethren that that was the kind of faith they needed: "the faith of a little child, going in humility to its Parents, and asking for the desire of its heart." He complimented Brother Kimball and said "the anecdote was well-timed." (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball [Bookcraft, 1945], pp. 69-70.)
At the general conference held last April, at a solemn assembly here in the Tabernacle, the names of a new First Presidency were presented and sus- tained. These brethren, whom the Lord has chosen and designated to be the three presiding high priests, did not seek the high and holy callings that came to them; but throughout their lives they lived and worked so that when the positions sought them, they were prepared to humbly accept those callings. I have faith in them and earnestly pray that they may be blessed, magnified, and sustained, and that we as members of the Church may have the faith and good judgment to follow their inspired leadership, as we go forward in this, the Lord's work; for this I pray, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. O
44 Era, December 1970
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• As a people, we have three great loyalties: loyalty to God, loyalty to family, loyalty to country. ■
I come to you today with a plea to strengthen our families.
It has been truly stated that "salva- tion is a family affair . . . and that the family unit is the most important or- ganization in time or in eternity."
The Church was created in large measure to help the family, and long after the Church has performed its mission, the celestial patriarchal order will still be functioning. This is why President Joseph F. Smith said: "To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a success- ful general or a successful statesman . . . ," and President McKay added: "When one puts business or pleasure above his home, he, that moment, starts on the downgrade to soul weakness."
And this is why President Harold B. Lee said only yesterday, "The Church must do more to help the home carry out its divine mission."
President Joseph Fielding Smith has stated that never "in the history of the Church have there been so many temptations, so many pitfalls, so many dangers, to lure away the members of the Church from the path of duty and from righteousness as we find today." (Take Heed to Yourselves, p. 127.) And he has also said: "This world is not growing better . . . wickedness is increasing." (Ibid., p. 207.)
Never has the devil been so well organized, and never in our day has he had so many powerful emissaries work- ing for him. We must do everything in our power to strengthen and safe- guard the home and family.
The adversary knows "that the home is the first and most effective place for children to learn the lessons of life: truth, honor, virtue, self-control; the value of education, honest work, and the purpose and privilege of life. Noth- ing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for fail- ure in the home." (President David O. McKay, in Family Home Evening Manual, 1968-69, p. iii.)
And so today, the undermining of the home and family is on the increase, with the devil anxiously working to dis- place the father as the head of the home and create rebellion among the children. The Book of Mormon de- scribes this condition when it states, "And my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them." And then these words follow — and consider these words seriously when you think of those political leaders who are promoting birth control and abor- tion: "O my people, they who lead thee cause thee to err and destroy the way of thy paths." (2 Ne. 13:12.) And let me warn the sisters in all seriousness that you who submit yourselves to an abortion or to an operation that pre- cludes you from safely having addi- tional healthy children are jeopardizing your exaltation and your future mem- bership in the kingdom of God.
Parents are directly responsible for the righteous rearing of their children, and this responsibility cannot be safely delegated to relatives, friends, neigh- bors, the school, the church, or the state.
"I appeal to you parents, take noth- ing for granted about your children," said President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
"The great bulk of them, of course, are good, but some of us do not know when they begin to go away from the path of truth and righteousness. Be watch- ful every day and hour. Never relax your care, your solicitude. Rule kindly in the spirit of the Gospel and the spirit of the priesthood, but rule, if you wish your children to follow the right path." Permissive parents are part of the problem.
As a watchman on the tower, I feel to warn you that one of the chief means of misleading our youth and destroying the family unit is our edu- cational institutions. President Joseph F. Smith referred to false educational ideas as one of the three threatening dangers among our Church members. There is more than one reason why the Church is advising our youth to attend colleges close to their homes where institutes of religion are avail- able. It gives the parents the oppor- tunity to stay close to their children; and if they have become alert and informed as President McKay admon- ished us last year, these parents can help expose some of the deceptions of men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Dar- win, John Dewey, Karl Marx, John Keynes, and others.
Today there are much worse things that can happen to a child than not getting a full college education. In fact, some of the worst things have happened to our children while attend- ing colleges led by administrators who wink at subversion and amoral ity.
Said Karl G. Maeser, "I would rather have my child exposed to smallpox, typhus fever, cholera, or other malig- nant and deadly diseases than to the degrading influence of a corrupt
46 Era, December 1970
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teacher. It is infinitely better to take chances with an ignorant, but pure- minded teacher than with the greatest philosopher who is impure."
Vocational education, correspondence courses, establishment in a family business are being considered for their children by an increasing number of parents.
The tenth plank in Karl Marx's Manifesto for destroying our kind of civilization advocated the establish- ment of "free education for all children in public schools." There were sev- eral reasons why Marx wanted govern- ment to run the schools. Dr. A. A. Hodge pointed out one of them when he said, "It is capable of exact demonstration that if every party in the State has the right of excluding from public schools whatever he does not believe to be true, then he that believes most must give way to him that be- lieves least, and then he that believes least must give way to him that believes absolutely nothing, no matter in how small a minority the atheists or agnostics may be. It is self-evident that on this scheme, if it is consistently and persistently carried out in all parts of the country, the United States sys- tem of national popular education will be the most efficient and widespread instrument for the propagation of atheism which the world has ever seen."
After the tragic prayer decision was made by the Court, President David O. McKay stated, "The Supreme Court of the United States severs the connecting cord between the public schools of the United States and the source of divine intelligence, the Creator, himself." (Relief Society Magazine, December 1962, p. 878.)
Does that make any difference to you? Can't you see why the demand of conscientious parents is increasing the number of private Christian and Americanist oriented schools?
Today, Brigham Young University is the largest private school in the United States. Parents from far and near are looking to Brigham Young University as never before.
Now, whether your child attends this type of school or not, it is important that you stay close to your children, daily review, if possible, what they have learned in school, and go over their textbooks.
President Joseph Fielding Smith has stated that in public schools you can- not get a textbook, anywhere that he knows of, on the "ologies" that doesn't contain nonsense. (Take Heed to Your- selves, p. 32.)
I know one noble father who reviews with his children regularly what they have been taught; and if they have
been taught any falsehoods, then the children and the father together re- search out the truth. If your children are required to put down on exams the falsehoods that have been taught, then perhaps they can follow President Joseph Fielding Smith's counsel of prefacing their answer with the words "teacher says," or they might say "you taught" or "the textbook states."
If your children are taught untruths on evolution in the public schools or even in our Church schools, provide them with a copy of President Joseph Fielding Smith's excellent rebuttal in his book Man, His Origin and Destiny.
Recently some parents paid for space in a newspaper to run an open letter to the school principal of their son. The letter in part stated:
"You are hereby notified that our
son, , is not allowed by his
undersigned parents to participate in, or be subject to instruction in, any training or education in sex, human biological development, attitude de- velopment, self-understanding, person- al and family life, or group therapy, or sensitivity training, or self-criticism, or any combination or degree thereof, without the consent of the undersigned by express written permission. . . .
"We intend to retain and exercise our parental rights to guide our child in the areas of morality and sexual be- havior without any interference or contradiction imposed by school per- sonnel.
" [Our son] has been taught to recog- nize the format of sensitivity training, group therapy, self-criticism, etc., as it is being broadly applied, lowering the standards of morality and replac- ing American individual responsibility with the dependency on, and con- formity to, the 'herd consensus' concept of collectivism.
"He has been instructed to promptly remove himself from any class in which he is exposed to the aforemen- tioned indoctrination and to report to us any such disregard of this letter."
The Lord knew that in the last days Satan would try to destroy the family unit. He knew that by court edict, pornography would be allowed to prosper.
How grateful we should be that God inspired his prophet over half a cen- tury ago to institute the weekly home evening program. This is the van- guard for getting parents to assume the responsibility of instructing their children. An increasing number of faithful Saints are holding more than one home evening a week and are adding to or deleting from the home evening manual as the Spirit dictates..
Designed to strengthen and safe- guard the family, the Church home
evening program (one night each week) is to be set apart for fathers and moth- ers to gather their sons and daughters around them in the home. Prayer is offered, hymns and other songs are sung, scripture is read, family topics are discussed, talent is displayed, prin- ciples of the gospel are taught, and often games are played and home- made refreshments served.
Now here are the promised blessings for those who will hold a weekly home evening:
"If the Saints obey this counsel, we promise that great blessings will result. Love at home and obedience to parents will increase. Faith will be developed in the hearts of the youth of Israel, and they will gain power to combat the evil influences and temptations which beset them." (First Presidency, April 27, 1915, Improvement Era, vol. 18, p. 734.)
Now what of the entertainment that is available to our young people today? Are you being undermined right in your home through your TV, radio, slick magazines, rock records? Much of the rock music is purposely designed to push immorality, narcotics, revolu- tion, atheism, and nihilism, through language that often has a double meaning and with which many par- ents are not familiar.
Parents who are informed can warn their children of the demoralizing, loud, raucous beat of rock music, which deadens the senses and dulls the sensi- bilities— the jungle rhythm which inflames the savagery within.
Said President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.:
"I would have you reflect for a mo- ment upon the fact that a tremendous amount of the modern art, of the modern literature and music, and the drama that we have today is utterly demoralizing — utterly. . . . Your music — well, I do not know how far above the tom-tom of the jungle it is, but it is not too far. . . .
"These things you must watch. They all have their effects on the children. Make your homelife as near heaven- like as you can." (Relief Society Maga- zine, December 1952, p. 798.)
Youth leaders, are you holding aloft our standards or have you compromised them for the lowest common denomi- nator in order to appease the deceived or vile within the Church? Are the dances and music in your cultural halls virtuous, lovely, praiseworthy, and of good report, or do they represent a modern Sodom with short skirts, loud- beat, strobe lights, and darkness?
Will our youth leaders accept the standards set for young John Wesley by his mother? Hear her sound counsel :
"Would you judge of the lawfulness
Era, December 1970 49
or unlawfulness of pleasure? Take this rule: Now note whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, whatever increases the authority of the body over the mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may seem in itself."
Have we, as Moroni warned, "pol- luted the holy church of God?" (Morm. 8:38.) The auxiliaries of the Church are to be a help, not a hindrance, to parents and the priesthood as they strive to lead their families back to God. Do any of us wear or display the broken cross, anti-Christ sign, that is the adversary's symbol of the so-called "peace movement"?
"My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge," lamented Hosea. (Hos. 4:6.) Today, because some parents have refused to become informed and then stand up and inform their chil- dren, they are witnessing the gradual physical and spiritual destruction of their posterity. If we would become like God, knowing good and evil, then we had best find out what is under- mining us, how to avoid it, and what we can do about it.
It is time that the hearts of us fathers be turned to our children and the hearts of the children be turned to us fathers, or we shall both be cursed. The seeds of divorce are often sown and the blessings of children delayed by wives working outside the home. Working mothers should remember that their children usually need more of mother than of money.
As conditions in the world get pro- gressively worse, it is crucial that the .family draw closer together in righ- teousness and that family solidarity be established.' As one has said, "There are too many pulls away from the home today. We should seriously con- sider whether or not too many activi- ties and other interests take too much time and attention from our families, from our children, from those whom the Lord God gave us to love, to nour- ish, to teach, and to help through life."
The stick-together families are happier
by far Than the brothers and the sisters who
take separate highways are. The gladdest people living are the
wholesome folks who make A circle at the fireside that no power on
earth can break. And the finest of conventions ever held
beneath the sun Are the little family gatherings when
the busy day is done. There are rich folk, there are poor folk,
who imagine they are wise.
And they're very quick to shatter all
the little family ties. Each goes searching after pleasure in
his own selected way. Each with strangers likes to wander,
and with strangers likes to play. But it's bitterness they harvest, and it's
empty joy they find, For the children that are wisest are the
stick-together kind. There are some who seem to fancy
that for gladness they must roam, That for smiles that are the brightest
they must wander far from home. That the strange friend is the true
friend, and they travel far astray And they waste their lives in striving
for a joy that's far away, But the gladdest sort of people, when
the busy day is done, Are the brothers and the sisters, who
together share their fun.
"The Spoken Word" from Temple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia Broadcasting System October 11, 1970. ©1970.
There is much said that isn't so
By Richard L. Evans
\ A A e l've 'n a t'me °f much talk, with opinions often expressed, \f \ /sometimes without much substance, and rumors that swiftly V Vcirculate, because someone heard that someone said that some- thing is so — and so opinions proliferate, and rumors run rampant, be- cause so many have the means of saying so much to so many, and because so much that is unproved is repeated, often without thinking much whether or m. i it is or isn't so. "What is the hardest task in the world?" asked Emerson. "To think."' And to this Dr. Frank Crane added some interesting sentences: "Don't pick up some opinion you hear, and make it your own because it sounds fine, and go to passing it out, without carefully examining it, scrutinizing, cross-questioning and test- ing it. . . . Don't be afraid to say, 'I don't know.' . . . What you ought to be ashamed of is seeming to understand when you don't. . . . Ask questions. Define— practice defining. Practice telling what a thing is not, as well as what it is. Get a clear idea of what you don't know. Then you can see better what you do know. . . . Don't let anybody make you think you owe a certain amount of belief in a thing simply because you can't disprove it. . . . You don't have to believe or dis- believe everything that comes along; most things you just hang up and wait."2 Well, it all adds up to a simple conclusion: There is much said that isn't so. There is much opinion expressed that isn't proved. There is much rumor running around— and if we let ourselves be run by rumor we would find ourselves as James said: "like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."3
"The flying rumors gather'd as they roll'd, Scare any tale was sooner heard than told; And all who told it added something new And all who heard it made enlargements too."4 Everything we think and everything we hear aren't necessarily so.
'Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, First Series: Intellect
2Dr. Frank Crane, four Minute Essays.
3|as. 1:6.
4Alexander Pope, The Temple of Fame.
50
It's the stick-together family that wins
the joys of earth, That hears the sweetest music and
that finds the finest mirth; It's the old home roof that shelters all
the charm that life can give; There you find the gladdest playground,
there the happiest spot to live. And, O weary, wandering hrother, if
contentment you would win, Come you back unto the fireside and
be comrade with your kin.
(Adapted from a poem by Edgar A. Guest.)
And so let's strengthen the family. Family and individual prayer, morning and evening, can invite the blessings of the Lord on your household. Mealtime provides a wonderful time to review the activities of the day and to not only feed the body, but to feed the spirit
as well, with members of the family taking turns reading the scriptures, particularly the Book of Mormon. Nighttime is a great time for the busy father to go to each child's bedside, to talk with him, answer his questions, and tell him how much he is loved. In such homes there is no "generation gap." This deceptive phrase is another tool of the devil to weaken the home and family. Children who honor their parents and parents who love their children can make a home a haven of safety and a little bit of heaven.
Does this poem describe your family gatherings?
We are all here:
Father, mother,
Sister, brother, All who hold each other dear. Each chair is filled, we are all at home.
Tonight, let no cold stranger come; It must be often thus around Our old familiar hearth we're found. Bless, then, the meeting and the spot. For once be every care forgot; Let gentle peace assert her power, And kind affection rule the hour. We're all — all here.
(Adapted from a poem by Charles Sprague.)
God bless us to strengthen our fami- lies by avoiding the crafty designs of the adversary and following the noble ways of the Lord, so that in due time we can report to our Heavenly Father in his celestial home that we are all there, father, mother, sister, brother, all who hold each other dear. Each chair is filled, we are all back home.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• Brethren and sisters: I have taken for my theme this afternoon, "The Key- stone of Our Religion."
The Prophet Joseph Smith wrote in his diary for November 28, 1841:
"I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. ... I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book." (Documentary History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 461. Italics added.)
The authenticity of the Book of Mor- mon and the restoration of the gospel rest upon the same two fundamentals: first, the reality of modern revelation, and second, the fact that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. These two veri-
ties are inseparably connected in their relationship to the Book of Mormon and the restored gospel. To accept one of them is to accept the other.
When Joseph Smith retired to bed on the night of September 21, 1823, he had no thought (and he had never had a thought) about the Book of Mormon. The matter that concerned him at that moment was his standing with the Lord. This, in prayer and supplication, he sought to determine. While praying, he was visited by Moroni, a personage sent from the presence of God, who told him that "there was a book deposited [in nearby Cumorah], written upon gold plates, giving an account of the former in- habitants of this continent, and the sources from whence they sprang. He also said that the fullness of the ever- lasting Gospel was contained in it, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient
inhabitants; also that there were two stones in silver bows . . . deposited with the plates; . . . and that God had prepared them for the purpose of trans- lating the book." (DHC, vol. 1, p. 12.)
In this interview, the Prophet re- ceived his first concept of the Book of Mormon. From that night until the book was published, Joseph was con- stantly guided from heaven in obtain- ing, caring for, and translating the sacred record. One of the most remark- able things concerning the Book of Mormon is the frequency and the final- ity with which the Lord himself testi- fied to its truth and divinity.
Confirming his own participation in bringing forth the Book of Mormon, the Lord, in August 1830, said to the Prophet: "I . . . sent [Moroni] unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, con- taining the fulness of my everlasting gospel..." (D&C27:5.)
Era, December 1970 51
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In the preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord said that he called upon "Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments" that he might "have power to translate through the mercy of God, hy the power of God, the Book of Mormon." (D&C 1:17, 29.) The Lord also told the Three Witnesses that the Prophet had "translated the hook," and then he added, "as your Lord and your God liveth it is true." (D&C 17:6.)
As the Prophet proceeded with the translation, he learned many great and marvelous truths. He learned that the concept of the Book of Mormon originated in the mind of the Lord Jesus himself — that both the source material for the record and the engrav- ings that he was translating were pre- pared by righteous men directed by God.
He learned that, under the guidance of the Lord, the gathering of source material for the book began as early as 2200 b.c, when the Lord commanded the brother of Jared "to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen." (Eth. 4:1.) He learned that the record thus begun was continued by commandment of the Lord until the end of the Jaredite era; that the complete Jaredite record miraculously came into the hands of Moroni, who, about a.d. 400, abridged it into the short record we know as the book of Ether. He learned that the things in this short abridgment were written by Moroni upon the plates he, Joseph, was translating, because, according to Moroni's own words, "the Lord hath commanded me to write them"; and Moroni continues: "... I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw" and the Lord "commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath com- manded that I should seal up the in- terpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord." (Eth. 4:4-5.)
Similar direction was given con- cerning the Nephite records:
"The Lord commanded me [said Nephi], wherefore I did make plates of ore that I might engraven upon them the record of my people. . . .
"And this have I done, and com- manded my people what they should do after I was gone." (1 Ne. 19:1, 4.)
Thus, pursuant to divine command and direction, the comprehensive rec- ord on the large plates of Nephi, from which Mormon made his abridgment, was kept for nearly a thousand years.
Jesus himself edited part of that record. During his post-resurrection ministry among the Nephites, he in-
52
structed them to write the things which he had taught them. He also reminded them that they had not made record of the prophecy of his servant Samuel the Lamanite, to the effect that at the time of his resurrection "many saints" should arise from the dead. When he drew this to their attention, his disci- ples remembered the prophecies and their fulfillment. (Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore it was written according as he com- manded.)
From the title page of the Book of Mormon, the Prophet learned that one of the two purposes of the book was "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ."
For the accomplishment of this pur- pose, the book is from beginning to end a witness for Christ. Its first chapter contains an account of a vision in which Lehi beheld Jesus "descending out of the midst of heaven" in luster above the noonday sun. (1 Ne. 1:9.) Its last chapter concludes with Moroni's great exhortation to come unto Christ and be perfected in him, with this as- surance: ". . . and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be . . . sanctified " (Moro. 10:32-33.)
Numerous and great are the stirring testimonies that illuminate the five hundred pages between these two chapters.
I bear you my witness that I have obtained for myself a personal knowl- edge that the Book of Mormon is all the Prophet Joseph said it is; that from it radiates the spirit of prophecy and revelation; that it teaches in plain simplicity the great doctrines of salva- tion and the principles of righteous conduct calculated to bring men to Christ; that familiarity with its spirit and obedience to its teachings will move every contrite soul to fervently pray with David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Ps. 51:10.)
One's soul is lifted above the sordid things of this world and soars in the realm of the divine, as in spirit he stands with the brother of Jared on Mount Shelem in the presence of the premortal Redeemer and hears him say: "Behold, I am he who was pre- pared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. ... In me shall all man- kind have light, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name. . . .
". . . Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
"Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh." (Eth. 3:14-16.)
One's soul is likewise lifted as in spirit he mingles with the multitude "round about the temple ... in the land of Bountiful," who, as Mormon said, "were marveling and wondering one with another, and were show- ing one to another the great and mar- velous change which had taken place.
"And . . . also conversing about this Jesus Christ, of whom the sign had been given concerning his death.
"And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; . . . and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn.
". . . and it said unto them:
"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name — hear ye him.
". . . and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them.
"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world. . . ." (3 Ne. 11:1-3, 6-11.)
No one can read Alma's resume of the experiences of his father with the saints who joined the church at the waters of Mormon; of the Lord's mercy and long-suffering in bringing them out of their spiritual and temporal captivity; of how by the power of the Holy Spirit, they were awakened from their deep sleep of death to experience a mighty change wrought in their hearts — no one, I say, can contemplate this marvelous transformation without yearning to have a like change wrought in his own heart.
And no one can answer for himself these questions, which Alma put to his brethren :
Era, December 1970 53
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"[si] . . . have ye spiritually been born of God? [2] Have ye received his image in your countenances? [3] Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?
"[4] Do ye exercise faith in the re- demption of him who created you? [5] Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corrup- tion raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?
"I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the
works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?
'[6] Have ye walked, keeping your- selves blameless before God? [7] Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time . . . that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ ..-.?" (Al. 5:14-16, 27.)
I say, no one with the spirit of the Book of Mormon upon him can honest- ly answer to himself these soul-search- ing questions without resolving to so live that he can answer them in the affirmative on that great day to which each of us shall come. I leave my humble testimony that the Prophet knew whereof he spoke and uttered
divine truth, when he declared:
"I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct book on earth, and the keystone of our re- ligion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than any other book."
As do all the works of God, the Book of Mormon bears within itself the evi- dence of its own authenticity.
I urge you, my brethren and sisters and friends, all of you who hear my voice, to become familiar with the teachings and spirit of the Book of Mormon — "the keystone of our reli- gion." Its teachings and its spirit will lead us to Christ and eternal life. To this I bear solemn witness, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• I stand here in a great presence, surrounded by the First Presidency and the other General Authorities of the Church. Sitting before me are those who are appointed to administer the affairs of the Church in the stakes, missions, temples, wards, priesthood, and other organizations of the Church. In addition are faithful, devoted Latter- day Saints and other good people who are in this great assembly and those listening in on the air. It is a weighty responsibility and a humbling experi- ence. I am dependent upon the Lord, in whose presence I also stand, as his Spirit is most certainly here. I depend also upon your faith and prayers,
Someone has said that memory is the library of the mind and recollection is the librarian. There are stored in that library things we have read and in- formation that has come to us in many other ways. Sometimes when we call upon the librarian for help, he is slow to bring to us the things we would like to have. And sometimes he brings to us material that would better be for- gotten.
As I stand before you today, the li- brarian brings from the library of the mind some wonderful, impressive, and enduring experiences. I recall many years of close and intimate acquaint- ance and association with great men of the past and present. Twenty-three years of unforgettable experience with President Heber J. Grant, one of the sweetest associations that man could have, and with that memory comes the recollection of a wonderful association with his counselors during those years.
From the memory of the past comes to mind an association with President George Albert Smith and his coun- selors. President David O. McKay com- pleted in January of this year an administration of nearly 19 years, and the association with him and the counselors he has had during that period has been a glorious experience and privilege. I have known their hearts and their innermost desires; they have been and are good and righteous men.
While not knowing them personally, I have become acquainted, through a
perusal of the records they have left, with the Presidents of the Church and their counselors and brethren of the Twelve who have preceded those whom I have named; and I bear testimony that they too were inspired men, prophets of God, whose actions and teachings were in harmony with the lives of those with whom I have had personal acquaintance over the years.
And now we are blessed with the administration of President Joseph Fielding Smith and his counselors, Presidents Harold B. Lee and Nathan Eldon Tanner. I testify to you that they too are men whom the Lord loves, men called of God to preside over his church here upon the earth, prophets, seers, and revelators; and that great strides are being made in the work of proclaiming the gospel to the nations of the world and carrying out the Lord's program for his church in these the latter days.
In addition, I think of the brethren of the Twelve Apostles whom I have known intimately over these many years, many of whom have passed to
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the great beyond, and those who are with us today. I think too of all the other General Authorities of the Church. It has been a unique experi- ence, a beloved experience, one that I truly treasure more than my weak words can express. I have loved them all, each and every one, and I have gained great benefit, blessing, and inspiration from each.
One of the sweetest and most profit- able experiences in life is the associa- tion with great and good people. I can testify to you in all sincerity and sober- ness that these men are and have been men of God, God's noblemen, men raised up in this, the last dispensation, the dispensation of the fulness of times, to carry out the Lord's mandate as set forth in the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which is a marvelous revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith and "constitutes the Lord's Preface to the doctrines, cove- nants, and commandments given in this dispensation":
"Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should, come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments;
"And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets —
"The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh —
"But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;
"That faith also might increase in the earth;
"That mine everlasting covenant might be established;
"That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.
"For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know thai the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion.
"And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judg- ment upon Idumea, or the world." (D&C 1:17-23; 35^36.)
I thank the Lord for faith — faith in our Heavenly Father and in his Son Jesus Christ. I thank him for inspired leadership.
I thank the Lord for faith in and
56
knowledge of the truth of the re- stored gospel. As the Prophet Joseph Smith said: "I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me hy the revelation of Jesus Christ. . . . You say that honey is sweet, and so do I. I can taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is good."
I am enjoying visiting the members of the Church and their leaders in the stakes of the Church. To me there is no experience sweeter than that which comes from mingling with good people, faithful and devoted people, who love the Lord and whose hearts have been and are touched with the fire of the Holy Ghost, whose souls are filled with gratitude for the knowledge and understanding that have come to them through the operation of the Holy Spirit, which has borne witness to them that this is the truth, revealed from heaven in answer to sincere and earnest prayer. As stated by President Brigham Young on one occasion, in answer to the question as to what is the difference between our church and other churches, "We have the truth, the Gospel includes all truth, wherever
found, in all the works of God and man, visible or invisible to the naked eye."
I want to express appreciation for my wife, my family, and my loved ones, who have blessed me by their love and confidence. As the song says, "No man is an island." We are all, in part at least, the product of our en- vironment, the result of the influence upon us by our friends and associates, and of course the inheritance we ob- tained from our progenitors.
I am thankful for the library of the mind and the rich treasures that are stored therein, the treasured memory of association with prophets called of the Lord in this dispensation, and the words of eternal life that are inspiring and cause me to rejoice more and more each day.
I am highly honored and yet greatly subdued in my feelings that I should be considered worthy of the love and confidence of the Lord and of his liv- ing prophets to receive the call that has come to me to serve as one of the chosen servants of the Lord. I am humbled by my inadequacy, and my constant prayer is and will be that the
Lord will qualify me to do my part in assisting in the rolling forth of this great work in which we are engaged. I love the Lord, I love the gospel, and I love the Brethren.
I bear witness that God lives; that Jesus is his Beloved Son, the Redeemer and Savior of the world; that as pro- claimed by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him.
I testify that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God raised up in this dis- pensation, the dispensation of the ful- ness of times, to lay the foundation for this great work upon the earth prepara- tory to the coming of the Son of Man, our Lord and Savior, to reign upon the earth in peace and righteousness; and that these men of whom I have spoken have been called of God to represent our Savior in building up the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
TheSpiritand Power of Elijah
Elder Theodore M. Burton
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
• My brethren, sisters, friends: the focal point of all our activity in this church centers around Jesus Christ. The Church bears his name. All ordi- nance work done in the Church is done in the name of Jesus Christ by those who bear the priesthood, i.e., who hold this power of Jesus Christ.
This devout worship of Jesus Christ is in accord with the instruction given in the Book of Mormon, where King Benjamin taught his people:
"And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head where- by ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh. . . ." (Mosiah 5:8.)
The Book of Mormon then explains why this scripture was written: "For
we labor diligently to write, to per- suade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." (2 Ne. 25:23.)
It is for this reason that the Book of Mormon is known as a second wit- ness of the divinity of Jesus Christ as the Son of God.
". . . we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write ac- cording to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Ne. 25:26.)
I turn then to Jesus Christ for my subject for this sermon. Jesus taught
the following doctrine one Sabbath day as he stood up in the synagogue to teach the people who called themselves the children of God.
"And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. [We write his name today as Isaiah.] And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recov- ering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
"To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
"And he closed the book, and he
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gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
"And. he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." (Luke 4:17-21.)
Such a statement filled his listeners with many doubts and apprehensions, yet the doctrine is so important that I would like to quote this passage again as it is now written in Isaiah:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;
"To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God " (Isa. 61:1-2.)
It is amazing to see what happened in the minds of his listeners when Jesus Christ proclaimed this marvelous doctrine and told the people that this work of salvation was his assigned task.
"And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath,
"And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down head- long.
"But he passing through the midst of them went his way." (Luke 4:28-30.)
Thus Jesus Christ was rejected by the people because he told them what saving work he would do for the cap- tives then confined to a spiritual prison and for those who had been bruised in their souls through iniquity. Instead of rejoicing in this liberation, the people hated Jesus for being so pre- sumptuous as to tell them that he had been anointed to open the prison doors. Even his very life was threatened. Nevertheless, he continued to preach this doctrine even more clearly, in the hopes that people would understand him and the importance of the work he had been called to do. Thus he explained:
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condem- nation; but is passed from death unto life.
"Verily, verily I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. "For as the Father hath life in him- self; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself." (John 5:24-26.) It was for this concept of his saving grace that Jesus gave his life. Peter informs us that the gospel actually was
preached to those who were dead, just as Jesus prophesied he would do. Jesus actually did open the gates of the spiritual prison, that those confined therein might live and even be exalted if they would accept his doctrine.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
"Which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water." (1 Pet. 3:18-20.)
Peter also explained why Jesus did this work for the dead:
"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." (1 Pet. 4:6.)
Now, how does all this affect us? Perhaps I can state it in this way. If Jesus Christ made such a point of stress- ing this doctrine in his day, it must be just as important for us in our day also. Jesus taught that it was important that his gospel be preached to those who lived before he was born as well as to those then living. It must be just as important for that gospel to be preached since his day to those who have died without hearing these glad tidings, as well as to those now living on the earth.
Where, however, in the so-called Christian churches of our day do you find that deep concern for those good men and women who died without a knowledge of the gospel? Far from be- ing considered, they are ignored by some and even damned by others. Why are such persons condemned to everlasting damnation, as many church leaders have done in the past and still do today, simply because such people were born at a time and in a place where they could never hear of Jesus Christ, let alone learn of the message of the resurrection and eternal life?
How can the physically dead who nevertheless still live in the spirit be prepared for that resurrection which Paul proclaimed applied to every per- son born upon this earth? This preaching of the word of God can only be done in the way in which Jesus taught that it has to be done. We who are living today must assist in this work as was prophesied by Obadiah when he said of the last days:
"And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord's." (Obad. 21.)
Thus, those living today must per- form the physical ordinance work on the earth that will qualify persons in the spirit world to receive that proxy work done for them, even as we living today receive the proxy work done for us by Jesus Christ. In other words, we work in partnership here on the earth with those missionaries in the spirit world who preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to those persons living in the spirit world, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. This combination effort can free them from their spiritual prison and heal their bruised souls through Jesus Christ. This is why the members of the Church who can qualify through righteous living must go to the temple in ever- increasing numbers and why they must attend the temple more fre- quently than they have ever done in the past.
The full understanding in our day of the importance of Christ's work for the dead as well as for the living came slowly. Although not understood fully at the time, when the angel Moroni came to teach Joseph Smith at the opening of this gospel dispensation, he quoted Malachi as follows:
"Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the chil- dren shall turn to their fathers.
"If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming." (D&C 2:1-3.)
Thus it was the power of the priest- hood that was to make this uniting of all generations possible, both those dead and those living. The power to do this work was subject to the restora- tion of the keys controlling the sealing power that Elijah was to give again to the earth when so requested by Jesus Christ.
Before the Church was officially es- tablished, when the so-called "consti- tution" of the Church was laid down by revelation in Section 20 of the Doc- trine and Covenants, a statement of the universality of the mission of Jesus Christ was given which included the dead as well as the living:
"Not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, . . . should have eternal life." (D&C 20:26. Italics added.)
Much of the work we do in the Church is preparatory work for us to qualify ourselves so that we can be of service not only to our fellowmen now- living on the earth, but to those who
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lived before us. These good men and women are our ancestors, our fathers and our mothers through whose blood we receive our bodies and our life. What a debt we owe them to see that they too receive eternal life in Jesus Christ through the work and sacrifices we make in their behalf.
This work of salvation for the dead is so important that Paul stated that they who are dead cannot be made perfect without our help. (Heb. 11:40.) Joseph Smith added that neither can we be made perfect without doing proxy ordinance work for our deceased ancestors. (D&C 128:18.) The power of the priesthood was restored so that this perfection in uniting all the family of God who lived in all ages could be accomplished. This priesthood power was given when Elijah restored the sealing power to Joseph Smith in these latter days so that the work of perfec-
tion could be continued. As Joseph Smith said:
"Then what you seal on earth, by the keys of Elijah, is sealed in heaven; 'and this is the power of Elijah, and this is the difference between the spirit and power of Elias and Elijah; for while the spirit of Elias is a forerunner, the power of Elijah is sufficient to make our calling and election sure; and the same doctrine, where we are exhorted to go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of laying on of hands, resur- rection of the dead, &c.
"We cannot be perfect without our fathers, &c. We must have revelation from them, and we can see that the doctrine of revelation far transcends the doctrine of no revelation; for one truth revealed from heaven is worth all the sectarian notions in existence." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith [12th ed.; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1961], p. 338. Italics added.)
I testify of the need to understand the importance of this work of Elijah — this work of salvation for the dead as well as for the living. I testify of the divinity of this doctrine of Jesus Christ, which applies to both those living and those dead. I testify of the power of the priesthood by which revelation is received and say that Elias has al- ready come and so has Elijah. The keys they revealed are being used to- day in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to do the total work of salvation for which Jesus Christ gave his life to accomplish. Thus through this doctrine and through this priest- hood power we can unite the whole family of God into everlasting life.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• Years ago while walking with a wise friend of mine, we passed one of his neighbors as he stood in the front yard of his home. My friend greeted the man with, "How are you, Bill? It's good to see you." To this greeting, Bill didn't even look up. He didn't even respond.
"He is an old grouch today, isn't he?" I snapped.
"Oh, he is always that way," my friend responded.
"Then why are you so friendly to him?" I asked.
"Why not?" responded my mature friend. "Why should I let him decide how I am going to act?"
I hope I will never forget the lesson of that evening. The important word was "act." My friend acted toward people. Most of us react. At the time it was a strange attitude to me, because I was in grade school and following the practice of "if you speak to an
acquaintance and he does not respond, that is the last time you have to bother," or "if someone shoves you on the school playground, you shove him back."
I have thought many times since this experience that many of us are perpetual reactors. We let other people determine our actions and attitudes. We let other people determine whether we will be rude or gracious, depressed or elated, critical or loyal, passive or dedicated.
Do you know people who are cool toward an acquaintance because last time they met she wasn't warm in her greeting? Do you know people who have quit praying to the Lord because he hasn't answered (so they think) their prayers of last month or last year? Do you know people who give up on others because they don't respond in the ways we think they should? Do you know people who fail to realize
that Christlike behavior patterns en- courage us to be the' same yesterday and forever?
The perpetual reactor is an unhappy person. His center of personal conduct is not rooted within himself, where it belongs, but in the world about him. Some of us on occasion seem to be standing on the sidelines waiting for someone to hurt, ignore, or offend us. We are perpetual reactors. What a happy day it will be when we can replace hasty reaction with patience and purposeful action.
I am acquainted with a man who has a brother serving time in a state penitentiary. On several occasions I have asked this friend of mine to accompany me to visit his confined family member. When asked most re- cently, he responded with an emphatic, "No, I don't want to go. It's no use. He won't talk. He won't listen. He's no good. He will never change." His
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last statement, "He will never change," prompted me to think, "and apparently neither will you."
This man is allowing his confined hrother to control his actions; in fact, he has created a negative attitude in his relationship. The free man has not maintained a positive drive to do what he feels is right; instead, his brother has set the pace for both of them — no communication, no visits, no change in either life.
What a pleasure it is today to be part of a great action program in the Church that makes it possible for us to take a prisoner or others with social problems from the level we find them and help them move forward. Our con- cern must be to impress our associates with the fact there is a better tomor- row, and it belongs to those who live for it! Forgiveness and repentance are action principles. What a blessing it is in our lives when we come to realize there is hope and help for all of us in the days ahead, regardless of where we find ourselves at this hour.
When Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 radioed across almost a quarter of a million miles of space to Houston, Texas, a few months ago that some- thing had gone wrong in their space- craft, he taught the world a mighty lesson with his statement: "We've got a problem." Here were three brave men on a voyage to the moon faced with the staggering realization they might never see the earth again. Some- thing had gone wrong. What do they do now? Act or react? Instead of demanding, "Who's responsible for this error?" his statement, "We've got a problem," rallied our best to their .support. When Jim Lovell and his crewmates were later asked if they had fears of not reaching earth again, they
responded that they just concentrated on the jobs they had to do. They did everything in their power to get back to earth. A terrifying problem was theirs, but they were determined to handle it a step at a time, and hoped and prayed their efforts would succeed. Through action they overcame fear; through action and teamwork they triumphed. What happened is history, but the lesson of action is for our use today.
Shakespeare had a glimpse of the importance of man's personal action when he wrote the following lines in Hamlet: "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." (Hamlet, Act 2, sc. 3.)
Being true to ourselves can mean knowing where we are, where we are going and why, and assisting our asso- ciates in traveling the right paths with us.
Scriptures such as "be ye doers of the word . . ." (Jas. 1:22), and "But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved . . ." (D&C 45:32) take on new significance as we realize our responsibility to act and not react.
Our Prophet Joseph Smith was a man of action. Torture, belittlement, and all manner of inhumane affliction, including a pending martyr's death, did not halt nor even slow down his life of purposeful action. He acted as one totally committed to "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation. . . ." (Rom. 1:16.) He didn't just think about the gospel or react to it; he lived it. He was true to himself and to those principles he valued more than life itself.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is pur- poseful action. "Ask," "Seek," "Knock," and "Judge not" and "Love" are words of action, not reaction. Jesus led his fellowmen as a mighty master because "he taught them as one having author- ity, and not as the scribes." (Matt. 7:29.) Jesus was true to himself and to his Father; and so important to all of us, he was true to us.
How weak the following reaction philosophies are: "See if your neighbor loves you first before you manifest love toward him." "See if your acquaintance is friendly before you offer your friend- ship." How powerful the action com- mandment of "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."
I humbly pray that we may be men and women of action, and not let any- one else lead us from his paths. If we follow the teachings of this great gospel of Jesus Christ to the fullest of our ability, it can truthfully be said of us, through our actions also, that we "in- creased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." (Luke 2:52.)
We start to fail in our homes when we give up on a family member. We fail in our positions of leadership when we react by saying, "It's no use, they won't come." "It's no use, they won't respond." Let us thrust in our sickles with all of our might in the fields in which we have been called, and not spend our time reacting to the location or type of crop we have been called to harvest.
I bear witness to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ is ah action way of life and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. May our Heavenly Father help us to actively be about his business I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My brethren and sisters: How de- lightful it is to be here today. Sometime ago Brother Guy B. Rose, who is usually present on the front row of these meetings, told me of an inter- esting experience in his work. He had been a superintendent of schools in
the East. One day as he visited one of the classes in a school, the teacher had the students drawing on the board something that would be representative of Thanksgiving. All were busy com- pleting their sketches, but one child was obviously concerned about what
she was to do in completing what she had started. As Brother Rose ap- proached her, he asked if she was hav- ing trouble. She said, "Yes. How do you draw God?" She had ably por- trayed the mountains, the trees, and the boy kneeling under the trees in an
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attitude of prayer but was confused as to how to draw God. Brother Rose quickly assured her that God was a man, that he looked much like men on earth, that men are created in the image of God.
Men everywhere seem to be con- fused as to what God is like. Strange, incomprehensible concepts of God have been taught apparently to enlighten men, but in their uncertainness they only tend to further confuse men.
The Reverend Harold O. }. Brown, in his book The Protest of a Troubled Protestant, expresses his concern over the fact that in many of the pulpits today, ministers are getting away from the strict concepts of the Bible. He said, "People are being converted to the most fanciful cults from the very parishes in which the clergy are un- willing to preach historic Christian doctrine. They fear being thought out- of-date and therefore incredible." (Pp. 20-21.)
As Paul came to the Athenian saints, he found them worshiping false gods and called them to repentance. He said: "... I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.
"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
". . . as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
"For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
"Forasmuch then as we are the off- spring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.
"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." (Acts 17:22-25, 28-30.)
The Savior indicated the great im- portance of knowing God, as he prayed unto the Father before his crucifixion: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God. and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3.)
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, "It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man con- verses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on
an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46.)
The scriptures are clear as they teach us of God. In the story of the creation as recorded in Genesis, it states: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." (Gen. 1:26-27.)
Jesus spoke of God as a just and lov- ing Father, dwelling in the heavens. His teachings were explicit as to the nature and character of God the Father. Unto Thomas he said: "If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him." (John 14:7.)
Philip said unto the Lord: ". . . shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.
"Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:8-9.)
Paul plainly told the Hebrew saints that Christ was in the image of God. "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
"Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. 1:1-3.)
I believe sincerely that our faith in God, our works of righteousness, and our sincerity of purpose are greatly determined by our concept and under- standing of God. If, like the young lady trying to draw God, I can't visual- ize him, if I don't really know him, how can my faith in him be strong? How can I really pray to someone I don't know?
It is really "life eternal" to know God; that he is a personal being; that he is the Father of our spirits; that we are his children; that he has concern for us; that there is a meaningful plan in which we might regain his presence and have eternal life with him.
The understanding of the nature of God and his Son Jesus Christ was im- pressed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith
in the first vision, in the opening of this dispensation, in which he saw the Father and the Son. Whatever his con- cept of God might have been, there was now no doubt in his mind as to God and Christ. This understanding was his because he saw them and heard and conversed with them. The Father spoke to him and introduced the
Son. Listen to the words of the Prophet Joseph as he describes his vision: . . . When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other — This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith 2:17.)
In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1843, it is declared: "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." (D&C 130:22.)
It is necessary to believe in God as a personal, corporeal being in order to understand that he can reveal himself to man as he did to the Prophet Joseph Smith in open vision. One who doesn't believe in a personal God may also believe in revelation, but it would be the kind of revelation that would be compatible with his concept of God. Brother William E. Berrett made an interesting observation as to the im- portance of our concept of the nature of God in .reference to revelation. He said: "Any discussion of revelation re- volves basically around our concept of the nature of God. Unless we conceive God in the same light we never arrive at the same conclusions in regard to revelation."
Brother Berrett illustrates this thought by referring to the viewpoint of a great contemporary thinker in the
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field of religion, Dr. Henry Wieman of the University of Chicago.
"Both Dr. Wieman and I," he said, "believe in God, but our concepts are wholly different, for I conceive God as a perfected corporeal personality, while Dr. Wieman would think the idea of a personal God as juvenile, and for himself conceives Him as the sum total of all that is good and progressive in the Universe. To quote his words:
" 'God is not a personality, but God is more worthful than any personality could be. God is not nature and He is not the universe; He is the growth of living connections of value in the universe. If one wishes he can say, this is not God but it is the work of God. Practically it comes to the same thing.' "
Elder Berrett continues, "Having di- vergent views as to the personality of God it follows that we must have divergent views upon the matter of revelation from Him. Both Dr. Wie- man and I believe in revelation as a continuous principle of life but when we use that term we are thinking of entirely different things. Dr. Wieman would not accept such a vision, as that to Joseph Smith in the grove because it does violence to his concept of God.
He would reject the reality of heavenly messengers, and the reality of any direct words from God to man. . . .
"This then is the real nature and place of revelation. It is not a miracu- lous giving of knowledge. But it is that change in personality which, in one way or another, is required before man can get any knowledge of any- thing that lies outside the range of his established organization of interest. It is a reorganization of his interests which enables him to know a new kind of reality," (From an address given at LDS Department of Educa- tion Regional Convention, November 8, 1941, in William E. Berrett, Con- tinuous Revelation in the Church, p. 6.)
Not only is it important in our understanding of revelation to know God, but our understanding of all the principles of the gospel are greatly in- fluenced by our concept of him as a personal, loving Father and of the great plan of salvation that he has provided for all his children. The kind of a God as described by the Prophet Joseph Smith makes me understand him as my literal Father in heaven. He said:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits
enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God, who holds this world in its orbit, and who holds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible — I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form — like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruc- tion from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another." (Docu- mentary History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 305.)
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior gave us the key as to the need of really knowing the Father when he said: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matt. 5:48.)
It is man's purpose in life to learn to know God, to know the nature and kind of being God is, and then to con- form to his laws and ordinances; to progress, to be exalted to that high state wherein man becomes perfect as the Father is perfect.
May we be able to do this, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• I remember a story told by a forest ranger about a tourist coming to a na- tional park to take pictures of wildlife. Not far from the campground he found what he was looking for — twin bear cubs rummaging around in a garbage dump, half playing, half looking for dinner. Grabbing his camera, he pro- ceeded to take a series of pictures from a number of different angles. In his haste, he failed to realize that when you find bear cubs in the forest, the mother bear is never very far away.
As he moved to get a close-up shot of the playful cubs, he inadvertently came between the cubs and the mother bear, who was in the trees a short dis- tance off. The bear struck out imme- diately for her cubs, and a near disaster was averted when a passerby, noticing the scene, alerted the tourist, who demonstrated unusual athletic ability as he vacated the garbage pit.
We often hear of the ferocity with which animals protect their young, and usually these stories are associated with
incidents about parents who for some unexplainable reason abandon their children. While these actions can and should be condemned, nonetheless, we seem to live in a day and age where there is another kind of abandonment, which is almost worse than a mother leaving an unwanted baby on a door- step.
What I am talking about is the temptation of parents to give up on their children, especially when those children seem to flaunt and disregard
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the laws of morality and conduct, which the parents hold dear and which govern the home, and when the chil- dren seem to rebel against every effort parents make to correct their behavior or show them a better way.
At least a baby who has been left on a doorstep will be looked after by the appropriate agencies, and usually placed in a home where parents who want it will adopt it and love it and raise it as their own.
A boy or a girl who has been given up by his or her parents because they (the children) are off on the wrong foot and possibly even surly and re- bellious to any parental effort is in a much more serious predicament. When the hard times come — and they will — who is going to care if the parents don't?
The tragedy of our times as we look around us is that we see too many young people cut adrift — some of them in trouble and some of them causing trouble for society. Perhaps it is hard to realize that our Eternal Father also refers to these as son or daughter; and if we are to understand the parable of the lost sheep, perhaps they are even a little more important to him in that they are not safely in the fold.
Society has given us a thousand rea- sons why some begin to rebel and wander. Yet, -I can't help but feel that in many cases it all must come back to those who gave them life and those who somewhere along the line gave up on them, either by deserting them or ignoring them or simply not caring enough to build their children into their lives.
I had a young girl come in to see me the other day, a beautiful girl, neat and clean, giving a good appearance. But the story she told was anything but clean, and far from beautiful.
From her early teenage years, she had become involved in drugs. It be- came so bad that at one time in her life she had moved away from her family and was more or less drifting from one pot party to another. She had taken up the so-called hippie culture and was high on drugs most of the time.
"Strangely enough," she says, "dur- ing all this time my father never gave up on me, and although I knew I was breaking my parents' hearts, I could always go home to my father and know that he loved me, and that he wouldn't condemn me as an individual, although he condemned everything that I did."
This girl went on to say that one night she had what she called a bad trip; I believe she referred to it as "freaking out." She said it was such a terrifying experience that she went home to her parents and spent the rest
of the night in bed with them, just as she must have done as a child when she had a nightmare. She had no real rest until her father finally gave her a blessing, which seemed to ease her mental and physical torture.
This happened to be the turning point in this girl's life. She said she always knew it was wrong but was just determined to rebel. Bit by bit she has now put her life back together again, and although she still has a way to go, she is going to make it now.
She had a father, you see, who never gave up on her.
Another experience comes to mind about a mother and her 18-year-old son, not of our faith. Let me quote her story.
"Three years ago my son made a new friend — his first link with 'the drug scene.' I tried very hard to let him know what this boy was and to say, 'You don't need drugs in your life.' But he ignored me. Aside from mov- ing away, there seemed to be nothing I could do.
"As my noes became more numerous, his rejections became unbearable. . . . One night at the dinner table he an- nounced, 'I won't obey the rules in this house any longer.' He said that as soon as he saved enough money, in about three months, he was going to move out. 'Until then,' he said, Tm going to say what I want to say, smoke what I want to smoke.' "
The mother said she got up from the
table, walked down the hall, and then came back and said, "I've got news for you, son. Either you abide by the rules or you can find a room elsewhere in three days, not three months."
He was shocked. But the next day he did get a job, and he soon moved out. Leaving home, however, did not mean giving up membership in the family. "I let him know that the door was always open," she said. "I went to see his new apartment, took an interest in his new job, invited him for a snack when he finished moving his things out. And he knew that coming home would never be interpreted as a defeat for him, but as a new decision.
"He had several jobs," said the mother; "one in a restaurant. But while he was working out problems for himself, he also was ready to put him- self out to help others. Eventually he became a full-time staff member at Project Place, a center for runaways and people with drug problems.
"From time to time, he would come to see me," continued the mother, "and I would ask him, 'Where are you at? Are you ready to come home?' One day he decided he was, and he moved back in. He had lost his preoccupation with drugs."
Then the mother made a very signifi- cant point. She said, "My son has made some mistakes, experienced some pain he probably didn't have to, but I think he has come out rejecting what's wrong in the world and taking upon
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himself what is real and beautiful. . . . I think a child has a right to be right and a right to be wrong, and to know that his parents will stay with him through it all." (Christian Science Monitor, September 9, 1970.)
Perhaps you remember a story that took place a few months ago. It ap- peared in most of the newspapers. A little girl was found clinging to a fence that divides a super freeway in one of the world's largest cities. The police were summoned, and as they brought the girl to safety, she unfolded this pathetic story.
It was her parents, you see, who put her there. They had said, "Now hang on to the fence and don't let go for any reason." Then the parents drove off,
planning to desert her. The newspaper account was graphic. You could pic- ture the little girl, a tear in her eye, lower lip quivering, but holding fast to the rail as cars and huge trucks went roaring by on each side, not dar- ing to let go because daddy had told her to hold on — standing there deter- mined, waiting patiently, for a mother and father who never intended to return.
Oh, parents, no matter what the dif- ficulty,-may we never desert our chil- dren in some dark and dangerous thoroughfare of life, no matter what prompted them to get there. When they reach the point — and for some it may be a painfully long time — when they reach the point that they need us.
I pray that we might not let them down.
". . . But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
"And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
"But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
"For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found " (Luke 15:20-22, 24.)
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My brothers and sisters and friends: The scriptures teach us that our God is a God of love. It is the greatest thing God can give us and the great- est thing we can give him. The true measure of loving God is to love him without measure. His love toward us was manifested when he sent his Only Begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. (See 1 John 4:9.)
A degree of the love between the Eternal Father and his Only Begotten Son has existed between other fathers and sons. We should not feel that such love is beyond our ability to receive and to give. We may not be able to match the perfect love shown to us by the Savior, because Christ is the epi- tome of this God-given quality, but it is a goal toward which all of us should strive.
The most important need of the world today to remedy its follies and problems is for man to return to God in love and obedience to his will.
Without love, the world will continue in turmoil with worsening conditions until it is steeped in wickedness and sin, at which time the judgments of God will fall upon the unrighteous of the earth. The cures for all the ills and wrongs, the cares, the sorrows, and the crimes of humanity lie in one word — love.
Love, if used in its proper context, will hold the peoples of the world to- gether in understanding and peace. Today the most trampled-upon ingredi- ent for a happy and joyous life is the word love.
'If the tender, profound, and sympa- thizing love practiced and recom- mended by Jesus were paramount in every heart, the loftiest and most glori- ous ideals of human society would be realized and little would be wanting to make this world a kingdom of heaven. Love is indeed heaven upon the earth, since heaven above would not be heaven without it.
The apostle Paul calls love the bond
of perfection and peace. It is the old, the new, and the great commandment, for love is the fulfilling of the law.
Love is manifest in charity of the soul. It is made up of many things, all of which lead to a high idealism in standards of living, personal behavior, and purpose. It is expressed in Christ- like example, in words, in actions, in thoughtful attentions and kindly deeds.
Love is not real when one demands attentions and fancied needs, then is not appreciative of them and gives nothing in return for the favors re- ceived. That attitude is one of pure selfishness and reflects a lack of grati- tude, decency, and respect. Such a person is self-centered and cares not for his failure to acknowledge courtesy or express thanks and appreciation.
Love is the purification of the heart. It strengthens character and gives a higher motive and a positive aim to every action of life. The power to love truly and devotedly is the noblest gift with which a human being can be
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endowed. True love is eternal and infi- nite. It is equal and pure without violent actions and demonstrations, which are so much in evidence today.
Love begins in the home by con- genial parents bestowing affection and loving care upon their children. They deal in kindness and understanding, seeking the love and confidence of their sons and daughters. They also show concern about the welfare and happi- ness of their children.
The apostle Paul gave this wise counsel: "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." (1 Tim. 5:8.)
Physical and temporal needs for children do not fulfill their most press- ing wants. Parents' righteous teachings and good example are so important. The family should be unified by a close-knit relationship, doing things together, loving each other, and en- joying each other's companionship.
The first emotion a child learns and needs is love. The first emotion he expresses is love. A child reacts to love — or to the lack of it. What is sweeter than having a child put his arms around your neck and saying, "I love you." Love is the real basis of life.
If parents are immature and cannot settle their differences without anger, fighting, and name-calling, a child becomes most insecure, and as he grows older he is apt to take up with the wrong type of friends just to get away from an unhappy home environment.
Let us look at some undesirable things that can happen when a grow- ing child feels unloved and neglected at home. He is often found with questionable companions — persons with lower standards than his own — simply to feel that he is somebody. Unfor- tunately, that person rarely brings others up to his standards of living, but usually lowers himself to the level of his so-called friends.
Girls particularly who feel unloved are more willing to give of themselves to the smooth-talking boy. They will sacrifice chastity just to get love. Where does the real blame of this tragedy be- long— with the girl who so desperately needs to be loved or with the parents who failed in their responsibility to make their love known to her?
And what about the boy? What kind of teaching and love has he re- ceived in his home? How will he treat and protect the girls he dates, as a result of his home life?
When children are left to fend for themselves, it often destroys the spiri- tual and orderly environment of the home. If children feel that their par- ents really care, they will respond to
their wishes. When there is mutual love and respect in the home, there is a desire to please. Girls and boys would probably dress in a more modest way if they felt their parents cared about how they look.
Recently in Australia I noticed most of the girls were wearing extremely short miniskirts that left nothing to the imagination. The appearance was most immodest and scandalous, but the girls seemed unashamed, unembar- rassed, and at perfect ease. Obviously these girls have no one interested enough to guide them in their mode of dress. Perhaps it is because their moth- ers also are clad in miniskirts and fail to set a personal example of. modesty. These same conditions prevail also in our own country.
Shortly after the miniskirt came into vogue, a woman dress designer was asked in a radio interview if the mini- skirt was contributing to the moral delinquency of young girls. She an- swered with a positive yes. The statis- tics of unwed mothers has proved this statement to be true. Will mothers and daughters continue to wear immodest clothing, or is it time to get out the sewing machine and attire themselves in respectable standards of dress?
A family discussion of dress standards in a weekly family home evening could change these improper dress styles to those of modesty — and this applies to boys as well as girls. In the spirit of love and wise parental teach- ing, many of the problems of today's youth can be corrected.
Former President Joseph F. Smith gave this warning: ". . . parents in Zion will be held responsible for the acts of their children, not only until they be- come eight years old, but, perhaps, throughout all the lives of their chil- dren, provided they have neglected their duty while they were under their guidance. . . ." (Gospel Doctrine, 1966, p. 286.)
Often the duty parents neglect is failure to correct and discipline their children. Permissiveness does not show love — nor can you buy a child's love. You cannot ignore his misdeeds and let them go unnoticed. When a child does wrong, he should expect to be punished accordingly. However, this should not be done in anger. Often a parent can better communicate with his child following the punishment. A loving arm about the child manifests the love the parent feels, and often opens the door of communication be- tween them. When children are ready to talk, that is the time for parents to listen, regardless of the hour.
Solomon counseled: "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:
"For whom the Lord loveth he cor- rected!; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." (Prov. 3:11-12.)
When parents think only of their own pleasures and friends, where does this leave the child? When they en- deavor to keep their "social standing," the child is left alone while parents participate in other activities away from home. They give the child full use of the home with all kinds of refresh- ments arid feel that if the child has some of his friends in, it can compen- sate for their not being with him.
Then what happens? Children are alone for an evening — often until the wee hours of the morning. What do they do when they get bored? The answer may shock and upset many neglectful parents.
Our beloved late President David O. McKay has said: "Another element which makes for a happy home life is mutual service, each member of the home working for the other. . . ." (Treasures of Life [Deseret Book Co., 1965], p. 330.) That home is most beautiful in which you find each per- son striving to serve the other. A child has the right to feel that in his home he has a place of refuge, a place of protection from the dangers and evils of the out,side world. Family unity and integrity are necessary to sup- ply this need. He needs parents who are happy in their adjustment to each other, who are working happily toward the fulfillment of an ideal of living, who love their children with a sincere and unselfish love; in short, who are well-balanced individuals, gifted with a certain amount of insight, who are able to provide the child with a whole- some emotional background which will contribute more to his development than material advantages.
One of the soundest and safest bul- warks of society that is being under- mined today is the family. Modern life is disintegrating the very founda- tion of the home. In the well-ordered home, where confidence and love abide, you will find life at its best. There is no real home without love. Homes are made permanent through love.
"Love, it has been said, flows down- ward. The love of parents for their children has always been far more powerful than that of children for their parents; and who among the sons of men ever loved God with a thousandth part of the love which God has mani- fested to us?" (Hare.)
Parents and youth are forgetting what pure love really means. The meaning has not changed; but, like so many other virtues accepted as es- sential to proper standards of behavior, it is being chipped away until the real meaning is so adulterated that hate is
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becoming more and more a substitute.
How can a man or woman say they love each other and become sexually involved with someone else? How is it that by our actions we hurt those whom we should love the most?
What about parents who break up their homes? Who suffers most, the parents or the children? The selfish- ness of some people is appalling. The breaking of marriage vows and cove- nants does not seem to be significant or meaningful.
It is most important that parents remain together and hold their family in an ideal relationship. Parents, do not fail to hold the weekly family home evening. It will draw your chil- dren closer to you and you to them. Pray with your family. Establish the traditions of righteousness in your home. Develop love, companionship, and unity. Watch trends — are they up or down? Remember, where family ends, delinquency begins.
How blessed is the family where love abides. How blessed are the chil- dren whose fondest memories are those of a happy childhood and youth. Parents, take time to give your children these happy years and happy memories. The world is moving fast. The pres-
sure upon one's time is consuming. Many fathers neglect families. Working mothers with children at home do like- wise. Find the time to do things to- gether as a family.
I wish to share with you, in part, a testimony of Sister Davidina Bailey, a devoted mother, looking into the future for the care, welfare, direction, and happiness of her children. This was written 16 years before her death this past July. It is a most beautiful tribute from a mother who truly loved her children.
"I have lain awake tonight and can- not sleep, which is unusual for me as I am a good sleeper. I wish to leave this message to you, my children. ... If you love me . . . keep the command- ments of God, for my sake, if not for your own, as I would want you to be with me unto whatsoever glory your father and I attain to.
"I charge you ... do not stray from this gospel if I am not here to look after you in this life. Do not be jealous of one another, as I have loved you all the same. I have tried to be fair to all of you. . . . Do not reprove each other. ... Do not look for worldly pleasures. Be alert to the powers of Satan and his angels, for his power is
mighty and not to be forgotten.
"Always remember, I love you all. You are the spirit children of God. Your father and I have been entrusted in this mortal life to be your parents, so live that we can once again be. a family throughout the eternities."
May God grant us parents the love, wisdom, and good judgment to plan effectively for the care, welfare, and happiness of our children. May we help them to live righteously, to love truth, and to do good.
May God bless youth to follow the wise teachings of loving and exemplary parents and all live together in under- standing, harmony, and peace.
I humbly pray, my brothers and sisters, that we shall teach the gospel, its principles, its standards, its ideals to our children, and set the kind of example that we can say to them, "Come, follow me and do the things you have seen me do."
I love the Church. I know it is true. I know the gospel is the plan of life the Lord has given to guide and direct us as we meet all the conditions present in the world today. May he keep us firm and steadfast and true in the path of righteousness, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Saturday morning session, October 3, 1970
"BearYe One Another's Burdens'
Elder Marion D. Hanks
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
• There was a tear at our house this morning when the incident President Lee referred to was discussed [the crash in Colorado of a plane carrying University of Wichita football players to Logan, Utah, for a game at Utah State University], and also as we read in another less prominent place in the paper of the loss of a comparable num- ber of lives in a crash overseas among service people. We join in compassion. This is an emphasis again on the ephemeral nature of mortal life and the importance of enduring principles.
Thank God for that straightforward address by President Tanner.
Three recent experiences form the core of my message this morning. I would like to relate them briefly.
In the northwestern area of the United States an alert young adult, who is actively involved in his own church, attended an open house at a new Mormon . Church structure with a friend. He was respectfully respon- sive as he viewed the lovely chapel where our people worship and then became increasingly interested as he
was conducted through the rest of the building. He saw the cultural hall where drama and music and recrea- tional dancing and sports activities are enjoyed; he saw the Scout room and the Junior Sunday School room, the classrooms where we learn and teach. He was shown photographs of mis- sionaries at their work across the world, of a baptism, of a family home evening where parents and children were pic- tured in counsel, at prayer, and at play. He listened to the principles of temple marriage, this uniting of a
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couple and a family for time and eter- nity. He heard about the priesthood and its importance as a man presides in love as the head of his home, and teaches and blesses his family.
Finally, he stopped at the lovely Re- lief Society room, where he heard the story of the honored role of women in their homes and in the Church and where he heard one of the ladies who was explaining the program that eve- ning refer to another as "sister." He inquired about this and was told that in the Church a woman is often called "sister" as a man is called "brother."
The visitor shook his head in won- derment and said, "Every woman a sister, every man a priest, and every home a parish in itself."
Last week a wonderful young lady just beginning her university training talked with me about her experience as a youth representative on govern- mental agencies studying problems of young people who have been involved with drugs. Earnestly and often tear- fully she related the feelings she had had as she learned about the breadth of this problem in various cities across America, and as she had discussed it not only in the council room with ex- perts from various disciplines, but on the streets, in the communes, in cus- todial and treatment centers, and in many personal conversations with dis- affected young people. She repeated some of what she had heard from these alienated and confused and fearful youngsters, of heartbreaking scenes and troubles.
"And what about you," I asked her. "What has this done to you? What did you have to say to them?"
Through the tears and the sweet compassion and concern came answers I can only abstract this morning: "I've never been so grateful," she said. "I found myself talking about the things I've been learning all my life — the im- portance of faith in God, of genuine concern for others, of commitment to Christ; the need for goals, for work, for prayer; the significance of a self-image based on self-discipline, responsible relationships, worthwhile accomplishments, rather than on the temporary, the trivial, the tainted."
Many of them, she said, were critical of their parents and the older genera- tion, and "I found myself wondering what their descendants would have to thank some of them for."
The third incident involved two young men, one a young American born in Mexico who had started ninth grade at the age of 19, while still a migrant farm worker, the other a part- Indian, born in a small village near the reservation where many of his relatives lived. Both of them were handsome, articulate, exuding strength and sin-
cerity and a sense of urgency. Each is pursuing advanced university training; each is working to serve the special needs of those with whom he shares proud heritage.
The two were interviewed separately by a civic comittee seeking help from them in understanding the problems of their people and offering possible solutions. Each answered searching questions knowledgeably, effectively, earnestly. When asked what could be done to help, each responded repeat- edly and firmly that what his people need is not handouts but opportunities, equal opportunities in order that through their own efforts they can reach the goal. They will do the rest themselves. Both pointed to faith in God and a religious commitment as basic needs of their people, and each explained that active involvement in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints is the key to his own growth and development. How had this bless- ing come about?
To the young Mexican-American, it was through a school administrator in a small LDS community in Nevada where the verbal answers concerning salvation and redemption through Christ had been personalized in the experience of kindness and concern and contagious love. There the young man had found not only the answers which gave meaning to life, but direction and inspiration and purpose in living it. The love he found came not chiefly from books or sermons or lessons, but from persons in a community of saints who were able and willing to give it.
For the part-Indian it had been a man living next door, a Mormon bish- op whose interest and kindness had operied his heart and his home to this youngster. There he found acceptance and affection and unconditional love. Theological answers the little boy was not prepared to understand; loving concern he could readily comprehend. Through the life of a good man he learned to care about and to know Christ.
To summarize these three incidents, then, the man who visited the church building in the Northwest only dimly understood on first contact much of what he saw, but he had caught a glimpse of what can be.
The lovely girl to whom I listened had found many who had no con- sciousness at all of being children of God, who were frantically trying to ar- range, in the words of a wise observer, "some acceptable horizontal relation- ship with their social environment," instead of seeking to establish a "su- premely important vertical relationship with God." She learned again the im- portance of the principles of Christ.
The two young men had seen those
principles applied and had accepted them.
There are many strong efforts in the Church to bring the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the full im- pact of his church into the lives of its members and all who will participate. A number of these have gained wide attention and respect: the youth and welfare programs, the family home evening, military relations activities, Indian placement. In educational ef- fort, missionary work, genealogical undertakings, home teaching, student wards and stakes, and other correlated efforts, the Church is effectively serv- ing the Lord's children.
All of these are praiseworthy en- deavors, but we are clearly aware that it is not the programs of the Church themselves that save; yet it is often through the programs that the love and graciousness of God are expressed and communicated.
As I think of the wide efforts of our people in these various ways, three other related words come to mind of which, with their meanings, we must continually remind ourselves. If we had a giant chalkboard upon which I could write, I would like to print in large letters three words: OBJEC- TIVES, PRINCIPLES, SPIRIT. May I comment briefly about them?
OBJECTIVES
Recently we have been discussing throughout the stakes of the Church the great effort currently being made to keep closely in touch with our young men in the military forces, to prepare them for the experiences they face in military service away from home. Al- ways as we discuss the operation and mechanics of this important activity we are asking ourselves the meaning of it, the purpose and goal for which it has been established.
The answer is in the boy sitting against the bulkhead of the Navy ship reading a letter from his bishop or from his quorum at home. It is in the young man wading through the refl dust of Takhli or Nakhon Phanom or the heat or rain of the Delta to get to his group meeting with three or four or a dozen other members of the Church to partake of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper and to participate in the worship service that will strengthen him against envelopment by the hollow world around him.
In the Church's educational effort the objective is the young man or woman surrounded by issues and pres- sures and voices of unwisdom, needing the stabilizing strength of the Lord and the companionship of others who know the way.
In the priesthood quorums the ob-
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jective is those who are accounted for, and the prodigal; in the auxiliaries, every available individual. What was quoted this morning? The work and the glory of God is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
In every effort of the Church the purpose is to tie in God's children to his community and kingdom, to bless the individual with a knowledge of his origins and heritage, a sense of his purpose and a plan to fulfill it, and a vision of his eternal potential. It is to strengthen and qualify God's children in the application of the eternal prin- ciples we have been discussing here; to learn and to serve, to grow and to give. It is to help him face the burn- ing, urgent problems of the moment, grateful for his relationship with God and for the great marvel of being alive to the richness of life; to revere God, who demands and expects some- thing important of him.
The objective of it all, then, is not counting the sheep but feeding them, not the proliferation of buildings or units or organizations or statistics, but the blessing of the individual child of God.
Christ, we know, had a great inter- est in human beings of every descrip- tion, and great love for them. He companied with little children, sought out the sinner; he summoned men to follow him from the fishing boat and the counting table. So conscious was he of individuals that in the midst of the multitude he felt the woman's touch of his robe. He memorialized in a magnificent parable the selfless con- sideration of a despised Samaritan to- ward another human being in need. He enfolded the ninety and nine and went seeking the lost one. Our pur- pose is to follow him.
PRINCIPLES
And what of principles?
What are the principles through which we can help God's children to realize his purpose for them? We can start — and almost end — with love. God so loved the world that he gave his Only Begotten Son that whosoever be- lieveth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Christ so loved God and God's other children that he willingly undertook his pivotal part in the great plan of salvation, knowing what it meant, what it was going to cost.
Another special son, brilliant — the scriptures call him "an authority in the presence of God" — but lacking love except for self, disdained the Father's plan and rebelled against it. He had strong opinions of his own; he con- trived some rules of his own, seemed to
feel his Father's way inefficient and imperfect. He rebelled, and misled and led away a multitude of his Father's children.
Christ loved his Father and desired to do his will. He used his agency to willingly accept the responsibility to open the door to salvation and to eternal life to every individual child of God who would manifest his accep- tance of the gift and his love of the giver by obeying his commandments.
Tillich has spoken of God's love as "ultimate concern" — that is, that God cares about us as much as can be. We are here to learn to care that much about each other.
I often think of the young bishop who, against pressures and problems and at considerable inconvenience, traveled to another city to visit a be- reaved widow on the eve of her hus- band's funeral. The couple had long since moved from the bishop's area, but he had made the effort to be with his good, wonderful old friends at this tender time. He found the elderly lady standing alone beside the body of her beloved of more than half a cen- tury. As he comforted her she said through her tears, "Oh bishop, I knew you would come."
I think, too, of an admired friend who has written of the night he took his little boys to an outing. They had the whole package of games and good- ies. On the way home one little boy went to sleep on the back seat of the automobile, and his daddy took off his coat and covered the lad. The other youngster cuddled up by dad as they drove home, discussing the exciting events of the evening. The little boy dutifully answered his father's ques- tions about the things he'd enjoyed most, and then, in a moment of pause, asked the thing that was really on his mind. "Daddy," he said, "if I got cold would you cover me with your coat?"
Every child of God needs and wants love.
The principle of agency must be mentioned too, of course, for not even through love can one against his will be conveyed to useful, constructive living or to eternal, creative life. Each must individually choose that destina- tion and qualify for it.
SPIRIT
The third word is spirit. In what spirit must we act to help our brother achieve God's purposes for him? Paul, who knew remorse as perhaps few men have, said to the Galatians: "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; con- sidering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
"Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
"For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he de- ceived himself." (Gal. 6:1-3.)
Alma, who also knew error and re- morse, prayed for the apostate Zoram- ites: "Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." (Al. 31:35.)
The programs of the Church are im- portant, but they are not ends in them- selves. They permit organized efforts to be made to reach and bless the individual. They are designed to help God's children to achieve the purposes of the Lord for them, to operate in the principle of real love, to be imple- mented in the spirit of compassion and contrition. They are to help us bear one another's burdens and thus ful- fill the law of Christ.
The basic problem of our time is loneliness — the insecurity and anxiety that come with separation from God, and from one's fellowmen, and from a sense of alienation from self that is almost always present. The source of reconciliation and wholeness is Jesus Christ.
The function of the true Church of Christ is to provide for the individual that concerned, loving, accepting, for- giving community, animated by the spirit of Christ, in which the individual can find a place, establish true friend- ships, and gain confidence in God's presence.
Through it every woman will have opportunity ultimately to become what the most fortunate of women are blessed to be in this world — the heart of a loving home. Every man may be a true priest of God in his own home. And every home may be a true sanc- tuary where the love of God may dwell and where the spirit of God is.
It is important to learn to apply the programs of the Church — they are great and wonderful and inspired and effective — but the only way this can truly be achieved is with a constant understanding of the objectives for which a program exists, of the prin- ciples that apply, and of the spirit that must be present in those who are called to serve and lead.
In our Father's house are many man- sions, and a place for each of his chil- dren who will qualify. Our assignment is to accept God's gift and know that we are accepted, and to seek to share the warmth of his love and the power of his example with all who will heed his call.
So bless us, O God, to understand and to do, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
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• Brothers and sisters, it is wonderful to be gathered here with you again in one of these great conferences of our church. Led by the Tabernacle Choir, we have just sung a song that finds an echo in my heart: "God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to per- form."
Having done as much missionary work as I have, I have always con- sidered the great wonders the Lord has done in our day in connection with the restoration of his gospel to the earth in this dispensation. This is a day of wonders, a day when so many things are happening in the world. If I were to ask what you consider the most wonderful thing that has hap- pened in this world in the last 150 years, I imagine that most people would say the landing of the astronauts on the moon. That truly was a miracle, and how it happened only those who worked it out can tell you.
Then I think of how we were able to sit in our homes and watch on tele- vision as those men got down from the capsule to walk on that land with- out the power of gravity to pull them back. Then I think of what has been the result. (Now I am admitting to you that I don't know enough about science to know how much good that great achievement will be to me or my family.)
Then I think of another event that transpired within the last 150 years that from my way of appraisal far ex- ceeds that in its majesty and magni- tude and in its good for humanity, and for me and my family and for all other people in this world who really love the Lord and want to serve him. That was when the boy Joseph Smith went out in the woods to pray, having read the words of the apostle James: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." (Jas. 1:5.) Then he went out into the woods to pray, believing in that promise, and a pillar of light descended from heaven, as it did to
Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damas- cus, and in the midst of that pillar of light were God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ.
When that boy asked which of all the churches he should join, the Father, pointing to the Son, said: "This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!" (See Joseph Smith 2:17.) The answer came that he was to join none of them, for they all taught for doctrines the pre- cepts of men, and then he was told of the work that was about to come forth.
If that story is true, and I know that it is, is there anything like it in all this world? For when the heavens opened, heavenly messengers appeared, the Father and the Son who created this earth; we are told in the holy scriptures that God created the earth by the power of his Only Begotten, and could anything that has happened in this world in the last 150 years compare with the visit of the Father and the Son to this earth? We bear solemn testimony, all of us gathered here in this conference this day, and millions throughout the earth who have put this message to the test, that this is the truth. As Jesus said to Nicodemus: "We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness." (John 3:11.) And so we are testifying to all the world that this glorious event transpired.
After Jesus had spent some forty days with his disciples and ascended to heaven in the presence of 500 of the brethren, as they stood gazing into heaven, two men in white apparel stood by their side and said: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11.) Why then should it be so difficult to believe that he would appear when two angels stood there to say that he would come again? And we are looking forward to his coming. When I think of all of
the things the prophets have foretold that should precede his second com- ing, then I say truly that God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform.
I like the statement in the third chapter of Malachi, where the Lord, speaking through the prophet Malachi, said: "Behold, I will send my messen- ger, and he shall prepare the way be- fore me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple. . . .
"But who may abide the day of his coming? ... for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." (Malachi 3:1-2.)
Now that obviously had no refer- ence to his first coming, because he didn't come suddenly to his temple. All men were able to abide the day of his coming. He did not come cleans- ing and purifying as refiner's fire and fuller's soap, but we are told that when he shall come in the latter days the wicked shall cry out to the rocks, "Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." (Rev/ 6:16.) And so when God sends a messenger to prepare the way before him, that messenger could be none other than a prophet.
You remember what Jesus said of John the Baptist, who was sent to prepare the way for his coming in the meridian of time. He said that there was no greater prophet in Israel than John the Baptist. And so we bear solemn testimony to the world that this prophet whom God raised up in this dispensation was the Prophet Joseph Smith. He was the messenger that was sent to prepare the way for these wonderful things that the Lord promised to send to this world to pre- pare the way for the coming of the Lord.
He was the prophet of this dispen- sation whom, according to our scrip- tures, the Lord had in waiting over 3,000 years after he declared his com- ing, waiting for his day and time just as did the prophets of old, such as
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Jeremiah, when he was called to be a prophet. He could not understand this, and the Lord said, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I or- dained thee a prophet unto the na- tions." (Jer. 1:5.) The prophet of this dispensation was ordained to be a prophet unto the nations before he ever came here, and we have the word of the Lord that he should be great in his eyes. (See 2 Ne. 3:8.)
Then I think of the statement of Peter following the day of Pentecost, when he talked to those who put to death the Christ, and he told them that the heavens would receive the Christ "until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3:21.) Is it difficult to believe this prophecy of Peter's that there should be a restitu- tion of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began? No other church in this world, as far as I know, claims such a restitution, and that includes the visit of many holy prophets of the dispen- sations past.
Following the coming of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph, a few years later Moroni, a prophet who had lived here upon this earth in the land of America 400 years after the Christ, came back to tell the prophet about the former inhabitants of this land and the record that had been prepared, which is the Book of Mor- mon.
Brother [Marion G.] Romney gave us an inspiring talk yesterday about the teachings of that book. It was preserved for the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the very eternal God, mani- festing himself unto all nations. It was preserved by the hand of Almighty God; and it was written by the com- mand of the Lord to Ezekiel the prophet that two records should be kept, one of Judah and his followers, the House of Israel, and one of Joseph and his followers. The Lord promised he would take the record of Joseph that was in the hands of Ephraim and put it with the record of Judah and make them one in his hands. (See Ezek. 37:16-17.) Can't we believe that God would do that which he said he would do? If the Book of Mormon isn't that record, where is it?
In order to fully appreciate what that book is, we need to go back a little further to the promises made to the twelve sons of Jacob, and Joseph's promise, if you will read it, far exceeds that of his other brethren. He was promised through Jacob many bless-
ings. "The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills. . . ." (Gen. 49:26.)
In describing the new land that should be given to Joseph, who would be separated from his brethren, Moses used the word "precious" five times in just four verses as recorded in the Bible describing that new land. (See Deut. 33:13-16.) That new land was none other than this land of America. The Lord had it preserved, waiting for the day of the restoration of the gospel in this latter day.
What does the world know about that record of Joseph? And why should they hesitate to accept it? And with its acceptance, even the Jewish people have no occasion to question who their Messiah is because that record so defi- nitely tells of the signs of the birth of the Savior of the world, of his cruci- fixion, and then of his visit to this land of America when he visited his people, as Brother Romney told us yesterday.
It has been said that if that book had been found by a man plowing in his field, it would have been considered the greatest event of the nineteenth cen- tury. We have testimonies from many who are not members of the Church. The book contains a promise that if we would read it, the Lord would man- ifest the truth of it unto us by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moro. 10:4.)
Some years ago Brother Nicholas G. Smith, speaking from this pulpit, told us of an experience he had while pre- siding over the California Mission. The dean of religion at the University of Southern California asked him for a copy of the Book of Mormon, and Brother Smith gave him one that had been marked by the missionaries, with the important passages underlined; then the dean invited Brother Smith and the missionaries to attend his meet- ing. He took that Book of Mormon and he would read passage after passage to his congregation and would say: "This isn't a dead book, it's a live book." He said, "We have here a volume of scrip- ture that has been in our midst for a hundred years, and we haven't known anything about it." And then he would say to his congregation: "Aren't these beautiful teachings? Why can't we fellowship a people who believe in such beautiful things as I have been read- ing to you here today?" Well, that is just another testimony of the divinity of this work, but the Lord preserved it to fulfill his promises to Joseph in this land, choice above all other lands.
There isn't time today to go into these other wonderful things that the Lord has created in a way that is mys-
terious to the world. You just take this temple standing here on this block. Isaiah and Micah were both permitted to look down through the stream of time (3,000 years) to the latter days, and they named the lat- ter days when the mountain of the Lord's house would be established in the top of the mountains and all na- tions would flow unto it; and they would say, "Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. . . ." (See Isa. 2:2-3.) As far as I know there is no building in the history of this world that has gath- ered people from all nations like this temple, and many of you who are here today are no doubt descendants of some of those who have been gathered to this land.
When I was doing missionary work over in Holland, I had a very earnest investigator, a businessman. He said, "I will never join your church." I said, "Why?" He said, "I don't want to go to America." I said, "Good for you." I then added, "You just stay right here and help strengthen these branches." He had been a member of the Church only a few months when he came rush- ing into my office one day and said, "Brother Richards, I have a chance to sell my business." I said, "What do you want to sell your business for?" "Oh, I want to go to Zion," he said. I wish you could see the accounts we had on the mission books, when I was secretary of the mission, of the good Dutch people saving their nickels and their dimes to come here before we had any temples in Europe.
I heard President Joseph F. Smith say in Rotterdam in 1906 that the day would come when temples of the Lord would dot that whole land of Europe, and I have lived long enough to see two of them built. Well, that is just another of these wonders that are mys- terious to the world that the Lord has given us. If we would take time to study the prophecies of the gathering, we would know that the Lord kept this land away from the eyes of the world to make it the gathering place of his people.
Brothers and sisters, we have so much to be grateful for. Yesterday Brother Burton talked to us about the coming of Elijah the prophet. Just think of that promise of Malachi, that before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, the Lord said he would send Elijah the prophet, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mai. 4:5-6.) How could anybody
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believe the holy scriptures and not pray for the day to come when Elijah would come? And then we bear solemn wit- ness to the world that lie has come.
I was in Israel a year ago last July, and we went into three of the syna- gogues on a tour, and in one of them there was hanging on the wall an arm chair. I asked the rabbi what it was there for. He said, "So we could let it down for Elijah to sit in when he comes." And of course I couldn't tell him that Elijah had already been, and that his coming has given us this assurance that has been mentioned in this conference of the eternal dura- tion of the marriage covenant. Not
only that, but God has also pre- pared a thousand years under the leadership of Jesus until every knee shall ■ bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, which means that this message has got to go into the eternal worlds.
I bear you my solemn witness that this is God's work, and I know it in every fiber of my being, and I know that it is what Isaiah saw when he said: "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have re- moved their heart from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precepts of men:
"Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understand- ing of their prudent men shall be hid." (Isa. 29:13-14.)
That is the message we have to all the world, and I bear you my witness that there isn't an honest man or an honest woman in this world who really loves the Lord who wouldn't join this church if they would take time to find out what it really is. I bear you that witness and pray God to bless you all, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• I should like to speak out across the land to the youth who are the future of the Church and the hope of the nations.
I found my theme in a conversation with a young man in a South Ameri- can airport, where we were both de- layed by late planes. His hair was long and his face bearded, his glasses large and round. Sandals were on his feet, and his clothing such as to give the appearance of total indifference to any generally accepted standard of style.
I did not mind this. He was earnest and evidently sincere. He was edu- cated and thoughtful, a graduate of a great North American university. Without employment and sustained by his father, he was traveling through South America.
What was he after in life? I asked. "Peace — and freedom" was his imme- diate response. Did he use drugs? Yes, they were one of his means to obtain the peace and freedom he sought. Dis- cussion of drugs led to discussions of morals. He talked matter-of-factly about the new morality that gave so
much more freedom than any previous generation had ever known.
He had learned in our opening intro- ductions that I was a churchman; and he let me know, in something of a condescending way, that the morality of my generation was a joke. Then with earnestness he asked how I could honestly defend personal virtue and moral chastity. I shocked him a little when I declared that his freedom was a delusion, that his peace was a fraud, and that I would tell him why.
Our flights were called shortly after that, and we had to separate. Since then I have thought much of our dis- cussion. I would hope that he might be listening somewhere today. He is part of a challenging generation num- bered in the millions who, in a search for freedom from moral restraint and peace from submerged conscience, have opened a floodgate of practices that enslave and debauch, and which, if left unchecked, will not only destroy individuals but also the nations of which they are a part.
I thought of this freedom and this peace when I recently faced a young
man and a young woman across the desk of my office. He was handsome, tall, and manly. She was a beautiful girl, an excellent student, sensitive and perceptive.
The girl sobbed, and tears fell from the eyes of the young man. They were freshmen in the university. They were to be married the next week, but not in the kind of wedding of which they had dreamed. They had planned that would come three years from now, following graduation.
Now they found themselves in a situation both regretted and for which neither was prepared. Shattered were their dreams of schooling, the years of preparation they knew each needed for the competitive world that lay ahead. Rather, they would now have to estab- lish a home, he to become the bread- winner at the best figure his meager skills could command.
The young man looked up through his tears. "We were sold short," he said.
"We've cheated one another," she responded. "We've cheated one an- other and the parents who love us —
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and we've cheated ourselves. We were betrayed. We fell for the rubbish that virtue is hypocrisy; and we've found that the new morality, the idea that sin is only in one's mind, is a booby trap that's destroyed us."
They spoke of a thousand thoughts that had crossed their minds in the fearful days and the anxious nights of the past few weeks. Should she seek an abortion? The temptation was there in the frightening contemplation of the ordeal that lay ahead. No, never, she had concluded. Life is sacred under any circumstance. How could she ever live with herself if she took measures to destroy the gift of life even under these conditions?
Perhaps she could go to some place where she was not known, and he could go on with his schooling. The child could be placed for adoption. There were excellent organizations that could assist in such a program, and there were good families anxious for children. But they had dismissed that thought.
He would never leave her to face her trial alone. He was responsible, and he would meet that responsibility even though it blighted the future of which he had dreamed.
I admired his courage, his determina- tion to make the best of a difficult situation; but my heart ached as I watched them, bereft and sobbing. Here was tragedy. Here was heart- break. Here was entrapment. Here was bondage.
They had been told of freedom, that evil was only a thing of the mind. But they found they had lost their freedom. Nor did they know peace. They had bartered their peace and their freedom — the freedom to marry when they chose to marry, the freedom to secure the education of which they had dreamed, and, more importantly, the peace of self-respect.
My young friend in the airport might have countered my story by saying that they were not smart. Had they been wise to the things available to them, they would not have found themselves in this sorry situation.
I should have replied that their situation is far from unique and that it is daily growing more acute. In 1968 there were 165,700 births to un- wed schoolgirls in the United States alone, with an average annual increase of 12,000. (Reader's Digest, September 1970, p. 170.)
Can there be peace in the heart of any man, can there be freedom in the life of one who has left only misery as the bitter fruit of his indulgence?
Can anything be more false or dis- honest than gratification of passion without acceptance of responsibility?
I have seen in Korea the tragic aftermath of war in the thousands of orphans born of Korean mothers and soldier fathers. They have been aban- doned, creatures of sorrow, unwanted, the flotsam of a miserable tide of immorality.
It is so in Vietnam. Tens of thou- sands of such, according to reports. Peace and freedom? There can be neither for him who has wantonly indulged nor for those left as the innocent and tragic victims of his lust.
Men are prone to gloat over their immoral conquests. What a cheap and sullied victory. There is no conquest in such. It is only self-deception and a miserable fraud. The only conquest that brings satisfaction is the conquest of self. It was said of old that "he that governeth himself is greater than he that taketh a city."
Are not the words of Tennyson still appropriate: "My strength is as the strength of ten, Because my heart is pure." (Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "Sir Galahad.")
You expect me to speak in this fash- ion. But listen to the conclusion of renowned historians Will and Ariel Durrant. Their language may sound a little indelicate for an occasion like this, but my young friends will under- stand it. Out of the vast experience of writing a thousand years of history, Dr. and Mrs. Durrant say:
"No one man, however brilliant or well informed can come in one life- time to such fullness of understanding as to safely judge and dismiss the cus- toms or institutions of his society, for these are the wisdom of generations after centuries of experiment in the laboratory of history. A youth boiling with hormones will wonder why he should not give full freedom to his sexual desires; and if he is unchecked by custom, morals, or laws, he may ruin his life before he matures suffi- ciently to understand that sex is a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the indi- vidual and the group." (The Lessons of History, pp. 35-36.)
Self-discipline was- never easy. I do not doubt that it is more difficult today. We live in a sex-saturated world. Not- withstanding the conclusions of a government commission, which I am happy to say has been widely repudi- ated, I am convinced that many of our youth, and many older but no less gullible, are victims of the persuasive elements with which they are sur- rounded— the pornographic literature which has become a $500 million a year business in this country alone, seductive movies that excite and give sanction to promiscuity, dress standards
that invite familiarity, judicial deci- sions that destroy legal restraint, par- ents who often unwittingly push the children they love toward situations they later regret.
A wise writer has observed that "a new religion is emerging throughout the world, a religion in which the body is the supreme object of worship to the exclusion of all other aspects of existence.
"The pursuit of its pleasures has grown into a cult ... for its ritual no efforts are spared.
"We have bartered holiness for con- venience, . . . wisdom for information, joy for pleasure, tradition for fashion." (Abraham Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom, p. 200.)
Nakedness has become the hallmark of much public entertainment. It reaches beyond this into the realm of sadistic perversion. As one seasoned New York critic remarked, "It's not only the nudity; it's the crudity."
Can there be any reasonable doubt that in sowing the wind of pornog- raphy, we are reaping the whirlwind of decay?
We need to read more history. Na- tions and civilizations have flowered, then died, poisoned by their own moral sickness. As one commentator has re- marked, Rome perished when the Goths poured over its walls. But it was "not that the walls were low. It was that Rome itself was low." (Jenkin Lloyd Jones, U. S. News & World Re- port, May 26, 1962, p. 90.)
No nation, no civilization can long endure without strength in the homes of its people. That strength derives from the integrity of those who estab- lish those homes.
No family can have peace, no home can be free from storms of adversity unless that family and that home are built on foundations of morality, fidel- ity, and mutual respect. There cannot be peace where there is not trust; there cannot be freedom where there is not loyalty. The warm sunlight of love will not rise out of a swamp of im- morality.
As with the bud, so with the blossom. Youth is the seedtime for the future flowering of family life. To hope for peace and love and gladness out of promiscuity is to hope for that which will never come. To wish for freedom out of immorality is to wish for some- thing that cannot be. Said the Savior, "Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin." (John 8:34.)
Is there a valid case for virtue? It is the only way to freedom from regret. The peace of conscience which flows therefrom is the only personal peace that is not counterfeit.
And beyond all of this is the unfail-
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ing promise of God to those who walk in virtue. Declared Jesus of Nazareth, speaking on the mountain, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." (Matt. 5:8.) That is a cove- nant, made hy him who has the power to fulfill.
And again, the voice of modern reve- lation speaks a promise — an unmatched promise that follows a simple com- mandment:
Here is the commandment: ". . . let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceas- ingly." And here is the promise: ". . . Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. . . .
"The Holy Ghost shall be thy con- stant companion, . . . and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever." (D&C 121:45-46.)
Just a word or two concerning this marvelous promise —
It has been my privilege on various occasions to converse with Presidents of the United States and important men in other governments. At the close of each such occasion I have re- flected on the rewarding experience of standing with confidence in the pres- ence of an acknowledged leader. And then I have thought, what a wonderful thing, what a marvelous thing it would be to stand with confidence — unafraid and unashamed and unembarrassed — in the presence of God. This is the promise held out to every virtuous man and woman.
I know of no greater promise made by God to man than this promise made to those who let virtue garnish their thoughts unceasingly.
Channing Pollock once remarked: "A world in which everyone believed in the purity of women and the nobil- ity of men, and acted accordingly, would be a very different world, but
a grand place to live in." (Reader's Digest, June 1960, p. 76.)
I assure you, my young friends, that it would be a world of freedom in which the spirit of man might grow to undreamed-of glory, a world of peace, the peace of clear conscience, of un- sullied love, of fidelity, of unfailing trust and loyalty.
This may appear an unattainable dream for the world. But for each of you it can be a reality, and the world will become so much the richer and the stronger for the virtue of your individual lives.
God bless you to realize this free- dom, to know this peace, to gain this blessing, I humbly pray, as I leave with you my witness of the truth of these things; and as a servant of the Lord, I promise you that if you will sow in virtue, you will reap in gladness now and in all years yet to come, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Saturday afternoon session, October 3, 1970
The Years That the Locust Hath Eaten
Elder Spencer W. Kimball
Acting President of the Council of the Twelve
• My brothers and sisters and friends, and especially our good folks from overseas and of a different tongue: It is a joy to be with you in this great conference.
To the right of us a hundred yards is a beautiful granite monument crowned with a stone globe, and on it, two bronze seagulls. Before this monu- ment have stood millions of tourists, as they heard the absorbing story of the "Mercy of God to the Mormon Pioneers."
The bronze wings of the birds are spread wide, as are the great arms of the Church, to envelop all the peoples of the world; and the granite globe is prophetic of the worldwide Church and reminiscent of Daniel's envisioned stone cut out of the mountain without
hands, to roll forth and fill the whole earth.
On the tablets is told the story of the virgin desert lands, of ox teams, of plowmen and wide-flung arms sowing grain. It pictures the invasion of the merciless insects, and the hopeless bat- tle represented by the man sinking to the earth, listless, with his hanging hands and bowed head. Despair has engulfed him. The woman is also toil-worn, with something pathetic in her body-weariness, her head raised to the pitiless skies. They see the gulls overhead. Are they coming to complete the devastation? The conquest of the gulls and the harvesting of the grain that was saved is pictured. Total famine would now be averted.
The Egyptian scourge was not the
first, nor was the Mormon disaster the last of the invasion by the crickets, the grasshoppers, the locusts. Years ago, when we visited Australia, we fre- quently heard that a man had "dropped his bundle." We came to know that it had a similar meaning there to the phrase we often use here: "He didn't make the grade" or "He missed the boat." As I read the old scriptures, I find that the ancients characterized such a situation with the phrase "The years that the locust hath eaten."
We are told that the locust is a species of a large family of insects with blunt antennae, long hind legs, thick thighs that make the familiar sound when scraped on the fore wings. They breed in river bottoms and sunny de- pressions and multiply at an alarming
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An audio engineer in the sound control room follows the text of an address being de- livered at the pulpit.
rate and fill the air, obliterating the daylight. Hordes of these insects have plagued western United States as well as many other parts of the world and caused billions of dollars of damage and ruin. They have caused numerous famines and the deaths of great num- bers of people.
These insects, as with the cricket war in Utah, were heavily involved in the Egyptian story:
Moses and Aaron pleaded, and threatened Pharaoh to release his army of slaves. The monarch was obdurate, deceptive, and stubborn. During the suffering of each plague he made the promise, but when relief came, he ignored his promise.
Moses warned: "Thus saith the Lord God . . . How long wilt thou refuse to humble thyself . . . ? let my people go, that they may serve me." (Exod. 10:3.)
In sucession came the plagues: when "all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood"; and when "the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt"; and when "there came a grievous swarm of flies"; when "the dust of the earth . . . became lice"; when ashes sprinkled by Moses "be- came a boil breaking forth with blains upon man, and upon beast."
There came "thunder and hail, and the fire ran along upon the ground; . . . And the hail smote ... all that was
in the field, . . . every herb . . . , and brake every tree of the field." "And the flax and the barley was smitten; for the barley was in the ear, and the flax was boiled." (Exod. 7:20; 8:6, 24, 17; 9:10, 23, 25, 31.)
Upon Pharaoh's repeated rejection, Moses quoted the Lord:
". . . let my people go. . . . Else, if thou refuse . . . , behold, tomorrow will I bring the locusts into thy coast." (Exod. 10:3-4.)
"Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather very little in; for the locust shall consume it." (Deut. 28:38. Italics added.)
". . . and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.
". . . so that the land was darkened; and . . . there remained not any green thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the land of Egypt." (Exod. 10:13, 15.)
What the palmerworm left, the lo- cust ate, and what the locust left, the caterpillar ate. And another crop was gone.
And as I remembered the "years that the locust hath eaten," I reflected on the lost weekends and wasted years of many people.
From a distant state a letter came from a man who had been baptized a year before. I quote from his letter:
"I will appreciate it if you will re-
move my name from the roster of the Church. I find the . . . requirements of the Church too great. I was . . . led ... by the missionaries to the receiving of instructions. The next thing I knew, my baptism was planned. I do not regret this completely, for it was edu- cational.
"Finally, I came to realize what 1 had gotten myself involved in.
"I was unable to forgo the four No's — tobacco, liquor, coffee and tea. ... It causes me more anxiety than I am able to cope with. And my person- ality requires acceptance . . . and I feel unaccepted when unable to par- take of the pleasures of my companions.
"Also, I find that I cannot give from three to five hours on Sunday and one tenth of my earnings. This is against my basic nature. . . .
"I am very sorry that I have caused you this trouble. No one should con- sider himself at fault. ... It is mine alone. I hope that you can forgive me . . . my decision is final."
His final decision was sad indeed. His years follow each other and are figuratively eaten by the locusts, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, while he returns to the world.
Contrary to this, generally, our people are not disturbed about four or five hours of devotion on the Sabbath and giving one tenth of their income and the four no's.
Marden says: ". . . the mill can never grind with the water which has passed." (Orison S. Marden, Pushing to the Front, vol. 1, p. 13.)
Some days ago, a family of new members were beaming as they shook my hand. I asked them how long they had been members of the Church and the answer was "Two months." Then, with enthusiasm and regret, they said, "Think of all these years we could have been so happy in the Church!" The locusts had eaten their years.
Someone said, " 'O, that I had!' or 'O, that I had not!' is the silent cry of many a man who would give life itself for the opportunity to go back and re- trieve some long lost error." (Marden, p. 15.)
In 1834, a high council was being- organized by the Prophet Joseph Smith. This account comes from L. D. Young:
"... I committed a grave error, and desire to leave a record of it, for a les- son to others. The prophet requested me to take a seat with the brethren who had been selected for this [high] council. Instead of doing so, I arose and pled my inability to fill so re- sponsible a position, manifesting, I think, considerable earnestness in the matter.
"The prophet then said he merely desired I should take the place; but
74
as I still excused myself, he appointed another to fill it. I think this was the reason that he never again called me to fill any important position in the priesthood. I have since learned to go where I am called, and not set up my judgment against that of those who are called to guide in this kingdom."
The locust went to work. Think of the years of opportunity this good man lost.
Harriet Winslow said of opportunity:
"The golden opportunity
Is never offered twice; seize then the
hour When Fortune smiles and Duty points
the way.
"Why thus longing, thus forever sigh- ing,
For the far-off, unattained and dim,
While the beautiful, all around thee lying
Offers up its low, perpetual hymn?"
I know one man who was greatly concerned when his stake president invited him to be the bishop of the ward. His face became ashen. He stammered a rejection. He declined the great privilege of being a judge in Israel, a father of a people, a leader of men. The stake president, feeling that it was mere timidity and a feeling of inadequacy, attempted to persuade, but the decision was made.
Since that day there have been many years that "the locusts hath eaten."
In this connection, I also think of the Sidney Rigdons, the Oliver Cowderys, the Martin Harrises, and the many others who closed the doors upon their opportunities.
"Remember the four things come not back: the spoken word, the sped arrow, the past life, and the neglected oppor- tunity." (Marden, p. 67.)
Another young man who was a faithful member of the Church be- came infatuated with a beautiful girl not a member of the Church, and when their courtship reached the marriage state, it was set to be a civil one, "till death do you part." He weakly re- monstrated, but she with greater strength prevailed. Temple and eter- nal marriage had no meaning for her.
He would hope someday to bring her into the Church, but the years moved on at a rapid pace, and the children came and grew up without the gospel. The opportunities passed; years were lost — years never to be re- covered, for time flies on wings of lightning, and you cannot call it back. Were these locust years?
Shakespeare wrote:
"There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to
fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shadows and in miseries; And we must take the current when
it serves, Or lose our ventures.
"Tis never offered twice; seize the hour When fortune smiles, and duty points
the way; Nor shrink aside to 'scape the specter
fear, Nor pause, though pleasure beacon
from her bower; But bravely bear thee onward to the
goal."
(Julius Caesar, Sc. 4, act. 3.)
The locust has always been abroad. Civilization is cankered by the canker- worm.
Benjamin Franklin said: "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
And another said: "Eternity itself cannot restore the loss struck from the minute." (Ancient Post.)
"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me." (Shakespeare.)
When I was a little boy, I was much impressed by a young couple just being married in a civil marriage. He was a handsome swain, with a sleek horse and rubber-tired buggy and with money to spend. She was the "belle of the ball," coming from a well-to-do family so that her clothes and her popularity made other girls envy her.
Their marriage was what might be called an extravaganza.
There had been many children in both families, but their first determina- tion was that "they would have no kids."
There was some sort of surgery — no children ever came to that home. Their fun continued — dancing, riding, par- ties. Through the years, I saw them grow old and lonely. He died first. On. a main street in the little town, she lived on and walked daily to the post office and to the grocery store. The years sped on and brought a bent back and a slow walk with a cane added. Loneliness surrounded her. Her broth- ers and sisters were occupied with their families. Visits to her were less often and for shorter periods. There was no radio or television that long ago. Read- ing was reduced as eyes grew dim. People saw her less often and missed her less.
One day someone found her. She had been dead for days. Alone in death as she had been alone in life. No lov- ing, dutiful children to bury her — no tear shed — no lament. They had been wasted years. Were they years that the locust hath eaten?
Someone said:
"Destiny is not about thee, but with- in—
Thyself must make thyself."
(Marden, p. 404.)
Failure to plan brings barrenness and sterility. Fate brushes man with its wings, but we make our own fate largely. Karl G. Maeser gives us this thought:
"And the books will be opened and my guardian angel will stand by me and as he opens the book he wijl say, 'Look,' and I will look and say: 'How beautiful.' And the angel will say, 'That is what you could have been,' and then he will turn the leaf and say, 'This is what you have been.' "
And Ingalls gives us this:
"Master of human destinies am I, Fame, love, and fortune on my foot- steps wait. Cities and fields I walk, I penetrate Deserts and seas remote, and, passing
by Hovel, and mart, and palace, soon or
late I knock unbidden, once at every gate!
"If sleeping, wake — if feasting, rise be- fore I turn away. It is the hour of fate, And they who follow me reach every
state Mortals desire, and conquer every foe Save death; but those who doubt or
hesitate Condemned to failure, penury and woe, Seek me in vain and uselessly im- plore— I answer not and I return no more." — John James Ingalls, "Opportunities"
The world is full of opportunities missed. Many of the impressive talks of this conference have told of people who failed to accept the gospel when presented; of dropouts from high school, college, and employment; of waste through drugs and immoralities; of failures to accept Church and com- munity service; of bypassing a proselyt- ing mission; of a temporary civil mar- riage substituted for a permanent eternal one; of the use of the pill, abortion, and other means of damaging or destroying the family and home life so strongly urged as vital to our con- tinued civilization. All this reminds us that though we must be in the world, we need not be of the world.
May we grasp our opportunities, live the gospel fully, and prepare ourselves for the eternity of glory which is our possible destiny, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Era, December 1970 75
• Man is a spirit living in a house of clay called a physical body. This com- bination of spirit and body is called a living soul.
Physical bodies are made of flesh and bone and, therefore, have tangible form and shape and are easy to see and feel and recognize. The spirit also has a definite form and shape but does not have flesh and bone and, therefore, is not easy for mortals to see, feel, and recognize.
The scriptures tell us that the spirit and the body in which it lives look very, very much alike — and are, in fact, made in the image and likeness of God.
The word life means that the spirit is at home in the physical body. Death, on the other hand, means that the spirit has departed the physical body. When death occurs or when the spirit leaves the physical body, the physical body decays and returns to the dust whence it came. However, the spirit continues to exist in another realm called "the spirit world" and still maintains its form and shape and identity.
Resurrection is a process whereby after death the spirit returns and re- enters the body and becomes again a living, immortal soul, immortal mean- ing not subject to death or separation. It is the spirit that sees, hears, feels, knows passion and desire; it is the spirit that becomes addicted to drugs, bad habits, and evil desires. It is not the physical body that is addicted, but the spirit, which, of course, is the real you and me. We are spirits just as God is a spirit.
Sometimes we make excuses for our- selves, when we do what we should not
do or fall short of what we should have done. We use such expressions as, "Oh! the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." With such rationalizations we insinuate that it is our physical body's fault that we sin. As a matter of fact, this is not true. In reality, the physi- cal body is the strongest part of us. Among other reasons, it was given to us to help us overcome our addictions, bad habits, and evil desires. The body is very obedient; generally speaking, it will do exactly what the spirit tells it to do. So it is not the physical body that we are struggling with; it is the spirit we must bring into subjection.
Sometimes we seem to get the idea that in the spirit world, we will be completely different individuals; we will suddenly undergo a miraculous change in our character when we die. But nothing could be further from the truth. "We," our spirits, do not change at death; we are still the same. Amulek, a great Book of Mormon prophet, tells us plainly what the conditions in the spirit world will be.
"And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your re- pentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not im- prove our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
"Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that
same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." (Al. 34:33-34.)
Thus we see that we are here upon the earth to "prepare for eternity," or more simply said, we are here to get in condition to leave. And everybody is going to leave. Nobody gets out of this life alive. Someone has said that everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die to do it. But as a matter of fact, we have to die to do it.
Amulek plainly states that the "same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world." So, we do not change just be- cause we die. If we are addicted to drugs, bad habits, or evil desires here upon the earth, we shall be addicted to the same things in the spirit world; if we are a "pill" or a "crank" or a liar here, we will still be a "pill" or a "crank" or a liar there.
The scriptures speak of the spirit world as being two different places — as paradise at one time, and as spirit pris- on at another time. But as a matter of fact, the spirit world is really just one place; it merely depends on the con- dition we are in when we go there as to what it will be for us. If we go there addicted to drugs, bad habits, or evil desires, it will be a prison.
Our Heavenly Father wants us to be free; he doesn't want us to be in bondage to our appetites and passions. Therefore, he has given us command- ments that are only calculated to make us free. And he tells us that all of his commandments are spiritual. (See D&C 29:34.) Never at any time has he given
76
a commandment that is not spiritual. Even the Word of Wisdom is a spiri- tual commandment in that it primarily affects our spirits, and certainly it does.
To illustrate, I knew a man who was a member of the Church but had re- turned to his habit of smoking ciga- rettes. He said he didn't want to smoke but just couldn't help it. Of course, he could have overcome the habit if he had really wanted to while he had his body to help him. If the spirit tells the body not to pick up the cigarette, the body won't pick it up, and abstinence over time allows the spirit to overcome the desire. This man finally suffered a stroke. His body was paralyzed with the exception of his right arm and his eyes. As his son-in- law picked him up from the porch of his house, where he had fallen, with the only arm this man could move, he reached for the cigarette in his son-in- law's mouth, but he could not hold onto it. His son-in-law held the lighted cigarette to the stricken man's lips, but in his condition he could not hold it in his mouth.
For nine months this man lay on his bed. He actually wore out the pocket of his pajamas reaching into it for a cigarette that was not there. Then he died and went into the spirit world. Do you suppose he still wants a ciga- rette? On the basis of Amulek's state- ment, he does. But there is just one catch — there are no cigarettes in the spirit world. Would you suppose he is in paradise or in spirit prison? The answer seems only too obvious.
Oh yes, it is possible to repent in the spirit world, although we are given to understand that it is much more diffi- cult to repent there because we will not have our physical bodies to help us. Also an integral part of repentance is that we must make restitution. This means that if you have stolen five dol- lars, you have to return five dollars to the person whom you have robbed. This may be very difficult to do in the spirit world. You can also understand then why murder and adultery or fornication are such grievous sins; how can you make restitution? Virtue once gone cannot be replaced. Neither can a life be restored.
It may be very difficult to gain for- giveness for these kinds of sins. Presi- dent Brigham Young said it is a hundred times easier to repent here on the earth than it is in the spirit world. By the same token, if we go there in the right condition, it is a hundred times easier to learn in the spirit world than it is here in this life. So we should do what we can do best where we are. Now is the best time to repent; then will be the best time to learn.
The resurrection is a reality made
Era, December 1970 77
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possible by our Lord Jesus Christ, who, in the words of Paul, was "the first- fruits of them that slept." And because he was resurrected, everyone who has lived or will live upon the earth will also be resurrected. (See 1 Cor. 15:20- 22.) Whether they wish to be or not really makes no difference — they are going to live again anyway and be judged according to their works; and the condition they are in at the time of their resurrection will to a great extent determine their reward. Then they who are filthy shall be filthy still. and they who are righteous shall be righteous still. (See 2 Ne. 9:16.) And each one will get what he has prepared himself to receive.
As much as our Heavenly Father loves us and wants to help us to avoid heartache and unhappiness, still there is nothing much he can do for his children unless they desire it done. It is a startling fact to most Christian people when Mormon elders tell them
that God is not all-powerful so far as man is concerned, that there are some things he cannot do. Heading the list is the fact that God, our Father, cannot save his children in their sins. The prophet Alma, in a conversation with a man professing to be religious but not believing in God, said, "And I say unto you again that he [God] cannot save them in their sins; for I cannot deny his word, and he hath said that no unclean thing can inherit the king- dom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye inherit the king- dom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your sins." (Al. 11:37. Italics added.)
If the Lord cannot save a man in his sins, neither can he force a man to repent. Repentance is required for exaltation, but repentance is a volun- tary matter and, in the words of Paul, a gift of God — not a gift in the usual sense of an object presented but never- theless a gift in a real sense, presented
to each of us by the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who has paid the price for our sins on condition of our accept- ing his sacrifice for us through repen- tance. The Lord has given us a key,, a sign of repentance. "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his sins — behold, he will confess them and for- sake them." (D&C 58:43.)
I bear witness that Jesus is the Christ and that he lives and has made re- pentance possible and necessary and required of all; that the command- ments of God are given by a loving Father to make us free here on earth and in the spirit world, that we may enter the spirit world as uninhibited spirits, ready to receive the new knowl- edge that will be there for us, and to get us into condition to receive a far greater and eternal weight of glory through the resurrection of the just. I bear this witness in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• During the last six months of this year, the Saturday night leadership meetings of our stake conferences are being used to promote the double ob- jectives of the military relations pro- gram of the Church. It is of primary importance that every person in the world should understand that the Church of Jesus Christ has been re- established upon the earth. It is also important to know that governments were instituted of God for the benefit of man and that he holds us account- able for our acts in relation to them. (See D&C 134:1.)
We have a direct revelation from the Lord that he raised up wise men to establish the Constitution of this land, and he requires that it be main-
tained for the protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles, that everyone may act according to his God-given moral agency. It is a di- vine decree that this land should serve as the citadel of liberty. And it is the American mission to keep freedom, righteousness, and human dignity alive in the world. (See D&C 101:77-80; Preamble to the Constitution.)
How grateful we ought to be that God raised up such men as our found- ing fathers to stand in the forefront of our civilization and give our nation its start toward its destiny. The history of our world would have been vastly different if the kind of men who use Stalin blood purges, Hitler gas ovens, Castro indignities, and Communist de-
ceptions as instruments of government had laid our national foundations or were presently manipulating the con- trols of American wealth and power.
It seems to me that above most other things we need to learn to be good soldiers. Whether we are in or out of uniform, we should develop those sure and steady qualities of always being faithful, of always being loyal, of al- ways living at our best, and of always being successful.
In 1835 a French visitor, by the name of Alexis de Tocqueville, made a de- tailed study of our national operations. Later he wrote in his book: "America is great because she is good. And if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great." This is a divine
78
law that applies to all nations and to all individuals. But it applies particu- larly to us, because our extraordinary power and our extraordinary mission give us extraordinary responsibilities.
When we sing "God Bless America," what kind of an America should we have in mind? Certainly not a drunken America, nor a criminal America, nor an irresponsible America. We must not build an atheistic Amer- ica; nor a disloyal America, nor a weak America, nor an immoral America. And to effectively serve God and our country, every good church member and every good citizen should be con- stantly waging war — not a war against anybody, but a war for everybody, a war for God and for freedom and for truth and for righteousness and for success.
Sometime ago a 43-year-old man reenlisted in the army. A friend said to him, "Don't you think that you have already done enough for your country?" He replied, "Can anyone ever do enough for his country?" And President John F. Kennedy pointed the American way to success in his inaugural address when he said, "Fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." Then, in the tradition of the prophets, he sealed his testimony with his blood.
Every God-fearing, freedom-loving, truth-seeking person in the world, re- gardless of nation, creed, color, or race, should constantly be praying and con- tinually be working for a strong, en- during, righteous United States of America. For if any communistic combination of nations should ever reach their announced goal of world domination, then none of our other problems would ever again seem of very great consequence. As Emerson, the spokesman for an earlier America, said: "For what avail the plow or sail, Or land or life, if freedom fail?"
Too often we accept the blessings of religion and the advantages of govern- ment and then ignore our duties and deny our responsibilities. We pledge allegiance to the flag, but we allow ourselves to be divided by foreign troublemakers, despoiled by irrespon- sible vandals, weakened by criminal race-rioters, and sickened by traitors conducting senseless demonstrations against the government and our duly elected leaders.
That fundamental principle is still in effect that says, "United we stand, divided we fall." And the Master him- self has said, "If ye are not one, ye are not mine." It is significant that many of the greatest men that God has ever raised up out of the dust of this earth have been military men.
We have national holidays to com- memorate the birthdays of George
Washington, the father of his country, and Abraham Lincoln, who saved it from dissolution. Both were our commanders-in-chief during important wars. Some of our more recent war heroes were John J. Pershing, Douglas McArthur, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and our present great commander-in-chief, Richard M. Nixon. We should also keep in mind that the greatest of all military men was the Son of God him- self. In the war in heaven, he led the forces of righteousness against the rebellion of Lucifer. We can also draw- great significance from the fact that before the Savior of the world was the Prince of Peace, he was Jehovah the warrior.
The Bible says that the Lord is a man of war. And the Lord is his name. (Exod. 15:3.) It should be very helpful for each soldier, as he enters military service, to receive a Book of Mormon from the Church. This important book of scripture was written by ancient prophets who occupied our continent before us. And it was compiled by Mormon, that great pre-Columbus American general whose name it bears. This is significant, as he was one of the greatest authorities about those very principles on which our present success depends.
When he was only ten years of age, Mormon received the divine call to his life's work of compiling this book for our benefit. (Morm. 1:2.) Then, like young Samuel at Shiloh, he received a personal visitation from the Lord at age 15. (Morm. 1:15.) At age 16 he was appointed to lead the armies of the Nephite republic against its adversaries, the Lamanites, and his commission ex- tended over 58 years, until his death at age 74. (Mor. 2:2; 6:6; 8:3.) No weak- ling or coward survives a test like that. Mormon was a prophet, an author, a historian, and he had the most ex- tended military career on record.
He taught his soldiers the arts and strategies of war. But he also taught them that the most important qualifi- cation for being a good soldier is to be a good man. Through Mormon, God offered the Nephite army victory at any time that they would obey those laws of righteousness on which all military as well as all other success finally depends. The greatest nations of the past have fallen because they have disobeyed God's laws of success. And if we desire to be good soldiers, we must avoid their mistakes. A road- side billboard for an oil company says "A Clean Engine Produces Power" — and so do a clean mind and a loyal heart.
It is extremely unfortunate that so many, while officially representing "this nation under God," should use the army as an excuse to throw off their
moral restraints and do those things to which the Ruler of the Universe so seriously objects. Anyone who lays aside his religion when he enters mili- tary service is like the one who removes his armor under fire. And from any point of view, no drunken, immoral, irreverent, cowardly, disobedient army is entitled to win victories. Washing- ton was at his best when on his knees at Valley Forge. Lincoln said that he was not so much concerned about whether or not God was on his side, but it was very important for him to be on God's side. How inspiring it ought to be for our present-day soldiers to carry with them into battle the inspired teachings of this great prophet-general, who, over a long period, had the closest kind of association with the God of success. He failed only, as the Savior failed, because his soldiers re- fused to follow, but he tried magnifi- cently. Mormon said, "I speak it boldly; God hath commanded me." (Moro. 8:21.) And he carried out every command.
With prophetic vision, Mormon looked down to our time. And he was greatly concerned about what he saw. He tried to stimulate our responsibility by recalling the divine decree that says that we must obey the God of this land or we shall be swept off when the fullness of his wrath shall come upon us. Mormon said:
"Behold, I speak unto you as though I spake from the dead; for I know that ye shall hear my words." (Morm. 9:30.) "Listen unto them and give heed, or they will stand against you at the judgment-seat of Christ." (Moro. 8:21.)
And I imagine that when that great tribunal sits and we shall stand before it, how grateful we shall feel if we have been wise enough to follow his inspired leadership.
Instead of getting all we can out of the government, we should generate more of the spirit of Nathan Hale, who said, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." The Re- deemer himself has said: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13.) And then in this, he also set us a personal example. This stimulating idea has been condensed into verse, wherein the poet said:
"To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late; But every man may give his life To something good and great.
"And how can man die better Than in facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers And the temples of his gods."
(Author unknown.)
Era, December 1970 79
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Dec. 1970 Era
And so again we might ask ourselves, Can anyone ever do enough for his country or for God or for the people of our planet with whom we live? Before signing the Declaration of In- dependence, our founding fathers wrote above their signatures their own de- termination to live by their convictions. They said: "And in support of this declaration, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." That was about all that any of them had to give. And they offered it freely, without any reservation. We have much more at stake, and certainly we should not do less.
Major Martin Treptow, who fought in World War I, was a good soldier. Before he gave his life in the battle of Chateau-Thierry, he wrote in his diary, "I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure. I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost as though the entire conflict depended upon me alone." And whether we are engaged on a moral or a military battlefield,
even one man can, if he will, change the morale of a whole community.
Our lives and our civilization itself depend upon our being good soldiers. This great truth was stated by Daniel Webster, in prophetic language before the New York Historical Society on February 22, 1852, just before his death. Even then he saw some of those dan- gers which are now gathering about us. He was trying to help us to be good soldiers when he said:
"If we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion; if we and they shall live always in the fear of God and shall respect his command- ments; . . . we may have the highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country, and we may be sure of one thing: Our country will go on prosper- ing. But if we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political con- stitution which holds us together, no one can tell how sudden a catastrophe
may overwhelm us, that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.
"Should that catastrophe happen let it have no history. Let the horrible narrative never be written. Let its fate be that of the lost books of Livy which no human eye shall ever read, or the missing Pleiad of which no man can ever know more than that it is lost, and lost forever."
But this catastrophe must not happen and it will not happen if we but fol- low the directions that have already been given by the greatest of all mili- tary authorities. God offered to save Sodom and Gomorrah if only ten righteous people could be found there- in, and God will prosper us if we will faithfully carry forward our doubly assignment of so serving God and our country that many hundreds of mil- lions of truth-seeking, freedom-loving, God-fearing men and women may be entitled to the everlasting blessings of our eternal Heavenly Father. For this I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• My dear brothers and sisters, I am happy to participate with you in the wonderful spirit of this conference and in the beautiful music and inspira- tional messages we have listened to. I feel that these messages are particularly applicable at this time.
Frequently we hear that our nation is at the crossroads of advancement or fall, and this could well be a correct analysis of the present situation.
Many have twisted moral values to suit themselves, have scoffed at in- tegrity, and have become victims of a feverish tension, lacking the one thing they want most — inner peace. To a considerable extent this nation has be-
haved like great civilizations of the past when they have become self- indulgent and pleasure ridden, just before they crumbled.
But where do we go from here? Do we have a new frontier or goal?
It seems to me that we should seek the success of the inner man, now that our affluent society has furbished the outer man so extensively.
We could search for paths to family harmony, more and better relatedness to God and our fellowmen, and inner ease instead of tension.
Our new frontier and goal might well be that of making a rich and re- warding life.
Let me suggest that we reexamine our standards of right and wrong and determine what standards are best for ourselves and for the common good of our fellowmen.
I am convinced that neither science nor philosophy can satisfactorily an- swer these questions but that the gos- pel of Jesus Christ can.
We bear witness to the world that God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ have appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation and restored the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness and that there is a prophet of God on the earth today, our beloved President Joseph Fielding Smith.
82
The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan of life and teaches that all men are children of God. The gospel clearly sets out standards of right and wrong.
As an example, in this dispensation the Lord has counseled, "Thou shalt not steal," and "Thou shalt not lie." (D&C 42:20-21.)
These standards require a person to be honest and truthful and respect the property rights of others, and are for the common good of all.
The apostle Paul, in facing a situa- tion somewhat similar to our time, wrote the Roman saints and enumer- ated several standards, saying, "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of light.
"Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying." (Rom. 13:12-13.)
Many times the apostle Paul empha- sized the importance of being honest, and his life, in every way, exemplified this great eternal principle.
As we incorporate the gospel princi- ples or standards into our lives, we have the confidence and respect of our fellowmen, enjoy love and harmony in our family relationships, and are blessed with peace of mind. We are indeed living the good life.
The English author Charles Dickens wrote, "We wear the chains we forge in life." How true this is, and how important it is to forge a chain that will bring a rich and rewarding life — and remember that the diminutive chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
In forging a strong chain of life, the habit of honesty can well become one of the brightest and strongest links.
There is great power in centering one's attention upon an ideal or prin- ciple such as honesty. But in the minds of many the real meaning of honesty, as a moral value, has been terribly twisted.
Honest thinking and honest acting are desperately needed in today's society.
The dictionary defines honesty as the quality of being truthful, incor- ruptible, and free from deceit and fraud.
In thinking of honesty, we may first think of our relations with others, but in many respects it is more important to be honest with ourselves.
In the play Hamlet, Shakespeare has his character Polonius saying to his son Laertes, "This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man." (Act 1, sc. 3.)
When one accepts the standard of being honest with himself and commits himself to this end, he has made a tremendous step toward happiness and success.
Each of us is endowed with the right to choose good or evil, and we should recognize that men do not suc- ceed, neither are they destroyed by other people or conditions, but rather by their own decisions.
Honesty to one's own self embraces good health habits, good work and study habits, a determination to be of some useful service to others, and, as the apostle Paul says, an avoidance of rioting, drunkenness, chambering, wantonness, strife and envying.
We recognize that our body is the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in us, and with such knowledge we should do everything possible to strengthen our bodies. This necessarily means the avoidance of tobacco, liquor, tea, and coffee, the use of drugs and anything that harms or defiles the body.
Likewise, good thoughts that assist one to grow and develop and to be of use and service to his fellowmen stimu- late mental and physical health, whereas degrading thoughts built around obscenity, immorality, strife, stealing, cheating, and lying result in ultimate destruction.
To be honest with ourselves, we must adopt good mental and physical health habits as our standards; we know that good health of body and mind con- tribute to a rich and rewarding life, a clear conscience, and inner peace.
Again, good work and study habits are of major importance in living a rich and rewarding life.
There are some who contend that hard work isn't necessary today in order to be successful and happy, but this is not true.
The gospel plan requires each of us to work out our own salvation, our happiness, growth, and development.
Let me quote a part of a letter writ- ten by an anxious father to his son to emphasize this matter:
"My son, remember you have to work. Whether you handle a pick or wheelbarrow, or a set of books, editing a newspaper or writing a funny story, you must work.
"Work gives you appetite for your meals, it lends solidity to your slumber, it gives you an appreciation of a holiday.
"There are young men who do not work but the country is not proud of them. It does not even know their names. So find out what you want to be and do. Take off your coat and make the dust fly. The busier you are the less harm you are apt to get into,
the sweeter will be your sleep, the brighter your holidays and the better satisfied the whole world will be with you." (Bob Burdette, in Leaves of Gold.)
Good work habits include such qualities as dependability, loyalty to employer, willingness to go the extra mile, and finding happiness and pur- pose in your work.
Now, concerning good study habits, let us consider why we read and study: to be informed, to gain wisdom and knowledge that will be of value to us, to grow and develop. Yes, reading can become a most pleasant and profitable way to regularly spend a portion of our time.
The Lord has told us that "the glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth" (D&C 93:36), and that "it is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance" (D&C 131:6), and "whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.
"And if a person gains more knowl- edge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come." (D&C 130:18-19.)
Mr. Alfred C. Fuller, the founder of the Fuller Brush Company, had this to say about his study of the Bible: "What most impressses me as I look backward, is the immense application I have made of Bible truths in my family life. From lack of education, I relied on the Bible as my text book, in every conceivable problem that arose. Only when I deviated from this teaching did I fail.
"He who does not live daily in its guidance is foolish for he is rejecting the greatest source of personal profit that exists in the world. The Bible is the best 'how-to-do-it' book ever com- piled and it covers every fundamental that anyone really needs to know."
Let us be honest with ourselves and get into the habit of reading and study- ing, the Bible and the other standard works of the Church as a guide to a rich and rewarding life.
One of the greatest blessings the Church affords its members is an op- portunity for each to serve his fellows in many different ways. We receive great joy, happiness, and individual growth and development by being active in church service.
Let us be honest with ourselves and never turn down an opportunity to serve in building and serving the king- dom of God.
When one is honest with himself, he cannot be unfaithful to his family, unfair to his employer, or disloyal to his God and country.
Era, December 1970 83
We should exert our best efforts to accomplish our righteous objectives, utilizing every legitimate means but not permitting ourselves to commit a wrong in our quest for the right. It is better to lose than to win an unjust or dishonest cause.
What better, then, can a person
learn than honesty? What better can he learn than to use the principle of honesty in doing his best? in learning the best things in life? in reading the best books? in mingling with the best people? in doing the best things?
In so doing we are seeking the suc- cess of the inner man and will find
family harmony, more and better re- latedness to God and our fellowmen, and inner ease instead of inner tension. Thus we will achieve our new frontier and goal of a rich and rewarding life. May we commit ourselves to this end, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• When the Savior walked the earth, he chose twelve men and placed them in charge of his Church. These men were the Twelve Apostles. They were also designated especial witnesses. They testified that Jesus was the Christ. They directed all the work of the Church.
Luke tells us, in a sketchy account, of another body of men likewise called to a special calling. No doubt these men were to assist the Twelve.
"After these things the Lord ap- pointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he him- self would come.
"Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest." (Luke 10:1-2.)
It is recorded later in this same chapter:
"And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name." (Luke 10:17.)
During the subsequent apostasy that followed the establishment of the Church, an understanding of this priesthood office and the duties of the seventy was lost to the world. Without revelation men could know neither the duties nor power of the seventy.
When the gospel was restored in
our day, a knowledge of the proper place and function of priesthood offices was revealed. Apostles and prophets were again placed at the head of the Church, with power to administer all the affairs of the kingdom.
Two weeks after the calling of the Twelve, another body of men was called and organized. This body was the First Quorum of the Seventy. Their duties, and the duties of seventies in general, were unfolded in revelations to the modern prophet. Several things were made clear:
First, that the presiding officers of this quorum were constituted different from those of any other quorum:
"And it is according to the vision showing the order of the Seventy, that they should have seven presidents to preside over them, chosen out of the number of the seventy;
"And the seventh president of these presidents is to preside over the six." (D&C 107:93-94.)
Second, that these brethren were to act under the direction of the Twelve:
"The Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve or the traveling high council, in building up the church and regu- lating all the affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and then to the Jews." (D&C 107:34.)
The third thing made clear was that other seventy also were to be called:
"And these seven presidents are to
choose other seventy besides the first seventy to whom they belong, and are to preside over them;
"And also other seventy, until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vine- yard of necessity requires it.
"And these seventy are to be travel- ing ministers, unto the Gentiles first and also unto the Jews." (D&C 107:95-97.)
Their special duties were designated:
"The Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto the Gentiles and in all the world — thus differing from other officers in the church in the duties of their calling." (D&C 107:25.)
And so it is today. The first seven presidents of the First Quorum of the Seventy act under the direction of the Twelve. We consider it an honor to serve under the inspired leadership of these great men. We wholeheartedly sustain the leadership they give to the great missionary program of the Church, in both the full-time and the stake missionary work.
Worldwide missionary work actually began when the Savior introduced an apostolic dispensation in the meridian of time. His commission to his Twelve was:
"Go ye therefore, and teach all na- tions, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
"Teaching them to observe all things
84 Era, December 1970
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whatsoever I have commanded you. . . ." (Matt. 28:19-20.)
With the restoration of the gospel, that same commission was announced.
"Verily, verily, I stay unto you, they who believe not on your words, and are not baptized in water in my name, for the remission of their sins, that they may receive the Holy Ghost, shall be damned, and shall not come into my Father's kingdom. . . .
"And this revelation unto you, and commandment, is in force from this very hour upon all the world, and the gospel is unto all who have not re- ceived it.
"But, verily I say unto all those to whom the kingdom has been given — from you it must be preached unto them. . . ." (D&C 84:74-76. Italics added.)
Our mandate is clear. We have a divine commission. We have been counseled by modern prophets that every member has a missionary obliga- tion. Today, in the new Priesthood Missionary Handbook, a program is outlined that can make that great con- cept become a reality. The program rests on the members of the priesthood. Since the seventies have a special mis- sionary calling, the Brethren have placed the primary responsibility upon the seventies quorums in the Church. As the First Council of the Seventy, we are determined to accomplish the mission the Twelve have given us. We now call upon all seventies everywhere to learn their duty and to be anxiously engaged in doing it. We propose to have this great work go forward in a better, more effective way than ever before.
Some presidents of the seventies will
remember a meeting held in the As- sembly Hall in 1965. At that meeting President Harold B. Lee said:
"The door is opening for you as leaders to bring your seventies and walk through that open door. You must see to it that with all the strength you possess from training, from an un- derstanding of the gospel, to support the leadership of the First Council of the Seventy, acting under the direction of the Twelve and the First Presidency . . . walk through that open door and demonstrate now that never again so far as you have strength will you lose your grasp upon the opportunity that is now being offered to you."
We have been heartened, brethren, by the response which you have given to the various projects which we have* administered in the past. In reality, they have been training exercises to strengthen us for this great task which the Twelve have now laid upon our shoulders. I quote excerpts from the new Priesthood Missionary Handbook:
"Seventies serve as stake missionaries by virtue of their priesthood office without being set apart. . . ."
". . . the stake mission presidency are . . . [to] serve ... as presidents in the seventies quorum. . . ."
". . . Seventies and stake and full- time missionaries . . . are to coordinate with home teachers, under the direction of the bishop and quorum leaders, . . ." — thereby helping families to discharge their missionary responsibility.
". . . missionary work should be done on a ward basis."
"The seventies group leader . . . serves as the ward mission leader."
". . . the ward mission leader should conduct among the Seventies the pro-
gram for finding families, and may be invited to train High Priests and others to assist in this program and in various other ways of finding the in- vestigator."
As you can see, the work is to go forward in an orderly and systematic way.
The Regional Representatives of the Twelve will soon come to stake leaders with a full explanation of this program. Stake mission presidents will be invited to attend these regional meetings dur- ing the first six months of 1971.
This is the decade of the seventies!
This is the time to step forward, to honor the confidence placed in us by the Twelve. This is the time to mag- nify the priesthood assignment given to us through revelation today. We are confident, brethren of the seventies, that you will accept and accomplish this work.
"Therefore, let every man stand in his own office, and labor in his own calling; . . . that the system may be kept perfect." (D&C 84:109-110.)
There is reason for this great empha- sis upon missionary work in the world today. The Lord gave that reason in the eighteenth section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!" (D&C 18:10, 15.)
Some may wonder how one soul could be worth the labor of a lifetime. We live in a world of temporal and transitory things. Many fail to under- stand the nature of man — that his soul is eternal! Man's soul is indeed worth a lifetime of effort to save.
One other thing — the saver of souls, together with him who is saved, shall be found in the kingdom of our Father.
To you brethren of the Twelve, we of the First Council pledge our greatest effort to bring many souls into the kingdom. We will move forward in faith in this ministry of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We feel humble as we view the magnitude of the task you have assigned us. We nevertheless have courage and confidence that be- cause this is the work of the Lord, and because you and we are his servants, there will be a plenteous harvest.
As for myself, I really want to help save a soul. I would like to have some one person stand in the congregation of the righteous at that great day and say, "He it was who brought me into the kingdom."
In the' name of Jesus Christ. Amen. o
86
• I stand before you, my beloved fel- low Saints, in deep humility. As I view this vast audience of Church leaders and many friends for the first time as a General Authority, the feel- ings in my soul on this day have been expressed by Alfred, Lord Tennyson as he wrote, "There are times which are too full for sound or foam." Some events and incidents happen in our lives that somehow are so overwhelm- ing, and yet seem to be tied so closely to Divine Power — and influence — and yet we feel so inadequate and un- prepared.
Six months ago, as President Tanner directed me by the arm down the long corridor to the First Presidency's office, there to look into the faces of our living prophet and President Lee. and Presi- dent Tanner, I knew in my soul that I was in the presence of the Lord's anointed. I knew not what may lie ahead, but one thing was certain: I was already committed in my heart to serve the Master, wherever and when- ever called.
We have been taught, and we be- lieve, that we all are children of God and fellow citizens in the body of saints. We are sincere believers, thus enabling us to know him better, to trust him absolutely, to serve him faithfully, and to proclaim to all the world, as did Andrew to his brother Simon, 'We have found the Messiah." I know he lives, that he is real, that he stands at the head of this, his church, the only true church on the face of the earth.
These first few weeks of my new calling have been most eventful with deep, rich spiritual experiences. I have
participated in some of your stake con- ferences, stayed in your homes, and felt your humble spirit of service and true dedication to the task of "strength- ening thy brethren."
I have had the privilege of going to some of the overseas missions and visit- ing individually with your sons and daughters — many future leaders of this church — and I have borne testimony with them to those out in the world who seem to say, "Is there any word from the Lord?" "Where shall we turn?" "Is there something true and real to believe?" And I have been able to proclaim with your sons and daugh- ters to them that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored with all the authority, keys, and blessings necessary for the individual salvation of all who will repent and be baptized and keep his commandments.
The testimony of the truthfulness of this work that burns in my soul has been assisted and encouraged in its nurturing by the lives of many people, some of whom I must humbly acknowl- edge on this particular day. Someone has compared our lives to that of the mighty Mississippi. As it flows into the ocean, it is the end product of many sources: streamlets — some large, some small — melting snow from the Rockies, and tiny springs; but they have all had an influence and effect. So it has been with me. Many of those great influ- ences have passed on, but many of them are here today.
It has been said that to develop good thoughts and acts, we must live and associate with good people. The Lord blessed me with my lovely companion — my, how he blessed me — one who
has stood by my side through trial and joy, disappointment and triumph, and has contributed inspiration and strength to our family as a loving wife, mother, and counselor. Our sons and daughter and their loved ones are strong, sturdy, and dependable and committed to the building of the king- dom of God as a result of her great influence.
I can also appreciate and understand Nephi's acknowledging good parents. My own mother, left a widow far too early in her life, never shirked her duty to her children's spiritual training. Many a lesson was taught me at her bedside during her long illness. Her testimony never wavered; I understood and felt it early in life.
My father has always been my ideal. Ever since I was a small boy, I've wanted to be like my father — to serve people, to assist them whenever pos- sible, to be concerned and to assist the Church and community. My father, as did his father, responded to calls from the leadership of the Church and fol- lowed their direction. I hope and pray that it will ever be thus with my pos- terity. When my father died, the local newspaper editorialized:
"We have lost our greatest and be- loved citizen. He was ever foremost in every movement to better the com- munity. As bishop of the First Ward, he was the very father of it. His loss is felt throughout the state of Idaho. . . . He was ever on the side of morality and good government."
My grandfather set the tone for his sons. Starting at age 17 he made seven trips across the plains, assisting immi- grant trains requiring help. He served
Era, December 1970 87
with Lot Smith, scouting Johnston's army in the interest of the Saints. With his wife and family he responded to the request to leave his green acres in Farmington and help colonize and organize a stake in southern Idaho. They were a close-knit family.
My grandmother was the first coun- selor to Aurelia Rogers in the original Primary organization. Her eight chil- dren helped swell the first class.
On this day I honor the memory of some who have helped mold my life and character. Someone has written. "No better heritage can a father be-
queath to his children than a good name; nor is there in a family any richer heirloom than the memory of a noble ancestor."
I prayerfully and humbly request the help that only the Lord can fur- nish. Perhaps I need it to a greater degree than anyone else, as I embark on this calling in the ministry. I take comfort from the Lord's promise in the Doctrine and Covenants when he said, "The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, . . . and all this that it might be fulfilled,- . . ."
(D&C 1:19, 18.) May my weaknesses be made strong enough to fulfill my obligation and desire.
I pledge my love and support to the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and to my other fellow asso- ciates of the General Authorities; and to them, and to all of you, I testify that I will labor diligently and, I hope, effectively in using the talents that the Lord has given me to help prepare for his coming and to assist in the building and strengthening of his kingdom here on earth now. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
We Are Going to Be What We Live Like
Elder Richard L. Evans
Of the Council of the Twelve
• President Smith; my beloved broth- ers and sisters — all our Father's chil- dren everywhere: These choice young people here, whose music we have heard, bring to mind all the unnum- bered others who, worldwide, are look- ing for a way of life. If what follows shall reach their hearts and yours, it will be so because of your faith and prayers, and I pray that it may be so.
There comes to mind a mother who was concerned with what her daughter was, or wasn't, doing with her talents and opportunities, and the mother one day shook her daughter impatiently and said: "I've given you life. Now you do something with it!"
We could conceive of the Father of us all saying about the same: "I've given you life. Now you do something with it! Now make the most of it! I've given you time, intelligence, the good earth and all it offers — now use it."
One of the most wasteful wastes in the world is the waste of time, of op- portunity, of creative effort, with indif- ference to learning, indifference to work — the don't-care, drop-out, what's-the- use attitude. And one of the steadying
factors in life — one that could reduce restlessness, protest, and discontent — would be for all of us to use in more useful ways the best of our abilities, with some awareness that the Father of us all might somehow, sometime shake us and say (which he has, in more ways than we sometimes seem to be aware of ) : "I have given you life. Now you make the most of it!"
When our Father sent our first par- ents out from Eden, he pronounced, as I read it, the principle of work: "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat
bread " (Gen. 3:19.) ". . . cursed is
the ground for thy sake," he said. (Gen. 3:17. Italics added.)
For thy sake. Work is a principle, a privilege, a blessing — not a curse — but an absolute essential, a physical and spiritual necessity.
Much restlessness and difficulty on the part of young people comes because they have often been overly insulated from challenging and meaningful as- signments, with an overemphasis on leisure and on working less and less. Even if a person has all the wealth he wants, he still needs to work for
the sake of his soul — and the same is true of those who have learned to live on very little. Work is a physical and spiritual necessity.
Anyone, young or old, would be rest- less if he didn't have a useful part in helping to bring good things about; a rewarding and meaningful work to do.
Some don't know where things come from as well as they once did. It's so easy to go to the shop or the market without being aware of the toil of plowing and planting, of making and producing, or what it takes to bring things about. Someone has to do everything — not only the easy and glamorous things, but every routine and tedious task. Someone has to do every- thing.
We need to give our young people the economic facts of life — as well as the moral and spiritual facts: what it means to produce; what it means to meet a payroll; what it means to pro- vide for a family; what it means to save — what it means to stay solvent. I think those who provide productive, wholesome work for other people are in a way heroic. Thank God for them.
88 Era, December 1970
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The haunting story of a lonely boy somehow overlooked and neglect- ed by his teachers and leaders. Is there a boy like Thad in your ward?
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Now to touch a moment or two on some other subjects:
We have the laws of life. We have God-given standards, and we realize the results of the way we live life — and rationalizing won't change the out- come. Virtue is still virtue. Evil is still evil.
And I come to you today with a simple assertion that God does not deal in theories. "I know this world is ruled by Infinite Intelligence," said Thomas A. Edison. "It required Infi- nite Intelligence to create it and it requires Infinite Intelligence to keep it on its course. ... It is mathematical in its precision."
The seasons, the sunshine, the grow- ing of seeds; heat and cold; the life of a child; the harvest we have — these are not theory, and the same authority that runs the universe on such precision also gave us commandments to keep, commandments that are still in force. And I wouldn't know anywhere to turn for a purposeful way to live life, ex- cept the way prescribed by the Admin- istrator of heaven and earth. After all, whose little wisdom would we turn to? He has given us no commandment that is not necessary— and I witness to you that the spiritual and moral laws are as much in force as are the physi- cal laws, and each person is going to he what he lives like.
There is a statement from William James that President McKay occasion- ally used to quote: "Rip Van Winkle, in Jefferson's Play, excuses himself for every fresh dereliction by saying, T won't count this time!' Well, he may not count it; and a kind heaven may not count it, but it is being counted nonetheless. Down among his nerve cells and fibres, the molecules are counting it, registering and scoring it up to be used against him." (The Laws of Habits.)
Since this is so, thank God for the principle of repentance — a principle he gave us because he knew we'd need it. But our repentance must be sincere and not the kind that keeps repeating the same foolish, stupid mistakes. We must move from weak or willful mis- doing to an honest, resolute repentance, if we are to have the peace and happi- ness of life.
Evil is raw, lewd, bold, and un- abashed-— and greedy — but there is no gain in this world's goods that is worth compromising the life or morals of one young person. We should never patron- ize evil in any degree, but should dedicate ourselves to create a clean and wholesome environment in our homes, our communities, our country. In many ways we can have a better moral and physical environment if we really want it — we can have in many ways
90
what we are willing to uphold, to support, to pay for. But we can't do it in indifference. And each one will realize the results of what he does and thinks — the results of how he lives his life.
And to you, beloved young people everywhere, to you who are searching for answers, you who have made mis- takes, to you who have been mistaught or carelessly or adversely influenced: Don't let pride, or wrong habits, or appetites, or stubbornness get in the way of your realizing the highest pos- sibilities of life.
Youth passes quickly. The waning years come sooner than you suppose, and then there comes the leaving of this life, and the everlasting future that follows.
Live so as to be at peace. Be clean, beloved young friends. Clean is one of the most wonderful of words. Be com- fortable. No one will ever be comfort- able without being clean. Life can be wholesome, with inner peace and solid hope as you live the law, keep the commandments, and humble your- selves before our Father.
Live so that you can face yourself, your Father in heaven, and all men everywhere.
Each one of you is precious, priceless. Each one of you is all he has. Life is all you have. Be kind, be virtuous. Respect and cherish parents. Make prayerful choices. Love and serve sin- cerely. Live in dignity and honesty and honor. Respect facts. Test them by the standards God has given. Live by the law, and the gospel of our Lord and Savior will lead you to peace and happiness and the highest possibilities of everlasting life.
Remember, O remember, my beloved young friends, that our Lord and Savior hasn't deceived us. He hasn't said that it was a broad way, an easy way, or that it could be reached by indifference or indulgence. He has said to us fairly and forthrightly: "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that lead- eth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and nar- row is the way, which leadeth unto life. . . ." (Matt. 7:13-14.)
There aren't any careless, easy short- cuts that go anywhere that anyone who knew what he was doing would really want to go.
I leave you my witness that God lives, and that this is his work, his church, his plan and purpose for his children, restored for all who will sin- cerely seek, and sincerely accept, and he will enter into your lives as fully as you let him. And to you — to all of us — to all his children everywhere, he
is saying: "I have given you life. Now make the most of it!"
It takes a long time to make a beauti- ful world. It takes a long time to build a beautiful life, but the process of tearing down can quickly do much damage. O my beloved young friends, your Father in heaven doesn't deal in theory. What he has said is so. Trust him. Trust him who gave you life to
tell you the truth. Whom else would you trust? Where else would you turn?
Respect yourselves. Respect others. Respect life. Respect law. Be faithful. Be fair. Be productive. Live to be clean and comfortable. Life is all you have. O make the most of it in cleanliness, in honor and honesty. Don't run your life against the light.
"My message to you," said Thomas
Edison, in his last public address — "My message to you is: Be courageous! I have lived a long time. I have seen history repeat itself again and again. ... Be as brave as your fathers before you. Have faith! Go forward!"
God bless you, and peace be with you, this day — and always, I pr^y in the name of our Lord and Saviojf Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• President Smith has asked me to speak to you briefly. It is always a privilege to me and an inspiration to stand before the priesthood and speak to them. It is also a great responsi- bility.
President Smith has directed his remarks almost entirely to the mem- bers of the Melchizedek Priesthood. I should like to address mine to a group of the finest young men in all the world, the holders of the Aaronic or Lesser Priesthood.
I should like to address my remarks to my grandsons. We have in our family five sons-in-law who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, four grandsons who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood, six grandsons who hold the Aaronic Priesthood, and eight grandsons who are preparing themselves to hold the priesthood. I should like to address my remarks to them tonight.
No greater responsibility can be given to a young man than to hold the priest- hood of God, which is the power of God delegated to him to act in his name in the office which he holds, and to prepare himself for the Melchizedek Priesthood, and to enjoy the blessings of one who is faithful in the priesthood.
The Aaronic Priesthood is so impor- tant that the Lord saw fit to send John the Baptist to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to bestow it upon them, and in these words was it done:
"Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priest- hood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." (D&C 13.)
What a tremendous privilege, oppor- tunity, and responsibility to hold the priesthood! It is just as binding on us as the covenant which President Smith read to the Melchizedek Priesthood, because the covenant applies to both priesthoods to the extent that we hold those priesthoods, and it will determine our status.
If we will prove ourselves as we are tried and tested, we will be given the opportunity to hold this Melchize- dek Priesthood. It is somewhat like going from elementary school to high school and from high school to college; also going from mortal life to eternal life. We will be blessed according to the way we live. And may it be said of us, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." (Matt. 25:21.)
How fortunate we are to hold the priesthood. If you would stop and
think today that of every 1,000 young men of your age in the world, one man holds the priesthood; with this hall full of young men of Aaronic Priesthood age tonight, there would be only eight holding the Aaronic Priesthood. What a tremendous privilege, opportunity, blessing, and responsibility.
How important it is to live to enjoy the Spirit and blessings of the Lord, and the respect and confidence of par- ents, friends, and church leaders, and the Lord himself, particularly so you can look them in the face with a clear conscience, and also yourself in the mirror, and know that you have been living as you should.
The Lord, speaking of Satan when he was cast out, said:
"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice." (Moses 4:4.)
He tries to tempt every one of us, every one from a deacon to Christ him- self. You remember how he tried to tempt Christ. He chooses emissaries, those who follow him and those who are too weak to do what is right. These emissaries will try to point out the weaknesses in an individual, in the leaders of the Church, in the organiza- tions, and every place they can find any weakness at any time, and they
Era, December 1970 91
will be saying, "Don't be a coward; don't be a sissy; come on."
I should like to say to you young men tonight that not one young man who is living according to the teachings of the gospel and honoring his priesthood would ever say that to you.
Thank the Lord that he was strong enough to say to Satan, "Get thee be- hind me, Satan," and I hope we will be able never to be afraid, as one in one thousand in this world, to honor our priesthood. Those who succumb to temptation are always defeated and miserable, unless they repent.
Vice-President Spiro Agnew, when he was speaking to us the other day as he visited with the First Presidency of the Church, said that one thing that
appealed to him about, our youth, as he was on the BYU campus, is that they are well self-disciplined; and they seemed to be doing their own thing, which was doing what they should be doing, and were happy in doing it.
I would like you young men to know that those who are frustrated, who are complaining, who are not living as they should, are not happy. They are frustrated. There is no happiness in wrongdoing. They have their prob- lems, and they are not trying to accom- plish. Of course I feel sorry for them because they do not know as you know- that all of us are spirit children of God. They do not know that God really lives, that Jesus is the Christ; that through his birth, death, and resurrec-
tion we may all be resurrected; and that this life is not the end but just the beginning of eternal life.
May we all appreciate this and do our best wherever we are to live worthy of it so that we can look into the mirror and see ourselves and say, "Thank the Lord I was strong enough to overcome, to resist." To you who have weak- ened in any way, who have taken a cigarette, or anything of the kind, just quit it tonight and be happy. You will be happy. The Lord will bless you. People will respect you, and you will be successful, and you will be doing your duty in helping to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man.
May we do this, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• President Smith, President Lee, and President Tanner, it is an anxiety- producing privilege for one to respond to your invitation to communicate with the priesthood about the Church Educational System, but it is proper to give time and attention to the needs of our youth engaged in education. We have, for instance, 12,000 full-time missionaries, who matter very much; 26,000 men and women in the service, who matter very much, also; but there are around 200,000 LDS students en- rolled imhundreds of colleges and uni- versities around the world.
Sixteen percent, or approximately 32,000, of those 200,000 are enrolled in the four post-high school institutions in our own Church Educational System, and this is a very important "fold." But there are 168,000 other LDS stu- dents, "which are not of that fold," and they, too, need to hear the "voice" of the Master through our institute program.
The scope and variety of the Church
Educational System is impressive: in addition to the students already men- tioned, there are 13,000 LDS children and youth in dozens of Church ele- mentary and secondary schools in Mex- ico, Chile, and in the Pacific; there are also over 175,000 students in our insti- tutes and seminaries.
The basic guidelines for our Church Educational System have been well laid down by our Church leaders over the years and need not be repeated here. A new but basic document, how- ever, is the letter of the First Presi- dency dated January 30, 1970, which urges Church members to have their sons and daughters attend post-high school institutions of learning near their home, so that our young can benefit from the influence of the home, especially during their first two years of post-high school education. That document also urges leaders and par- ents to make full use of our seminary and institute programs to supplement the home. In addition, the letter indi-
cates that the Presidency, in their wis- dom, believe the enrollment at BYU should not exceed 25,000. There are numerous considerations which, I be- lieve, underlie the wisdom of the points in that presidential letter:
1. The density of Church member- ship occurs in America where states have highly developed and accessible public post-high school systems of edu- cation.
2. Members of the Church are tax- payers to local, state, and federal governments in America and their equivalents in Canada, and are fully entitled to send their sons and daugh- ters to tax-supported institutions. The influence of Church members (whether as students or taxpayers) on our public institutions is needed now — more than ever.
3. The increased effectiveness of correlated Church priesthood programs, such as home teaching, family home evenings, of student stakes and wards, MIA, and the Student Associations now
92
permits the priesthood leaders, in some instances, to cross^-the traditional geo- graphical boundaries governing some Church programs, in order to support and to involve the young members of the Church.
4. Those of us who live in areas where there are highly developed pub- lic systems of post-high school edu- cation, in the spirit of brotherhood, should defer to the needs of our brothers and sisters in other lands where, often, even an elementary edu- cation is not possible unless the Church assists in the process.
One of the great challenges the priesthood faces in our time is the inter- nationalization of the Church. This is not an American church — it is the Church of Jesus Christ, who is the God of all people on this planet, and we must, as the scriptures urge, be as independent as possible so that the kingdom is not too much at the mercy of men and circumstances, or the tides of nationalism, or the mercurial moods abroad about America.
We have, for instance, more mem- bers of the Church now in Brazil than in all of the Scandinavian countries combined, plus Holland. We have as many members in Uruguay as in the state of New York, where the Church was founded. We have as many in Peru as we do in Missouri, where so much Church history was made. We have as many in Tonga and Samoa combined as in Nevada, and more in these two island clusters than in the state of Wyoming. We have more in French Polynesia than in Switzerland, and more in the Philippine Islands than Nebraska, through which our pio- neer caravans passed. We have more in Honduras than in Norway.
These comparisons are sobering and challenging not only for the Church Educational System, but for the entire Church. Thus, the transculturalization of curricular materials (which is more than translation) represents one of our greatest challenges. The scriptures urge the Church to speak to men "after the manner of their language," taking their various weaknesses into account that all "might come to understanding." (D&C 1:24.)
We want our Church Educational System to respond as much as we can to the special conditions in which our members live. Our seminary home study program, for instance, was or- ganized especially for the benefit of young members who are isolated from their Church counterparts, and the response of over 7,000 to this program has been excellent!
There are several specific things priesthood leaders and parents can do.
First, priesthood leaders need much
closer identification with our institute and seminary programs (through the Regional Representatives of the Twelve and stake presidents) so that two-way communication can exist concerning the needs of the young, the quality of teaching they receive, and, importantly, the need for priesthood support in re-
cruiting top-flight men for careers in our diverse Church Educational Sys- tem; men, some of whom we now have, such as the spartan seminary teachers who live with their families in small trailers on remote reservations in heat, wind, sand, in places with names like Many Farms, Arizona, or in
The Spoken Word
"The Spoken Word" from Tem- ple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia Broadcasting System October 4, 1970. ©1970.
//. . . and give me yesterday"
By Richard L. Evans
Some three centuries ago Thomas Browne said: "There is another roan within me that's angry with me."' This is descriptive of the un- easiness of those who fail to find peace inside themselves. Peace of mind is so earnestly wished for, sometimes desperately so. And what is it within us that is angry with us? The cause is variable, of course, but in some way or other it would generally be running against the light of life: failing to live as we know; disharmony with others, sometimes with ourselves; failing to have a quiet conscience, sometimes from not doing what we should and could be doing— and sometimes deliberately misdoing. This brings to mind a sentence of Elbert Hubbard, who said, "Men are punished by their sins, and not for them."2 This is a universe of law and order. Nature observes law. The spheres and planets move majestically in their times and seasons. If we want specific results in the physical world, we have to observe law, as scientists, engineers, and the makers and builders of things have long since learned. And why should man, physically, spiritually, mentally, morally so complex and sensitive, feel that he can run against law and still have the best of life. It simply isn't so. When we abuse ourselves physically, when we do that which damages the sensitive mental and spiritual and moral mechanism, we pay a price, although sometimes the full price isn't immediately apparent— and the tragedy is that the price we pay. is beyond anything we can calculate. We remember the words of the person who pleaded: "O God! Put back Thy universe and give me yesterday."3 But we can't go back to yesterday. Life moves only one way. We can repent, we can improve, we can do our best to make amends, and we can find peace in wholesome, righteous purpose. But until we change wrong ways, sin- cerely so, in absolute honesty, there is something angry in us— and that isn't a very happy way to live life. "O God! Put back Thy universe and give me yesterday." That isn't the way life runs. But we can live to have peace of mind, without any angry man inside ourselves.
'Thomas Browne, Religio Medici, II, 1642. 2Elbert Hubbard, The Philistine, vol. xi, p. 7. 'Henry Arthur Jones, Silver King.
Era, December 1970 93
blizzard country like Pine Ridge, South Dakota, in order to serve and to teach hundreds of the children of Father Lehi. One expression of appreciation from an Indian boy included these moving words: "Before I took LDS seminary I didn't have very much to live for. ... I had always felt that Indians could not do things as well as white people. Now I know that I am a child of God. I know that my people are of the house of Israel. . . . The Church has given me a reason and purpose for living. There is more to
Where our young are committed enough, and fortunate enough, to be able to take institute classes and persist through graduation, their rate of tem- ple marriage is 95 percent, which is a higher percentage than for our re- turned missionaries. Of course, the mere act of attending an institute rep- resents self-selection, just as attending a Church school involves some self- selection. But if we are trying to identify paths that our youth can pur- sue that will give them a better chance of succeeding spiritually, attendance at
President Joseph Fielding Smith and President Harold B. Lee, right, meet a conference visitor, the Most Reverend Eugenios Psalidakis, Archbishop of Crete, left.
living now than just worrying about what I will have to eat or what I will wear."
Elsewhere, in hundreds of homes and chapels every weekday, early-morning seminary students and teachers rub sleep from eyes that often shine an hour later with appreciation.
Thousand of miles away in lush, tropical islands, our young members learn to read and write, and elsewhere many of our Mexican brothers and sisters are rapidly preparing themselves as schoolteachers to instruct their own.
Truly, careers in the Church Educa- tional System offer full scope for all the idealism of the world, but com- panied with the saving gospel message.
Seminary and institute classrooms represent some of the golden teaching moments for our youth in preparing them for crowning gospel ordinances.
seminaries and institutes is clearly a major tributary to the stream of spirituality.
A second matter that priesthood lead- ers and parents should consider is the need to counsel all of our young more consistently and helpfully about the planning of their vocations and careers. This will be a continuing task; it is not something we can talk about once in a stake priesthood meeting and forget. One of the basic reasons for the pur- suit of education is to equip oneself with marketable skills. The less ad- vantaged national economies within which many of our members outside America live, and the shifting prospects with regard to where the career and job opportunities will be even in America — both suggest that some addi- tional emphasis is needed in the direc- tion of technical education, which bears
on a middle group of skills. For some of our young, earning power, job oppor- tunities, and satisfaction will be greater if they pursue the path of technical education in their post-high school years, including paramedical careers. Professional education in medicine, law, nursing, etc., is going to be needed even more than ever, but all of our youth need not be neurosurgeons, and the youth who becomes a craftsman should feel just as "approved" as his friend who is a microbiologist. Parents, bishops, and educational counselors will do well to approach career coun- seling, bearing in mind that the selec- tion of a career is usually a matter of preference and not principle.
A third suggestion: Education, when joined with service to others (for learn- ing loses its moral authority unless it reaches out) is clearly related to the development of deserved self-esteem, which controls our capacity to love God, to love others, and to love life.
We can pursue learning without fear, for the gospel of Jesus Christ in- corporates all truth, but it distinguishes between mere fact and saving truths. We can be patient with the imponder- ables, especially in view of the rele- vancy of the gospel of Jesus Christ to the social and political problems of our time, but we must do much more to help our young to see the preventive and prescriptive powers of the gospel for those very problems about which our young are rightfully concerned. For the gospel tells us that we have a real brotherhood that will last beyond the grave: it is not merely a biological brotherhood.
The gospel tells us that unchastity can cause inner spiritual "concus- sions" and "bleeding." Jacob described people in a time of gross unchastity as being in a circumstance in which "many hearts died, pierced with deep wounds." (Jac. 2:35.) The gospel is relevant in its preachment of love at home, which is a solution to many problems ranging from aid to de- pendent children to alienation. And orthodoxy is vital because it increases human happiness, whether in prevent- ing the misery that grows out of alco- holism or in treating the guilt.
A fourth observation: We will also do our young' a great favor if our ef- forts to teach the gospel to them in- clude not only teaching by exhortation and explanation, which are vital, but also by the eloquence of example and the confirmation of experience, for the latter two methods weigh very heavily on the scales of today's youth.
Fifth: The home will always be our most vital teaching institution. When the home fails, it will be difficult for the other institutions of any culture or
94
society — political, economic, and even educational — to compensate for the failures in the home. If we poison the headwaters of humanity — the home — it is exceedingly difficult to depollute downstream. If we wish to make our efforts count in meeting the vexing ^challenges of our time, the ecology of effectiveness suggests of the home that 'truly, "This is the place!"
Within the basic correlation con- cepts, which stress the primacy of priesthood and home, I see a new spirit of cooperation moving in the Church. Those charged with programs that support the home — Elder Marion D. Hanks, who manages the Student Association; Elder Marvin J. Ashton, who manages Social Services; Brother James Mason, Commissioner of Health Services; and the staff of the Church Educational System — -are approaching
common, overlapping problems in the spirit of serving Church members, rather than letting organizational lines hecome immovable, bureaucratic walls, for, especially in saving souls, "some- thing there is that doesn't love a wall." (Robert Frpst.)
Finally, let us assure our young that the cadence of the divine commitment to education and the quest for truth echo, like a drum roll, through the corridors of dispensational history — Abraham, a man of God and a brilliant astronomer, who pondered the planets and considered the cosmos in the lone- liness of the desert; Jesus, the Master, who while yet a youth taught his elders in the seat of learning, having prepared himself intellectually and spiritually; Joseph Smith's School of the Prophets, where the enthusiasm for education overrode the discouraging
circumstances of the moment; the schools and university that were started in this valley so soon after the wheels on pioneer wagons and handcarts had ceased turning.
Those who possess absolute truths need fear no ancillary truth but should pursue learning vigorously, since learn- ing is good so long as we "hearken unto the counsels of God." When education is thus pursued by our young today, they should be assured by all of us that they are "about" their "Father's business," and be witnessed to; that when man has reached the small "periphery of the spider web of his own reason and logic," he will find the ropes of revelation on which he can climb upward, forever! May we help our youth, I pray in the name of the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My dear brethren of the priesthood, I feel great strength in your presence, and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for the great discourse of our prophet, President Joseph Fielding Smith.
One of the great bits of advice that I have received in my life came during my teenage years when a great bishop, just before the President of the Church was going to visit our area, told a group of us "when a prophet of God speaks, you listen well." I have tried to do that all of my life. I am grateful for that advice.
I have been thrilled with the meet- ings of this conference, especially this morning when I realized that that ses- sion was going to be telecast through- out the Midwest and the eastern states. And my prayer tonight when I retire will be "Heavenly Father, in that potential audience of millions, I pray
that many will be led to their television sets to hear what I heard this morn- ing." I know that many will be led to the truth as they so do.
Speaking of television, last Monday night my high-school-age son per- suaded me to sit down and watch the second half of a football game. I have always made it a policy that no sacri- fice is too great for my boy. So we sat down and watched football. While watching this game, some facts became very apparent. In fact, it had gospel application and priesthood application.
I noticed, for example, that there were no shortcuts to the goal line. It was a hundred yards in both directions. I also noticed that the team that seemed to have had the most practice, that did the best planning, that exe- cuted their plays the best, and that had the best team attitude was the team that made the most points.
I also noticed that when team mem- bers cooperated and helped one an- other, the team made the most yardage.
It was also obvious that when some- one broke the rules, there was always a penalty imposed. It sounds a lot like life, doesn't it? In talking about this to my boy, he said, "Fifteen yards is nothing; but, Dad, when you ground me for three days, that is too much."
We also noticed that no one was allowed to make up his own rules as the game progressed. They all lost their free agency to do that when they agreed to join the team and play ac- cording to the established rules.
And last but not least, I noticed when it was all over, the winning team was a lot happier than the team that lost.
Now brethren, we believe that "men are, that they might have joy"; and joy can best come as we obtain victory
Era, December 1970 95
in the game of life, played according to the only acceptable rules — those set down by our Heavenly Father.
Speaking of happiness, achieving vic- tory, and finding the right tools for reentering the presence of our Heav- enly Father, may I use as a springboard for my remarks four or five of the most frequently asked questions and comments from youth as they come to members of the Presiding Bishopric.
Comment No. 1 from a deacon right here in Salt Lake City: "This new achievement program is OK, but why not let us do our own thing about church? Some of us don't like to be tied down to specific goals and com- mitments."
May I say. first of all, you young men of the Aaronic Priesthood are not ordinary young men. Each of you has made a sacred covenant in the waters of baptism. Each of you has been given that rare privilege of the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. Each of you has received the sacred covenant of his holy priesthood about which President Smith spoke so eloquently here to- night. Each of you has access to the truth. Yes, each of you is a member of the world's greatest brotherhood, the priesthood, with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ at the head.
With all of these advantages, what are we going to do about it? The scrip- tures tell us that where much is given, much is expected. Sometimes an eternal
goal can seem rather remote in the mind of a teenage boy. To travel from where you are to where you would like, to be seems overwhelming and almost impossible. The secret is to live the best you know how just one day at a time, and if the day seems too long, we should break it down into hours or even minutes. This is exactly what a
kind and loving Heavenly Father had in mind as he planted in the minds of the brethren the new personal achievement program for the Aaronic Priesthood.
Each of you is now being introduced to an achievement journal that, in my opinion, is one of the greatest tools ever developed to prepare a young man for the Melchizedek Priesthood. The Aaronic Priesthood is a preparatory priesthood, preparatory for only one thing, the Melchizedek Priesthood. It is the Melchizedek Priesthood that will show us the way to temple blessings and to other great horizons that are not visible nor understood by many who are starting out.
No longer will the bishop spend two or three minutes asking a few routine questions pertaining to personal worthi- ness. Each of you young men will have as much time as may be required with the bishop to talk just about you and about your personal problems, about your hopes and about your ambitions, and about your goals for the coming- year. All this is made possible by starting your achievement year on or near your birthday. By this process, not more than one or two young men a week will be on the bishop's agenda, thus giving ample opportunity and time to get to know one another better and to set goals for the next year that will be meaningful. Your goals will per- haps be unlike any other set of goals in the entire Church. They will be customized just for you according to your needs, not just on meeting at- tendance alone but other Church- related goals such as mission prepara- tion, missionary activity, seminary and institute training, perhaps even welfare and genealogical work in terms of your interest and understanding.
There will be personal goals that might well touch on your day-to-day and week-to-week planning, your fi- nancial program (such as it might be), personal prayer habits, a program for keeping your body well and strong, plus other ideas for self-improvement, including goals on being a better neighbor, a better member of your community; yes, even some academic or vocational goals.
Let's hear another question. A priest in Idaho wants to know, "What does the length of my hair have to do with passing or blessing the sacrament?" Lately, this has been the most popular question.
For good reason, the First Presidency have not stipulated the number of inches. I would feel bad if the good Navajo brother could not administer at the sacrament table because his hair is long enough to be braided. Long hair is the custom of his people. He is not
out of place where he serves.
Would you young men here tonight believe skirts as a dress standard for deacons? I have seen them in Samoa as our young men pass the sacrament. The accepted attire of their com- munity is the lavalava. I am sure our Samoan brethren hope we never have a rule against deacons' wearing skirts.
Our objective should be grooming appropriate to the area, and in all cases cleanliness.
Anything that symbolizes either re- bellion or nonconformity to the local community standard will likely be a distraction to those partaking of the Lord's Supper. Conservative dress and manner have always been the keynote of priesthood service. If there is a probability that the members you serve are thinking more about your non- standard appearance than about the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, then you had better take a long, hard look at yourself before next Sunday. As we consider these matters, I speak not only to the Aaronic Priesthood but also to those who preside in the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Here is an interesting comment from a priest: "If I could just know for sure — by some special manifestation — then I would devote my life to the work."
A miracle in the heavens tonight could be simply performed by our Heavenly Father, who created heaven and earth, but I am grateful that such is not part of his plan. Firm and last- ing testimonies are not created in such a manner. As the Lord has said, ". . . line upon line, precept upon precept. . . ." (D&C 98:12.) He further stated: "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:16-17.)
Many of us had similar thoughts as we became impatient along the way, particularly during our teenage years. Even President David O. McKay has told us about kneeling by a service- berry bush as a boy in Huntsville to find out once and for all about the truth of the work. May I quote Presi- dent McKay as he tells of that occa- sion:
"I knelt down and with all the fervor of my heart poured out my soul to God and asked him for a testimony of this gospel. I had in mind that there would be some manifestation; that I should receive some transformation that would leave me absolutely without doubt.
"I got up, mounted my horse, and as he started over the trail, I remember rather introspectively searching myself and involuntarily shaking my head,
96
saying to myself, 'No, sir, there is no change; I am just the same hoy I was hefore I knelt down.' The anticipated manifestation had not come. . . .
"However, it did come, hut not in the way I had anticipated. Even the manifestation of God's power and the presence of his angels came; but when it did come, it was simply a confirma- tion, it was not a testimony." (Treas- ures of Life, [Deseret Book Company. 1962], pp. 229-30.)
Young men, you, too, will have many remarkahle revelations and manifesta- tions as a confirmation of the testimony that you earn.
Do you have this problem, young men? This is a problem stated by a young man who contemplates military call-up. This is what he says: "Didn't the Savior teach peace? To me, peace means no fighting. I am not sure about our present military involvements." I say to this young man, the following facts helped me and they may he helpful to you:
Where the Book of Mormon talks about a land choice above all others, I believe it.
When we are taught that our found- ing forefathers prayed for and received inspiration as they framed our Con- stitution, I believe it.
When a prophet suggests that the gospel could best be restored in a land of freedom and democracy, I believe it.
When the standard works of the Church instruct me about obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law, I want to do it. I even believe that our elected national leaders are basically honest men and base their decisions upon what they believe to be for the good of the people as they see it.
Last but not least, I also believe that a prophet of God will let me know about any change of policy in the foregoing line of reasoning. Young men, to whatever country your citizen- ship commitment might be, you honor it, you obey it, you sustain it. To do otherwise would be contrary to law and order; and law and order is the basis of the priesthood, wherever it is established.
Just one more: Some young people feel the same as this member of a teachers quorum from California. "We like what our ward and stake leaders teach us. The gospel plan is perfect, but they too often fall short of that perfection in their personal living." Young man in California, I hope you are listening tonight.
Without qualification, I can say that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only per- son to remain perfect through mor- tality. Stevenson has said something like this: The saints are just the sinners who are trying a little harder. I want to promise you young men of the Aaronic Priesthood that no one in all
this world is trying harder to achieve perfection than your fine leaders in the priesthood: your bishopric, your stake presidency, your high council, and your advisers. But we are all in this mortal stream together, all of us, you and your leaders, and me. We are all in together and, I hope, trying to do better each day. Let us all try to help one another with shortcomings. To criticize and run down is to aid the adversary in his plan of destruction. Young men, we, your leaders, will con- tinue to encourage you in kindness and sincerity. Will you help us, your priesthood leaders, in the same way? That is what true brotherhood in the priesthood means.
O my wonderful young brethren, this work is true. Priesthood is the center core of it all. You can't win any game without a plan. Look sharp. Be clean. Be proud to represent your priesthood. The only real peace in this world is peace of mind. You listen to the voice of a prophet and let your priesthood leaders show you the way, and I will promise you that life will be sweet. Your priesthood will be meaningful, and yours will be victory. There will be no greater day in your life than to enter the presence of your Heavenly Father and hear him say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant," and I pray it in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My dear brethren:
Some twenty-five years or more ago my wife and I built a home. The first of many trees that we planted was a thornless honey locust. I remember the day we brought it home from the nursery, a spindly little whip of a tree, so small and supple I could have tied it into a knot. I dug a hole, put in the
roots, shoveled back the earth, watered it, and forgot it. It stands at the south side of the house, where the wind coming from the canyon to the east blows hardest.
One winter day a few years ago I chanced to look out the window at the tree. I noticed it was terribly mis- shapen, leaning ungracefully to the
west, so much so that a heavy storm might have uprooted it. I went to my toolhouse, where I save things for two years before throwing them away, got a block and tackle, anchored one end to the tree and the other to another tree, and pulled and pulled to no avail. The little whip of a tree was now a giant with a diameter of almost a foot.
Era, December 1970 97
After debating with myself for a week or two, I finally took a pruning saw and cut off the great west limb. I al- most wept at my butchery. It looks better today. It has straightened some- what, but where the heavy cut was made, it developed a great scar, which has cracked and let in decay.
The tree that might have been gra- cious and beautiful leaves much to be desired. Once it could have been kept straight with a string for an anchor. Now neither block and tackle nor pruning saw can make up for the neglect of its younger years.
It is so with people. It takes only a string, as it were, to help children grow strong and straight in the Church. One such string has been their own maga- zine, the Children's Friend. This has been a great magazine. All who have been acquainted with it have regarded it as an outstanding children's journal.
An eminent child psychologist wrote: "I have known the Children's Friend as one of the only decently edited magazines for children in the United
States." Under the program of correla- tion, instituted by the First Presidency, the name of the magazine will be changed. It will simply be the Friend, dropping the word children's, because when some youngsters get to be ten and eleven years of age, they think they are no longer children. But they still need a Friend.
The Primary Association will no longer be its sole sponsor. It will be published by the Church, with the Children's Correlation Committee and representatives of both the Primary and the Sunday School as editorial con- sultants. It will be edited by men and women with long experience, and will be a new friend, a better friend, for the children of the Church, and we hope for many others. With wonderful stories and fascinating art, it will open small and delightful windows and bring to young minds understanding of eternal and marvelous gospel princi- ples. It will be a blessing in every home into which it goes.
Children are so very important. I
never get over the thought that every man, good or bad, was once a little boy, and that every woman was once a little girl. They have moved in the direction in which they were pointed when they were small. Truly, "As the twig is bent, so the tree is inclined." The time to mold the pattern of virtu- ous youth and faithful adults is child- hood.
Most of you brethren are fathers, fathers of young children. Some of you are grandfathers. Others are bishops or in other capacities with responsibility for children. We ask your support in seeing that the Friend is in every Latter-day Saint home where there is a child.
It will bless the child and it will bless the home.
May I leave with you a motto: "A Friend for Every Child." As children grow in faithfulness, anchored against the storms of life, so in strength will the Church and the nation grow. I pray that it may be so, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• President Smith and my beloved brethren of the priesthood: Hanging in my office are two moving portrayals of the importance of the written word: One is a picture of Mormon working on the gold plates, and the other of Moroni, in his anguished loneliness, about to leave the records in Cumorah's Hill.
I think how Nephi and his brothers were sent to obtain the written records, and of the Ten Command- ments inscribed on tablets of stone. I have long been associated with the "Spoken Word," but never do I suppose
that it will take the place of the writ- ten word.
Since the beginning of this dispen- sation, the Church has provided various periodicals and publications for its people. They would make a long and distinguished list, published for a sea- son, and then supplanted, according to circumstances. And now with the Church reaching worldwide, further changes are with us.
The Improvement Era, established some 73 years ago by President Heber J. Grant, President Joseph F. Smith, and others, has served an important
purpose, along with the other maga- zines of the Church. I am privileged to have been associated with the Era nearly half the length of its life.
And now, as announced, all such periodicals are to be published directly through the priesthood channels of the Church.
We are pleased that the magazine to be published for the young people shall be named the New Era — and the title would seem to be timeless. In its first issue, the Improvement Era announced as its purpose to uplift the lives of youth and to aid parents and teachers
98
in the same effort. The New Era will be pointed to the same purpose.
Brother Doyle Green, Brother Jay Todd, and Sister Elaine Cannon, under the general direction of the First Presi- dency, with others of the General Authorities, including President Kim- hall, Brothers Marion G. Romney, Howard W. Hunter, Marion D. Hanks, Bishop John H. Vandenberg, and a long list of distinguished contributors, are committed to making the New Era serve the youth and young adults of the Church, from deacons on through Aaronic Priesthood, with girls of like age — seminaries, institutes, Sunday School, MIA, LDSSA; and in general, those young people in the searching, decision-making years of life who are as yet uncommitted to marriage; those concerned with college, careers, mis- sions, military service, dating, dress and grooming, books, art, science, literature, doctrinal questions that arise in the pursuit of education, and the whole moral tone, and conduct and principles and standards that so much need to be
retaught and reemphasized in these times. (President Lee reminded us within the last few hours that 31.1 per- cent of the membership of the Church are between the ages of 12 and 25.) The years before marriage, these years of searching and decision, affect the fu- ture forever.
And now, I have a most embarrassing admission to make. We are scheduled to bring out the first issue of the New Era in January — and we don't know how many to print. So far as I offi- cially know, we don't yet have a single subscriber! The Friend that Brother Hinckley has been talking about and the adult magazine concerning which Brother Monson will tell us took all the subscribers. And yet they're such nice people; you would think they would have left us just a few! They left us with the nucleus of a wonderful staff, and a good name — but not a single subscriber! And so you, the young people of the Church, see your ward or branch magazine representative and offer him three dollars or its equiva-
lent, according to the country in which you live, for a subscription to the New Era. We won't refuse a subscription from anyone that I know of! And right now we're offering the first free sub- scription of the New Era to President Smith, if he will accept it!
We pledge you our best to make the New Era challenging, attractive, full of substance, exciting, with much expres- sion in it from the young people of the Church themselves and from all their organizations, and from the First Presi- dency and other General Authorities, with a candid, open, practical, con- temporary approach — yet firmly tied to the revealed and timeless truths on which our faith and our lives are founded. We pledge you our best to make the New Era something that you will want to have in your homes, something to read, something that will be sincerely significant in your lives.
God bless you all, my beloved young friends, Churchwide and worldwide, and be with all of you — always — I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
"Thou Art aTeacher Come From God' '
Elder Thomas S. Monson Of the Council of the Twelve
• President Smith, when I am in your presence I think of the principle of courage, for it was 15 years ago in the building to the south of us, the As- sembly Hall, when you presided at a conference where I was called as a member of the stake presidency. I remember the day well. I was singing in an Aaronic Presthood chorus. I was a bishop, and bishopric members always sing when the Aaronic Priest- hood participates.
As President Smith stepped to the pulpit, he read my name as a member of the stake presidency. It was the first
notification I had had of my appoint- ment. He then used these words to introduce me: "If Brother Monson would now like to accept this calling, we would be pleased to hear from him."
May I quote to you the last line of the hymn we had just concluded sing- ing: "Have courage, my boy; have courage, my boy, to say no." I used as my theme that bright June day: "Have courage, my boy, to say yes," and it requires courage every time I stand at this pulpit.
My brethren, tonight we have heard
stimulating messages relating to a magazine for our small children and another magazine for our youth. Speak- ing as an adult, your thought and con- cern could well be, "What about Mother and me?" To this question I would reply: "Let not your heart be troubled. You, too, will have your magazine."
The new adult magazine will replace three well-known publications: the Improvement Era, the Relief Society Magazine, and the Instructor. How- ever, the most outstanding and useful features of each of these excellent
Era, December 1970 99
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publications will be retained and be- come a vital part of the new magazine. The readership audience will be the adult membership of the Church.
Just as a new city or child receives a name, so must the new adult magazine. The selection has not been made without thorough study and much prayer. You will recognize the name. The prophet Isaiah particularly stressed its significance. He declared that the Lord will lift up "an ensign to the nations"; ye shall "be left as a beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on an hill." (Isa. 11:12; 30:17.) And in this dispensation, the Lord spoke: ". . . Zion shall flour- ish, and the glory of the Lord shall be upon her; And she shall be an ensign unto the people. . . ." (D&C 64: 41-42.) The name of the new adult magazine will be The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Its contents will be as a beacon upon the top of a mountain and as an ensign on a hill, that the adults of the Church might be more adequately prepared to be examples to their chil- dren and to the world.
Several significant questions have accompanied the announcement in the Church News relative to the new adult publication. Perhaps a review of them would be helpful:
Question #1: Who should subscribe to the Ensign?
Answer: The First Presidency is encouraging every English-speaking family in the Church to be a sub- scriber. Month-for-month subscrip- tion credit on the new adult magazine will be given present subscribers to the Era, Instructor, and Relief Society Mag- azine. For instance, when the Instruc- tor ceases publication December 31, those subscribers who have perhaps three issues due them on their present Instructor subscription will receive, without charge, three issues of the Ensign. The same applies to the Era and Relief Society Magazine as they conclude their publication at the end of the year.
Question #2: What will be the an- nual subscription price of the Ensign?
Answer: In the past we have rather expected our families to subscribe to all three adult publications, which at present rates amounts to $10.50. Fami- lies wall now pay just $4.00 for the Ensign — a savings to families of $6.50.
Question #3: Will lessons for Relief Society appear in the Ensign?
Answer: No. These will be pub- lished in lesson manual style as is presently the practice in other auxiliary organizations and in priesthood quo- rums. The sisters should note, how- ever, that the Relief Society lessons for the period January 1, 1971, through
100
August 30, 1971, will already have been published in the Relief Society Maga- zine, concluding with the December issue.
Question #4: What will be the an- ticipated beginning circulation for the Ensign?
Answer: The Ensign will be the largest in circulation of the three new magazines, with an initial print order or press run of over 325,000 copies.
Question #5: Who will have the re- sponsibility of publishing the Ensign?
Answer: The magazine will be pub- lished under the supervision of the First Presidency. Members of the Council of the Twelve and other Gen- eral Authorities who have supervisory responsibility for Church programs for adults will have special assignments with the magazine, as will the presi- dencies and superintendences of auxil- iary organizations at the level of the general boards. The correlation pro- gram secretaries also will play a vital part in producing the publication. The Ensign will have a talented and expe- rienced staff, headed by Doyle L. Green as managing editor, with M. Dallas Burnett as associate editor.
Question #6; What will the maga- zine contain?
Answer: The Ensign will be written in such a way as to enhance its use. There will be articles on home teach- ing, family home evenings, missionary, welfare, and genealogical work. Leader- ship and teacher development will also be vital features. Material from the Ensign will be used widely in every teaching classroom of the Church, in- cluding that special classroom called home. In addition, there will be fic- tion, poetry, and those feature articles which have been so popular in the present adult publications.
This, then, will be The Ensign of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints — your adult publication. Subscribe to it. Read its contents. Apply in your lives its lessons. You, too, will then be as an ensign, even the light of the world, a city of righteousness set on a hill that cannot be hid.
As mentioned, information about the new teacher development program will be one of the features contained in the Ensign. The First Presidency has asked that I now introduce to you this in- spired new program, which has the potential to improve the quality of teaching throughout the Church.
Brethren, have you as a father ever asked your son this question: "Dick, how did the Sunday School class go today?" Young men, on occasion have you answered: "Not so good, Dad. My teacher didn't show up"? Perhaps your reply was: "My teacher, Brother Camp-
bell, tries hard, but he just doesn't communicate. "
If we are honest with ourselves, some version of this same dialogue has been heard in every Latter-day Saint home. Nor is it restricted to Sunday School, but it also extends to Primary, MIA, Relief Society, and the quorums of the priesthood.
John Milton described this plight in these words: "The hungry sheep look up but are not fed." (Lycidas.) The Lord himself said to Ezekiel the prophet, "Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that . . . feed not the flock." (Ezek. 34:2-3.)
Are wise shepherds, even skilled and righteous teachers, needed today? Our fast-moving jet-propelled world har- bors pressures and temptations not previously known.
More than $500 million a year are spent on pornographic literature by which evil men try to "dig gold out of dirt." Magazines, movies, TV pro- grams, and other mass media are frequently utilized to lower moral standards and induce improper behav- ior. Crime and delinquency are ram- pant. Spiritual values are questioned. The effective teacher is desperately needed to help us understand what is genuine and important in this life and develop the strength to choose the paths that will keep us safely on the way to eternal life.
Knowing this situation and sensing the need for effective action, the First Presidency in October 1968 called a committee to work to improve the quality of teaching throughout the Church. They counseled that the pro- gram should:
1. Be priesthood sponsored and Churchwide;
2. Help teachers and leaders to im- prove;
3. Assist prospective teachers to be- gin their assignments with the training and spiritual understanding necessary to be effective.
In January of this year, in an inter- view published in the Deseret News. President Joseph Fielding Smith and his counselors stressed anew the im- portance of the teaching role. I quote: "Teaching members of the Church to keep the commandments of God was described by the new First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints as its greatest challenge."
The goal of gospel teaching today, as emphasized in the teacher development program, is not to "pour information" into the minds of class members. It is not to show how much the teacher knows, nor is it merely to increase knowledge about the Church. The basic goal of teaching in the Church is to help bring about worthwhile changes
in the lives of boys and girls, men and women. The aim is to inspire the indi- vidual to think about, feel about, and then do something about living gospel- principles.
To help achieve this goal and meet this aim, we now introduce to you, the priesthood, the new teacher develop- ment program of the Church.
On Thursday, October 1, 1970, in a special seminar for Regional Represen- tatives of the Twelve, the teacher development program was presented in detail. These devoted and capable brethren will, in the next six weeks, outline the program to stake presi- dencies; and then, January 1, 1971, it will commence. During the first six months of 1971, when the General Authorities visit each stake quarterly conference, they will emphasize this program and will report on its imple- mentation.
A cardinal principle of industrial management teaches: "When perfor- mance is measured, performance im- proves. When performance is measured and reported, the rate of improvement accelerates." I think the visit to your stakes by the General Authorities will bring the desired acceleration.
Time dictates that my introduction of the program itself be presented in headline form:
1. The new Churchwide program is priesthood sponsored and supersedes any other teacher training program now in use.
2. The stake president has responsi- bility for teacher development in his stake. He will call a member of the high council to be stake teacher devel- opment director. This high councilor should be an outstanding teacher who has the ability to motivate and inspire.
3. The bishop has responsibility for the teacher development program in his ward. He will call a capable bearer of the Melchizedek Priesthood to be the ward teacher development director.
4. Similar responsibility will rest with mission presidents, district and branch presidents in the missions of the Church.
5. The new teacher development program consists of three parts: (a) the basic course; (b) inservice program; (c) supervision (to be introduced Sep- tember 1, 1971).
6. The basic course is designed to help prospective and current teachers to acquire knowledge and develop skills, that they might become more effective. It will be conducted over an 11-week period, usually during the Sunday School hour, and involve perhaps eight persons interviewed and called, by the bishop, to the course. The instructor of the basic course will be the ward teacher development director.
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7. The inservice program will be an outgrowth of the basic course and will encompass both spiritual principles and teaching skills. The inservice les- sons will be offered ten times per year for instructors in all priesthood quo- rums and auxiliaries.
8. The manuals for the basic course and the inservice program are now ready for distribution. The administra- tive manual will be sent to appropriate stake and ward leaders at no cost to them. A special order form will be sent to each bishop, that he may order the necessary materials to implement the program. Funds for same may ap- propriately come from ward and stake budgets. Individuals may then make payment to the ward or stake for their personal binders and materials. Quan- tity purchasing has provided minimum unit costs.
9. The program allows for consider- able flexibility. In most areas of the Church, the program should operate on a ward level. However, options are available for the basic course and in- service lessons to be conducted on a multi-ward or stake level where necessary.
10. The program uses the strengths and resources of small group participa- tion, with emphasis on doing and participating in real learning experi- ences.
This, then, is the new teacher de- velopment program. It has been pre- tested on a carefully supervised and controlled pilot basis in the Monument Park, Walnut Creek, and Gunnison stakes and the Victoria District of the Alaska-British Columbia Mission. Will it bring forth in your ward or stake the hoped-for results? Listen to the testi- monies of but two who have completed the course:
"For the first time in my life I have an idea of how to teach."
"Like all blessings in the gospel, this program will be only as helpful as those who use it will make it. There will be those who will say, 'I am a master teacher. I don't need this.' They will gain nothing. There are those who will say, Tm too busy for this. The Church has too many meet- ings.' They will gain nothing. There will be those who will say, 'Here is an opportunity to learn.' They will gain much, and the Lord's work will move ahead."
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, each member, each priesthood bearer, will likely have an opportunity to become a teacher. There is no privilege more noble, no task so rewarding. May I extend to you, my brethren of the priesthood, a sincere invitation to become participants in the teacher development endeavor. May I
102
challenge you in the words from the epistle of James to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only" (Jas. 1:22). remembering:
I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I learn.
Others then will follow your exam- ple. Teaching will improve. Com- mandments will be lived. Lives will be blessed.
In Galilee there taught a master
teacher, even Jesus Christ the Lord. He left his footprints in the sands of the seashore, but he left his teaching prin- ciples in the hearts and in the lives of all whom he taught. He instructed his disciples of that day, and to us he speaks the same words, "Follow thou me." Then, as now, foolish, unwise persons will stop their ears, close their eyes, and turn away their hearts. Let us remember, there is no deafness so permanent as the deafness which will not hear. There is no blindness so in- curable as the blindness which will not
see. There is no ignorance so deep as the ignorance that will not know.
May we, like Thomas of old, not doubting but believing, respond, "Let us go." Yes, may we go forward in the introduction and implementation of this new program for teacher develop- ment. As we do so, in this spirit of obedient response, it may be said of each teacher as it was spoken of the Redeemer, ". . . thou art a teacher come from God." (John 3:2.) May this be so, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• Someone has said, "An event is an idea whose time has come."
For over thirty years — it will be next April — since I became a member of the Council of the Twelve, there has been talk of unifying the magazines of the Church. It has always been thought that it was right, but the time was not yet. The event now has be- come so because the time has arrived.
You will note that we have said these magazines are to be available to all English-speaking countries where we have members of the Church. You will be asking, what about the other of the 19 languages in which we are now teaching the gospel — 11 into which we have translated the lessons of the Church. May I explain that we have a unified magazine printed in many of the languages of these foreign-speaking peoples. The materials for these maga- zines are edited through our editorial department, with a few pages left for each mission, to be used for that par- ticular area. All the material that would go into these magazines will be the same, but printed in the language of those peoples, so that the entire Church, in every language where we
have the translations, will have a mag- azine that will be a direct communica- tion from the priesthood of the Church.
Much thought has gone into this. On the first Thursday of every month a very important meeting is held in an upper room of the temple where all the General Authorities come fasting. The first part of the meeting is a business meeting, at which time all the pro- posals for new ideas or new methods or new undertakings are brought for- ward, after having been processed through the month preceding, for the perusal and consideration of all the General Authorities of the Church. At that meeting, then, action is taken, and by that action it then becomes the official action of the General Authori- ties of the Church — which must be considered to be the constitution of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth.
That is the process by which these new magazines might be said to have become an "event." That is the pro- cess by which the future development has come. That is the process by which a bishops' training program will now be inaugurated throughout the entire
Church. That is the process by which a Churchwide budget system will be inaugurated, and so will every other program that will be launched, as it comes now from the General Authori- ties of the Church, out to all the mem- bership of the Church.
You will understand why we are so concerned. As President Tanner and I first considered the excitement at the June Conference when they knew that there was to be a youth magazine, President Tanner said to me, "Because of the loyalty of our people, we must be sure that we are right." And that becomes a great concern. To be as certain as we know how, these things are subjected to prayer and fasting and careful, mature consideration, in order that we might have "the will of the Lord, ... the mind of the Lord, . . . the voice of the Lord, . . . and the power of God unto salvation." (D&C 68:4.) You may understand, then, that these things that have been announced to you have come with the official approval. We ask the loyalty of the membership of the priesthood now to get behind these magazines and see to it that they be- come the greatest magazines printed
Era, December 1970 103
for each group of our people that may be available throughout the world.
One more thought: If you had to sit facing these blazing lights for these hours, as we do here on the stand, you would have seen beads of perspiration on Elder Monson's brow as he talked to
you, and as you will see on my brow, and on others who will speak. We understand that the temperature here is about fifteen degrees higher than where you brethren sit. I say that so that you will be a little more com- fortable.
The Spoken Word
"The Spoken Word" from Tem- ple Square, presented over KSL and the Columbia Broadcasting System September 20, 1970.©1970
Debt: "a tanglesome net"
By Richard L. Evans
It has been long since Samuel Johnson said, "Do not accustom your- self to consider debt only as an inconvenience; or you will find it a calamity." In a world that needs so much to search itself in spiritual and moral and ethical matters, one feels defensive in mentioning a matter so mundane as money, but always there is need of honesty and balance and soundness and solvency. And in marriage, in the home, and in all of life, many difficulties and much misunderstanding come from the mismanagement of money — and many difficulties come from attitudes of immaturity and irresponsibility toward debt. It is not the necessary borrowing that we are speaking of, but the often too easy attitude that debt doesn't matter very much. But aside from the neces- sities of sickness, education, buying a home and some other such es- sentials, "Getting into debt," in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "is getting into a tanglesome net." And borrowing for luxuries would seem exceedingly shortsighted. Recognizing the reasons for borrowing in business, and sometimes for personal essentials, it is still true that what we owe to anyone is a mortgage on our future, and that what we owe, we owe and it must be paid if we are to keep our credit, our hon- est moral obligation, and our good name among men. And while bor- rowing sometimes seems relatively easy, paying back is relatively difficult to do— with interest added. The home is the source of stability in society. And home and marriage are happier if there is responsibility and good management in money matters, with parents and children facing and living within the financial facts. These simple rules are suggested: Buy wisely. Control debt. Save regularly. Use a family budget. Get good ad- vice. Read the fine print in all contracts and commitments. Don't plunge. Don't buy on impulse. And except for absolute necessity, borrow only according to the ability to pay back. Honesty calls for sin- cere commitment to pay our debts when due. And finally, "If you want the time to pass quickly, just give your note for 90 days."1 "Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; or you will find it a calamity."
'R. B. Thomas: Farmers' Almanack, 1797.
I was up in Preston, Idaho, sometime ago, dedicating a meetinghouse, and I thought as I sat there in that lovely place, My, isn't it wonderful that we have these air-conditioned buildings today, such as we didn't have in my younger years. In the course of the meeting, the bishop announced that their air-conditioning system was not working. Suddenly I became very un- comfortably warm. That is what hap- pens to us when our minds take precedence over matter.
I said to Brother Evans one day, "These punishing lights — they are devastating." And he said something to me that caused me some thought. He said, "If you want to be seen, you must be lighted."
Now I want to translate that into something for you to think about. If you want to have the power of the priesthood to be of any benefit to you or before the world, you must keep it lighted. You must exercise it.
The Master said, "Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house." Then he added, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." (Matt. 5:15-16.)
If you want to be seen as holders of the priesthood, you have to keep your lamp lighted.
The Lord said in a great revelation, ". . . if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you." (D&C 78:7.)
I want now to make one more com- ment. The kingdom of God must be a continuing revolution against the norms of the society that fall below the standards that are set for us in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the field of public life, it must be a continuing revolution against proposals that con- tradict the fundamental principles as laid down in the Constitution of the United States, which was written by men whom God raised up for this very purpose. If we remember that, we will be in the forefront of every battle against the things that are tearing down our society.
I am sure we were all impressed when Brother Eldred G. Smith said in his address that it shouldn't be neces- sary to make laws to persuade the Latter-day Saints to keep the Sabbath day holy. If the body of the priesthood — if you 150,000 members of the priest- hood who are in these various gather- ing places — would resolve here and now that neither you nor your families will hereafter patronize any business
104
that is open on Sunday, it wouldn't be long until they would close their busi- nesses on Sunday. You would wield such a force and power that you would dry up the businesses that are making their Sunday opening profitable. They are only catering to the needs of the people who are demanding Sunday service. You think about it, you brethren.
Pornographic literature! It has been a shock, I am sure, to all of us to read the' report of the commission that has been studying obscenity reports, and the recommendation that there should be a repeal of all laws prohibiting the distribution of explicit, sexual materials to consenting adults. Shocking! Now brethren, this is a thing that we must, as a priesthood, take a firm stand against, and do everything within our communities to see to it that by every means within our power we are going to play down the showing of or the distribution of any kind of porno- graphic literature, films, or advertise- ments. It has been a delight to us to have our Deseret News announce that, shortly, there will be no advertising of "R" and "X" rated films. We would wish it would be so in every com- munity. If you brethren, in all of your communities, would now take a firm stand, I think there would be a time shortly when somebody would wake up to the fact that we are no longer going to tolerate these kinds of things that are placed before our people to tear down their morals.
One more thought and then I shall be through. President Smith talked about the oath and covenant that be-
longs to the priesthood. This is but another way of saying what the Lord has said in revelations when he spoke of those who would be heirs to the celestial kingdom. He said, "They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized, . . . and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands . . . and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise." (D&C 76:51-53.)
In another revelation, he said that a man and wife who are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise shall pass by the angels and gods that are set there to their exaltation and glory in all things, as has been sealed upon their heads.
In an explanation of what it means to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, one of our brethren said this: "While we receive eternal blessings at the hands of the priesthood which has the right to seal on earth and it shall be sealed in the heavens, this revela- tion clearly states that it must be sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise also. A man and woman may by fraud and deception obtain admittance to the House of the Lord and may receive the pronouncement of the holy priesthood, giving to them so far as lies in their power these blessings. We may deceive men but we cannot deceive the Holy Ghost, and our blessings will not be eternal unless they are also sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. The Holy Ghost is one who reads the thoughts and hearts of men, and gives his seal- ing approval to the blessings pro- nounced upon their heads. Then it is binding, efficacious, and of full force."
(Melvin J. Ballard, "Three Degrees of Glory.")
Remembering that then, brethren, we are prepared to understand what the brethren meant when they spoke at the dedication of the Idaho Falls Tem- ple about the stand we could take now in such matters as politics. We are approaching another election. Let us hear again what the brethren prayed for in that dedicatory prayer:
"We pray that kings and rulers and the peoples of all nations under heaven may be persuaded of the blessings en- joyed by the people of this land by reason of their freedom under thy guidance, and be constrained to adopt similar governmental systems, thus to fulfill the ancient prophecy of Isaiah, that out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jeru- salem."
Brethren of the priesthood, if we will be united and let our light shine, and not hide our light under a bushel but exercise it righteously, and let our priesthood callings be an eternal revo- lution against the norms of society or against any proposals that fall below the standards as set forth in the gospel of Jesus Christ or as laid down by the Constitution of the United States writ- ten by inspired men, then we will be a force in the world that will be "the marvelous work and wonder" which the Lord said the kingdom of God was to be.
I pray that it might be so, brethren, arid we would thus magnify, as Presi- dent Smith has said, our callings in the priesthood, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
Winter Sonnet By Larry Hiller
Come, walk with me in quiet ivinter's wood Beneath the boughs of fir bent down by snow, While the leaden sky is in a somber mood And a muffled tinkle marks a brooklet's flow.
Black water swirls through high-domed, glittering caves, Beats feebly at the ice-bound rocks, and then Glides swift and darkly grim through crystal naves And comes to rest in icy, leaf-choked fen.
Now silent stand the firs with downy hood, Until from far beloiv come farmyard noises — The sharp, stacatto crack of ax on wood That splits the air and on the hillside poises —
Then falls in silver shards among the firs. And in the deepening darkness nothing stirs.
Era, December 1970 105
• I come to this pulpit this Sabbath morning with a new obligation, anx- ious perhaps as never before for the sustaining influence of the Spirit of the Lord, for an interest in your faith and prayers for us here and for those who shall be listening, as I speak to the parents of wayward and lost children.
Sometime ago, a father, worried about a serious problem with his son, was heard to remark, "When he leaves and we don't know where he is, there's pain in our hearts, but when he's here there are times when he's a pain in the neck." It's about that pain in the heart that I want to speak. I speak to a very large audience, I fear.
Hardly is there a neighborhood with- out at least one mother whose last waking, anxious thoughts and prayers are for a son or a daughter wandering who knows where. Nor is there much distance between homes where an anxious father can hardly put in a day's work without being drawn within himself time after time, to wonder, "What have we done wrong? What can we do to get our child back?"
Even parents with the best inten- tions— some who have really tried — now know that heartache. Many par- ents have tried in every way to protect their children — only now to find they are losing one. For the home and the family are under attack. Ponder these words, if you will:
Profanity
Nudity
Immorality
Divorce
Pornography
Addiction
Violence
Perversion
These words have taken on a new meaning in the last few years, haven't they?
You are within walking distance, at least within a few minutes' drive, of a theater in your own neighborhood. There will be shown, within the week, a film open to young and old alike that as recently as ten years ago would have been banned, the film confiscated, and the theater owner placed under indict- ment. But now it's there, and soon it will be seen at home on your television screens.
The apostle Paul prophesied to Timothy:
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blas- phemers, disobedient to parents. . . ." (2 Tim. 3:1-2.)
There is more to that scripture, but we stop on that phrase "disobedient to parents."
We have no desire to touch the sub- ject that causes you so much pain, nor to condemn you as a failure. But you are failing, and that's what makes it hurt. If failure is to end, one must face squarely problems like this, how- ever much it hurts.
A few years ago I was called in the wee hours of the morning to the side of my ailing mother, who was hospital- ized for a series of tests.
"I'm going home," she said. "I'll not continue with these tests. I want you to take me home right now. I won't go through another day of this."
"But mother," I said, "you must go through with this. They have reason to believe that you have cancer, and if it is as they suppose, you have the worst kind."
There! It had been said. After all the evading, all the whispered conver- sations. After all the care never to say that word when she was around. It was out!
She sat quietly on her bed for a long time and then said, "Well, if that's what it is, that's what it is, and I'll fight it." Her Danish dander was up. And fight it she did, and winner she was.
Some may suppose she lost her battle to that disease, but she came away a glorious, successful winner. Her victory was assured when she faced the pain- ful truth. Her courage began then.
Parents, can we first consider the most painful part of your problem? If you want to reclaim your son or daughter, why don't you leave off try- ing to alter your child just for a little while and concentrate on yourseli The changes must begin with you, not with your children.
You can't continue to do what you have been doing (even though you thought it was right) and expect to unproduce some behavior in your child, when your conduct was one of the things that produced it.
There! It's been said! After all the evading, all the concern for wayward children. After all the blaming of others, the care to be gentle with par- ents. It's out!
It's you, not the child, that needs immediate attention.
Now parents, there is substantial help for you if you will accept it. I add with emphasis that the help we propose is not easy, for the measures are equal to the seriousness of your problem. There is no patent medicine to effect an im- mediate cure.
And parents, if you seek for a cure
106
that ignores faith and religious doc- trine, you look for a cure where it never will be found. When we talk of re- ligious principles and doctrines and quote scripture, interesting, isn't it, how many don't feel comfortable with talk like that. But when we talk about your problems with your family and offer a solution, then your interest is intense.
Know that you can't talk about one without talking about the other, and expect to solve your problems. Once parents know that there is a God and that we are his children, they can face problems like this and win.
If you are helpless, he is not.
If you are lost, he is not.
If you don't know what to do next, he knows.
It would take a miracle, you say? Well, if it takes a miracle, why not.
We urge you to move first on a course of prevention.
There is a poem entitled "The Fence or the Ambulance." It tells of efforts to provide an ambulance at the bottom of a cliff and concludes with these two verses:
"Then an old sage remarked: It's a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause
When they'd much better aim at pre- vention.
Let us stop at its source all this mis- chief, cried he,
Come neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence, we might al- most dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.
"Better guide well the young than re- claim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling:
'To rescue the fallen is good, but 'tis best
To prevent other people from falling.'
Better close up the source of temptation and crime, /
Than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence round the top of the cliff,
Than an ambulance down in the valley."
— Joseph Malins
We prevent physical disease by im- munization. This heart pain you are suffering perhaps might likewise have been prevented with very simple meas- ures at one time. Fortunately the very steps necessary for prevention are the ones that will produce the healing. In other words, prevention is the best cure, even in advanced cases.
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Era, December 1970 107
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practical and a very powerful place to begin, both to protect your children and, in the case of one you are losing, to redeem him.
I have in my hands the publicatio'n Family Home Evenings. It is the seventh in a series and is available across the world in 17 languages. If you would go through it with me, you would find that this one is based on the New Testament. The theme is free agency. While it draws lessons from New Testament days, it does not con- tent itself with them back then and there. It leaps across the centuries and concerns itself with you, and here and now.
It is well illustrated, much of it in full color, and has many meaningful activities for families with children of any age.
Here (page 35), for instance, is a crossword puzzle. And here (page 20) on this colorful page is a game. Cut it out and make a spinner of cardboard, and the whole family can play. You'll find yourselves, depending on the moves you make, somewhere between "Heavenly Treasures" and "Earthly Pleasures."
Here is a lesson entitled "How Our Family Came to Be" (page 51). ". . . tell your children," it suggests, "how you met, fell in love, and married. Be sure both parents participate, and illus- trate your story with pictures and me- mentoes you have saved — the wedding dress, the announcements; wedding- pictures. It might be a good idea to tape your narrative and keep it for your children to play to their children some day."
Let me list some of the other titles: "Our Family Government," "Learning to Worship," "Speaking Words of Pur- ity," "Family Finances," "Parenthood, a Sacred Opportunity," "Respect for Authority," "The Value of Humor," "So You're Going to Move," "When the Unexpected Happens," "The Birth and Infancy of the Savior."
Here is one entitled "A Call to Be Free." That's the siren call your child is following, you know. This lesson includes a page of very official-looking colored certificates with instructions to "choose for each family member some activity he has not learned to do; then give each member a certificate . . . signed by the father: This certificate gives the owner permission to play a tune on the piano as a part of family home evening.' " (Of course, the child has never had piano lessons.)
Other certificates may include (de- pending on the age of the child) "walk- ing on one's hands, speaking in a foreign language, or painting an oil portrait." Then as each member says
108
he cannot do the thing permitted, talk about why he is not free to do the thing he is permitted to do. The discussion will reveal that "each person must learn the laws that govern the de- velopment of an ability and then learn to obey those laws. Thus obedience leads to freedom."
Here, under special helps for families with small children, it suggests they put toy cars on the table top and feel free to run them anywhere they want and in any manner they like. Even little minds can see the results of this.
There is much more to this lesson and to all of these special lessons — subtle, powerful magnets that help to draw your child closer to the family circle.
This program is designed for a fam- ily meeting to be held once a week. In the Church, Monday night has been designated and set aside, Churchwide, for families to be at home together. Instruction has recently gone out, from which I quote:
"Those responsible for priesthood and auxiliary programs, including temple activities, youth athletic activi- ties, student activities, etc., should take notice of this decision in order that Monday night will be uniformly ob- served throughout the Church and the families be left free from Church ac- tivities so that they can meet together in the family home evening." (Priest- hood Bulletin, September 1970.)
With this program comes the promise from the prophets, the living prophets, that if parents will gather their chil- dren about them once a week and teach the gospel, those children in such families will not go astray.
Some of you outside the Church, and unfortunately many within, hope that you could take a manual like this without accepting fully the gospel of Jesus Christ, the responsibilities of Church membership, and the scriptures upon which it is based. You are per- mitted to do that. (We could even give you a "certificate" to permit you to raise an ideal family.) You still would not be free to do so without obeying the laws. To take a program like this without the gospel would have you act as one who obtained a needle to im- munize a child against a fatal disease but rejected the serum to go in it that could save him.
Parents, it is past time for you to as- sume spiritual leadership of your fam- ily. If there is no substance to your present belief, then have the courage to seek the truth.
There is, living now, the finest gen- eration of youth that ever walked the earth. You have seen some of them serving on missions. Perhaps you have
turned them away. You ought to seek them out. If they are nothing else, they are adequate evidence that youth can live in honor. And there are tens of thousands of them who are literal saints — Latter-day Saints.
Now parents, I desire to inspire you with hope. You who have heartache, you must never give up. No matter how dark it gets or no matter how far away or how far down your son or daughter has fallen, you must never give up. Never, never, never.
I desire to inspire you with hope.
"Soft as the voice of an angel, whisper- ing a message unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion whispers her comforting word.
Wait till the darkness is over, wait till the coming of dawn.
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow, after the shower is gone.
Whispering hope, Oh how welcome thy voice. . . ."
God bless you heartbroken parents. There is no pain so piercing as that caused by the loss of a child, nor joy
so exquisite as the joy at his redemp- tion.
I come to you now as one of the Twelve, each ordained as a special witness. I affirm to you that I have that witness. I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ. I know that though the world "seeth him not, neither knoweth him," that he lives. Heartbroken parents, lay claim upon his promise: "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." (John 14:17-18.) In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Q
• My dear brothers and sisters, I seek an interest in your faith and prayers, that I might say something this morn- ing that will have lodging in the hearts of boys and parents and leaders.
"Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." (D&C 13.)
This historic event took place on May 15, 1829. It was an answer to the prayer of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery respecting baptism for the remission of sins, which was mentioned in the Book of Mormon. The heavenly being who performed this ordinance introduced himself as John, the same who is called John the Baptist in the New Testament. It was he who, in the River Jordan over 1,800 years be- fore, baptized the Savior, the Son of God.
He further stated to Joseph and Oliver that he acted under the direc-
tion of Peter, James, and John, who held the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood. John the Baptist held the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood, which is known also as the lesser priesthood, being an appendage or preparatory priesthood to the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood.
Today in the Church approximately 360,000 boys and men bear the Aaronic Priesthood. They outnumber by sev- eral thousand those who hold the Mel- chizedek Priesthood. An analysis of these figures, which I shall not go into here, points up the urgency of the proper training and preparation of boys and men of the Church to assume the responsibility of leadership that will fall upon their shoulders as they ma- ture in the gospel. The Lord has made it very clear that this preparation for leadership is the responsibility of the Aaronic Priesthood.
This, then, my brothers and sisters, is the subject about which I wish to speak today — the Aaronic Priesthood. John the Baptist, in conferring this priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, told in part what it is: "I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which
holds the keys of ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remis- sion of sins."
The priesthood is the authority and power to act in the name of God in accomplishing his work in righteous- ness. The Aaronic Priesthood has power in administering outward ordi- nances. Someone said, "It is the power to make things happen."
The power of the priesthood makes it possible for a young man to fulfill the commitment he made with the Savior before coming to this earth, which commitment was to help build the kingdom of God on the earth in a most significant and authoritative way.
Many of our young men understand in great depth their responsibilities as holders of the priesthood and are living lives that bring honor to it. Of course, there are those who do not take advan- tage of these blessings. I am convinced the reason for this lack of interest, or casual attitude, is largely due to a lack of understanding. Perhaps the experi- ence of the late Elder James E. Talmage, one of the great men of the
Era, December 1970 109
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Church, who was recognized by the world for his keen intellect, will shed some light on what the Aaronic Priest- hood can mean in the life of a boy.
"I was called and ordained one Sunday morning, without any previous notice; and that afternoon was placed as a sentinel at the door of the house in which the Saints had met for wor- ship. As soon as I had been ordained, a feeling came to me such as I have never been able to fully describe. It seemed scarcely possible, that I, a little boy, could be so honored of God to be called to the priesthood. I had read of the sons of Aaron and of Levi who were chosen for the sacred labors of the Lesser Priesthood, but that I should be called to do part of the service that had been required of them was more than my little mind could grasp. I was both frightened and happy. Then, when I was placed on duty at the door, I forgot that I was but an eleven-year- old lad; I felt strong in the thought that I belonged to the Lord, and that he would assist me in whatever was required of me. I could not resist the conviction that other sentinels, stronger by far than I, stood by me though in- visible to human eyes.
"The effect of my ordination to the deaconship entered into all the affairs of my boyish life. I am afraid that sometimes I forgot what I was, but I have ever been thankful that oft-times I did remember, and the recollection always served to make me better. When at play on the school grounds, and perhaps tempted to take unfair advan- tage in the game, when in the midst of a dispute with a playmate, I would remember, and the thought would be as effective as though spoken aloud — 7 am a deacon; and it is not right that a deacon should act in this way.' On examination days, when it seemed easy for me to copy some other boy's work or to 'crib' from the book, I would remember again — 'I am a deacon, and must be honest and true.' When I saw other boys cheating in play or in school, I would say in my mind, Tt would be more wicked for me to do that than it is for them, because I am a deacon.'
"Nothing that was required of me in the duties of my office was irksome; the sense of the great honor of my ordination made all service welcome. I was the only deacon in the branch, and had abundant opportunity to work.
"The impression made upon my mind when I was made a deacon has never faded. The feeling that I was called to the special service of the Lord, as a bearer of the priesthood, has been a source of strength to me through the years. When later I was ordained to higher offices in the Church, the same
110
assurance has come to me, on every such occasion — that I was in truth endowed with power from heaven, and that the Lord demanded of me that I honor his authority. I have heen or- dained in turn a teacher, an elder, a high priest, and lastly an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with every ordination there has come to me a new and soul-thrilling feeling which first I knew when I was called to be a dea- con in the service of the Lord." (Course of study for the quorums of the priest- hood: Deacons, 1914, pp. 135-36. Italics added.)
Brother Talmage was a boy in Eng- land at the time of his ordination. The reason he was placed as a sentinel at the door was to warn the members of the approach of their enemies, for there was much persecution of the Church in that area. Imagine, a newly ordained deacon being given this responsibility!
There are two observations I would like to make from Brother Talmage's account of this experience. First, he was given something worthwhile to do by his leaders. They exhibited faith in him. He immediately became involved. Second, and even more important, he recognized that even though still a young boy, he had the authority and power to perform the task given him because he held the priesthood. This recognition replaced fear with courage. I believe he actually experienced the ministering of angels.
There is every reason that our young men today can have the same spiritual experience, giving them a feeling of worth and destiny, as felt by Elder Talmage.
The society in which we live has many divergent viewpoints about life; and because we have been given our free agency to choose for ourselves, it is vitally important that we carefully evaluate all aspects of life before mak- ing our choices. In this process of evaluation, it is not uncommon for us, particularly in our younger years, to look to someone we admire as our ideal or our hero. It might be a parent, an athlete, a leader in the community, etc. I suggest to the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood, yes, to all young men everywhere, that the greatest hero, if you will, who has ever lived is the Savior of mankind, Jesus Christ. I also suggest that his life and teachings are just as relevant today as at any time in history.
It is particularly important that young men holding his priesthood be- come intimately acquainted with him in order to know and to understand him. Unfortunately, artists and others have pictured him as effeminate, soft, and sad. If we analyze his life at all, we see a person who was masculine,
strong, vigorous, interested in all that was going on about him, surely loving and kind, but at the same time one who could exhibit righteous anger. If this were not true, how could he have caused rough fishermen to follow him with just one sentence: "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men"? (Matt. 4:19.) He spent his youth and young adulthood as a carpenter, a trade requiring strength and skill. Would he have dared drive the money changers from the temple had he not been a man of great strength and cour- age? It takes a man of unusual warmth to attract throngs of little children as the Savior did. No other man has lived whose influence has been so profound in directing the course of human be- havior.
As the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood become better acquainted with the life and teachings of the Savior, and as they emulate these teachings, new purpose and direction will come into their lives. They will find that the Savior was concerned with many of the same complex prob- lems that exist today; for example, hypocrisy, one of today's most serious problems. Of all the weaknesses of men, this one was most strongly de- nounced by the Savior. He said: "But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Phari- sees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
"Woe unto you, scribes and Phari- sees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone." (Matt. 23:13- 14, 23.)
It took a man of great courage and vitality to speak and act as Jesus did. At the same time, all that he said and did was tempered by love, compassion, and charity.
As he hung on the cross suffering the agony of cruel torture, he said, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34.)
In today's world of confusion and conflict, the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth stand alone as the certain solution to man's problems. No greater opportunity or blessing can come into the life of a young man than to be called and ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, thus being authorized to act for him who gave his life on Calvary.
Era, December 1970 111
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The Aaronic Priesthood is not a make-work activity designed to keep young men busy and out of trouble. It is a segment of the government of the kingdom of God on the earth. Those holding it are empowered to perform the duties that will aid the Lord in accomplishing his work and his glory, which he said was "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.)
No greater nor more important as- signment can come to a boy or a man than this. President Wilford Wood- ruff, a prophet of God, supports this
assessment of the Aaronic Priesthood: "... I went out as a Priest, and my companion as an Elder, and we trav- eled thousands of miles, and had many things manifested to us. I desire to impress upon you the fact that it does not make any difference whether a man is a Priest or an Apostle, if he magnifies his calling. A Priest holds the keys of the ministering of angels. Never in my life, as an Apostle, as a Seventy, or as an Elder, have I ever had more of the protection of the Lord than while holding the office of Priest." (Wilford Woodruff, in Millen-
nial Star, October 5, 1891, p. 629.)
I bear my humble witness to all who hear my voice this day, that John the Baptist actually and literally did ap- pear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and conferred upon them the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood. If par- ents, leaders, and holders of this priesthood will recognize it for what it truly is, and if our young men will make themselves acquainted with him who stands at the head and emulate his life, a mighty and great generation of'leaders will come forth. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
::
■
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Our Belief in Christ
President Bruce R. McConkie
Of the First Council of the Seventy
• I desire very much to be directed by the Spirit, because I know that when a man speaks by the power of the Holy Ghost, that holy being carries the word of truth into the heart of every recep- tive soul.
We are servants of the Lord, and he has sent us into the world to say to every creature: "God has a message for you," and then to deliver that message in his name.
The message he has given us to pro- claim in the ears of all who dwell upon the earth is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the plan of salvation. It is that Christ hath abol- ished death and brought life and im- mortality to light through the gospel. It is a message of peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.
This message comprises the most sobering and glorious truths of which the human mind can conceive. It is a voice of joy and gladness and thanks- giving; of glory and honor; of immor- tality and eternal life. And it is destined to make of this earth, a heav- en; and of man, a god.
Known to the apostles and prophets
of old, this glorious message was first revealed in modern times to the Prophet Joseph Smith and has since been planted in the hearts of all the true servants of the Lord by the revela- tion of Jesus Christ.
And so now, obedient to the divine command, we proclaim the saving truths of the gospel, not in the spirit of contention or debate, but by way of announcement, of exhortation, and of testimony.
We are bold to say that there is a God in heaven, an infinite and holy being who is our Eternal Father and whose offspring we are in the spirit; that he ordained the plan of salva- tion whereby we, his spirit children, might advance and progress and be- come like him; that he chose his First- born in the spirit to be the Savior and Redeemer in his great plan of salva- tion; and that ever thereafter, to honor its chief advocate and exponent, this plan of salvation has been known as the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We testify that according to the terms and conditions of God's eternal plan, salvation is in Christ. He is the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world whose blood atoneth for the sins of all those who believe in his name.
In the words of a holy angel who ministered to a Book of Mormon prophet: ". . . there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." (Mosiah 3:17.)
Also: ". . . salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent." (Mosiah 3:18.)
In pleading with men to believe in Christ and be reconciled to God so as to gain a remission of their sins, Nephi said: ". . . we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, . . . [for] the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out." (2 Ne. 25:26, 29.)
112
Thus we are bold to extol his holy name, to proclaim that he is the Lord Jehovah, the Great I Am, the Creator of heaven and earth and all things which in them are. And thus we testify that he is the God of Israel, the promised Messiah, the Only Begotten, the Son of God.
Our proclamation is that he came into the world to ransom men from the temporal and spiritual death brought upon them through the fall of Adam; that he was born of Mary, inheriting from her the power of mortality, which is the power to die; that he is literally the Son of God, in the same sense in which all men are the offspring of mortal fathers; and that he inherited from his Father the power of immor- tality, which is the power to live.
We know that because he is the Only Begotten in the flesh, he was able to work out the infinite and eternal atonement, whereby all men are raised in immortality, which is redemption from the temporal fall, while those who believe and obey his laws are raised also unto eternal life, which is redemption from the spiritual fall.
Now we join with Peter and Paul and his servants of old in announcing that he is risen; that he broke the bands of death and gained the victory over the grave — which thing they knew be- cause they saw him after the resurrec- tion, ate with him, felt the nail marks in his hands and feet, and thrust their hands into the spear wound in his side; and which thing we know because he has returned to earth in our day, manifesting himself anew to modern prophets, and because the Holy Spirit of God bears witness to us that he is the risen Lord.
We accept without reservation the testimony of the ancient prophets that after their day there would be a falling away from the faith once delivered to the saints; as also their prophecies that God, by angelic ministration, would restore the everlasting gospel in the last days and gather scattered Israel to its standard.
And we now add to their testimony our witness that God has in these last days restored those truths by obedience to which salvation may be won.
We are one with the ancients in our belief in Christ. We accept him as the Son of God, as the Savior and Re- deemer of the world. We are grateful that he has seen fit to add to the canon of holy scripture, revealing anew, with a plainness and perfection which sur- pass the record of old, those things which men must do to be justified through faith in him and to work out their salvation with fear and trembling before him.
We believe the witness born by the
Era, December 1970 113
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Lord's servants of old and gain great satisfaction from studying and ponder- ing in our hearts the doctrines they taught and the testimonies they bore as these are recorded in the Bible.
But the fire of testimony which burns in our hearts was not lighted at ancient altars, nor is the knowledge we have of the doctrines of salvation based solely upon the partial and fragmentary accounts of what God re- vealed to men in ancient days.
The ancient saints had the gospel, which is the power that saves men, and they recorded many of its truths in their scriptures. The world today has the record of part of what the saints of old possessed.
But thanks be to God, we have the gospel, with all its saving power, re- stored again. God has given us the same doctrines, the same keys, and also the same powers possessed by those of old. All these things have been dis- pensed anew in this final, glorious gospel dispensation.
I shall call your attention to three heavenly visions which are part of this restoration of the gospel:
First: In the spring of 1820, Joseph Smith sought wisdom from God. In the providences of the Lord, he then re- ceived one of the most marvelous visions of all time, which he recorded in these words:
"... I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
". . . I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all descrip- tion, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other — This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (Joseph Smith 2:16-17.)
Second: Nearly twelve years later, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon "be- held the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father," together with a great concourse of "holy angels," and recorded their testimony in these words:
"And now, after the many testi- monies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!
"For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father." (D&C 76:20- 23.)
Third: In April 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery saw the Lord of heaven, of which this is the scriptural account:
"The veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.
"We saw the Lord standing upon
the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.
"His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rush- ing of great waters, even the voice of Jehovah, saying:
"I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father." (D&C 110:1-4.)
Now, as servants of the Lord, we an- nounce and testify that these three visions were as real and true as any ever received by any prophet in any age.
There is no room for contention or debate. We are not quoting the Bible to prove what happened any more than Peter turned to the writings of Isaiah to prove he had felt the nail marks in the hands and feet of the risen Lord. We are saying with words of soberness that men in our day have heard the voice of God and seen the visions of eternity, and that the power of God whereby salvation comes is once more held by living apostles and prophets.
And all men everywhere have exactly the same obligation to heed and be- lieve our testimony as men had in former days to accept the witness of the prophets of old.
The issue in Peter's day was: Did Christ rise from the dead? If so, he was the Son of God, and the religion of the ancient saints had saving power. To prove their message, the Lord's ancient servants reasoned out of the scriptures and bore testimony of what they knew by personal revelation.
The issue today is: Was Joseph Smith called of God? If so, the religion of the Latter-day Saints has saving power. And to prove our message, like our brethren of old, we reason out of the scriptures and bear testimony of what we know by personal revelation.
And so we testify that the Holy Ghost certifies to us that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God; that Joseph Smith is the great latter-day prophet through whom the knowledge of Christ and of salvation was restored; and that this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in very deed the kingdom of God on earth, the one place where men may come to find peace in this life and become inheritors of eternal glory in the life to come.
We are servants of the Lord, and he has commanded us to proclaim his gospel message to all men. And of that message we now testify that as our Lord and our God liveth, it is true. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. o
114
• We live in an interesting period of the history of mankind. The slow pace of man's progress from the beginning gradually commenced to accelerate and gain speed. Today we find advance- ment moving at such increased mo- mentum that we are often frightened by the, thoughts of the future. Man takes pride in the rapid strides of sci- ence that have created conveniences for his everyday living. His health has been improved by the progress of medi- cine, and his life-span has been ex- tended. Sweeping reforms in many areas of society have enhanced his well-being. Business and industry are moving forward at a pace never before known, and this generation has the highest standard of living ever enjoyed by man. We are proud to be living in a modern world of achievement.
Will all of this spiraling progress be good for man in the years that lie ahead? Will it be beneficial in every respect to our children and grand- children? We would agree, no doubt, that many things give us concern. What of the future of the family and home life, which in past generations have been great stabilizing forces in society? What of the solidarity of community and national life? What of the future of our economy, as the con- sequence of inflation and increased debt? What of the modern course of deterioration of morality and its effect upon individuals, families, nations, and the world? We are forced to admit that what we term as progress brings with it many consequences of serious concern.
We are entering into, or going
through, a period of history in which so-called modern thought is taking precedence in the minds of many per- sons who classify themselves as advo- cates of a modern generation. The more extreme of these lean toward free thinking and free action without assuming the responsibility men owe to fellowmen. Where will we be led if we follow those who advocate free- dom of use of drugs and freedom of morality? What will be the result of universal free love, abortions at will, homosexuality, or legalized pornog- raphy?
What of spiritual values and the re- ligious ideals of past generations, which have been the great stabilizing influence on society? Modern thinkers claim these have been the great deter- rents to man in the freedoms he now seeks. There is a great effort on the part of so-called modernists to change religious beliefs and teachings of the past to conform to modern thought and critical research. They de-emphasize the teachings of the Bible by modern critical methods and deny that scrip- ture is inspired. The modernist teaches that Christ is not the Son of God. He denies the doctrine of the atoning sac- rifice by which all men may be saved. He denies the fact of the resurrection of the Savior of the world and relegates him to the status of a teacher of ethics. Where, then, is hope? What has be- come of faith?
The Old Testament unfolds the story of the creation of the earth and man by God. Should we now disre- gard this account and modernize the creation according to the theories of
the modernists? Can we say there was no Garden of Eden or an Adam and Eve? Because modernists now declare the story of the flood is unreasonable and impossible, should we disbelieve the account of Noah and the flood as related in the Old Testament?
Let us examine what the Master said when the disciples came to him as he sat on the Mount of Olives. They asked him to tell them of the time of his coming and of the end of the world. Jesus answered: "But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
"But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
"For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drink- ing, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matt. 24:36-39.)
In this statement the Master con- firmed the story of the flood without modernizing it. Can we accept some of the statements of the Lord as being true and at the same time reject others as being false?
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him and they discussed the matter of the death of her brother and the resurrec- tion. "Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that be- lieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." (John 11:25.)
Era, December 1970 115
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NOW AVAILABLE in response to many requests - a re-issue of one of the great books of the Church:
GOSPEL STANDARDS
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An Improvement Era publication
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Price is only $4.95 postpaid
Both of these statements, the one re- garding Noah and the fact of the flood and the one in which he declared him- self to be the resurrection and the life, were made by the Lord. How can we believe one and not the other? How can we modernize the story of the flood or refer to it as a myth and yet cling to the truth of the other? How can we modernize the Bible and have it be a guiding light to us and a vital influence in our beliefs?
There are those who declare it is old-fashioned to believe in the Bible. Is it old-fashioned to believe in God, in Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God? Is it old-fashioned to believe in his atoning sacrifice and the resurrec- tion? If it is, I declare myself to be old-fashioned and the Church is old- fashioned. In great simplicity the Master taught the principles of life eternal and lessons that bring happi- ness to those with the faith to believe. It doesn't seem reasonable to assume the necessity of modernizing these teachings of the Master. His message concerned principles that are eternal. Following these principles, millions of persons have found rich religious ex- periences in their lives. People of today's world are seeking a meaningful purpose in life, and thousands are seeking a religious experience that is meaningful. Can such an experience be found in meditation only, or by a seance? Can a meaningful experience be found in trips with drugs or in love- ins? Such an attempt is to go through the back, the side door, or over the wall, not through the way pointed out by the Lord.
When the Lord spoke to the Phari- sees at the Feast of the Tabernacles, he used these words: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climb- eth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
"Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep." (John 10:1, 7.)
A meaningful religious experience can come in no other way than by that door, through the Lord Jesus Christ.
There have always been those who wanted a sign before they would be- lieve. During his ministry the Master was asked on many occasions for a sign.
"The Pharisees also with the Saddu- cees came, and tempting desired him that he would shew them a sign from heaven.
"He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.
"And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can dis-
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cern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?
"A wicked and adulterous genera- tion seeketh after a sign. . . ." (Matt. 16:1-4.)
Perhaps it was with them, as with many today, truth is not recognized as truth unless accompanied by the sen- sational. What would have been ac- complished had the Lord called down thunder and lightning, or plucked a star from the sky, or divided the water to satisfy the curiosity of men? They would probably have said it was the work of the devil, or their eyes deceived them.
Signs are evident to the faithful. Sick persons are healed; prayers are an- swered; changes are wrought in the lives of those who believe, accept, and live the commandments. We prove Christ by living the principles of his gospel. He made great promises of blessings to those who live the com- mandments: "I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye ' do not what I say, ye have no promise." (D&C 82:10.) Many of the command- ments are restrictive, but reason dictates they are for man's good. In addition to the restrictive commandments are the positive admonitions. The two great imperatives are to love God and love one's fellowmen.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
"This is the first and great com- mandment.
"And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matt. 22:37-40.)
What greater laws could be given to bring peace, prosperity, and progress to man if he will faithfully live the commandments to love?
In this time of rapid change, we can maintain an equilibrium if we pre- serve a belief in God and a love for him, but we cannot love God unless we love his children also. These are our neighbors, and true love of them knows no class or culture, race, color, or creed.
The members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints open their arms to neighbors everywhere. The restored Church of Christ as- sumes its charge and responsibility to take the gospel of Jesus Christ in love to its neighbors over the world and endeavors to help those who receive the gospel to live the teachings of the Master.
In this world of confusion and rush- ing, temporal progress, we need to return to the simplicity of Christ. We need to love, honor, and worship him. To acquire spirituality and have its influence in our lives, we cannot be- come confused and misdirected by the twisted teachings of the modernist. We need to study the simple fundamentals of the truths taught by the Master and eliminate the controversial. Our faith in God needs to be real and not specu-
lative. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ can be a dynamic, moving in- fluence, and true acceptance gives us a meaningful, religious experience. One of the great strengths of the Mormon religion is this translation of belief into daily thinking and conduct. This replaces turmoil and confusion with peace and tranquility.
The Church stands firmly against relaxation or change in moral issues and opposes the so-called new morality. Spiritual values cannot be set aside, notwithstanding modernists who would tear them down. We can be modern without giving way to the influence of the modernist. If it is old-fashioned to believe in the Bible, we should thank God for the privilege of being old- fashioned.
Permit me to conclude with my per- sonal conviction and testimony. I know God lives, the same God described in the Old and the New Testaments. I know Jesus Christ is his Son. He gave his life in the great atoning sacrifice whereby he became my Savior, your Savior, and the Savior of all mankind. I also know there is a prophet of God on the earth today who speaks the mind and will of the Lord to his chil- dren in the same manner that prophets have spoken to God's children in all ages of the past. May the Lord give us the capacity to understand his teachings and the strength to follow with conviction and steadfastness, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• In recent months the plight of the American Indians has been brought to public attention in a most impressive manner.
As a result, further steps will be taken to improve the lot of these people, who are among the most ne-
glected of all the minorities on this continent.
We are thankful that the Latter-day Saints have taken an active part over the years in providing extensive aid to them. Particularly have we given assis- tance in the educational field. This year
daily seminary classes are being pro- vided for more than 15,000 Indian students, and through the efforts of the Church an additional 5,000 are receiv- ing full-time elementary and high school education at no cost to them- selves.
Era, December 1970 117
We also provide a college program for many of our Indians, of whom 475 are enrolled this year at Brigham Young University; 426 took college work there last year.
Brigham Young University has con- ferred B.A. degrees upon 85 Indian stu- dents recently, and 20 have received masters or doctors degrees. More than a score are now enrolled in graduate school there.
Brigham Young University also has an Institute of American Indian Re- search and Services, and through it supervises more than thirty agricultural projects for Indians in the Western America.
Ecclesiastical training is likewise be- ing provided for more than 35,000 In- dians who are members of our church.
They are bright and adaptable and are proud of their ancestral heritage, for they know they are descended from a great people.
Recently we attended a gathering of Mexican residents of Salt Lake City and heard them express great pride in their Indian ancestry, and well they may, for the more we learn about the early inhabitants of Mexico, the more we realize that indeed they were truly a great race.
This conclusion was reached also by Dr. Alfred V. Kidder, one of the
The Marvels of Copan, the historian Munoz wrote: "Architecture, astron- omy, mathematics, painting, weaving and all the arts that embellish life, once flourished here."
He emphasized that the forefathers of the Indians were not savages in any sense, for no savage, he said, ever con- ceived of the wonders which were commonly known among the Mayans.
Dr. Wissler, on page 147 of his book on Mayan civilization, explains that the Mayans manufactured paper through a process similar to that of the Egyp- tians in making writing materials from papyrus.
The American Heritage Book of In- dians, on page 19, says:
"The Mayans attained the highest civilization known in ancient America and one of the highest known any place in the early world."
These people had a well-developed irrigation system. They built dams and aqueducts. They terraced hillsides, turning them into productive farm lands by the use of irrigation. These water systems were in general use 2,000 years before the Spaniards came, and some of them still exist.
The early Americans were a numer- ous people. About the time of the con- quest there were 25 million in Central Mexico alone.
leading authorities on Mayan culture. In his book A Guide to Quirigua, this eminent scholar said:
"The great cities of the old Mayan Empire were built during the first part of the Christian era. For nearly 600 years these gifted people were leaders in art and architecture, mathematics and astronomy. They evolved a cal- endar in some ways more accurate than ours. . . . The growth of the Indian civilizations, although differing in de-, tail, was strikingly like that of our own, which originated in Egypt and Meso- potamia. . . . Social and economic systems were organized, cities grew, re- ligion developed, and temples were built for worship."
Writing in a similar vein, in his book
But more impressive than any of these facts about the early Americans is their account of a visitation among their ancestors nearly 2,000 years ago, of a divine personage who remained among them for many days, teaching and blessing them.
These highly intelligent and skillful early Americans affirmed that this per- sonage taught them a divine religion, healed their sick, raised some of the dead, taught new and more productive agricultural methods, and established a government of equity and peace.
Their accounts say that he came among them suddenly and left equally so, in a supernatural manner. The ancients regarded him as the Creator, come to earth in bodily form.
That he was a Christian divinity none can successfully deny.
That his teachings were akin to the Bible is now readily admitted.
And that he promised to return in a second coming is also an acknowledged fact.
The account of his appearance was preserved through generations of In- dians from Chile to Alaska, and inter- estingly enough, it is likewise well known among the Polynesians from Hawaii to New Zealand, giving one more evidence of the close relationship between the Polynesians and the early inhabitants of the Americas.
In the main all such accounts agree. They differ in name and minor details from island to island and from country to country, but the overall conclusion is the same — there was a visitation by a heavenly being among those people nearly 2,000 years ago.
Of such veracity is the information now available concerning him that Paul Herrmann was induced to say in his book The Conquest of Man:
"Carefully considered this leaves no conclusion open than that the Light God Quetzalcoatl was a real person, that he was neither the invention of Spanish propaganda nor a legendary figment of Indian imagination." (Page 72.)
Keep in mind that this comes from the highly intelligent early Americans who knew astronomy, mathematics, ir- rigation, and architecture. It was not the dream of an ignorant or super- stitious people. It was history from one of the highest civilizations known among ancient men.
This great being was known as Quetzalcoatl in parts of Mexico, pri- marily in the Cholula area. He was Votan in Chiapas and Wixepechocha in Oaxaca; Gucumatz in Guatemala; Virachocha and Hyustus in Peru; Sume in Brazil, and Bochica in Colombia.
To the Peruvians he was also known as Con-tici or Illa-tici, tici meaning both creator and light. To the Mayans he was principally known as Kukulcan.
In the Polynesian islands he was known as Lono, Kana, Kane, or Kon, and sometimes as Kanaloa, meaning the great light or great brightness. He was also known among some Poly- nesians as Kane-Akea, the great pro- genitor, or as Tonga-roa, the god of the ocean sun.
What did he look like, this divine personage?
He was described by the ancients as a tall white man, bearded, and having blue eyes. He wore loose, flowing robes. He seemed to be a person of great au- thority and unmeasured kindness. He had power to make hills into plains and
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plains into high mountains. He could bring fountains of water from the solid rock.
One of the remarkable things about his coming was that he appeared after several days of dense darkness during which the people had prayed constantly for a return of the sun. While the darkness yet prevailed — and I refer to the book The Incas, by Pedro de Leon — the people suffered great hardships and offered earnest prayers to God, seeking a return of the light that had failed.
When at last the sun did shine, this divinity appeared. Says Pedro de Leon: He was a "white man of large stature whose air and Person aroused great respect and veneration. . . . And when they saw his power they called him the Maker of all things; their Begin- ner; the Father of the sun." (The Incas.)
This personage, as he taught his re- ligion, urged the people to build tem- ples for worship, and his followers became very devout. (Pierre Honore, In Quest of the White God.) As he left them, he promised to come again, which caused the natives for many generations to look for his return even as the Jews look for their promised Messiah.
This faith led to disaster on two occasions, however, when the Spaniards came to America and when Captain Cook sailed to the Hawaiian Islands. But these tragedies served only to rein- force the truth of the tradition.
When Cortez came to Mexico and the coastal natives saw him, they ob- served that he was a large white man. They hurried to their king, Monte- zuma, and announced that the Great White God had finally returned.
This had a striking effect upon Montezuma. He remembered that when he was crowned as emperor, the priests of the native religion reminded him: "This is not your throne; it is only lent to you and will one day be returned to the Great One to whom it is due." (Honore, p. '66.)
The Spanish author Duran, in his book The Aztecs, says that when Montezuma sent his faithful servant to greet Cortez and lead him to the palace, the servant addressed Cortez as "O Lord and True God," and added, "wel- come to this your country and king- dom." Duran further says that the Indians considered Cortez' companions as divine beings also.
This Spanish author then continues:
"There is no doubt that Montezuma was greatly preoccupied with the re- turn of Quetzalcoatl who had left the Vera Cruz coast and had promised to return.
"Montezuma and the other digni-
taries of his kingdom were totally con- vinced that Cortez and Quetzalcoatl were one and the same, as can be seen in the chronicles. . . .
"As late as 1864 when the blond bearded Emperor Maximilian arrived in Vera Cruz, reminiscences lingered in the minds of the Indians which re- minded them of the promise of the return of Quetzalcoatl."
Montezuma accepted Cortez as though he were Deity, but the treach- ery of the Spaniards and his men soon soon changed that, and warfare re- sulted. Poor, trusting Montezuma lost both his throne and his life, but the tradition remained.
A similar situation occurred when Captain James Cook, the British ex- plorer, came to Hawaii. Peculiarly enough, he landed there when the na- tives were celebrating their Makahiki Festival, which kept alive the tradition of the White God among the Poly- nesians. Cook also was received as Deity and taken to the sacred temple of Lono. But his men were far less than angelic, and their depredations brought down the wrath of the natives upon the entire landing party. In the battle which ensued, Cook lost his life.
But in reality, who was the Great White God? It was not Captain Cook, and certainly it was not Cortez. Who was he?
When Jesus Christ ministered in Palestine, he told the people there, as is recorded in the tenth chapter of the Gospel of John, that he had other sheep, not of the fold of Palestine, but elsewhere. ". . . them also I must bring," he said, "and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (John 10:16.)
Jesus of Nazareth was this White God I After his resurrection in the Holy Land he did in reality visit the early Americans. How do we know?
In the western hemisphere, as in ancient Palestine, prophets ministered among the people, giving them inspired direction. As did the prophets in the Holy Land, they also compiled records of all important events.
They had predicted the coming of Christ among them, and the people fully expected him.
After the three days of darkness which had afflicted them, the people were gathered about their temple when they heard a voice from heaven which said:
"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name— hear ye him."
This caused them to look into the skies, and there they saw, descending to the earth, a glorious Personage who came and stood before them. And as
the ancient volume records it:
". . . he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another. . . .
"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.
"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world. . . ."
Then the Savior said to them:
"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
"And it came to pass that the multi- tude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know
"But in reality,
who was the Great
White God?"
of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come.
"And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying:
"Hosannah! Blessed be the name of the Most High God I And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did wor- ship him." (3 Ne. 11:7-11, 14-17.)
He taught them his true religion, healed their sick, blessed their chil- dren, and organized his church on the western hemisphere as he had done in Palestine.
This is what gave rise to the tradi- tion of the Indians and Polynesians. And it has lived until now, being transmitted from generation to gen- eration.
Era, December 1970 119
But how may we be sure that it was the Christ?
As we mention, the many prophets who lived in ancient America wrote their histories and revelations as did the prophets, in Palestine. They made many volumes. Finally these records were abridged and compiled into one by a prophet named Mormon, who lived about 400 years after Christ, here in America.
Because he was the compiler, the book was called after him — the Book of Mormon. It was brought forth in a miraculous manner in our day and identifies the Christ as the White God of ancient times. That book is a vol- ume of scripture as is the Bible. In the twenty-ninth chapter of his writ- ings, Isaiah predicted that in the latter days this new volume of scripture would appear, and he describes its com- ing forth in the manner in which the
Book of Mormon actually was given to the world. This is not mere coinci- dence. It is a modern fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
Isaiah said it would be a sealed book, and it was.
He said the words of the book would be delivered to a learned man who would reject the record, and this was true. Peculiarly enough, and this most certainly helps to identify the book, he said it would pass through the hands of an unlearned man as it came to world attention, and this is exactly what happened.
By way of pointing to the time of its publication, he said the book would appear in the latter days as Palestine became a fruitful field, and this was so.
He predicted that even the deaf would hear the words of the book, and that through it the blind would see
out of darkness and the meek among men wpuld increase their joy in the Lord. All of this came to pass.
And while this was taking place he said the Almighty would perform a marvelous work and a wonder during a period of unbelief in the world, and this too has been accomplished.
The Book of Mormon is the volume to which Isaiah refers. It is scripture, the holy writ of ancient America, pub- lished now for the enlightenment of modern men.
It is a new witness to the divinity of Christ and bears testimony that he is truly and in fact the Son of God, the Savior of the Christians, the Messiah of the Jews, the White God of ancient America, and the Redeemer of all man- kind. And this too is our own testi- mony, and we bear it to you in the sacred name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. O
• My dear brethren and sisters: As I have reflected on many of the profound messages given at this conference, a passage of scripture kept reflecting in my mind. The Lord said to the Prophet Joseph Smith, ". . . the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own domin- ion; And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon . . . the world." (D&C 1:35-36.) We may be in that time. It's a great day to be a saint, with the Lord at the head. There seems to be room on this earth for both saints and for those who choose another course. When the Savior closed his ministry on this earth, he left a message in closing that it would be unto the ends of the earth: "Go ye into all the world,
and preach the gospel to every crea- ture." (Mark 16:15.)
We have just returned from Japan, a marvelous experience there, helping supervise and direct the work of the Mormon Pavilion at the World's Fair. We have a great body of Japanese people here at this conference. They are an interesting people. They are a great people. Many of them are going to have patriarchal blessings while they are here. Those who have had patri- archal blessings that I have spoken with come from the tribe of Joseph, a fruitful bough.
Expo '70 was the first world's fair to be staged in Asia and has been ac- claimed by many to be the most suc- cessful world's fair ever to be held.
Seventy-seven countries and 42 do- mestic organizations sponsored pavilions at the fair. There were only two
religious pavilions represented — the Christian ecumenical pavilion, spon- sored by the Catholic and Protestant churches of Japan, and the Mormon Pavilion, representing The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon Pavilion was very popular and crowded each day from the time the fair was opened until it closed.
During the six months that the fair was running, almost 65 million people attended the fair, and over ten percent of that 65 million visited the Mormon Pavilion. Our attendance was 6,658,- 532 — almost a miracle for the small pavilion we had to even come close to accommodating them.
Many of this number were not able to see all of the exhibits because of the crowds or to hear the dialogue and testimonies of the missionaries. But out of those who were able to follow the
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missionaries and receive the full presen- tation, 780,000 signed the guest register referral books, and many of them asked to know more about the doctrines and teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The main objectives of our exhibit were to make friends with these people, teach them about a living God and a living Jesus Christ, and to explain with visual aids the Lord's plan and purpose of life.
Our most impressive exhibit was the spirit of the dedicated, loving, inspired missionaries. The missionaries radiated a great love for the Oriental people and the Oriental people had great respect for the missionaries. One Japanese gentleman said to me, "I can hardly believe that such fine, clean young people would leave their homes, pay their own way, and learn a new lan- guage. They must truly love us."
All the missionaries serving in the four missions in Japan will have many additional opportunities to reach and teach the people as a result of the fair.
Convert baptisms have doubled in Japan in the past few months and are still increasing. The Japanese mem- bers of the Church are very dedicated, sincere, loving people.
The country of Japan covers an area about the size of the state of California and has a population of over 101 mil- lion people and room for many more. It is a land filled with religion. There are 106,000 Buddhist temples and over 100,000 Shinto shrines. Less than one percent of the Japanese people are members of a Christian church. There are about 350,000 who belong to the Catholic Church, and 400,000 belong to the various Protestant churches, and approximately 12,000 are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints.
The Japanese people are seeking and looking for better ways and seem to be looking for a living God and for a greater purpose in both life and death, and many seem to be receptive and interested in the doctrines and teach- ings of Jesus Christ.
I would like to read from a letter we received from Dr. Lorin F. Wheel- wright, dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications at Brigham Young University. He sent this letter after his visit to Expo '70 and the Mor- mon Pavilion:
"May I share with you the feelings that sweep over me as I contemplate my visit with you and as I witnessed the manner in which our missionaries used Expo '70 to bring the gospel to the Japanese people. Never have I seen such crowds of people, curious and eager to witness the 'Progress of Mankind.' Each day I was there more
than 700,000 thronged the fairgrounds. They fascinated me more than the spectacular^ electronic, space, and mo- tion-picture extravaganzas that awaited them. These patient people would queue up for two to three hours at each of the major pavilions. I was impressed by their orderliness and quiet deter- mination to see what obviously they had saved their yen to see.
"Our pavilion stood as a landmark of spirituality in a sea of materialism. It is true that many pavilions showed the historical and present concern of nations and industries for man and his strivings for a better life. But ours had the unique contribution of inviting all men and women to 'the peace that passeth all understanding.' With the terrific crowds surging upon you, I marveled at the calmness of our mis- sionaries, the almost stark simplicity of our exhibit, the opportunity to sit down and see a film without distraction, which told in understandable language and appealing picture that the quest for happiness must be a spiritual quest if ever man is to find it.
"Your kind invitation for me to meet two groups of missionaries gave me insight regarding the real reason our pavilion was different from all others. These young men and women were obviously serving beyond the call of duty. They radiated the fire of St. Paul and the persistence of Moses. Their friendly smiles and patient ex- planations must have been a joy to the Japanese who personify these char- acteristics so beautifully. They treated people with courtesy and let the spirit of their callings reach out to touch the spirits of those who came to look and inquire. When I learned that after each long day they put on their work clothes and cleaned the building, I knew that they personified the bended knee of reverence and work — both of which the Savior said were essential to man's salvation.
"After talking with you, I realized anew that our message to the world is not expressed in the slickness of our ex- hibit. Our appeal is in the sincerity and truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is this power that brings men of all faiths to ask, 'Not who is right, but what is right?' It is this testimony which invites the devout Protestant, Catholic, Buddhist, or athe- ist to ponder his ultimate values and open his heart to the greater truth that we bear to the world. Although our exhibit showed pictures of Mormonism at work in the lives of our members, I am convinced that it was the heart of the message that touched people and the honesty of the messengers who opened their eyes and hearts to see and feel.
"I was thrilled that you called these missionaries together at the beginning and closing of each shift to share in the spirit of devotion. Their prayers and testimonies touched me deeply."
I would like to read a few of the many thousands of comments that were written by visitors to the Mormon Pavilion:
One employee at the fair said, "This pavilion is our oasis at Expo '70. The theme of Expo is 'Progress and Har- mony for Mankind' and that is 'man's search for happiness.' I pay my re- spects to your pavilion for giving us the living God."
Another: "I think this pavilion gives me a good opportunity to change my life. Thanks for the missionaries."
"The movie helped me to know about my life and that death is not the end."
"The film made birth, living and death part of 'man's search for hap- piness.'
"I am not a Christian, but now I want to know about Christianity."
"The Mormon Pavilion is my best memory of Expo. I want to know more."
"This pavilion moved me to think about God. I felt his spirit here."
"The moving picture made me re- consider my life and my happiness."
"I found love and truth in this pavilion."
"I think your religion is true."
"I want to know about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon."
"This is the second time I have visited the Mormon Pavilion. I want to know more about Jesus Christ and true happiness."
"I do not have a religion. I have found something here to help direct my life. I want to come again."
"My religion has not taught me about a living God. I am looking for God and happiness."
"I have thought that God existed far from us, but today I felt God near me. Thanks for this pavilion."
"I am glad to learn that man is a child of God. I pray for the success of this pavilion."
"I had no interest in religion when I came to the fair, but I was moved by the spirit of the missionaries."
"I felt comfortable without any re- sistance. I want to know more about your religion."
"I have always believed that there was a God, and today I felt deeply his power."
We had literally thousands and thousands of comments comparable to these.
A young lady, Miss Reimi Yoma- mota, who served as secretary at the pavilion and was not a member when
Era, December 1970 121
she started but later joined the Church, made this statement as we were leav- ing the station: "I received the greatest blessing of all the people who came to Expo. I received a testimony of Jesus Christ and of his gospel. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and that the Book of Mormon is from God." A young man who worked at the Russian pavilion came as we were closing and said, "I feel bad that this building is closing. I have felt more happiness and more religion and more love here than at any other place I have been in my life."
Brothers and sisters, I must close. You who have a testimony of the Lord's work, you who are saints, you have the answers the world is looking for, the world would like to know about a living God. The world would like to know that the scriptures of God are true. You have these answers.
Probably the greatest message that has come to this earth since the resur- rection and the ascension of Jesus Christ is the Joseph Smith testimony. This was distributed extensively at Expo.
As the Japanese people come into
the Church, they make great saints when they are converted.
I bear witness that Jesus Christ is the God of all mankind, the God of the yellow race, the red, the black, and the white races. I bear witness that Joseph Fielding Smith is the prophet of all mankind on this earth, to all races, kindreds, tongues, and people; and that the only way mankind can receive celestial glory is by following the prophet of God and by accepting the program of Jesus Christ. I so bear witness in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. q
• My brothers and sisters: It is a choice and wonderful experience to be called to be an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, but it is also a very humbling experience. I feel especially humble this afternoon as I stand before you for the first time as a General Authority and contemplate the sacredness and the importance of this great call. I ask for an interest in your faith and prayers, not just here today but on a continuous basis, that I might be able to serve in the way the Lord would like me to serve.
I am grateful for this call because I love the Lord, and I have found great joy and satisfaction in being in his service, in helping to build the kingdom of God here upon the earth, and in try- ing to serve my fellowmen.
I know that God lives; that Jesus Christ is his Son, the Redeemer of the world; that Joseph Smith was indeed a' true prophet of God, through whom the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in these the last days and through whom the Church of Jesus Christ was re- established. I know that President Joseph Fielding Smith is a true prophet
of God, and I sustain him and all the other brethren with all my heart.
How grateful I am for this testimony, and how grateful I am to those who helped me gain it early in life, and who have helped me strengthen it with the passage of time.
I should like to pay tribute today to my ancestors who accepted the gospel, joined the Church, and gave me a rich heritage, and to my parents and broth- ers and sisters, all of whom taught me the gospel by example. My mother was ope of the sweetest women who ever lived, and my father was truly a noble man. It has been said that an honest man is the noblest work of God. That's the kind of man my father was. Those of you who knew him and had dealings with him' know that I speak the truth.
I married rather late in life. The Lord went the extra mile with me and gave me a wonderful person to be my wife and blessed our home with six lovely children. I love them dearly, and they are all supporting me whole- heartedly, without reservations, in this new assignment.
Let me take a moment to share a
choice experience we had together on Father's Day. It happened in a Sunday School service. I didn't know anything about what was planned. At the ap- propriate time the chorister asked my family members to come forward. Then my wife and five daughters sang "We Ever Pray for Thee, Our Father Dear." They substituted the word Father, in place of the word prophet, in the song for this occasion and sang it that way. Then my only son re- cited the poem "I Follow a Noble Father." My heart was touched and so were the hearts of all others who were there. I am grateful for my won- derful family.
I should like to say thanks to all you wonderful people in Alberta, Canada, who taught me in my early youth, in Sunday School, Primary, and MIA; to my colleagues and students at Utah State University; to people throughout the state of Utah with whom I have worked over the years; and to President Glen Taggart, president of Utah State University, who has been very help- ful and understanding during the transition period between my assign-
122
ment at Utah State University and my assignment with the Church.
Four others to whom I am deeply indebted are President Hugh B. Brown, who was my stake president in the Lethbridge Stake when I was a boy; Asael E. Palmer, a counselor to Presi- dent Brown at that time, who later became president of the Lethbridge Stake, where he served for many years; my uncle, Archibald F. Bennett, one of the great teachers of the Church, who lived about as close to his Father in heaven as any man I know; and my Scoutmaster, Vernon Bigelow. These men had the ability to reach me when I lacked confidence in myself as a boy. They helped me set worthwhile goals and objectives and to gain a vision of the importance of the gospel in my life and in the scheme of things. I just want to say I will be eternally grateful to these men for what they did for me and are still doing.
Let me take a moment to share a choice experience that I had with Presi- dent Brown. I have always been in- terested in athletics. One day when I was about 15 years of age, I was tak- ing part in the high jump in a tri-stake MIA track meet. We had reached the height where most of the jumpers were eliminated; there were just two of us still in there. I knocked the bar off twice and had one jump remaining. President Brown, who was watching the event, came over, put his arm on my shoulder, and said, "Young man, you can clear that bar; I know you can. I have been watching you. You are not over the bar when you are at the highest point. If you adjust your take- off just a bit, you will clear that bar, young man. I know you will!"
Something happened to me inside. It seemed as though new strength had come into my body from President Brown. I went up to that bar with complete assurance that I could clear it and I did. I shall never forget that experience.
In the days of my youth the Lord saw fit to bless me with an inferiority complex. I say "blessed" because in wrestling with this problem I learned the meaning of humility. I learned what it meant to get close to my Father in heaven through prayer on an almost continuous basis. I learned that in problems we find our challenges. In those challenges lie opportunities. If we can just identify those opportunities and capitalize on them, growth, prog- ress, and success will result. I learned that strength comes from facing up to problems squarely and realistically, not from disregarding them or avoiding them.
The world today is beset by many problems, and mention has been made
of this in various ways during this conference. When man unaided tries to solve these problems, he frequently finds that new problems arise, and there is confusion, more confusion, con- tradictions, strife, and contention. Fi- nally, man may resort to war to try to solve his difficulties. But war does not solve difficulties. This was brought forcibly to my mind recently when I was in Europe participating in a semi- nar for mission presidents and their wives. The seminar was held in Brus- sels, Belgium, just a few miles from Waterloo, where the forces of the Duke of Wellington engaged the forces of Napoleon in a great battle, back in about 1815. And it was just a few miles from Flanders Field and not very far from Dunkirk, where other battles and fighting took place at different times in the history of the world.
And now war is with us again, and many people are deeply troubled and confused. But I should like to say that the great battles of the world are not fought on the battlefields. They are fought in the hearts and in the minds of men and women everywhere, as they wrestle with their problems, try to meet the difficulties and issues that confront them, exercise their free agency, and make choices. The forces of evil and the forces of righteousness are both try- ing to influence the decisions, and there is conflict in the hearts and minds of men everywhere. If the forces of righteousness triumph universally, there will be love, harmony, and peace on earth. If the forces of evil dominate, there will be outward expressions that lead to war and destruction.
The gospel of Jesus Christ can re- solve those inner conflicts and bring inner peace and outer peace as well. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the most valuable, the most needed message in the world today. It is the answer to the problems that grow out of man's selfishness and greed, where such a high percentage of the problems arise. The gospel teaches us to build rather than to destroy, to help people to give of themselves in unselfish service to others rather than being on the receiv- ing end of things most of the time.
Over the years men and women have learned to appreciate the importance of free agency. But all too frequently they overlook the fact that along with free agency there must be responsibility and accountability. One has his free agency to determine what he will do and what he will not do, but he does not have his free agency to determine the consequences, because laws operate.
The gospel teaches the importance of obedience to law. President Lee re- ferred to that so beautifully this morning when he talked about the
astronauts. Let me make a further ap- plication. You will remember tha the astronauts on one of the missions had an outward trip and a return trip. On the outward trip their goal was the moon. On the return trip their goal was the earth, their home base. They reached their goals both going and coming because they themselves, the engines and the instruments under their control, and those at mission control at home base were able to oper- ate in accordance with law.
Do you remember what happened on the Apollo 13 mission that Brother Lee referred to? As they made their re- turn trip they were almost home when they found out that they were off course a bit. They had to make a correction. To do so, they had to fire their engine. If that engine hadn't fired, the cor- rection could not have been made; they would have missed the earth by eighty miles, and we wouldn't have been able to bring them back. But the engine did fire, the correction was made, and they returned to earth safe and sound.
Is there not an important lesson there
"In the days of my
youth the Lord saw fit
to bless me with an
inferiority complex"
for us? Is it not true that we, too, had an outward trip when we left our Father in heaven in the spirit world and came to earth? Are we not now walking around on our earth, which might be likened to the astronaut's moon? And is it not true that whether or not we will be able sometime in the future to return to our Father in heaven, our home base, will be de- pendent on our willingness and our ability to observe the laws and keep the commandments that pertain thereto? And is it not true that the Lord has provided us with a way through re- pentance for making a correction to put us back on course when we have strayed because of sin?
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the an- swer to all problems. However, men and women everywhere must be doers of the word, and not hearers only, if they would have peace within them- selves and peace in the world and would find joy and happiness in this life and in the life to come. This is our great and important test. May we be equal to it, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Era, December 1970 123
• I know now, my brethren and sisters, what it is to dig the last fence-post hole. Being one of the last speakers at this conference has prompted my mind in the reflection of some other last things, and I thought of my grandparents who were convert immi- grants from England. They were on one of the last wagon trains to Utah before the coming of the railroad. That officially makes them pioneers.
My father, with long, curly, black hair, was a member of this pioneer family. While they were on the trail camped for the night, well-meaning Indians came into the camp in search of food. The chief of the Indian band later that night stole back with seven Indian ponies and tied them to the wagon wheel and took my father. This held up the wagon train for several days until the scouts could find the Indian camp. They waited for the braves to go on a hunting expedition. Then they rescued my father from a wickiup and left in payment, in In- dian fashion, the same seven ponies, but they placed on the back of each pony a pioneer blanket. This is a true Indian trading principle, and I believe it is a good principle, because it is always better to give more than we receive.
Two of my aunts, Valentina and Annie Etta, died on that entourage; Valentina was buried on the plains. This black-haired boy grew to man- hood and became a part of the Old West. For a number of years as a young man he used to light the gas
lamps on Main Street. There were 36 of them. I have often heard him tell that they chose him because he was tall and he could reach and turn them off in the morning and on at night.
There is another story that I re- membered of him, as Victor Brown was speaking about the deacons. My father had a great influence with young people. There in the area where he lived, one of the deacons had been seriously reprimanded by the bishop or someone who was teaching the class of deacons, and he became belligerent and vowed that he would never go back to church again. This young man was so influential that he influenced 11 other deacons to stay away from church, and these 12 boys bound themselves together and called them- selves the twelve apostles. They built a hut that was partially submerged under the ground, and this is where they held their private meetings. Their sole purpose was to bother any boy who would try to go to priesthood meeting, and many of them were beaten up on their way and intimidated to try to prevent them from going to church.
My father was given the assignment to try to get these boys back into ac- tivity in the Church, and he did this by going to their hut and visiting with them for long periods of time, until one by one he got them to come back. This is a success story, for every one of those boys except one went into the mission field. I have often thought of this experience accomplished by the
boy who was taken by the Indians, who left seven ponies to pay for him. I am glad, of course, that they didn't keep him.
I rejoice with you, my brothers and sisters, in the faith-promoting inspira- tion of what we have heard and felt at this great conference, which will soon come to a close.
Such gatherings in ancient times are scriptural ly referred to as feasts, and I suppose that description is appropriate today, for surely we have had a feast of the gospel. As always, when the saints of God meet in conference, there is an outpouring of the Spirit, causing a renewal of faith and a reas- surance of our convictions, that we might continue steadfast through grati- tude and sacrifice in meeting the challenge of a rightousness in the pro- gressive journey of life.
Perhaps if a central motif or master theme could be deducted from this conference, it would emphasize the need of testimony, of a contriteness of spirit, a greater meekness in serving the' Lord and in working out our salvation. I think it was Pogo who said, "We have met the enemy and he is us."
In a revelation especially applicable to the Saints in Zion, who at that par- ticular time were assembled in Jackson County, Missouri, the Lord gave this commandment, among others that were stressed at the time, and which I think finds application among us today as it did then:
"Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.
124
"Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit." (D&C 59:7-8.)
This divine commandment is related, I believe, to other utterances of the Lord and is characteristic of his person.
In one of his never-to-be-forgotten sermons unto the multitudes that fol- lowed him, he uttered the sayings which have become known as the Beatitudes. Herein is described the moral character required in those who are to constitute his kingdom. These are familiar to all of us. May I repeat them.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.'
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
"Blessed are they which are perse- cuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:3- 10.)
To seemingly emphasize the impor- tance of these characteristics, and that they were displayed in the Master him- self, we have his utterances upon an- other occasion.
"At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.
"Even so, Father: for so it seemeth good in thy sight.
"All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy Laden, and I will give you rest.
"Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
"For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." (Matthew 11:25-30.)
Concerning the inheriting of the earth by the meek, this no doubt has reference to its condition after it has received its regenerated glory unto that of a celestial glory. Of this the Lord has plainly spoken in this dispensation.
"Therefore, it must needs be sancti- fied from all unrighteousness, that it may be prepared for the celestial glory;
"For after it hath filled the measure of its creation, it shall be crowned with glory, even with the presence of God the Father;
"That bodies who are of the celes- tial kingdom may possess it forever and ever; for, for this intent was it made and created, and for this intent are they sanctified." (D&C 88:18-20.)
I believe there is perhaps a distinc- tion between humility and meekness. It may be said that meekness is a con- dition of voluntary humility. The prophet Alma seemed to recognize a distinction, as we may gather from these words:
"And now, as I said unto you, that because ye were compelled to be hum- ble ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word?
"Yea, he that truly humbleth him- self, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed — yea, much more blessed than they who are compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty.
"Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being com- pelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God, and is baptized with- out stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe." (Al. 32:14-16.)
The beatitude said, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God."
While speaking unto the weary and oppressed of the Saints, who had par- ticipated in laying the foundation in Zion, the Lord proclaimed that only those with the obedience and willing- ness of the pure in heart and mind were of the house of Ephraim. Here is his important counsel given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, which is appli- cable today as preparations go forward in the destiny of God's people.
"Wherefore, be not weary in well- doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
"Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.
"And the rebellious shall be cut off out of the land of Zion, and shall be sent away, and shall not inherit the land.
"For, verily I say that the rebellious are not of the blood of Ephraim, where- fore they shall be plucked out." (D&C 64:33-36.)
It is the good and honest of heart among the people of the world who most readily respond to the message of the Restoration as declared by the mis- sionaries who bring it to them. And these who are truly spiritually con- verted become and are the more faith- ful of the Latter-day Saints. For the Lord himself declared that only those who "doeth good" are ready to receive a fullness of the gospel. (D&C 35:12.)
Perhaps the impact of meekness and honesty of heart can be more fully appreciated by the characteristics that are opposite. These are appropriately spoken of by Paul the apostle in rela- tion to the very day and age in which we live, wherein he has said:
believe
there is a distinction
between humility
and weakness"
"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
"For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
"Without natural affection, truce- breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
"Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Tim. 3:1-7.)
I bear testimony of the fact that we have the truth. The course of the true Latter-day Saint is to nurture and live by that truth which we accept, casting aside the extraneous things that can only mar and distort the simple effec- tiveness of the gospel. For truly the everlasting gospel is the glad tidings of great joy.
In closing, I quote these words from the apostle Peter, which I think make a good code for our protection:
"Honour all men. Love the brother- hood. Fear God. Honour the king [Christ]." (1 Pet. 2:17.)
I bear my testimony to you, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Era, December 1970 125
• Before we announce President Smith as the next and concluding speaker of the conference, it seems appropriate to say one or two things.
When the Church was first orga- nized, in fact, the day on which it was organized, the Lord was speaking to the Church. He didn't mean just the six- members that were then the consti- tuted number of the Church: he was speaking about the President of the Church, who was the Prophet Joseph Smith at that time. And this is what he said:
"Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words [the President's words] and command- ments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holi- ness before me;
"For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.
"For by doing these things the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory." (D&C 21:4-6.)
We have some tight places to go before the Lord is through with this church and the world in this dispen- sation, which is the last dispensation, which shall usher in the coming of the Lord. The gospel was restored to pre- pare a people ready to receive him. The power of Satan will increase; we see it in evidence on every hand. There will be inroads within the Church. There will be, as President Tanner has said, "Hypocrites, those professing, but secretly are full of dead men's bones." We will see those who profess member- ship but secretly are plotting and trying to lead people not to follow the leader-
ship that the Lord has set up to pre- side in this church.
Now the only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was orga- nized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, "as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; ... as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith." (D&C 21:4-5.) There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that "the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory." (D&C 21:6.)
Now we have a President of the Church who has grown to great years. Since he was installed as President six months ago, he has been down in Mexico with Sister Smith. He has been to the Arizona Temple, where he gave the sealing keys to a new temple presidency. He has been in the Ha- waiian Islands, where he participated in an anniversary of the Church Col- lege of Hawaii, and some of the early events in the history of that place.
In connection with this conference, there has been an intense assignment to the President of the Church.
A week ago Thursday, all the Gen- eral Authorities met in an upper room of the temple fasting and praying,
trying to prepare themselves spiritu- ally for this conference. I believe we witnessed the outpouring of the Spir- it, which is an evidence of the Lord's answer to the prayers that were offered at that time. President Smith addressed the General Authorities. He participated in the Relief Society con- ference and spoke to the sisters. He spoke at the Sunday School conference. He addressed this conference in the first session. He addressed the priesthood session, and he will address this session. As I thought of the role of President Tanner and myself as his counselors, I thought of a circumstance in the life of Moses, when the enemies of the church in that day were just as they are in this day. They were threatening to overcome and tear down and to stop
126
the work of the church. As Moses sat upon a hill and raised the rod of his authority, or the keys of his priesthood, Israel prevailed over their enemies; but as the day wore on, his hands became heavy and began to droop at his side. And so they held up his hands so they would not be weakened and the rod would not be lowered. He would be sustained so that the enemies of the church would not prevail over the saints of the Most High God. (See Exod. 17:8-12.)
I think that is the role that Presi- dent Tanner and I have to fulfill. The hands of President Smith may grow
weary. They may tend to droop at times because of his heavy responsi- bilities; but as we uphold his hands, and as we lead under his direction, by his side, the gates of hell will not prevail against you and against Israel. Your safety and ours depends upon whether or not we follow the ones whom the Lord has placed to preside over his church. He knows whom he wants to preside over this church, and he will make no mistake. The Lord doesn't do things by accident. He has never done anything accidentally. And I think the scientists and all the philos- ophers in the world have never dis-
covered or learned anything that God didn't already know. His revelations are more powerful, more meaningful, and have more substance than all the secular learning in the world.
Let's keep our eye on the President of the Church and uphold his hands as President Tanner and I will con- tinue to do.
President Smith, we honor and sus- tain you in that high place because the Lord has put you there. It will now be our delight, our beloved President, to give you an opportunity to leave us your blessing as we conclude this great conference. Q
• My dear brethren and sisters: As we conclude another great conference of the Church, I desire to leave my bless- ings upon you.
The priesthood is the power to bless mankind, and all ot those who hold the priesthood are expected to use it within the sphere of their assignment to bless their fellowmen. When any of us use this authority in righteous- ness, and as directed by the Holy Spirit, our acts are binding and will be recog- nized by the Lord both in time and in eternity.
And so I feel to bless the saints, all those who love the Lord and who signify their devotion to his cause by keeping his commandments. I wish to bless them temporally and spiritual- ly and pray God our Father to pour out his bounties upon them so they may be prospered in all their righteous en- deavors.
I speak for myself and for all of you and pour out my soul in thanksgiving to the Lord for all he has so bounte- ously bestowed upon us.
We have been set up as a free people
by the power of our Eternal Father. The beauties and bounties of nature are ours, and we have these truths by obedience to which we can live lives that will be pleasing in his sight, that will give us peace and joy in this life, and assure us of an eternal and abun- dant life with him in his everlasting kingdom.
I feel to say, O our Eternal Father, pour out thy Spirit more abundantly upon these thy saints, upon this rem- nant of scattered Israel which has gathered to thy gospel in these last days.
Thou knowest that as a people we desire to serve thee, to keep the com- mandments, and to carry thy message of truth and righteousness to thy people everywhere. For this reason we send our missionaries to every part of the world. I have had my sons in the mission field constantly for many years. One is in the mission field at this pres- ent time in a foreign country, where he has been for several years.
We thank thee, our Father, for- the great outpouring of truth and light that has come from the lips of thy servants
at this conference, and which has been carried into the hearts of honest men everywhere by the power of thy Holy Spirit.
We thank thee that we have been fed the bread of life, that we have been strengthened spiritually and are now renewed and refreshed and ready to go forth on thy errand, doing to the best of our abilities those things which thou wouldst have us do.
Our Father in heaven, we are grate- ful for all thou hast given us; we acknowledge thy hand in all things, and we pray for the success and tri- umph of thy purposes in all the earth.
We know that thou hast spoken in this day as thou didst in days of old, and we are pleased to be instruments in thy hands of carrying thy message to the world, and of standing as lights to the world so that they, seeing our good works, may be led to glorify thee.
And unto thy holy name we ascribe the honor and glory in all things both now and forever.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. O
Era, December 1970 127
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Christmas— and memories to your children
By Richard L. Evans
At this season there is so much intermingled: /-\ children— innocence, expectancy; loved ones— / \ homecoming, happiness, gay and mellow moods; sometimes loneliness— serious concerns; generosity in some measure, and some emerging of our better selves; and so much else besides— all intermixed with a measure of forgiving and forget- ting, and with memories from all past years that merge and mingle with the present moment. Oh, parents, we would plead, give good and happy mem- ories to your children— not pampering or overin- dulging, not satisfying everything they take a fancy to— but memories of love, encouragement, of peace and harmony and happiness at home— memories that will bless and lift their lives wherever they are, always and forever. Well, swiftly now it comes and goes, and so does life. Oh, let us live it with repen- tance and improvement, with honesty and honor, and with a balance of mind and heart and spirit- along with all the tangibles that are so much in evidence. And one could not, of course, conceive of Christmas without him whose coming it commem- orates: the Prince of Peace, the Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer, concerning whom we witness that he lives, from deep within the certainty of our souls. "I know that my Redeemer liveth." Oh, may we not forget at any time what God has given, or overemphasize the troubles of our time, but go with patience, gratitude, and faith into the future, remem- bering from Longfellow these hopeful, moving lines:
I heard the bells on Christmas day Their old familiar carols play; And wild and sweet the words repeat Of peace on earth, good will to men.
And in despair I bowed my head: "There is no peace on earth," I said, "For hate is strong and mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to men." Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: "God is not dead, nor doth he sleep; The wrong shall fail the right prevail, With peace on earth, good will to men."1
'Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."
128
They Who Served
By Albert L. Zobell, Jr.
Research Editor
• It hardly seems possible that this Era. Many persons' lives have been is the last of 878 inspiration-filled changed with a single issue.
issues of the Improvement Era, whose approximately 73,000 pages have reflected the Church during more than half of its restored life- time during the administrations of seven of the ten Presidents of the Church.
But that final issue is here, and it is a day for momentarily looking back.
The Improvement Era was a mis- sionary. It followed and preceded missionaries in many areas. Many persons have joined the Church as
The Improvement Era has been most fortunate in its writers— Gen- eral Authorities who have shared their prophetic callings as well as members of the Church who have gained a place of insight and of leadership in their chosen fields among mankind. '
The Improvement Era has had a great and devoted readership. One reader, Louis O. Turley, of Mesa, Arizona, submitted an analysis covering the Era from November 1897 to August 1970. He found that
a result of gift subscriptions to the Richard L. Evans had signed 1,492
articles; that the next closest was Franklin S. Harris, Jr., with 369, while John A. Widtsoe had 349. Hugh Nibley, who first came to the Era pages in 1926 while prepar- ing for his mission call, has been our most voluminous writer, with more than 130 major articles.
The Improvement Era— it's like asking me to make the funeral oration for a lifelong friend. For more years than I would willingly admit, the Era has been close to me, and I have often retired with its problems. Illnesses and vacations have been planned so as not to conflict with Era requirements. It's been a most rewarding association!
Listed below are the great names and leaders who have guided lov- ingly this magnificent contribution for good among the Latter-day Saints. O
Era Editors |
Era Business Department |
|||||
Year |
Editors |
(1) Managing Editor (2) Associate Editor (3) Assistant Managing Editor (4) Associate Managing Editor |
Year |
General Manager |
Business Manager |
Assistant (1) or Associate (2) Business Manager |
1897-98 1898-99 |
Joseph F. Smith B. H. Roberts Joseph F. Smith B. H. Roberts Edward H. Anderson |
None None |
1897 190506 1908 1909 |
Heber J. Grant Heber J, Grant Heber J. Grant Heber J. Grant |
Thomas Hull (1) Alpha J. Higgs (1) |
|
1899-1918 1918-27 |
Joseph F. Smith Edward H. Anderson Heber J. Grant Edward H. Anderson |
None None |
1910 1918 1922 |
Heber J. Grant Edward H. Anderson Melvin J. Ballard |
Moroni Snow (1) Moroni Snow (1) Moroni Snow (1) |
|
1927-29 |
Heber J. Grant Hugh J. Cannon |
None |
1927 1929 |
Melvin J. Ballard Melvin J. Ballard |
Clarissa A. Beesley (2) |
|
1929-30 |
Heber J. Grant |
Hugh J. Cannon (1) Elsie T. Brandley (2) |
1930 |
Melvin J. Ballard |
Clarissa A. Beesley (2) 0. B. Peterson (1) |
|
1930-35 1935-36 1936-43 |
Heber J. Grant Heber J. Grant John A. Widtsoe Heber J. Grant John A. Widtsoe |
Harrison R. Merrill (1) Elsie T. Brandley (2) Harrison R. Merrill (1) Marba C. Josephson (2) Richard L. Evans (1) Marba C. Josephson (2) |
1935 1938 1944 1948 1955 |
George Q. Morris George Q. Morris George Q. Morris Elbert R. Curtis Elbert R. Curtis |
J. K. Orton J. K. Orton John D. Giles John D. Giles Verl F. Scott |
Clarissa A. Beesley (2) Lucy G. Cannon (2) Lucy G. Cannon (2) Bertha S. Reeder (2) Bertha S. Reeder (2) |
1943-45 |
Heber J. Grant John A. Widtsoe |
Richard L. Evans (1) Marba C. Josephson (2) William Mulder (2) |
1958 1961 |
Joseph T. Bentley Joseph T. Bentley |
Verl F. Scott Verl F. Scott |
Bertha S. Reeder (2) Florence S. Jacobsen (2) |
(beginning in June 1945) |
1962 |
G. Carlos Smith, Jr. |
Verl F. Scott |
Florence S. Jacobsen (2) |
||
1945-46 |
George Albert Smith John A. Widtsoe |
Richard L. Evans (1) Marba C. Josephson (2) William Mulder (2) (ending in March) |
1966 1969 |
G. Carlos Smith, Jr. W. Jay Eldredge, Jr. |
Verl F. Scott A. Glen Snarr (acting) Verl F. Scott |
Florence S. Jacobsen (2) Florence S. Jacobsen (2) |
1947-49 |
George Albert Smith John A. Widtsoe |
Richard L. Evans (1) Doyle L. Green (3) Marba C. Josephson (2) |
||||
1950-51 |
George Albert Smith John A. Widtsoe |
Doyle L. Green (1) Marba C. Josephson (4) |
||||
1951-52 |
David 0. McKay John A. Widtsoe Richard L. Evans |
Doyle L. Green (1) Marba C. Josephson (4) |
||||
1952-65 |
David O. McKay Richard L. Evans |
Doyle L. Green (1) Marba C, Josephson (4) |
||||
1965-68 |
David O. McKay Richard L. Evans |
Doyle L. Green (1) |
||||
1969 |
David O. McKay Richard L. Evans |
Doyle L. Green (I) Jay M. Todd (3) |
||||
1970 |
Joseph Fielding Smith Richard L. Evans |
Doyle L. Green (1) Jay M. Todd (3) |
Era, December 1970 129
Church School Appointments
The First Presidency has appointed
six Latter-day Saint educators to the Church
Educational System. They will serve under
Neal A. Maxwell, Church Commissioner
of Education. Photos left to right.
Dee F. Andersen, formerly controller of the
University of Utah, has been called to be
associate commissioner for finance and
business. Dr. Joe J. Christensen,
recently released as president of the Mexico
Mission and former director of the institute
of religion adjacent to the University
of Utah, has been called to be associate
commissioner for seminaries and
institutes. Dr. Frank D. Day, assistant
administrator of seminaries and institutes, will continue in that same position. Dr. Dan J. Workman, director of the institute adjacent to the Utah State University campus, has been called to be an assistant administrator of seminaries and institutes. Dr. Kenneth H. Beesley, executive dean of Fresno State College in California, has been called to be associate commissioner for Church Schools. Dr. Keith R. Oakes, assistant administrator of Church Schools, has been called to be administrator for elementary and secondary schools.
Danish Saints Fly to Conference
October general conference was also memorable
for 284 Danish members of the Church who flew nonstop
to Salt Lake City from Copenhagen. Many of the
group had been saving and dreaming for such
a trip for years — and there was many a tearful reunion
with former acquaintances, friends, and relatives.
Among the Danish Saints were 57 members
of the Latter-day Saint Danish Choir.
Under the direction
of Brother Jorgen Ljunstrom, the choir has sung
widely throughout Northern Europe. The choir
has "helped tremendously the missionary effort in Northern
Europe," said Finn Nielsen, public relations specialist
for the Church in Denmark and Scandinavia.
130
Japanese Visitors Attend Temple Sessions
Over the Pole they came, 184 Japanese
Latter-day Saints, the first of two planeloads, to participate
in Japanese language sessions at the Salt Lake Temple
and to attend general conference.
Down the ladder from the huge jet they spilled,
just hours from Tokyo, in a torrent of smiles,
flight bags, and baggage, proceeding through customs with
the orderliness and courtesy born of generations
of refinement.
When they entered the airport waiting room, to be
greeted with warm handclasps and strong embraces
of missionaries who had served in their country,
the excitement needed no words to express the flashes of
recognition and the joys of reunion.
Most of the visitors were young married
couples, many of whom received
their own temple endowments while in
Salt Lake City.
Era, December 1970 131
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The Church Moves On
September 1970
El "We are a temple-building people and this is one of the things which sets us apart from the world. . . . Temple building and temple ordinances are the very heart of our religion," President Joseph Fielding Smith said this morn- ing, as he presided at the cornerstone ceremonies at the Ogden (Utah) Tem- ple. President N. Eldon Tanner of the First Presidency offered the dedicatory prayer and laid the marble corner- stone.
The appointments of Man/a S. Christensen, Carolyn Y. Hunsaker, Georgia C. Faux, and Earleen R. Gregory to the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associa- tion were announced.
The appointments of Dean L. Larsen and J. Fielding Nelson to the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union were announced.
Chesapeake Stake, the 526th now functioning, was organized by Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Council of the Twelve from portions of the Wash- ington (D. C.) Stake. President June B. Thayn and counselors John R. Smith and Victor D. Merrell were sustained.
New stake presidencies: President Wendell G. Eames and counselors Rich- ard G. Scott and Frank L. Shafer, Wash- ington (D.C.) Stake; President David O. Dance and counselors Dale A. Harrison and Bernard J. Barnes, Seattle (Wash- ington) Stake.
132
m
The appointment of Eran A. Call, Provo, Utah, as president of the Mexico Mission was announced by the First Presidency.
E2
Announced today were names of the new magazines of the Church: the Ensign (adult), the New Era (youth), and the Friend (children).
ES "I don't think the nation would have the welfare problems it does if we had a welfare program like yours," U. S. Secretary of Labor James D. Hodgson said to members of the First Presi- dency, as he and three assistant secre- taries, Malcolm R. Lovell, Jerome M. Rosow, and Joseph Loftus, visited in Salt Lake City today.
m The appointment of Mrs. Gwen C. Anderson to the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association was announced.
The appointments of Bruce Lake, Reid H. Johnson, Robert G. Vincent, Howard C. Badger, William N. Jones, and Rulon H. Bradshaw to the general board of the Young Men's Mutual Im- provement Association were announced.
m
New stake presidency: President John Sonnenberg and counselors Dallin H. Oakes and LaVon S. Fife, Chicago (Illinois) South Stake.
The First Presidency urged mem- bers to exercise their faith and prayers on behalf of the people of Southern California whose homes and lives are endangered by devastating and un- controlled fires.
id The annual Relief Society confer- ence began today, with sessions on Temple Square and an evening recep- tion at the Relief Society Building.
October 1970
I Assignments of nine new Regional Representatives of the Council of the Twelve are: Adney Y. Komatsu, Hawaii
Era, December 1970 133
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and Tokyo regions; Wendell B. Menden- hall, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney regions; Lysle R. Cahoon, Oklahoma and Winter Quarters regions; Derek A. Cuthbert, Leeds and Manchester re- gions; Thomas Y. Emmett, Salem and Seattle regions; F. Arthur Kay, Alaska, Vancouver, and Portland regions; H. Burke Peterson, Mesa and Phoenix regions; L. Aldin Porter, Boise and Weiser regionsr.Robert D. Hales, Louisi- ana and Minneapolis regions.
At the same time, the releases of eight Regional Representatives who have served since 1967 were an- nounced: A. Lewis Elggren, Cecil E. Hart, Heber J. Heiner, Jr., David E. Heywood, Howard J. Marsh, S. Reed Millar, Wilford H. Payne, and C. Bryant Whiting.
Sunday School workers began three days of conference to discuss improved teaching methods and to hear Church leaders speak.
The three-day Instructional Media Fair in the Salt Palace was begun to- day, as one of the conference features.
The day for the Relief Society con- ference was one of departmental sessions.
The 140th Semiannual General Conference of the Church began this morning in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. In all, some 300 radio and television stations will broadcast por- tions of this important conference.
This was a season of renewing ac- quaintances and of reliving old times as missionaries and servicemen began holding their traditional reunions to- night.
Conference sessions continued, with general sessions at 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.
The priesthood session of the con- ference was heard by priesthood bear- ers in attendance at 650 meeting places in the United States and Canada, in addition to those attending on Temple Square.
The board of trustees for the new
134
Health Services Corporation of the Church were announced: Presiding Bishop John H. Vandenberg, chairman; Bishop Robert L. Simpson and Bishop Victor L. Brown, vice-chairmen. Board members include Elder Marvin J, Ash- ton, Assistant to the Twelve, managing director, Social Services; James E. Faust, secretary; Dr. James O. Mason, Church commissioner of Health Ser- vices; Neal A. Maxwell, Church commis- sioner of education; Mrs. LaVern W. Parmley, general president of the Primary; and Clarence E. Wonnacott, assistant commissioner of Health Ser- vices, treasurer.
U At the concluding session of the general conference, Mrs. Naomi W. Randell was sustained as first counselor in the general Primary Association presidency, succeeding Mrs. Lucile C. Reading, who has been appointed editor of the new Friend magazine.
LJ Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Council of the Twelve gave the dedica- tory address and prayer dedicating 37 buildings on the Brigham Young Uni- versity campus.
iQj The setting aside of Monday night as a uniform home evening time was announced by the First Presidency.
The appointments of Keith R. Oakes as administrator of elementary and secondary Church schools and Kenneth H. Beesley as an associate commis- sioner of education were announced.
The appointment of Cecil E. Hart as president of the Idaho Falls Temple was announced.
Cache North Stake was organized from portions of Cache East Stake in Logan, Utah, by Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve. Charles L. Hyde was sustained as presi- dent, with James L. Shupe and Louis B. Hoggan as counselors.
Pleasant Grove (Utah) Stake, the 529th now functioning, was organized from portions of Timpanogos Stake by
Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve. Leon R. Walker was sus- tained as president, with Thomas A. Adams and Kenneth H. Gillman as counselors.
New stake presidencies: President Glen T. Baird and counselors Martin T. Karren and Grant S. Sorensen, Cache East Stake; President Fredrick J. Schoenfeld and counselors Lewis R. Child and Carl G. Fowers, Lake View (Utah) Stake; President Vaughan J. Featherstone and counselors John R. Clarke and Ronald L. Rice, Boise (Idaho) North Stake; President Philip E. Jones and counselors Frank W. Bush- man and Kenneth M. Shepherd, Nebo (Utah) Stake.
The appointments of Franklin D. Day and Dan J. Workman as assistant administrators of seminaries and insti- tutes were announced.
The appointments of Lucy Jayne Clark, Helen G. Wright, Donna Lora Waters, and Beatrice R. Berg to the general board of the Primary Associa- tion were announced.
The appointments of Rosalie Reese and MacCene M. Grimmett to the gen- eral board of the Young Women's Mu- tual Improvement Association were announced.
Lil Oklahoma South Stake, the 530th now functioning, was organized from portions of Oklahoma Stake by Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Council of the Twelve. H. Aldridge Gillespie was sustained as president, with Harry L. Gibbons and Blythe E. Crow as coun- selors.
New stake presidency: President Wil- ley E. Callister and counselors Leland J. Housley and Robert L. Ezell, Okla- homa Stake.
E£J The appointment of Reed Whipple as president of the St. George Temple was announced.
Plans for remodeling the old Lafay- ette School in Salt Lake City as the new mission home were announced.
Era, December 1970 135
FILMING THE MORMON TRAIL
Max and Harriette Howe, seasoned veterans of over 175 travel film productions, recently com- pleted filming THE GREAT MORMON EPIC from THE SACRED GROVE to SALT LAKE CITY. Professionally filmed, edited and reproduced to Super 8mm color. Each title is 50 feet in length and contains many colorful scenes of the history in the Restored Church. A detailed script accompanies each reel.
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The Presiding Bishop Talks to Youth About
Being in theWorld bill Hot Of t
By Bishop John H. Vandenberg
• As selfishness, violence, and un- controlled morals become more and more the prime motives in the ac- tions of men, there is an increase in the desire of many to flee such an environment. Some try to find, or return to, an area where most of the people are members of the Church. They may seek admittance for their children to one of the Church schools, where gospel prin- ciples are openly taught and ap- plied as a matter of educational policy.
It is becoming more evident all the time that there is a limit to the degree to which we can put our- selves physically beyond the effect of the evil influences of our world by isolating ourselves in certain communities or schools. Church colleges have reached or are reach- ing enrollment limits that cannot be increased. Young people may there- fore need to reorient their thinking as they face adulthood in a per- missive, Godless, sensual world society.
Perhaps the first item in this ad- justment is one of perspective. The Prophet Joseph Smith stated his perspective in Section 127 of the Doctrine and Covenants, verse 2: "And as for the perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the envy
and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained from before the foundation of the world. . . ." " The Prophet believed that this destiny, this mission in life, was and would be true of all who would choose to embrace the gospel and dedicate themselves to full service in building the kingdom of God.
"Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 365. )
With such an understanding of their mission in life, young people of the Church should be proud to shoulder the burdens of building the kingdom wherever they live. No generation since the beginning of history has been without its problems in contending with evil. Evil and sin soon penetrate isolated pockets of population, especially in this age of instant communication. These areas are favored for a few years. After that, strength of char- acter and dedication to gospel prin- ciples are necessary to withstand the downgrading effects of a bad environment.
True strength of character comes
from being engaged in a noble cause. Young people of the Church have been given a cause, which is outlined in the epistle written by the Prophet Joseph on September 6, 1842:
". . . for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispen- sation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and per- fect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place " (D&C 128:18.)
Daniel saw that in our day the gospel would fill the whole earth, until Christ's kingdom would re- place earthly kingdoms. Only as those who have accepted and live the gospel are present everywhere can this happen. The lives of people are more effective than formal sermons. The youth who are in the world will find great satisfac- tion in being spiritual lights to counter the darkness in which the world finds itself.
The Church has the programs .through which young people can anchor themselves in a confused, frustrated world. The Aaronic Priesthood program gives leader- ship training, gospel instruction, and opportunities for service that prepare young men for their tasks
136
he World
in the Church. The Mutual Im- provement Associations offer the best in social, cultural, athletic, and scouting programs. Through the personal achievement programs for young men and women, personal goal setting can be practiced as a bulwark against the evil influences in the world.
Gospel instruction is available each Sunday in almost all parts of the world in the Sunday Schools. Home-study seminaries and non- released-time and released-time seminaries give daily opportunity for well over 120,000 young people in the world to meet together, study the gospel, and strengthen one an- other to face the trials of the day. College students can find strength and guidance in institutes of re- ligion, available on a large number of campuses, where counseling, instruction, and sociability are offered.
With the help of these programs and the support of a testimony re ceived through the Holy Ghost, young men and women of the Church can confidently be "in the world, but not of the world," and can carry out their divine mis- sion to usher in that "whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glo- ries. ..." O
Buffs
and
Rebuffs
'After Ten Years'
The fellow I've dated for the past four- teen months is leaving in two weeks for a mission. Your article "After Ten Years— A Tribute to Missionaries" [September] consoled me a great deal. I find it hard to imagine not being with him, especially because we have grown together in the gospel since he was converted, but the article made me realize how greatly he will influence the lives of many others by bringing them the gospel. It made me think, where would each of us be today if it weren't for missionaries? Thanks for the support the article gave us.
Debbie Hamilton Marshalltown, Iowa
Evil
William E. Berrett's "The Problem of Evil" [October] was most inspiring. I understand that philosophers want to know if men suffer because God could help them but won't, or because God would help them but can't. I admire Brother Berrett's facile answer: "Both."
Rustin Kaufman
Mountain View, California
Long Hair
I'm writing about a letter in "Buffs" in September that commented on long hair. I read the passage in 1 Corinthians 11:14- 16, and I feel that if we are going to fol- low one part, let's follow all the scripture and take nothing out of context. I must have missed some definite Church teach- ing in the length of hair and the evils that are inherent in long hair. I've been taught to accept people as individuals and not to condemn anyone. I've cer- tainly seen some young men with long hair who bear their testimonies and help others find the truth in the gospel.
D'Wayne Baird
South Pasadena, California
Mormon Philosophy of Speech
Concerning "B. H. Roberts: A Mormon Philosophy of Speech" [September], B. H. Roberts was not taken to Utah by his widowed mother at age nine. His mother left England nearly four years earlier, leaving him in the care of converts to the Church. "Harry" traveled to Utah with his sister at age nine. His mother was not widowed. His father was very much alive, and in later years B. H. Roberts hoped to find him when he traveled in England.
Mrs. Anita L. Mott Sudbury, Massachusetts
'The Risk of Love'
No Mormon who reads President Joseph Fielding Smith's definitive comment on "The Sacredness of Marriage" [Septem- ber] could do anything but bear his testimony. Then, on page 58 of the same issue, is to me the most moving story in the magazine, "The Risk of Love." It relates in simple but appropriate words an incredibly beautiful love story. My faith in the priesthood has been strengthened even more by the words of the bishop to Taney: "Love him and teach him, but if you see that he's hardened his heart against the Church, then you must have the strength, through the Holy Ghost, to leave him and make a new life."
Ben Crowell Salt Lake City
'The Mormon Miracle'
Your September issue used the conserva- tive projected estimate of 20,000 people in attendance at the 1970 fourth annual presentation of The Mormon Miracle pageant at Manti, Utah. Over 37,000 people witnessed this presentation under the stars before the sublime spectacle of the beautiful Manti Temple, built on a hill rising from a majestic mountain setting. The 1971 pageant will be pre- sented six nights, with a conservative projected estimate of 75,000 attendance. Dorothy Gray Pageant Coordinator South Sanpete Stake
Library Program
Although not a member of the Church, I read with excitement of your expanded library program [September]. I have visited the local chapel of your church many times and wished an adequate library program could be established for member and nonmember.
This new program as outlined in the September magazine raises many exciting prospects for a knowledge explosion. I visualize a multi-media center that will serve all— the teacher, the student, the member, and the nonmember. I would hope that you plan to allow us on the "outside" access to the collection. I have found that materials I wish to obtain are not available at the public library. As an ex-public librarian, I can under- stand the reasons for this lack, but it does make a gap in research.
I am presently a high school librarian and can only compliment the First Presi- dency on its stand for a strong library program. "The glory of God is intelli- gence," and the library is the center for ideas and the challenge of gaining intel- ligence.
Please do not allow your libraries to become storehouses of materials. A well- stocked, neat library is an unused library! I hope that your librarians and library aides will be devoted both to the princi- ples of the Church and to the philosophy of the library profession.
Allan A. Cuseo Rochester, New York
Era, December 1970 137
Todays Family
• A popular song says, "Welcome to my world . . ." So does the kitchen at Christmas time. It smells so good: fruit cakes in the oven! cookies on the cooling racks! and good smelling yeast dough rising in the pan!
The warming custom of present- ing home-baked goodies is a wonderful way to say "Merry Christmas" to neighbors and friends and a traditional way to welcome everyone into the kitchen.
As you share the nourishing gifts of your kitchen, remember to share also your own spiritual gifts.
How often we have been told to gain "faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God." We have been counseled to "be not afraid," to "be of good cheer." We have also heard, "Seek not for riches but for wisdom," and "Search the scriptures . . . for they are they which testify of me." And always "let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong. . . ."
If we have heeded these words, we have been continually increas- ing our stores of faith, hope, and love, of courage and cheerfulness, of wisdom and testimony, and of sympathy, kindness, and forgive- ness. Spiritual stores have a mar- velous way of being replenished in double measure when they are given away and used.
By Mabel Jones Gabbott
Manuscript Editor
This Christmas from your warm- smelling kitchen and from your spiritual storehouse share with your friends hot bread and cinna- mon rolls, with accompanying ex- pressions of gratitude, confidence, and love; sweet rolls with orange icing, wrapped generously in cheer- fulness, faith, caring; and hot rolls, cut in dainty small twists or shaped in man-sized circles, garnished with kindness, concern, and courage.
It has been done before, as these stories will tell. It can be done again and again and again.
1. It had been a good spiritual living lesson, but the teacher was nervous. Her child, ailing with croup, had kept her up most of the night. The stake Relief Society board member had visited. All in all, the teacher felt unhappy. Lis- tening and sympathizing, Dorothy had sensed the teacher's dissatis- faction with herself. That evening Dorothy took a loaf of warm fresh bread to the teacher's home with a reassuring word of gratitude for the lesson taught. This is Dorothy's bread recipe:
Dorothy's Bread
6 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons salt 6 tablespoons shortening 1 quart scalded milk 1 package dry yeast 12-14 cups flour
Mix the sugar, salt, and shortening. Add scalded milk. Cool. When the mixture is lukewarm, add the yeast; then add 4 cups flour. (This may be either white or wheat.) Mix. Let rise. Add more flour until the dough does not stick to your hands. Let rise again. Mix down and let rise once more. Knead. Cut into four loaves. Let rise until double in bulk. Bake at 420° F. for 20 minutes, then at 320° for an- other 10 to 20 minutes.
Or make only two loaves of bread. Roll out the remaining dough for two pans of cinnamon rolls. Roll the dough into an oblong sheet 9" x 18" and spread with 2 tablespoons of softened butter; sprinkle with l/2 cup raw or brown sugar, 2 teaspoons cinnamon, and y2 cup raisins. Beginning with the long side, roll the dough as for a jelly roll, sealing the edge by pinching the dough with fingers. With a sharp knife, cut the roll into %" slices. Place cut side down on baking pan, allowing a little space for rising. Use well-greased 9" x 13" pan or muffin cups. Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350° F.
Wrap a warm loaf in shiny foil for your home teacher when he makes his Christmas visit, and ex- press your thanks to him for his faithfulness. Take a hot loaf, to- gether with the confidence of your testimony, to the new neighbor on the block, or the nonmember you have meant to visit. And wouldn't the bishop's family love a pan of cinnamon rolls, delivered with an expression of your love for their devotion and your trust in their calling!
2. Early one December morning, while the household slept, the mother and her teenage daughter moved expertly about the kitchen
138
with whispered excitement. The chorus members would be there soon for breakfast after their final early morning practice. And then the doorbell rang. There stood Mary, beaming with cheerfulness and offering a pan of warm sweet rolls. "Just to nelp out a bit," she said.
Mary's Sweet Rolls
iy3 cups milk
3 tablespoons sugar IV2 teaspoon salt Y2 cup salad oil 2 eggs
2 packages dry yeast, dissolved in Y2 cup water with 2 teaspoons sugar added 5 cups flour
Heat oven to 425° F. Mix all in- gredients together. Beat well with a spoon. Let rise. Knead lightly. This will make a soft dough. Roll one-half of the dough at a time into a rectangle. Cut in one-inch strips (about 12). Dip in butter and tie in knots. Let rolls rise until double in bulk. Bake in preheated oven at 425° F. 8 to 10 minutes. Mix 1 cup powdered sugar with y2 cup orange juice and orange rind, and drip over the hot rolls right from the oven.
Are you involved with carolers, Christmas cantatas, or school or Church practices, where sweet rolls would reinforce encouragement and confidence in their perfor- mance?
3. Some of us grow old and some of us grow wise. Our third story involves two who grew old and wise. In a little home off a busy highway, tucked behind heavily leafed, ancient trees, lives a most wise and gracious lady. Myrtle grows beautiful flowers and writes delightful poetry. When a friend reached the age of 75, Myrtle hon- ored her with a luncheon, graciously sharing her treasures of kindness, concern, love, and courage. Very special among the items on the menu were Myrtle's hot rolls.
Myrtle's Hot Rolls
1 package dry yeast l/2 cup warm water IV2 teaspoons salt
Vi cup sugar
2 eggs y3 cup shortening
1 cup warm milk
5 cups flour
Soften the yeast in the warm water. Mix the salt, sugar, eggs, shortening, and milk. Stir in the yeast. Add 5 cups flour gradually. Cover. Let rise. Remove dough from mixing bowl and knead well. Roll dough y2" thick and form into rolls. Bake at 425° F.
Myrtle cuts small rounds of the dough and folds them over once for dainty, lady-like rolls. Just the right size for that Christmas luncheon you have been meaning to plan for the loved elderly women in your ward.
4. And not the least: Welcome your own family into this wonderful world of Christmas baking and spiritual sharing. Let them know you love them most of all. Let your family share in the preparations, in the wrapping, and in the giving. Then some cold frosty morning let them awaken to the delicious aroma of orange muffins, hot from the oven. Our favorite recipe is made with wholewheat flour, ground fresh by the man in our house.
Wheat Muffins
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons raw or brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter or oil
2 cups sifted wholewheat flour y2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
Combine beaten egg, milk, sugar, and oil or melted butter. Sift together twice flour, salt, and baking powder, and add to egg mixture. Stir only until flour mixture is absorbed. Bake in greased muffin tins 20-30 minutes at 375° F. Substitute orange juice for one-third of the milk and add two tablespoons grated orange rind to the flour for a delicious orange muffin. Serve with generous expressions of affection and gratitude for those whom you love and with special empathy for their strivings and their yearnings.
What a special way to say "Merry Christmas! It's a wonderful world! Welcome to the love we have for you and the faith we have in you! Lean on our testimonies, and be not afraid!" O
Era, December 1970 139
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• Receiving original and unusual Christmas cards is one of the joys of the holiday season. Especially blessed are the friends and loved ones of Jennie Knight Mangum* of Provo, Utah, who personally de- signs the covers for her cards and sends greetings in appropriate verses, hand penned, on the inside.
Jennie Knight Mangum is the daughter of Jesse and Amanda Mc- Ewan Knight. Her father and moth- er gave unselfishly to help build Provo and the Brigham Young Uni- versity. Jennie, following the coun- sel and example of her parents, has also given unlimited aid and service to the Church and to the univer- sity. Many young students have been blessed by the generosity of the Jennie Knight Mangum scholar- ship.
Remembering her pioneer heri- tage, Jennie sent to her friends in 1965 an attractive card, picturing a couple in pioneer dress following a star to their cabin, with the dream of the temple in the distance. The verse said in part:
A pioneer couple Found their star, Ever so far— In the very best High mountain lands. They built a cabin With their hands. Warmth glowed within, Without 'twas clear, A guiding star Had led them here.
Jennie Knight was born on No- vember 7, eighty-five years ago. She attended Brigham Young Uni- versity and was married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 6, 1905,
to W. Lester Mangum. Eight chil- dren were born to them. Her jewels, she says, are her grand- children and great-grandchildren. In 1966 her Christmas card featured nine great-grandchildren peeking out of Christmas bells hanging on the tree. Inside, the poem said:
Bells peacefully toll
To gladden and cheer, Binding loved ones together,
More closely and near. This year's Christmas tree
Shields treasured bells nine;
Creat-grandchildren these Are proudly claimed mine.
Other Christmas cards have fea- tured such scenes as a snow-covered tree with colorful birds in flight, the structural beauty of a gnarled old tree, and a lighted candle. Her words in the latter card included this stanza: The struggle of man, like that of a
tree, Is reflected in the gnarled branch
standing free; Weathered but strong, goals gar- nered by time Make for this Christmas a symbol sublime.
Through the years Sister Man- gum has known her share of strug- gle and has gained and shared her goals and her strengths.
Her philosophy, "Not the good that comes to us, but the good that comes to the world through us is the measure of success," is a heart- warming guide for us this Christ- mas season. O
°Christmas cards, courtesy of Mrs. Henry D. Taylor; biographical information, courtesy of Dorothy O. Rea.
en:sign:ship\
:f or future times
TheseTimes
By Dr. G. Homer Durham
Commissioner and Executive Officer, Utah System of Higher Education
• "TheseTimes" has been a regu- lar monthly feature of the Im- provement Era for one-third of its 73-year history. Beginning in the summer of 1946, it pointed to "Christ versus Marx" as the major issue of the century. I am grateful for the privilege afforded me these nearly three hundred months by the editors. I have assumed full responsibility for each monthly commentary, while recognizing the responsibilities attaching to having the contributed material published in the Church magazine. 1 My first contributions to the Era began in 1934 under the edi- torship of the late Harrison R. Merrill and Elsie Talmage Brand- ley. Occasional articles appeared over the next 12 years, written from the British Mission and from subsequent academic posts at UCLA, Utah State University, Swarthmore College in Pennsyl-
vania, and the University of Utah. In 1941 I was privileged to com- pile Gospel Standards, an Im- provement Era book, which was comprised of selections from the discourses of President Heber J. Grant, a founder and the first business manager of the Era. In 1946, following the great second World War, with wide expansion of the Church in prospect, the grow- ing interest of its members in world and public affairs, I was honored with the invitation to sub- mit a contribution for monthly publication. Elder Richard L. Evans, with his rare skill and culti- vated art for concise, meaningful expression, provided the name, "These Times," for the column. In 1952-53, I was again privi- leged to compile the book Gospel Ideals for the Era, selections from the writings and discourses of President David 0. McKay.
So it has gone, since Editors Merrill and Brandley first encour- aged me, 36 years ago. The column, since 1946, has had to be written some two months before publication. It has, therefore, been challenging to write something that would not be outdated by the time of publication. In doing so, effort has been made to stimulate the reader to think a matter through for himself, to study things out in his own mind. By this means, individuals, as citizens, can react positively and fruitfully to the world of events. Too, the column has been conscious of the college-aged, of the large num- bers of professional people that increasingly characterize member- ship in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Once or twice, rather lengthy analyses have ap- peared in the column. An example was the study of the Church and the Ph.D., which appeared in two consecutive issues in the 1950s. When the Era began publication in 1897, not a single member of the Church held an earned Ph.D. de- gree. By 1946, when "These Times" began, several hundred had joined Joseph F. Merrill and John A. Widtsoe, the Ph.D. pio- neers of 1899. In December 1970, as the Era and "These Times" terminate, there are thousands of Church members with doctorates — presidents of stakes, bishops, varieties of Church officers, as well as those earned and held by six or more of the General Au- thorities. I have especially hoped that the Era's readership may have received the encouragement of faith to study things out in their own minds, to be anxiously en- gaged in good causes of their own free will and choice, and not re- quire to be commanded in all things (see D&C 58:26-29).
In retrospect, concern for the home and family life, as well as
Era, December 1970 141
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for states and nations, permeates the series from its beginnings in 1946. A welcome and prognosis for a truly great piece of LDS music ("New Music for the World"), Leroy J. Robertson's Ora- torio from the Book of Mormon, also appeared. The attempt to provoke and stimulate thoughtful individual citizenship has been supplemented with other cultural, social, and educational concerns of our religion.
All this is to say, as with an earlier Church publication during the Nauvoo period, that all things have their times and seasons.
So, in the last of "These Times" and of the Era, this series con- cludes with a comment on the pos- sible significance of the future magazine, Ensign.
The name Ensign is significant. The Era's predecessor was known as the Contributor. The Church had acquired a modest base in Utah Territory, USA. There was need to encourage and cultivate the literary talents of the people of the Church. Then in 1896, statehood and a new era came to Utah. With it, in 1897, came the Improvement Era. In the next thirty years, the first stakes ap- peared in California, an extension from the several stakes in Utah, Idaho, and Arizona, and one each in Alberta, Canada; Colorado, and Mexico. By 1970, an international church, with numerous overseas missions, has experienced what President Joseph Fielding Smith has termed "an almost unbeliev- able expansion of the work," in Latin America, Japan, Korea, Tai- wan, Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia. Today there are stakes throughout Europe, the Americas, and the Pacific Basin. From 1897 to 1970 has indeed been "an im- provement era"!
The Church is growing through- out the world. The work of mani-
142
testing Jesus Christ "unto all na- tions" is now properly the work of ensignship.
The word ensign, in the Eng- lish language, conveys interesting meanings. It has been both noun and verb. Both words were adapted into the English language in the late fifteenth century. It de- rives from Latin, through Old French, into Middle English. The Latin root appears to have been signum (sign) with the prefix in attached.
The Oxford Universal Dictionary on Historical Principles (3d. ed., 1955) indicates that ensign as verb appeared first in strength. This was about the year 1474, in Middle English. It meant "to indi- cate." A secondary meaning was "to direct to an object; to instruct; to teach" (1598). About the same time, the word began to be used as the verb "to mark with a distinc- tive sign or badge." By 1600, ensignment (ensign plus ment) carried the meaning of "instruc- tion; a lesson; or a means of in- struction."
The use of ensign as a verb, with the above significances, has largely become obsolete. The new magazine may revive it! Meantime, some of these older historical verb usages have entered the noun. It may well be, as a consequence of the new magazine and its future worldwide mission and influence, that a historical dictionary of the twenty-first century could well as- sert that "the noun, ensign, re- acquired some of its former verb meanings, such as to direct to an object or objective, to instruct, to teach, as a consequence of Mor- mon activity in the late twentieth century."
Ensign, as noun, acquired mean- ing as "a signal or battle cry," principally in Scotland, by about 1573. A secondary meaning (growing out of the verb), a noun
for "sign or token," parallels the first use of the word as a verb about the year 1474. By 1579 ensign meant an "emblem or badge," and "a naval or military standard or banner." This mean- ing has more or less continued in the English language. When the King James Bible appeared about 1611, for example, the references in Isaiah (translated from Greek and Latin texts) appear thus:
"And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek. . . .
"And [the Lord] shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (Isa. 11:10, 12. Italics added.)
The word is used in the same light in Doctrine and Covenants 64:41-42:
"For, behold, I say unto you that Zion shall flourish, and the glory of the Lord shall be upon her;
"And she shall be an ensign unto the people, and there shall come unto her out of every nation under heaven." (Italics added.)
By 1650, ensign was occasion- ally used in a special sense to de- note "a company or troop under one banner." The soldier who carried the banner, the ensign himself, had become known as "an ensign" by the year 1513. Thus, gradually the company or troop who followed the "ensign" (or banner) carried by "the ensign" (the banner carrier) also became known, frequently, as an ensign. This use of the noun became obso- lete, as did the designation of rank for the British soldier banner-car- rier. However, in 1886, the United States Navy designated its pres- ent, beginning commissioned offi- cer as an ensign. This designation has continued in that organization.
Ensign is thus a word rich in meaning. Its historical derivation and uses, both as verb and noun, are peculiarly fitting to the new publication. The word Era con- tinues in the New Era youth mag- zine. That is good. And the Friend will extend its pages to children everywhere.
Let us hope, as these times move into future times, that the Friend will lead many bright-eyed children into a New Era; and that Ensign will "ensign," instruct, teach, and direct all to the grand objectives of the kingdom of God.
From ensign, it is possible to coin a new word — "ensignship," meaning the application of crea- tive intelligence as service to others.
Not everyone can write for the Ensign, New Era, and Friend, any more than all who contributed to the Contributor or Era saw their words in print. But if world tele- vision, movies, and theater are to have joyous (not sordid), intelli- gent, uplifting (not depressing) productions, someone must write and create the books, articles, plays, dramas, sketches, scenarios for such. And many, many more must joyously live and work, to in- spire the creative artists to so create, write, and produce. If pornography is to be relegated into disuse, some must produce and circulate the better art and litera- ture. Good is more powerful than evil. Good can overcome evil. But someone will have to write, speak, and act the better plays, compose the better music, create the more attractive art. These are a few of the great opportunities ahead. The creative and lively arts have been particularly significant in affecting human conduct and behavior during these times. They will have greater influence in the future. This will require "ensign- ship," in many, many fields. o
Era, December 1970 143
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End of an Era
Life Among the Mormons
During his opening remarks at a stake conference, our stake president discreetly said that occasionally the crying of small babies might disrupt the speaker as well as the congregation in a church meeting. If this should happen, he continued diplomatically, it might be well if the parent were to take the child out long enough
to soothe and quiet it. Precisely at that moment an infant on the front row began to wail, and his embarrassed mother hurriedly took the long walk to the foyer, The president beamed. "Brothers and sisters," he exclaimed, "just how often does a speaker have such a cooperative visual aid as this?" -Helen S. Phillips, Denver, Colorado
The compass of the spirit of Christmas points constantly toward others, never toward ourselves, except to beckon us in to the realm of service > and comradeship. The spirit of Christmas is ever buoyant, never earth-bound or grounded by accumulated mundane things. It soars over by the lifting wings of love and distils its blessings, even as the dews from heaven.
— Elder Hugh B. Brown
Two spinsters were discussing men. "Which would you desire most in a husband — brains, wealth, or appearance?" asked one. "Appearance," said the other, "and the sooner the better."
A woman in the suburbs was chatting over the back fence with her next-door neighbor. "We're going to live in a better neighborhood soon," she said. "So are we," volunteered the neighbor, confidently. "What? Are you moving too?" "No, we are staying here."
Christmas is a time
for laughter, a time of good
cheer, a time to sing, a
time of happiness. But it is also
a time to pray, a time to give
thanks, a time of appreciation,
a time of genuine worship
of the Prince of Peace,
whose birth ushered in the
true Christmas.
— Elder Mark E. Petersen
No man who is in a hurry is ever quite civilized.
—Will Durrant
"What are you children playing?" asked mother one day. "We're playing church, " replied her six-year-old son. "How nice," said mother, "but worshipers shouldn't whisper in church. " "We know that, mother, " the son replied, "but we're in the choir. "
Impatient man (outside phone booth) : Can I help you find the number you want? Young woman (sweetly) : Oh, I don't want a number. I'm looking for a pretty name for my baby.
We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent ivhich we do not possess than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess. — Mark Twain
To profit from good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.
— John Churton Collins, English literary critic
Teacher: Why are you so late? Bobby: It's so windy outside that every time I took one step forward, I slid back two. Teacher: At that rate, how did you get here at all? Bobby: I finally give up trying and turned around to go home.
144
•
f
TeEra of Youth
"i/larion D. Hanks and laine Cannon, Editors
ecember 1970
aJP*
nun in
and again
and auain in
this issue
we remind vou to make this your most beautiful Christmas
Era. December J 970 145
By Kenneth W. Godfrey
• I love all of those famous scriptures that tell the story of the first Christmas, and I whole- heartedly agree that such verses as ". . . Joseph also went up from Galilee . . .to be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child" (Luke 2:4-5) are what Christmas is really all about. I am also moved by the glitter of the tinsel, the hurrying, friendly, cheerful crowds, and the tang of the Christmas air, filled with "Deck the Halls/' "Away in a Manger," and " O Come All *Ye Faithful." Yet my favorite Christmas scrip- tures number three, all having a common theme. I confess that I have never heard them quoted alone, and I have never talked with anyone who has said they were their favorite scriptures, and as far as I know they have never been the central theme for an eloquent sermon or an oratorio.
My favorite Christmas scriptures are : "And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen" (Luke 2:20) ; and "being warned of God in a dream ,-.. . they [the wise men] departed into their own country another way" (Matt. 2:12) ; and finally, "And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth . . ." (Matt, 2:33). The reason the scriptures appeal to me is because they indi-4 cate that after all of the excitement, the wonder-
ment, the frills, and the awe of the first Christmas were over, the wise men returned home and the shepherds returned to their sheep. Though they had heard an angelic choir, had seen the Son of God, still the real test came as they returned to their flocks and to the day-by-day tasks of shep- herding them. The wise men, who had traveled so far, returned home, forever lost in obscurity. They had given presents to the Christ child, yet failed to present him with the greatest gift of all — discipleship. One wonders why they were not the Peters, the Pauls, the Andrews, and the Johns.
And Jesus himself went, with Joseph and Mary, to a town where he would become a man. Though angels announced his birth, the heavens declared his arrival, and choirs of heavenly beings sang his praises, yet he alone could have "sold his birth- right" had he lived other than a perfect life.
I was always impressed with the fact that after a whole night of conversation with the angel Moroni, the morning found Joseph Smith in the fields working. Such is the test of our devotion of Christ. Can we be his disciples while washing dishes, at a high school basketball game, on a date, in a science exam, with Mom and Dad? In the daily, often boring aspects of life, can we be Christlike, or only when we hear heavenly choirs,
Illustrated by Phyllis Lucft
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talk with angels, or win acclaim from our asso- ciates ?
"And the shepherds returned," "they departed into their own country," and "he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth" serve to remind me further that the Christmas spirit should last all year.
This spirit should be like that of the family who, upon receiving word on Christmas Eve that a grandfather was seriously ill in a hospital 800 miles away, found themselves in a station wagon, hurrying to his aid. Though the night was' dark and the road long, still they had to make the journey. Dawn found them outside a small community in Nevada. With the dawn came wakening children. Even the anxiety over the grandfather's condition could not hide the joy in the mother's eyes as she saw the wonderment, the thrill as they looked at all their presents and won- dered how Santa Claus could have delivered them while they traveled in their car. Years later the family would remember this as their most excit- ing Christmas. Why? Not only because of the uniqueness of Santa Claus delivering presents in a rapidly moving station wagon, but also because they were thinking of, caring about, and hurrying to their grandfather.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a modern Christian mar- tyr, called Christ "the man for others." As has been said so many times, this is the true test of our devotion to him whose name we bear. Martin Luther put it this way :
"The Virgin Mary, after she had heard the amazing news that she was to be the mother of the Savior, instead of sitting back to preen herself went on with the housework. How strange. The shepherds, too having seen and adored the Babe, went back to their flocks. Surely that is wrong. Surely the passage would read, they went and shaved their heads, fasted, told their rosary beads, and put on monk's hoods. Instead the Bible tells us, they returned, where to? To their sheep. The sheep would have been in sorry plight if they hadn't. It is what a man or woman has done for others that will count on Judgment Day."
So after the presents are opened, the toys played with, and while the Christmas dinner is digesting, I try to resolve anew to return to my sheep, to my work, and to my covenant of discipleship, and then I know that that "silent night, holy night," when all was calm and all was bright, can be as real for me all year as it was for the shepherds and the wise men that first Christmas two thousand years ago. O
Our concern must be to impress our associates with the fact there is a better tomorrow, and it belongs to those who live for it! Forgiveness and repentance are action principles. What a blessing it is in our lives when we come to realize there is hope and help for all of us in the days ahead, regardless of where we find ourselves at this hour.
— Elder Marvin J. Ashton
conference
In today's world of confusion and conflict, the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth stand alone as the certain solution to man's problems. No greater opportunity or blessing can come into the life of a young man than to be called and ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood, thus being author- ized to act for him who gave his life on Calvary.
— Bishop Victor L. Brown
Is there a valid case for virtue? It is the only way to freedom from regret. The peace of conscience which flows therefrom is the only personal peace that is not counterfeit. And beyond all of this is the unfailing promise of God to those who walk in virtue. Declared Jesus of Nazareth, speaking on the mountain, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." That is a covenant, made by him who has the power to fulfill.
— Elder Gordon B. Hinckley
One of the most wasteful wastes in the world is the waste of time, of opportunity, of creative effort, with indifference to learning, indifference to work — the don't-care, drop-out, what's-the-use attitude. And of the steadying factors in life — one that would reduce restlessness, protest, and discontent would be for all of us to use in more useful ways the best of our abilities, with some awareness that the Father of us all might some- how, sometime shake us and say, "I have given you life. Now you make the most of it!"
— Elder Richard L. Evans
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Love is manifest in charity of the soul. Love is not real when one demands attentions and fancied needs, then is not appreciative of them and gives nothing in return for favors received. That attitude is one of pure selfish- ness and reflects a lack of gratitude, decency, and respect. Such a person is self -centered and cares not for his failure to acknowledge courtesy or express thanks and appreciation. Love is the purification of the heart. It strengthens character and gives a higher motive and a positive aim to every action of life. The power to love truly and devotedly is the noblest gift with which a human being can be endowed.
— Elder Delbert L. Stapley
J bear you my witness that I have obtained for myself a personal knowl- edge that the Book of Mormon is all the Prophet Joseph said it is; that from it radiates the spirit of prophecy and revelation; that it teaches in plain simplicity the great doctrines of salvation and the principles of righteous conduct calculated to bring men to Christ; that familiarity with its spirit and obedience to its teachings will move every contrite soul to fervently pray with David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Ps. 51:10.)
— Elder Marion G. Romney
Era, December 1970 149
• "Wipe your feet on that rug!" warned Mark Severin, senior patrol leader of Troop 108, as each boy entered the ancient log Scout house. Mark's fair skin was a sharp contrast to his dark, neatly combed hair. The trousers of his Scout uniform inched a little closer toward his calf each week, and the sleeves appeared to shrink. But it seemed a waste to buy a new uniform now that he was almost ready for Exploring. If only he could finish his Eagle requirements.
When the meeting was over, Mark stayed be- hind. Joe Palmer, his Scoutmaster, was sitting at the table straightening papers. He looked up at Mark. "Say, Mark, when are you going to move ahead on your service project? Can't get your Eagle without it, you know."
"I know," Mark replied. "That's what I want to talk to you about, Brother Palmer. Over Thanksgiving, my family and I decided about this service project."
"Good. What is it?" Joe asked.
"I want to sub for Santa." Mark watched Joe's jaws drop in amazement.
"You're too skinny, boy. I know — you really want me to stand in for you. Right?" And Joe patted his ample middle.
Mark laughed. "Hadn't thought of that."
"How do you propose to earn money for a thing like this?" Joe asked. "You're not loaded — we know that. Are you sure you haven't got a tiger by the tail?"
"How did you know what I had planned to do?"
"I don't follow you, Mark. How would I know what?" Joe was puzzled.
"Well — that 'tiger by the tail' bit. I had planned to rent the film The Tiger Walks." Brother Palmer laughed heartily at the coincidence. "Perhaps I could get permission to use the cultural hall. I figure this is a community project because the residents can participate in an unselfish effort by supporting the movie. Here's a sample of a ticket I've typed." It read :
"The Tiger Walks"
Second Ward
December 15
Suggested Contribution :
Adults 75c Children 35c
Mark continued, "I'd sell popcorn and candy to make extra money. The proceeds would provide Christmas for a family. I'd learn a lot in a service project of this kind."
"A whole lot," agreed Joe. "What happens if you don't have a good turnout for the movie and you don't make much money?"
"It just has to succeed. If the troop could also sell tickets and put up chairs and help sell pop- corn and candy that night, it would make them a part of the project. They'd be giving of them- selves this Christmas."
"What about a prospective family?"
"Mom called the community council for needy families. We can get one all right," Mark replied.
"I suppose you know this will take your own
Christmas," Joe warned.
"Of course. I'm not asking for a thing for myself. You know, I never realized there are people who wouldn't have any Christmas if some- one didn't sub."
Joe nodded. "We're behind you all the way, Mark. I think you've got a great idea."
The two weeks following were busy ones. Even in school Mark found himself worrying over all the details that must be handled. But when every- thing was over, Mark was overjoyed when he counted his proceeds. He had over $70 profit. He was amazed to have a few people at church shake his hand and say, "Here's a little money for your project," or to donate something special for the cause.
The agency assigned him a family consisting of a mother and her two small children — a boy, 4, and a girl, 6. Mark and his mother went to call on Mrs. Smith to ascertain the family's Christmas needs. When she greeted them at the door, she couldn't mask her disappointment. She brushed her hand across her forehead. "But I thought only rich people did this. And they've sent a boy!" She managed to check the tears.
"I'm sure we can provide a good Christmas for your children. What do they need?" Mrs. Severin asked. Armed with the list, Santa's Subs went to work.
Christmas morning Mark woke before anyone else. "Merry Christmas, everybody!" he shouted. He felt deliriously happy. As the Severins were
opening packages, the telephone rang. Mark picked up the receiver. "Merry Christmas!" he greeted cheerily.
"Santa?" the voice asked tentatively.
Mark, recognizing Mrs. Smith's voice, replied, "Yes." Then silence on the other end. His heart sank — had he failed ?
"I — " More silence. Then, "I just want you to know that a boy has given us the most wonderful Christmas we've ever had. How can I ever thank you 7" Mark could hear the Smith children clamor- ing to talk to him. For the next half hour they excitedly told him what a wonderful, wonderful Christmas this was.
As he hung up the receiver, his brown eyes were shining. "Golly, this is the neatest Christ- mas I ever had! Thinking of others and doing for them — even people I didn't know — is the real spirit of Christmas!"
Two weeks later Mark sat on the cement floor of the Scout cabin as Joe Palmer listened to his report of his Eagle project. Joe asked, "What do you think you really learned from this undertak- ing— aside from the thrill of giving?"
"I learned that you can't do anything worth- while alone. It took my whole family and the guys in the troop."
"Anything else?" Joe prodded.
"Yes, I never before realized how much my mom helps me, in so many ways. Now I know why an Eagle Scout's mother is always given a pin along with her son." q
(A true story)
By Dora D. Flack
Illustrated by Dale Kilbourn
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"Give way; go on giving way; be superior to all provocation this single summer through. . . ."
• It seemed strange that the words of the old letter in the strongbox carried with it for me the fragrance of Christmas; there was no mention whatever of Christ and the Yuletide. Yet as I thought about it later, and meditated, the feeling was there. I read again the entreaty of Colonel Thomas L. Kane to Brigham Young in a personal letter dated July 5, 1858 :
"Give way; go on giving way; be superior to all provocation this single summer through. . . ."
Johnston's army was east of Salt Lake Valley, poised to march into the city and carry out their mission of suppression. The Saints were deter- mined to resist ; they had been driven and mobbed and imposed upon quite enough.
Colonel Kane, resolute friend of the Church, wrote to President Young, urging forbearance "this single summer through," pledging his ef- forts to bring about a sensible settlement, and offering his assurance that it could be accom- plished.
It happened just as Colonel Kane promised. Johnston's army crossed the valley, leaving the people and their city undisturbed. The new gov- ernor of the territory was welcomed, an accom- modation reached, and a tragedy averted.
What has this to do with Christmas?
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Everything !
Christmas is much more than the celebration af a day or an event; it is a season of appreciation for life, for a plan to live it, for Godly love, for the gift of salvation. Christ is the heart of all this, and among the things he showed and taught was the way of forgiveness, patience — the way of superiority over provocation.
In every community there are those suffering from injustice, those who smart under the sting of unfairness. Quarrels, estrangement, bitterness abide over wrongs often not even clearly re- membered.
The Lord's teaching was that we forgive, cleanse our souls, renovate and regenerate our lives. The spirit of Christ must be poured in, cleansing, purifying, transforming, making sweet. Then we. can show mercy. Then we can return good for evil, overcome evil with good. Then we can cross the room, or the street, or the city, and make right the wrong, real or fancied. We can eradicate re- sentments, bitterness, hate. We can be whole again.
Are we wronged? misunderstood? not appre- ciated? misjudged? threatened? persecuted? forced to go an unwilling mile?
"Give way; go on giving way; be superior to all provocation this single summer through. . . ."
Then it will be a Merry Christmas for sure — and a Happy New Year. O
Illustrated by Phyllis Luch
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Here is a collection of Christmas quotes to
enrich your understanding of the occasion
and your delight in the season.
From 3 Nephi, chapter one: 8. But behold, they did watch steadfastly for that day and that night and that day which should be as one as if there were no night, that they might know that their faith had not been vain.
12. And it came to pass that he [Nephi] cried mightily unto the Lord, all the day; and behold, the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying:
13. Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.
14. And behold, the time is at hand, and this night shall the sign be given.
21. And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.
Some day that ever 'gainst that season comes Wherein our Saviour's birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say, no spirit can. walk abroad ; The nights are wholesome ; then no planets strike, No fairy takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallow'd and so gracious is the time.
— Shakespeare (Hamlet, Act. 1, sc. 1.)
By Pat Hardman,. age 15
all the stars in the heaven could not shine enough for that one night, so they chose one star and gave it the brightness all the rest would have had.
and it went before the others-
a guide,
a hope,
a never-again.
all earth's lifetime
and a hundred billion hearts
could not redeem themselves
with their own pain.
One soul took all
that they had ever felt —
and breaking, set them free.
a star and Christ —
never-agains,
things to always reach for,
always alone, never equaled.
By President S. Dilworth Young
Of the First Council of the Seventy
The snow is on the land ;
The hay is in the barn —
The cattle sheltered warm.
If any of thy people, Lord,
Are cold,
Lead thou them here
Where food and warming heart
Abound.
Around my hearth
May there be found
The needy poor.
What need at Christmas time
To have expensive gifts
From greater ones
If I can give
Thy blessed gifts of earth
To needy sons ?
By Phillips Brooks
Said Jesus to his people on the western hemi- sphere :
"Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you — that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.
"And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil —
"And for this cause have I been lifted up; there- fore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
"And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
"And no unclean thing can enter into his king- dom; therefore nothing enter eth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end.
"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be bap- tized in my name, that ye may be sactified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel. . . .
". . . Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:13-16, 19-21, 27.)
Then let every heart keep its Christmas within, Christ's pity for sorrow, Christ's hatred for sin, Christ's care for the weakest,
Christ's courage for right, Christ's dread for darkness,
Christ's love of the light, Everywhere, everywhere, Christmas tonight!
By George MacDonald
They all were looking for a king
To slay their foes, and lift them high ;
Thou cam'st a little baby thing, That made a woman cry.
156
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By Elaine Cannon
• Christmas is a beautiful time of the year.
Hidden somewhere beneath the wrappings, among the greens and candleglow, behind the laughter and delightful confusion of the holiday, ever shines the secret of the season — the ideal of our Savior's life, that we love one another.
"Beloved, let us love one another" is an easy command if there is a new diamond on your finger. It's a natural when a missionary has brought the gospel to a true seeker. But to have mercy on the
sinner, to be patient with the stubborn, to find appeal in the less attractive and understanding for the one who differs with us, that is indeed a different matter. The idea of Christ's counsel that we love even our enemies and that we accept them in spite of how they look or act might seem to be unattainable perfectionism. After all, who is doing it really?
Yet imperfection doesn't mean the idea is at fault, or that the principle won't work. It isn't who is or who isn't complying. Rather, for us it is how steadily we're moving in the direction of perfection in love and experiencing the resultant joy along the way.
Christmas is a beautiful time of awakening once more to the ideal. Beautiful things happen when families and friends love each other in a Christ- like way and work at widening their circle of loved ones and dear acquaintances. ►
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The wrought iron gate around the temple marks the be- ginning for a beautiful family and the beautiful Christ- mases that follow ever after, with pine boughs and lamplight, the caroling, the packaging, the welcoming door, the colorful lights, the baking, the tree with its mood-making decorations, and most memorable of all, the scripture reading that strengthens the "twigs" that sprout from the family tree. That's what a beautiful Christmas is. all about.
Photos of the Maynard M. Sorensen family, taken by Eidon K. Lixischoten
■
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Resident Broker BUSHNELL REAL ESTATE, Inc. P.O. Box 603 Provo, Utah 84601 Telephone (801) 373-6650
e find inspiration in our great heritage of banking service dating back practically 100 years.
The Bank of Deseret (which became the )eseret National Bank and later First Security Bank) was founded under Territorial Law in 1871.
President BRIGHAM YOUNG of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the bank's first president.
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