T H E E N S I G N O F T H E C H U R C H O F J E S U S C H R I S T O F L A T T E R - D A Y S A I N T S • S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 2

Cultural Arts in Nauvoo, p. 40

Loving a Wayward Child, p. 8

The Prodigal Son, by Jeffrey Craven

A modern prodigal heeds the call of the Savior’s ancient parable: “And when he came to himself, he said, . . . I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee. . . . And he arose, and came to his father” (Luke 15:17–18, 20).

SEPTEMBER 2002 • VOLUME 32, NUMBER 9

54The ChartedCourse of theChurch inEducation

2 FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGEPatience, a Heavenly Virtue

President Thomas S. Monson8 Letting Go without Giving Up Name Withheld

11 Hope for Parents of Wayward Children12 The Book of Mormon: The Heart of Missionary Proselyting

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin18 For Each Season of My Life Richard F. Taylor20 Knowing What You Believe, Believing What You Know

Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander26 Jonah and the Second Chance

Elder Juan Uceda30 Hezekiah’s Tunnel Vision Charles A. Muldowney34 In a Quiet House Rebecca M. Taylor40 In Beauty and Holiness:

The Cultural Arts in Nauvoo Carma de Jong Anderson

48 Telling Personal Stories Richard Nash52 Not Just Teaching a Lesson

Diane M. Tingey54 GOSPEL CLASSICS

Excerpts from The Charted Course of the Church in Education

President J. Reuben Clark Jr.62 Choosing—and Being—

the Right Spouse Thomas B. Holman

68 LATTER-DAY SAINT VOICES

71 VISITING TEACHINGMESSAGELoving Lifelong Learning

72 RANDOM SAMPLER

74 NEWS OF THECHURCH52Not Just Teaching

a Lesson

THE FIRST PRESIDENCY: Gordon B. Hinckley,Thomas S. Monson, James E. FaustQUORUM OF THE TWELVE: Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, David B. Haight, Neal A. Maxwell, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Joseph B. Wirthlin, Richard G. Scott, Robert D. Hales, Jeffrey R.Holland, Henry B. EyringEDITOR: Dennis B. NeuenschwanderADVISERS: J. Kent Jolley, W. Rolfe Kerr, Stephen A. WestMANAGING DIRECTOR: Ronald L. KnightonEDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Richard M. RomneyGRAPHICS DIRECTOR: Allan R. LoyborgMANAGING EDITOR: Brian K. KellyASSISTANT MANAGING EDITORS: Don L. Searle, Jonathan H. StephensonASSOCIATE EDITORS: Judith M. Paller, LaRene Porter Gaunt, Linda Stahle Cooper ASSISTANT EDITORS: Rebecca M. Taylor, Kerry G. Smith, Barbara Jean Jones

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© 2002 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. The Ensign (ISSN 0884-1136) is pub-lished monthly by The Church of Jesus Christof Latter-day Saints, 50 East North TempleStreet, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3224, USA.Periodicals Postage Paid at Salt Lake City, Utah,and at additional mailing offices.

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8 Letting Go withoutGiving Up

18For Each Seasonof My Life

Knowing What You Believe,Believing What You Know

20

2

F I R S T P R E S I D E N C Y M E S S A G E

Patience,a Heavenly Virtue

Several years ago I met an oldfriend I had not seen for sometime. He greeted me with the

salutation, “How is the world treat-ing you?” I don’t recall the specifics of my reply, buthis provocative question caused me to reflect on mymany blessings and my gratitude for life itself and theprivilege and opportunity to serve.

At times the response to this same question bringsan unanticipated answer. Some years ago I attended astake conference in Texas. I was met at the airport bythe stake president, and while we were driving to thestake center, I said, “President, how is everything go-ing for you?”

He responded: “I wish you had asked me thatquestion a week earlier, for this week has been rathereventful. On Friday I was terminated from my em-ployment, this morning my wife came down withbronchitis, and this afternoon the family dog wasstruck and killed by a passing car. Other than thesethings, I guess everything is all right.”

APPLY THE VIRTUE OF PATIENCE

Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others ofa more serious nature. There seems to be an unend-ing supply of challenges for one and all. Our problemis that we often expect instantaneous solutions tosuch challenges, forgetting that frequently the heav-enly virtue of patience is required.

The counsel heard in our youth is still applicabletoday and should be heeded. “Hold your horses,”

B Y P R E S I D E N TT H O M A S S . M O N S O NFirst Counselor in the First Presidency

“Keep your shirt on,” “Slow down,” “Don’t be in sucha hurry,” “Follow the rules,” “Be careful” are morethan trite expressions. They describe sincere counseland speak the wisdom of experience.

The mindless and reckless speeding of a youth-filled car down a winding and hazardous canyonroad can bring a sudden loss of control, the careeningof the car with its precious cargo over the precipice,and the downward plunge that ofttimes brings per-manent incapacity, perhaps premature death, andgrieving hearts of loved ones. The glee-filled momentcan turn in an instant to a lifetime of regret.

Oh, precious youth, please give life a chance.Apply the virtue of patience.

PATIENCE IN ADVERSITY

In sickness, with its attendant pain, patience is re-quired. If the only perfect man who ever lived—evenJesus of Nazareth—was called upon to endure greatsuffering, how can we, who are less than perfect, ex-pect to be free of such challenges?

Who can count the vast throngs of the lonely, theaged, the helpless—those who feel abandoned by thecaravan of life as it moves relentlessly onward andthen disappears beyond the sight of those who pon-der, who wonder, and who sometimes question asthey are left alone with their thoughts. Patience canbe a helpful companion during such stressful times.

Occasionally I visit nursing homes, where long-suffering is found. While attending Sunday services atone facility, I noticed a young girl who was to play herviolin for the comfort of those assembled. She told meshe was nervous and hoped she could do her best. Asshe played, one called out, “Oh, you are so pretty, and

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 3

How great was Job’s misery,how terrible his loss, how

tortured his life. But Job honoredthe trust given him. Job personi-fied patience.

JOB,

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you play so beautifully.” The strains of the movingbow across the taut strings and the elegant movementof the young girl’s fingers seemed inspired by the im-promptu comment. She played magnificently.

Afterward, I congratulated her and her gifted ac-companist. They responded, “We came to cheer thefrail, the sick, and the elderly. Our fears vanished aswe played. We forgot our own cares and concerns.We may have cheered them, but they truly did in-spire us.”

Sometimes the tables are reversed. A dear andcherished young friend, Wendy Bennion of Salt LakeCity, was such an example. Almost seven years ago,she quietly departed mortality and returned “to thatGod who gave [her] life.”1 She had struggled for overfive long years in herbattle with cancer. Evercheerful, always reach-ing out to help others,never losing faith, sheattracted others to heras a magnet attractsmetal shavings. Whileill and in pain, a friendof hers, feeling down-cast with her own situ-ation, visited Wendy.Nancy, Wendy’smother, knowingWendy was in extremepain, felt that perhapsthe friend had stayedtoo long. She askedWendy, after the friendhad left, why she hadallowed her to stay solong when she herself was in so much pain. Wendy’sresponse: “What I was doing for my friend was a lotmore important than the pain I was having. If I canhelp her, then the pain is worth it.”

THE SAVIOR’S PATIENCE

Wendy’s attitude was reminiscent of Him whobore the sorrows of the world, who patiently sufferedexcruciating pain and disappointment, but who, withsilent step of His sandaled feet, passed by a man whowas blind from birth, restoring his sight. He approachedthe grieving widow of Nain and raised her son fromthe dead. He trudged up Calvary’s steep slope, carry-ing His own cruel cross, undistracted by the constantjeers and taunting that accompanied His every step.For He had an appointment with divine destiny. In avery real way He visits us, each one, with His teach-ings. He brings cheer and inspires goodness. He gave

Our Savior patiently bof the world and su

pain and grief.

His precious life that the grave would be deprived of its victory, that death would lose its sting, that lifeeternal would be our gift.

Taken from the cross, buried in a borrowed tomb,this man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, arose onthe morning of the third day. His Resurrection wasdiscovered by Mary and the other Mary when theyapproached the tomb. The great stone blocking theentrance had been rolled away. Came the query oftwo angels who stood by in shining garments: “Whyseek ye the living among the dead? He is not here,but is risen.”2

Paul declared to the Hebrews, “Wherefore seeingwe also are compassed about with so great a cloud ofwitnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin

which doth so easily besetus, and let us run with pa-tience the race that is setbefore us.”3

OTHER EXAMPLESOF PATIENCE

Perhaps there has neveroccurred such a demonstra-tion of patience as that ex-emplified by Job, who wasdescribed in the Holy Bibleas being perfect and up-right and one who fearedGod and eschewed evil.4He was blessed with greatwealth and riches in abun-dance. Satan obtained leavefrom the Lord to try totempt Job. How great was

Job’s misery, how terrible his loss, how tortured hislife. He was urged by his wife to curse God and die.His later reply bespoke his faith: “I know that my re-deemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter dayupon the earth: And though after my skin worms de-stroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.”5 Whatfaith, what courage, what trust. Job lost possessions—all of them. Job lost his health—all of it. Job honoredthe trust given him. Job personified patience.

Another who portrayed the virtue of patiencewas the Prophet Joseph Smith. After his supernal ex-perience in the grove called Sacred, where theFather and the Son appeared to him, he was calledupon to wait. At length, after Joseph sufferedthrough over three years of derision for his beliefs,the angel Moroni appeared to him. And then morewaiting and patience were required. Let us remem-ber the counsel found in Isaiah: “My thoughts arenot your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,

ore the sorrowsffered excruciating

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saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher thanthe earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,and my thoughts than your thoughts.”6

THE SAVIOR’S INVITATION

Today in our hurried and hectic lives, we couldwell go back to an earlier time for the lesson taught us regarding crossing dangerous streets. “Stop, look,and listen” were the watchwords. Could we not ap-ply them now? Stop from a reckless road to ruin.Look upward for heavenly help. Listen for His invita-tion: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavyladen, and I will give you rest.”7

He will teach us the truth of the beautiful verse:

Life is real! Life is earnest!And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul.8

We will learn that each of us is precious to ourElder Brother, even the Lord Jesus Christ. He trulyloves us.

His life is the flawless example of one afflictedwith sorrows and disappointments, who nonethe-less provided the example of forgetting self andserving others. The remembered verse of childhoodechoes afresh:

Yes, Jesus loves me!Yes, Jesus loves me!Yes, Jesus loves me!The Bible tells me so!9

And so does the Book of Mormon, so does theDoctrine and Covenants, and so does the Pearl ofGreat Price. Let the scriptures be your guide, and you will never find yourself traveling the road tonowhere.

Today, some are out of work, out of money, out ofself-confidence. Hunger haunts their lives, and dis-couragement dogs their paths. But help is here—evenfood for the hungry, clothing for the naked, and shel-ter for the homeless.

Thousands of tons move outward from ourChurch storehouses weekly—even food, clothing,medical equipment and supplies to the far corners of the earth and to empty cupboards and needy people closer to home.

I am inspired by the devotion which promptsbusy and talented dentists and doctors on a regularbasis to leave their practices and donate their skills to

This man of sorrows arose on the morning ofthe third day. His Resurrection reminds us to

“run with patience the race that is set before us.”

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 5

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those who need such help. They travel to farawayplaces to repair cleft palates, correct malformedbones, and restore crippled bodies—all for the love of God’s children. The afflicted who have patientlywaited for corrective help are blessed by these “angels in disguise.”

PATIENCE IN GERMANY

In the words of a well-known song, I wish youcould “come fly with me” to eastern Germany, whereI have visited many times. Not long ago, as I traveledalong the autobahns, I reflected on a time almost 35 years before when I saw on the same autobahnsjust trucks carrying armed soldiers and policemen.Barking dogs everywhere strained on their leashes,and informers walked the streets. Back then, theflame of freedom had flickered and burned low. Awall of shame sprang up, and a curtain of iron camedown. Hope was all but snuffed out. Life, preciouslife, continued on in faith, nothing wavering. Patientwaiting was required. An abiding trust in Godmarked the life of each Latter-day Saint.

When I made my initial visit beyond the wall, itwas a time of fear on the part of our members as they

Many years ago in eastern Germany, patientwaiting was required. Little by little, wards

were formed and stakes created. Then miracle ofmiracles, a holy temple of God was dedicated.

struggled in the performance of their duties. I found the dullness of despair on the faces of manypassersby but a bright and beautiful expression oflove emanating from our members. In Görlitz thebuilding in which we met was shell-pocked from thewar, but the interior reflected the tender care of ourleaders in bringing brightness and cleanliness to anotherwise shabby and grimy structure. The Churchhad survived both a world war and the cold warwhich followed. The singing of the Saints brightenedevery soul. They sang the old Sunday School favorite:

If the way be full of trial; Weary not!If it’s one of sore denial, Weary not!If it now be one of weeping,There will come a joyous greeting,When the harvest we are reaping—Weary not!

Do not weary by the way,Whatever be thy lot;There awaits a brighter dayTo all, to all who weary not!10

I was touched by their sincerity. I was humbledby their poverty. They had so little. My heart filledwith sorrow because they had no patriarch. Theyhad no wards or stakes—just branches. They couldnot receive temple blessings—neither endowmentnor sealing. No official visitor had come fromChurch headquarters in a long time. The memberswere forbidden to leave the country. Yet they

NOTES1. Alma 40:11.2. Luke 24:5–6.3. Heb. 12:1.4. See Job 1:1.5. Job 19:25–26.6. Isa. 55:8–9.7. Matt. 11:28.8. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “A Psalm of Life,” lines 5–8.9. “Jesus Loves Me!” Alexander’s Gospel Songs, comp. Charles M.

Alexander (1908), 139.10. “If the Way Be Full of Trial, Weary Not,” Deseret Sunday

School Songs (1909), no. 158.11. See Prov. 3:5–6.12. Ps. 46:10.13. See D&C 25:12.14. “God of Our Fathers, Known of Old,” Hymns, no. 80.

trusted in the Lord with all their hearts, and theyleaned not to their own understanding. In all theirways they acknowledged Him, and He directedtheir paths.11 I stood at the pulpit, and with tear-filled eyes and a voice choked with emotion, I madea promise to the people: “If you will remain trueand faithful to the commandments of God, everyblessing any member of the Church enjoys in anyother country will be yours.”

That night as I realized what I had promised, Idropped to my knees and prayed: “Heavenly Father,I’m on Thy errand; this is Thy Church. I have spokenwords that came not from me, but from Thee andThy Son. Wilt Thou, therefore, fulfill the promise inthe lives of this noble people.” There coursed throughmy mind the words from the psalm, “Be still, andknow that I am God.”12 The heavenly virtue of pa-tience was required.

Little by little the promise was fulfilled. First, patriarchs were ordained, then lesson manuals produced. Wards were formed and stakes created.Chapels and stake centers were begun, completed,and dedicated. Then, miracle of miracles, a holy tem-ple of God was permitted, designed, constructed,and dedicated. Finally, after an absence of 50 years,approval was granted for full-time missionaries toenter the nation and for local youth to serve else-where in the world. Then, like the wall of Jericho, the Berlin Wall crumbled, and freedom, with its attendant responsibilities, returned.

All of the parts of the precious promise of almost35 years earlier were fulfilled, save one. Tiny Görlitz,where the promise had been given, still had nochapel of its own. Now, even that dream became a reality. The building was approved and completed.Dedication day dawned. Sister Monson and I, alongwith Elder and Sister Dieter Uchtdorf, held a meetingof dedication in Görlitz. The same songs were sung aswere rendered all those years earlier. The membersknew the significance of the occasion, marking the to-tal fulfillment of the promise. They wept as they sang.The song of the righteous was indeed a prayer untothe Lord and had been answered with a blessingupon their heads.13

At the conclusion of the meeting we were reluc-tant to leave. As we did so, seen were the wavinghands of all, heard were the words, “Auf Wiedersehen,auf Wiedersehen; God be with you till we meet again.”

Patience, that heavenly virtue, had brought tohumble Saints its heaven-sent reward. The words ofRudyard Kipling’s “Recessional” seemed so fitting:

The tumult and the shouting dies;The captains and the kings depart.Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,

An humble and a contrite heart.Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget, lest we forget.14 �

IDEAS FOR HOME TEACHERSPreparation

Study Romans 5:1–5 and Mosiah 23:21–22 and consider ways that patience has been helpful in your life.As you study this message, prayerfully choose one or twostatements of truth you feel will most benefit those youteach. For each statement choose a teaching method oractivity that is appropriate for the ages and circumstancesof the family members. A few examples of how this could be done are listed below.

Suggestions for Teaching1. Ask a family member to perform a task that requires

patience and asking for help, such as putting together acomplex puzzle, solving a difficult math problem, or read-ing and explaining a difficult chapter in the scriptures.Why did the task seem difficult? How could patience havehelped in completing the task? President Monson said,“Life is full of difficulties. . . . Our problem is that we oftenexpect instantaneous solutions.” What can a person do todevelop more patience?

2. Ask family members to tell of times when the Saviorshowed patience. President Monson said, “[Jesus] patientlysuffered excruciating pain and disappointment.” Discussways Jesus’ promise in Matthew 11:28 could help a personhave greater patience.

3. Tell of a time when having patience helped you. Invitefamily members to share their experiences with patience.Then read or invite family members to take turns readingthe story of the Latter-day Saints in Germany. PresidentMonson said that patience brought to the humble Saints of eastern Germany “its heaven-sent reward.” Testify of the importance of patience in your life.

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LETTING GOW I T H O U T

GIVING UP

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Our mentally ill son and his substance abuse changed our livesdramatically. Could we ever learn to deal with his destructive actions?

NA M E WI T H H E L D

When he was a boy, our son’s report cardswere often disappointing even though hewas intelligent. He sometimes became an-

gry and aggressive. At other times he showed un-usual anxiety. By high school he seemed increasinglyunhappy and unable to fit in with friends. He beganto skip school frequently. His bizarre haircuts andodd clothing became a source of friction.

A doctor told us these behaviors were normalteenage rebellion and he would grow out of them in afew years, but my instincts told me otherwise. Otheractions made us more apprehensive. Our son spentlong periods of time at the sink, washing his handsover and over again; he wouldn’t touch things forfear of becoming contaminated. He isolated himselfin his bedroom.

I became consumed with uncertainty and fear. Myhusband and I were trying to rear our two children in love and righteousness. We prayed together andtaught our children the gospel. We read the scripturestogether. We sang Primary songs and hymns at familyhome evening. We attended church together. Ourson’s Church teachers and peers often praised hisgospel knowledge. Yet in spite of this, his life and hisinterest in the gospel were crumbling.

My husband and I felt something was seriouslywrong. Our son’s behavior did not seem normal,while our daughter was doing well. For years wesearched for answers but found none that helped.Then, at last, a psychiatrist correctly diagnosed ourson as having a serious mental illness. Though the

diagnosis sounded formidable and we left the doc-tor’s office feeling numb and afraid, it was a relief tofinally have an explanation for our son’s erratic behavior.

LEARNING TO COPE

Though our teenage son’s future looked bleak andforbidding, my husband and I prayed that throughlove and stricter discipline we could help him. Butdiscipline was met with fierce denial and anger.Innocent comments were interpreted negatively. The tension in our home became almost tangible.Because I was doing most of the disciplining, ourson directed most of his anger at me. It came to the point where he couldn’t even stand next to me without becoming defensive and angry. It seemed that everything I did was wrong.

As my husband and I searched for answers, we went through a time of intense personal struggle and individual testing. As solid as I thought my faith in Jesus Christ was, I soon realized that my levelof faith was inadequate for the trials I was facing. Ineeded faith to move mountains, yet I felt equippedwith a shovel instead of dynamite and earthmovers.I began to pray more fervently, pleading many timeseach day for wisdom and strength. I attended the tem-ple more frequently for solace, peace, and revelation. I received priesthood blessings that gave me hope andguidance. I began fasting weekly with my husband aswe realized the need for greater spiritual strength.

Inspiration and insight began to come. Once I wassitting in church on Mother’s Day, wondering if I wasup to the challenges that my son presented. The chil-dren began singing, “Mother, I love you; mother, I do.Father in Heaven has sent me to you” (Children’sSongbook, 207). The words stunned me and broughtan important realization: Heavenly Father had sentour son to us. Whatever the reason, he was meant tobe ours, and we were trusted to handle the difficultassignment of raising him.

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More on this topic: See John K. Carmack, “When Our Children GoAstray,” Ensign, Feb. 1997, 6; Jan Underwood Pinborough, “MentalIllness: In Search of Understanding and Hope,” Ensign, Feb. 1989,50; “When Children Rebel,” Ensign, Mar. 1985, 30; Marvin K.Gardner, “Keeping the Door Open and the Stew Hot: Loving andHelping a Wayward Child,” Ensign, Aug. 1982, 8.

LETTING GO

Our son moved out of the houseshortly after graduating from highschool and began living a lifestyletotally foreign to us. We worriedthat he was now using drugs regu-larly. Occasionally, he came homefor Sunday dinner and attendedchurch with us, but his behaviorcontinued to deteriorate.

Of necessity, we began lettinggo of the hopes and dreams weonce held for our son and gradu-ally came to accept the full realityof his situation. His illness was themajor cause of his substance abuseand greatly complicated any recov-ery attempts. Our lives became aroller coaster as our son took us ona wild ride of ups and downs. Heinitially chose not to take the med-ications his doctor prescribed, pre-ferring to medicate himself withillegal drugs. Every day seemed tobring a new crisis, and every phonecall seemed to bring unwelcomenews: “I quit my job,” “I’m in jail,”“Someone stole my paycheck,” “My car has brokendown,” “I have hepatitis.” I often felt completelydrained and wondered if our years of fasting andprayer were making any difference.

On one such day, I opened the Doctrine andCovenants and read: “Blessed art thou for what thou hast done; for thou hast inquired of me, and behold, as often as thou hast inquired thou hast received instruction of my Spirit. If it had not been so, thou wouldst not have come to the place wherethou art at this time” (D&C 6:14). The Spirit whis-pered that our son was indeed being helped by our fasts.

At first I tried to override my son’s agency withmy prayers. Finally understanding that no amount of pleading could make our son come back, I began to pray that he would receive the experiences heneeded to help him want to come back. I believe that even with his illness, our son has some ability to choose for himself. My husband and I came to realize that we needed to learn to control our ownfeelings, attitudes, and reactions to his choices.

While our son is often not open to gospel discus-sions, I have found other ways to bear my testimonyto him. I have made our home a place of “silent ser-mons.” On our walls hang cross-stitched scripturesand framed pictures of the Savior and temples. I once

Throughout thI have found

scriptures.

noticed my son studying one ofthese pictures. Whenever he comeshome, he is reminded of our faithwithout our saying a word.

FINDING HOPE

Throughout this long ordeal,the scriptures have helped me to endure. I have often found comfort by reading that the sons ofMosiah were the “vilest of sinners”(Mosiah 28:4), yet through repen-tance were totally forgiven and became great missionaries. When I read about Jesus Christ callingforth those with any manner of afflictions to be healed (see 3 Ne. 17:7–9), I find comfort in the thought that He can heal today just as He healed then.

One day I was dusting a framedsaying that I had purchased for myson when he was a child. It de-scribed the meaning of his name,accompanied by an appropriatescripture. Although I had read itmany times before, the scripture

suddenly had new meaning. It said: “The Lord stoodwith me, and strengthened me. . . . The Lord shall deliver me . . . and will preserve me unto his heav-enly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:17–18). The Lord is mind-ful of our son, from day to day, and when our son is ready, the Lord has the power to help him over-come his addictions. A warm feeling came over me as I realized that the Savior was indeed watchingover him.

Living with our son’s mental illness and substanceabuse has not been easy, but through my experiences,I have come to know and love my Savior more deeply.I have found that the only way to find true peace andhappiness is by putting my trust in Him. I have cometo know that eventually—whether in this life or inthe eternities—my son will find the same peace in thegospel that I have found. My testimony of the Saviorand the power of His atoning sacrifice increases daily.The Savior suffered for my sins. He suffered for myson’s sins. And I believe that one day, through Hissacrifice and His love, our son will return to theteachings of his youth. �

is long ordeal, comfort in the

HOPE FOR PARENTSOF WAYWARD CHILDREN

JOSEPH SMITH(1805–44)

First President of the Church

“The Prophet Joseph Smith de-clared—and he never taught a

more comforting doctrine—that theeternal sealings of faithful parentsand the divine promises made to

them for valiant service in the Cause of Truth, wouldsave not only themselves, but likewise their posterity.Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye ofthe Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later theywill feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reachingout after them and drawing them back to the fold.Either in this life or the life to come, they will return.They will have to pay their debt to justice; they willsuffer for their sins; and may tread a thorny path; butif it leads them at last, like the penitent Prodigal, to aloving and forgiving father’s heart and home, thepainful experience will not have been in vain. Prayfor your careless and disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till yousee the salvation of God” (Orson F. Whitney, inConference Report, Apr. 1929, 110).

BRIGHAM YOUNG(1801–77)

Second President of the Church

“Let the father and mother, whoare members of this Church

and Kingdom, take a righteouscourse, and strive with all theirmight never to do a wrong, but to

do good all their lives; if they have one child or onehundred children, if they conduct themselves to-wards them as they should, binding them to theLord by their faith and prayers, I care not wherethose children go, they are bound up to their parentsby an everlasting tie, and no power of earth or hellcan separate them from their parents in eternity;they will return again to the fountain from whencethey sprang” (quoted in Joseph Fielding Smith,Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:90–91).

LORENZO SNOW(1814–1901)

Fifth President of the Church

“If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions and re-

ceive a resurrection, you will, by thepower of the Priesthood, work andlabor, as the Son of God has, until

you get all your sons and daughters in the path of ex-altation and glory. This is just as sure as that the sunrose this morning over yonder mountains. Therefore,mourn not because all your sons and daughters donot follow in the path that you have marked out tothem, or give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as wesucceed in securing eternal glory, and stand as sav-iors, and as kings and priests to our God, we willsave our posterity” (in Collected Discourses, comp.Brian H. Stuy, 5 vols. [1987–92], 3:364).

BOYD K. PACKERActing President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

“The measure of our success as parents . . . will not rest solely

on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we could raise our families

in a perfectly moral environment, and that now isnot possible.

“It is not uncommon for responsible parents tolose one of their children, for a time, to influencesover which they have no control. They agonize overrebellious sons or daughters. They are puzzled overwhy they are so helpless when they have tried sohard to do what they should.

“It is my conviction that those wicked influencesone day will be overruled. . . .

“We cannot overemphasize the value of templemarriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance,and the standards of worthiness required of them.When parents keep the covenants they have madeat the altar of the temple, their children will be for-ever bound to them” (“Our Moral Environment,”Ensign, May 1992, 68). �

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 11

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The BOOK of MORMONThe Heart of

Missionary Proselyting

Conversion to this inspired book is conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

B Y E L D E R J O S E P H B .W I R T H L I NOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Fourteen years ago, PresidentEzra Taft Benson (1899–1994)gave a landmark address in

general conference titled “Floodingthe Earth with the Book of Mormon.”

In this masterful discourse, he called the Church torepentance and gave us his prophetic vision of therole the Book of Mormon must play in our lives andin the Church. I wish to remind you of that vision.Also, I want to discuss how well we have followed his counsel these many years later. How are we do-ing in flooding the earth with the Book of Mormon?President Benson taught:

“The Book of Mormon is the instrument that God designed to ‘sweep the earth as with a flood, togather out [His] elect.’ (Moses 7:62.) This sacred vol-ume of scripture needs to become more central in ourpreaching, our teaching, and our missionary work. . . .

“The time is long overdue for a massive floodingof the earth with the Book of Mormon for the manyreasons which the Lord has given. In this age of elec-tronic media and the mass distribution of the printedword, God will hold us accountable if we do not nowmove the Book of Mormon in a monumental way. . . .

“. . . We hardly fathom the power of the Book ofMormon, nor the divine role it must play, nor the ex-tent to which it must be moved. . . .

“I challenge our mission leaders to show their mis-sionaries how to challenge their contacts to read the

Book of Mormon and pray about it. Missionariesneed to know how to use the Book of Mormon toarouse mankind’s interest in studying it, and theyneed to show how it answers the great questions ofthe soul. Missionaries need to read with those theyteach various passages from the Book of Mormon ongospel subjects. . . .

“I challenge all of us to prayerfully consider stepsthat we can personally take to bring this new witnessfor Christ more fully into our own lives and into aworld that so desperately needs it. . . .

“I have a vision of thousands of missionaries goinginto the mission field with [marvelous testimonies ofthis sacred book] so that they might feed the needs ofa spiritually famished world.

“I have a vision of the whole Church gettingnearer to God by abiding by the precepts of the Bookof Mormon.

“Indeed, I have a vision of flooding the earth withthe Book of Mormon” (Ensign, Nov. 1988, 4–6).

We need to have that same vision if we are to besuccessful in fulfilling the Lord’s wishes. We may bedoing fine in terms of quantity, but how about interms of quality? I believe there is much room for improvement.

THE POWER OF THE BOOK

In 1839 the Prophet Joseph Smith and severalother Church leaders had the opportunity to addressa congregation of 3,000 people in Philadelphia whowere not members of the Church. Sidney Rigdonspoke first. Attempting to establish common ground,he taught the gospel by referring to the Bible and itsprophecies. When Joseph arose to speak, he was dis-pleased. He said that if others did not have thecourage to testify of him, then he would testify ofhimself and of the Book of Mormon. Because of hisspeech, many were touched by the Spirit and were

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 13

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baptized into the Church (see Parley P. Pratt,Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt [1985], 260).

You may have many opportunities to teach and tobear witness of the gospel. May I suggest that you emu-late the example of the Prophet and take every oppor-tunity to bear witness of the truthfulness of the Book ofMormon and of the divine mission of Joseph Smith.

When President David O. McKay’s father wasserving a mission in Scotland, he encountered antag-onism toward the Church. He decided to preach thedoctrines of the gospel without mentioning theRestoration or the Book of Mormon. As the dayspassed, President McKay said, his father continuedwith this approach until his mind became so dark-ened and despondent that he felt he would have toleave his mission and go home.

As a last resort, he decided to go into a cave andpray for help. While he was praying, a voice came tohim, “Testify that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God.”He consequently changed his approach and began to testify of the Book of Mormon and of the ProphetJoseph Smith. As a result, President McKay said, his fa-ther discovered that many were touched by the spiritof his words and believed and were baptized (seeDavid O. McKay, Cherished Experiences from the Writingsof David O. McKay, comp. Clare Middlemiss [1976], 11).

I hope we can learn from this experience. If youwant to reach people, if you want to change hearts, if you want to be successful in your missionary work,testify of the divinity of the Book of Mormon.

Before we go any further, we must understandwhy this inspired book of scripture is the heart ofmissionary proselyting. Conversion to it is conversionto Christ, because this book contains the words ofChrist. The very title page of the Book of Mormonproclaims its purpose: “To the convincing of the Jewand Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.”

Additionally, conversion to this inspired book isconversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ, because it contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. TheLord told Joseph Smith in the Doctrine and Covenants,“And again, the elders, priests and teachers of thischurch shall teach the principles of my gospel, whichare in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the whichis the fulness of the gospel” (D&C 42:12).

Finally, conversion to the Book of Mormon is con-version to the divine, prophetic calling of the ProphetJoseph Smith. It is the divine evidence of the truthful-ness of Joseph Smith’s calling. Either this is all true, orit is not. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum ofthe Twelve Apostles explained it best when he wrote:

“To consider that everything of saving significancein the Church stands or falls on the truthfulness ofthe Book of Mormon and, by implication, the Prophet

Joseph Smith’s account of how it came forth is assobering as it is true. It is a ‘sudden death’ proposi-tion. Either the Book of Mormon is what the ProphetJoseph said it is, or this Church and its founder arefalse, a deception from the first instance onward.

“Not everything in life is so black and white, butthe authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its key-stone role in our religion seem to be exactly that.Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was,a prophet who, after seeing the Father and the Son,later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heardcounsel from Moroni’s lips, and eventually receivedat his hands a set of ancient gold plates that he thentranslated by the gift and power of God, or else hedid not. And if he did not, he would not be entitled to the reputation of New England folk hero, or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction.No, nor would he be entitled to be considered a greatteacher, a quintessential American religious leader, orthe creator of great devotional literature. If he hadlied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon,he would certainly be none of these.

“I am suggesting that one has to take something of a do-or-die stand regarding the restoration of thegospel of Jesus Christ, and the divine origins of theBook of Mormon. Reason and righteousness requireit. Joseph Smith must be accepted either as a prophetof God or else as a charlatan of the first order, but noone should tolerate any ludicrous, even laughablemiddle ground about the wonderful contours of ayoung boy’s imagination or his remarkable facility forturning a literary phrase. That is an unacceptable po-sition to take—morally, literarily, historically, or theo-logically” (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 345–46).

MISSIONARIES NEED TO BE PREPARED

To more effectively flood the earth with the Bookof Mormon, we must begin by better preparing ourmissionaries. We need missionaries who come intothe mission field with burning testimonies of it. Evenmore importantly, we need more missionaries—in-cluding member missionaries—who are truly con-verted and have had spiritual experiences with theBook of Mormon. A missionary will not be effective ifhe or she does not have a strong testimony of this sa-cred volume of scripture. Indeed, I believe a mission-ary’s effectiveness and success is directly related tohis or her own conversion to, testimony of, and loveof the Book of Mormon.

I have great faith in our young people who arecalled to serve missions. I believe they are better pre-pared with greater testimonies of this book. Let meshare the example of one young man, Brian Yoho.

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When Brian was 14 years old, he decided it was timefor him to read the Book of Mormon, since JosephSmith was 14 when he received the First Vision. Brianread constantly, and he loved the book so much thathe read it four times in one year.

One day Brian went to the Church distribution cen-ter with his mother. As they were leaving, Brian toldhis mother to go on ahead, as he wanted to purchasesomething alone. Normally that may be a red flag for amother, but after all, what could he buy at the Churchdistribution center that would be harmful?

Brian’s mother respected his wish and waited inthe car for him to make his secret purchase. A fewminutes later, Brian got into the car with a large box.His mother asked what was in the box. “Oh, nothing,”he replied. When they got home, Brian then wrote onthe box the address of his older brother, who was cur-rently serving a mission, and asked his mother to shipit to his older brother. He still wouldn’t tell his motherwhat was in the box. So she wrote her son in the mis-sion field, asking what was in the box that Brian hadsent to him. He wrote back, explaining that Brian hadsent him a box of copies of the Book of Mormon tohand out to people in his mis-sion. Brian had been sotouched by his readingfrom the Book ofMormon that he had a great desire to share it. Hebought the box with his

“If you will read thisbook with a prayer-

ful heart and ask Godto give you a witness,you will know of thetruth of this work,”Samuel Smith toldPhineas Young.

own hard-earned money and sent it to his missionarybrother. Brian later served a full-time mission in Japan.

Is there any doubt that Brian caught PresidentBenson’s prophetic vision of the Book of Mormon?We need more missionaries and members prepared,like Brian, with a great love and understanding of theBook of Mormon.

The proper use of this scripture in proselytingconsists of much more than just placing a Book ofMormon in a home. The goal is not simply to see howmany copies of it we can give away. The immediategoal when placing the Book of Mormon should be tohave the investigator read it and receive the mission-ary discussions. The ultimate goal is for the book tolead the person to come unto Christ and be convertedto the true Church.

THE STORY OF SAMUEL SMITH

This sacred book has been the center of our mis-sionary work in this dispensation from the beginning,as we know from the example of the first missionary,Samuel H. Smith (1808–44), brother to the ProphetJoseph. We learn many things from his story abouthow to use it in missionary work.

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His is a story of great faith and courage in the faceof discouraging circumstances. He was not called asthe first missionary by accident. After receiving a spir-itual confirmation of the truthfulness of what hisprophet-brother had been telling him, he became thethird person baptized in this dispensation—followingJoseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

He began his mission with a sure knowledge ofthe truthfulness of the sacred work being performedby Joseph Smith and also of the truthfulness of theBook of Mormon. As one of the Eight Witnesses,Samuel was privileged to be shown the plates byJoseph, and was able to hold the plates in his handsand examine the ancient writing thereon. He was alsoone of the six charter members of the Church when itwas organized on 6 April 1830.

Shortly before he received his formal missionarycall, Samuel sold a copy of the Book of Mormon toPhineas Young, a traveling preacher. In this initial en-counter he held a book in his hand and offered it toPhineas.

“There is a book, sir, I wish you to read.”Phineas hesitated. “Pray, sir, what book have

you?”“The Book of Mormon, or, as it is called by some,

the Golden Bible.”“Ah, sir, then it purports to be a revelation?”“Yes. It is a revelation from God.”The young man showed Phineas the last two

pages of the book and had him read the testimony of the witnesses. The young man continued, “If youwill read this book with a prayerful heart and askGod to give you a witness you will know of the truthof this work.”

His earnest demeanor and forthright manner im-pressed Phineas, who told the young man he wouldcertainly read it. Phineas asked his name; he told himit was Samuel H. Smith.

“Ah, you are one of the witnesses.”“Yes, I know the book to be a revelation from

God, translated by the gift and power of the HolyGhost, and that my brother, Joseph Smith, Jun., is a Prophet, Seer and Revelator” (quoted in S. Dilworth Young, Brigham Young—His Life (First Half), Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year [17 Mar. 1964], 3).

When Samuel left on his first mission, shortly fol-lowing the organization of the Church, he was armedwith a testimony of the truth and little else. But heneeded little else. He had a testimony, and he hadcopies of the Book of Mormon—the missionary toolfor conversion. He carried a knapsack with him thathe filled with as many copies of this book as he couldcarry. He probably even carried one in his hand.

You have to remember that this had never been done before. He didn’t have a companion to show him how to use the Book of Mormon. There was no missionary training center for thisyoung man.

So Samuel left Palmyra to travel throughout thecountryside, seeking converts and interested individ-uals who would purchase a copy of the Book ofMormon. He walked 25 miles that first day, and uponreaching an inn, he asked the innkeeper if he wouldbuy one of the books. When the innkeeper learnedmore of his mission, Samuel was forced to leave andspent that first night under an apple tree.

The next day Samuel met a Methodist preachernamed John P. Greene. Mr. Greene was not personallyinterested in reading the book, but he said he wouldkeep it to see if anyone else wanted to buy it. Samueldid not give up. He called again on the Greene familyand found that Mr. Greene’s wife, Rhoda YoungGreene—a sister of Phineas Young—had read thebook. She later convinced her husband that heneeded to read it as well. Samuel did not baptize one soul on that first mission, but those two copies of the Book of Mormon that were given to PhineasYoung and John P. Greene eventually were the means of converting a whole neighborhood, including Brigham Young and his family and Heber C. Kimball and his family.

I love the story of Samuel Smith. He overcamegreat odds and used the Book of Mormon effectively.He bore testimony and invited the people to readfrom its pages. He then followed up with them asbest he could under the circumstances to encouragethem to read more. He never gave up. He had faiththat God was in control and would use him as Heneeded. Lastly, he carried copies of the Book ofMormon with him. Like Samuel, we should see to it that we always have copies of this book ready to give away.

THE NEEDS OF PROSPECTIVE CONVERTS

Remember, prospective converts are like sproutingplants. They are all sprouting, but at different stagesand degrees. Some are still seeds planted far beneaththe ground, needing lots of sun, water, and time togrow. Such prospective converts may need years tosprout and blossom. Others are very close to the sur-face and only need a little sun, water, and patience topoke through the ground to the full rays of the sun.These prospective converts only need someone tolove them. They only need to hear the truth as taughtby the missionaries and gain a testimony of the Bookof Mormon. They only need to make and keep the

The world needs thisgreat book of scrip-

ture more than ever. Andpeople are hungering forit. We will not rest untilevery man and womancan read this book in hisor her tongue.

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commitments that will lead them to conversion andbaptism. Others, of course, are sprouting and blos-soming when missionaries contact them, and they are fully prepared for the message of the Restoration.The Doctrine and Covenants states that such people“are only kept from the truth because they know notwhere to find it” (D&C 123:12).

By using the Book of Mormon effectively, we can accelerate that sprouting process. It contains the fulness of the gospel and the greatest witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His divine mission. Teach of the Savior and His mission from its pages.We must teach of Christ more often. When we do, the Spirit will attend us more often, and true conver-sion will result.

This book of truth has many uses in missionarywork: it helps people feel the Spirit, it helps answerconcerns and questions, and it helps people makecommitments. I know that as we use this sacred bookeffectively, our converts will be like those of Ammon’sconverts who “were converted unto the Lord, [and]never did fall away” (Alma 23:6; emphasis added). Nomember of this Church is fully converted until he orshe has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon.

The world needs this great book of scripture morethan ever. And people are hungering for it. This bookis now translated and available in more than 100 lan-guages. We will not rest until every man and womancan read this book in his or her tongue. Many peoplestill do not have it in their own language. We are do-ing the best that we can in that regard.

Please do not take the Book of Mormon forgranted. Pray for a vision of how you can use theBook of Mormon more effectively in your missionarywork. I promise that as you do so, your mind willbe enlightened with the direction that youshould take. I pray that we may catch thevision of this great work, particularly offlooding the earth with this great book ofscripture. �

From an address to new mission presidents, ProvoMissionary Training Center, 23 June 1999.

LET’S TALK ABOUT ITMost Ensign articles can be used for family home

evening discussions. The following questions are forthat purpose or for personal reflection:

1. Why should the Book of Mormon be central to ourmissionary efforts?

2. What can we do to strengthen our own testimonies of the Book of Mormon?

3. How can we more effectively use the Book of Mormonin our missionary work?

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B Y R I C H A R D F. TA Y L O R

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In response to the energy crisis of the late 1970s,the Oakland California Temple turned many of itsoutside lights off. Almost immediately the San

Francisco Port Authority requested they be relit. Thetemple is located on a hillside across from the GoldenGate Bridge, which enables its lights to serve as animportant reference point for ships navigating intothe harbor.

Like one of those ships, I am trying to navigate myway home to our Father in Heaven. My life’s journeyhas taken me into uncharted waters, and like theships entering the San Francisco harbor, I haveneeded a reference point that is constant and reliable.Guidance based simply on someone’s opinion is notsufficient, for my objective is too important. I haveneeded direction that I can count on and that is spe-cific to my needs—for each season of my life.

The Book of Mormon has provided that guidance.It has been a conduit for the Spirit of the Lord to helpme navigate through troubled times by providingspecific counsel. And while the content of this bookhas not changed over the years, the Holy Spirit hashelped me find applications to fit my ever-changingcircumstances.

As a child, I learned about the Book of Mormonfrom my mother. She read its stories to me, and theycaptured my imagination. I learned about Lehi leav-ing Jerusalem with his family to avoid destruction. As a younger brother in my family, I delighted inNephi’s example of leadership. Camping in thewilderness and using the Liahona sounded exciting. I also learned that obedience to the Lord’s command-ments is rewarded. I discovered things that interestedme for that season of my life.

When I was a teenager, my parents succumbed tothe temptations of the world. They encouraged myactivity in the Church, but their examples had moreimpact than their words. My older brothers came tomy rescue. One had just returned from a full-timemission, and the other was a newlywed. They recog-nized that certain pressures could easily lead me inthe wrong direction. It was my returned-missionarybrother who rekindled my interest in the Book ofMormon. He told me stories of battles for freedom,massive destruction, and hand-to-hand combat. As I read about these battles, the Spirit of the Lord

For Eac

touched my heart. I also learned for myself thatMoroni’s promise is true. My life changed because of my brothers’ love and efforts. They presented the message of the Book of Mormon in a way that appealed to me for that season of my life.

When I was a full-time missionary, the Book ofMormon enabled me to teach ideas with which I hadlittle experience. Studying it enabled the Holy Ghostto help me overcome my inadequacies. I discoveredthat I could “liken all scriptures” to myself and profitfrom inspired direction (see 1 Ne. 19:23). It alsohelped me find patterns in human behavior. I wit-nessed in the lives of my investigators the truthtaught in the Book of Mormon, that those who followthe Spirit are blessed, while those who follow theopinions of the world become subject to the naturalconsequences of their choices. The Book of Mormonhelped me see these kinds of patterns so I could makesuccessful choices and teach others during that sea-son of my life.

When I became a parent, the Book of Mormon became a lesson manual on family life. I read aboutother parents rejoicing over the righteousness of achild (see Alma 38:2) and grieving when a child stum-bles (see Alma 39:3). I was encouraged when I readabout a father who by faith, prayer, and patiencehelped his wayward child (see Mosiah 27:14).Discourses on agency and accountability have com-forted me as I have struggled with my own childrenover the answers to life’s questions (see Hel. 14:30–31).The Book of Mormon has shown me how the experi-ences of others can help me avoid the consequencesof wrong choices. It helped me find answers for thatseason of my life.

Throughout my life the Book of Mormon has beena gold mine, with rich veins of spiritual truth to blessme in direct proportion to my diligence in excavatingthem. From its pages I have gained confidence to conquer my trials. It has whispered to me “from thedust.”

Like a ship entering the harbor, I need a point ofreference that is constant and reliable. The Book ofMormon has provided that direction for each seasonof my life. I love the Book of Mormon! �Richard F. Taylor is a member of the Clayton Valley First Ward,Walnut Creek California Stake.

h Season

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of My LifeThe Book of Mormon has always been there to help me—as a child, teenager, full-timemissionary, and parent.

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KNOWINGWhat You Believe,

We need to ponder our spiritual experiences, learn from them, and be strengthened by them.

BELIEVINGWhat You Know

KNOWINGWhat You Believe,

BELIEVINGWhat You Know

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B Y E L D E R D E N N I S B .N E U E N S C H W A N D E R

Of the Presidency of the Seventy

As we read in Alma 30, Korihor had made many untrue allegations about the Church

and was brought before Alma, wholistened but was not challenged by Korihor’s claims.Alma recognized the allegations to be false—not onlybecause he knew the doctrines of the Church and thehistory of his people but because he had unshakableconfidence in his own personal experiences with thegospel.

It is a good thing for us to know what we believe.We should know and be familiar with the doctrines,ordinances, covenants, and teachings of the Churchand its modern-day prophets. Equally important,however, to knowing what we believe is believingwhat we know. Believing what we know has to dowith recognizing, trusting, and learning from ourown spiritual experiences.

Deeply personal spiritual experiences are grantedto us for our own edification and occupy an importantplace in our education. Such experiences will alwaysbe in harmony with the doctrines of the Church andthe teachings of its living prophets.

I am passing through the same educationalprocess you are. Along the way I have made a fewobservations about learning from the experiences the Lord has granted me. I would like to share a few of my observations with you.

1. We can knowsome things withoutknowing all things.

When Nephi desired aconfirmation of his father’svision, the angel asked him,“Knowest thou the condescensionof God?” Nephi’s answer was, “I know that he loveth His children;nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of allthings” (1 Ne. 11:16–17). Nephi seemed satisfied topermit his knowledge of some things to expand hisfaith and give him confidence in areas where hisknowledge was not quite as complete. We would do well to nurture this understanding. PresidentSpencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught that “faith is based on past experience. It is not blind obedi-ence, even without total understanding, to follow a Father who has proved himself” (The Teachings ofSpencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 59).For example, each time the Lord answers a prayer, my knowledge that He does answer prayer isstrengthened. This knowledge expands my faith and confidence into those times when His answersdo not come as quickly or when His timing is fardifferent from my own.

In an academic setting we understand thisprinciple of not knowing all things quite thoroughly.We are comfortable with the idea that we must takebasic courses before we move on to more advancedwork. The absence of complete knowledge in adiscipline does not hinder us in knowing some

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 21

Alma teaches that if we will nourish the word, it will

become “a tree springing up unto everlasting life,” and we will “pluck the fruit thereof,which is most precious.”

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things about that discipline. In fact, our pursuit ofadditional knowledge is driven by our understandingthat we do not know all things.

Learning takes time. Though we understand thisin our secular lives, we are often impatient in ourspiritual development. We sometimes feel that theLord ought to reveal more than He does in order toremove some of the discomfort we experience whenwe realize that we do not have a ready answer forevery question. In Primary, however, we memorizethe ninth article of faith, which teaches us that moreis yet to come: “We believe all that God has revealed,all that He does now reveal, and we believe that Hewill yet reveal many great and important thingspertaining to the Kingdom of God.”

Alma teaches that spiritual growth takes effort as well as time: “If ye will nourish the word, yea,nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, lookingforward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; andbehold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlastinglife. “And because of your diligence and your faithand your patience with the word in nourishing it, . . .

by and by ye shall pluck thefruit thereof, which is

most precious, . . .and ye shall feastupon this fruiteven until ye are filled, that ye hunger not,neither shall yethirst” (Alma32:41–42).

The people of Alma’s day did not immediatelyunderstand how to plant and nourish the word intheir hearts. Alma answered by giving them threebasic steps: pray in all circumstances, read andunderstand the scriptures, and believe in the Son ofGod (see Alma 33). In this progressive revelation ofspiritual knowledge by virtue of our diligence, faith,and long-suffering, we can surely know some thingswithout knowing all things.

2. Spiritual experiences are very personal andmay not be understood by others.

The Lord cautions us to exercise great care in how, where, and with whom we share ourspiritual experiences. We cannot expect a basicallyunbelieving world to understand experiences of adeeply personal and spiritual nature.

A most interesting example of this is found in the ninth chapter of John: “And as Jesus passed by,he saw a man which was blind from his birth” (v. 1).Jesus spat on the ground, made clay of the spittle,anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,and then told him to go wash. “He went his waytherefore, and washed, and came seeing” (v. 7).What was the reaction among the people to thismiracle? Did they accept it as a confirmation of theirfaith? First his neighbors didn’t even recognize him.“And they which before had seen him that he wasblind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?” (v. 8).“Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him:but he said, I am he” (v. 9). They asked him, “Howwere thine eyes opened?” (v. 10). He answered theirquestion very simply, surely anticipating that theywould accept his response and take joy in his goodfortune. “A man that is called Jesus made clay, andanointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to thepool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed,and I received sight” (v. 11).

His was a simple explanation and testimony of adeeply personal spiritual experience. The neighbors,

however, could or would not understand,so they brought him to the Pharisees,

who also asked him how he hadreceived his sight. He said to

them, “He put clay upon mineeyes, and I washed, and do

see” (v. 15). The reaction of the Pharisees is also

insightful. As the miracle

The Lord cautions us to exercise great

care in choosing whento share our spiritualexperiences.

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was performed on the Sabbath, some said, “Thisman,” speaking of Jesus, “is not of God, because hekeepeth not the sabbath day. Others said, How can aman that is a sinner do such miracles? And there wasa division among them” (v. 16).

Didn’t the Pharisees completely miss the point?They pressed the blind man again, not to gainunderstanding of the miracle but to determine hisopinion of him who had performed the miracle. “What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thyeyes?” Again, a simple answer: “He is a prophet” (v. 17).

“But the Jews did not believe concerning him, thathe had been blind, and received his sight, until theycalled the parents of him that hadreceived his sight.

“And they asked them, saying, Is this your son, who ye say was bornblind? how then doth he now see?

“His parents answered them andsaid, We know that this is our son,and that he was born blind:

“But by what means he now seeth,we know not” (vv. 18–21).

Even his parents failed toappreciate the miracle in their son’slife. Because they feared the Jews, the parents simply said, “He is of age;ask him” (v. 23). Again they called theman who was blind and again pressedhim about Jesus, saying, “Give Godthe praise: we know that this man is asinner” (v. 24).

I suppose by now, after several explanations, theman was growing increasingly impatient, which isfelt in the terseness of his reply. “Whether he be asinner or no, I know not: one thing I know, that,whereas I was blind, now I see” (v. 25). No amount of explanation, however simple and straightforward,would help others to understand and accept what he himself had experienced. After all the explana-tion and testimony, they reviled the recipient of themiracle and said, “Thou art his disciple; but we areMoses’ disciples” (v. 28). The man answered themagain, “Why herein is a marvelous thing, that yeknow not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes” (v. 30). They answered him andsaid: “Thou was altogether born in sins, and dostthou teach us? And they cast him out” (v. 34). In theend, no one accepted the miracle, the doer of themiracle, or the recipient of the miracle. No one evenseemed happy that the blind man could see.

The spiritual experiences the Lord grants to us are extremely personal. We should share them onlyselectively or not at all. If we do choose to share them,it should be only with those who can understand and

Many doubtedJoseph Smit

Vision, but that dthe reality of his e

appreciate such things and will hold them as sacredlyas we do, as a confirmation of their own faith.

This leads me to a third observation regardingspiritual experiences.

3. Spiritual experiences not understood by otherswill often be rejected, but their rejection does notchange the experiences.

Joseph Smith writes in his history that he sharedhis experience of the First Vision among the professorsof religion, which caused great persecution towardshim. In his reflection, the Prophet compared himselfto the Apostle Paul in his defense before King Agrippa.The Prophet writes that Paul “related the account

of the vision he had when he saw alight, and heard a voice; but still therewere but few who believed him; somesaid he was dishonest, others said hewas mad; and he was ridiculed andreviled. But this did not destroy thereality of his vision” (JS—H 1:24;emphasis added).

The Prophet continues: “So it waswith me. I had actually seen a light,and in the midst of that light I sawtwo Personages, and they did inreality speak to me; and though I washated and persecuted for saying that I had seen a vision, yet it was true;and while they were persecuting me,reviling me, and speaking all mannerof evil against me falsely for so saying,I was led to say in my heart: Why

persecute me for telling the truth? I have actuallyseen a vision; and who am I that I can withstand God,or why does the world think to make me deny what Ihave actually seen? For I had seen a vision; I knew it,and I knew that God knew it, and I could not deny it,neither dared I do it” (JS—H 1:25).

If others do not enjoy spiritual experiences, it does not mean that we do not. I am reminded of an experience in New York as a graduate student. I was serving as a seventies stake missionary. Thebishop called one evening and told me that somemembers were involved in a discussion with a groupof what we would now call born-again Christians.The members were challenged by the conversationand had called him for help. He asked me if I wouldbe available to enter the discussion, which I did.Through that evening, it became clear that my newfriends rejected the idea that Joseph Smith couldhave had a vision. My response was a question.“What is the highest and most sacred personalexperience you could have?” Their answer was: “A revelation of Jesus.” I answered, “Why then would you deny another that same blessing?”

the Propheth’s Firstid not changexperience.

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This leads to a closely related fourth observationregarding our spiritual experiences.

4. As others may reject our spiritual experiences,they will often try to dissuade us from believing them.

There will always be those who are not content tosimply reject your spiritual experiences but will do all they can to convince you to deny what you your-self have experienced. One of the most interestingexamples I could find in the scriptures relating to thisprinciple is the reaction of the Nephites toward thesigns given at the birth of the Savior.Samuel the Lamanite had comeamong them only a few years beforethe signs were to be given. He madeclear predictions of the signs theywould witness. These would not be simple things. The sun was to go down, but there would be nodarkness through the whole night. “A new star” would appear, and therewould be “many signs and wondersin heaven” (see Hel. 14:3–6). Suchwould be their amazement that theywould all fall to the earth (see v. 7).

It seems to me that such occur-rences would be hard to miss. Yetwhen all happened according to theprophecy, many people found themhard to believe. “And it came to pass,”we read, “that from this time forth there began to be lyings sent forth among the people, by Satan, toharden their hearts, to the intent that they might notbelieve in those signs and wonders which they hadseen” (3 Ne. 1:22).

Surely we have undergone spiritual experiences in our lives that have amazed us. We ponder themand wonder about them. Satan will always be thereto whisper in our ears that they either did not happen as we remember them, or he will try topersuade us to deny them altogether.

Referring to pondering and reflection leads me to a fifth observation.

5. Sometimes only upon reflection, or whensomeone else points it out, do we recognize what we have experienced.

The experience of the disciples on the road toEmmaus on the day of the Lord’s Resurrectionexemplifies this. He appeared to them andquestioned their sadness as He spoke with themalong the road. They rehearsed the events of the last few days. The Savior took the opportunity toteach them from the scriptures concerning theprophets and Himself. When they came into thevillage, they invited Him to stay with them. He atewith them, took bread and blessed it and broke it

Moses’ previowith God h

withstand Satan’

and gave it to them, and at that point their eyes were opened and they knew Him, but He vanished out of their sight. Only upon reflection did thedisciples understand what had occurred. “Did notour heart burn within us, while he talked with us bythe way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?”(Luke 24:32).

This is a common experience for all of us. It seemsto me that we often do not immediately recognize theimportance of what is happening to us.

Many of us have served full-timemissions. Every successful missionaryteaches the investigator to recognizethe Spirit. At the height of a wonderfulgospel discussion, a missionary willask the question, “What do you feelright now?” It is a difficult feeling forthe investigator to describe. Usually,phrases like “I feel warmth” or “I feelpeace and comfort” are heard. Whatthey feel is something they have neverexperienced in quite the same way.It is then that the missionary explainswhat is happening and what it means.So it is often with us. Only with goodteachers may we sometimes begin tounderstand that which is occurring inour lives. Knowing this, the Lord hastold us continually to ponder His

word in order that we may understand. 6. Trusting our spiritual experiences will help

keep us from deception.A most revealing experience regarding this

principle is that which occurred to Moses (see Moses1:1–13). “Moses was caught up into an exceedinglyhigh mountain” (v. 1), where he saw God face to faceand talked with Him. The glory of God was uponMoses so that he could endure His presence. Godshowed Moses some of the workings of this earth.When this marvelous vision was complete, Godwithdrew from Moses, and Moses was left to himself.Satan now came, tempting and commanding Mosesto worship him. Moses queried him, asking: “Who artthou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitudeof his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that Ishould worship thee?” (v. 13). Moses, because of hisprevious experience with God, understood the decep-tion that was being offered to him. “For behold, Icould not look upon God, except his glory shouldcome upon me, and I were transfigured before him.But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it notso, surely?” (v. 14). Moses then commanded Satan to depart. Moses’ knowledge and trust in his firstexperience most assuredly kept him from thedeception of his second experience.

us experienceelped hims temptation.

Spiritual experiences,which are granted to us

by a loving Heavenly Father,are intended to strengthen usand educate us in His ways.

On 2 August 1913, the First Presidency published a statement, which bears the title “A Warning Voice.”Their statement embodies a basic principle that, iffollowed, will keep us from deception: “In secular aswell as spiritual affairs, Saints may receive Divineguidance and revelation affecting themselves, but this does not convey authority to direct others, and is not to be accepted when contrary to Churchcovenants, doctrine or discipline, or to known facts,demonstrated truths, or good common sense” (inJames R. Clark, comp., Messages of the First Presidencyof The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols.[1965–75], 4:285–86). Those who fall away from the Church generally struggle with this principle.Recognizing and understanding our own spiritualexperiences within the gospel framework keep ussafe from deception.

7. Spiritual experiences confirm our testimoniesand help us to endure moments of doubt anduncertainty.

President Kimball has said that “faith growsthrough spiritual experience” (Teachings of Spencer W.Kimball, 76). When I was a mission president, I wouldask missionaries leaving the mission field to writedown for their final interview with me the majorlessons they had learned through the course of theirmission. What I heard most often was: “I learned theimportance of prayer,” “I learned that God answersprayer,” “I learned the importance of regular scripturestudy,” or “I learned to appreciate hard, disciplinedwork.” Never did I hear anything that related to thegoals of the mission, the number of baptisms, ornumber of hours worked. After reviewing what they had learned, I returned their written accounts tothem with the counsel that they keep them in a safeplace. I told them that a time would come in theirlives when matters would not be so clear asthey had been in the mission field. It wasthen that they were to retrieve andread what they had written abouttheir own spiritual experiences.

You may know that beforeone is considered foremployment at BYU,

an interview with a General Authority is required.Not long ago I interviewed a brilliant individual for aposition. His training was in a discipline that couldpossibly pose some challenge to his testimony. I askedhim whether he had ever wavered in his faith or, inthe course of his study, ever lost his testimony. Heanswered the question candidly and told me, yes, hehad. His integrity was impressive. I asked him howhe had overcome the challenge. The answer wassimple. He said, “I went back to my missionaryjournals and read them in order to rediscover what I once knew to be true.”

Spiritual experiences are granted to us by a lovingHeavenly Father. They are meant to strengthen usand educate us in His ways. We need to ponder our lives that we may comprehend our spiritualexperiences, learn from them, and be strengthenedby them. �From a devotional address given at Brigham Young University on 19 May 1998.

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J onahA N D T H E S E C O N D C H A N C E

B Y E L D E R J U A N U C E D AArea Authority Seventy

It is comforting to know that weworship a God who is merciful andwho allows His children many

chances to learn His ways and be obedi-ent to them. Who among us would be

saved without a second chance––more than one oppor-tunity to prove ourselves in the sight of God? The storyof the people of the city of Nineveh and the prophetJonah shows that the test of life is a multipart exam andreminds us to be more long-suffering with those whoslip and fall.

NINEVEH

The people of the city of Nineveh (see Bible Map 9[1999 ed.]) were distant relatives of the children of Israel.Their common ancestor was the prophet Noah who,about 1,200 years before the time of Jonah, had threesons. For centuries these peoples seem to have had littlecontact with each other. The Ninevites, also known asAssyrians (see Bible Dictionary, “Assyria,” 615–16), wor-shiped the false god Ashur, while the children of Israelworshiped Jehovah, or Jesus Christ.

About 780 B.C. the Lord spoke to the Israelite prophetJonah, saying “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, andcry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me”

The Prophet Jonah was displeasedwhen the people of Nineveh repented.Are we ever guilty of not giving peoplea second chance at repenting?

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After the fish released Jonah upon the dry land, the word of

the Lord came unto him a secondtime. Jonah was now determinedto put aside his fears and obey the Lord.

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(Jonah 1:2). Although Jonah was a good man (see 2 Kgs. 14:25) and a likely associate of the prophetAmos, he was not happy with this assignment and“fled from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:10).Why might Jonah have reacted this way? “Warfarewas a science to the leaders of Assyria [and it wastheir] effectiveness in warfare that struck terror to the hearts of the Near Eastern world. They were savage and brutal as well.”1 So Jonah’s refusal to go to Nineveh, a mortal weakness in response to fear, is somewhat understandable.

THREE DAYS TO RECONSIDER

Jonah quickly fled in the opposite direction fromNineveh, toward the seaport of Joppa, where heboarded a ship headed for what is probably present-day Spain (see Bible Dictionary, “Tarshish,” 780). Butthe Lord gave Jonah a second chance. He first sent astorm to halt the ship’s progress at sea (see Jonah 1:4).As the ship’s crew began to fear for their lives, thecaptain became convinced that God’s wrath towardsomeone on board was the cause of the storm. Thecrew and passengers cast lots (see Bible Dictionary,“Lots, Casting of,” 726), and when it became clear that Jonah was the guilty one, the crew asked Jonah,“What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may becalm unto us?” (Jonah 1:11). Jonah now realized that his efforts to hide from the Lord were futile and replied, “Take me up, and cast me forth into thesea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know thatfor my sake this great tempest is upon you” (v. 12).Resigned to his certain death, the men threw Jonahoverboard. As Jonah sank into the water, the stormimmediately ceased, and a “great fish” sent by theLord suddenly appeared and swallowed Jonah, thuspreserving his life (see v. 17). How merciful is theLord to the children of men!

For three days and three nights Jonah was in thebelly of the fish. He humbled himself and acknowl-edged his sin. Jonah knew that he deserved to die butwas grateful God had shown him such extraordinarymercy. With strengthened faith in God he resolved: “I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of theLord” (Jonah 2:9). Therefore, “the Lord spake untothe fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land”(Jonah 2:10).

A SECOND CHANCE

“And the word of the Lord came unto Jonah thesecond time” (Jonah 3:1; emphasis added). This timeJonah was determined to put aside his fears and obeythe Lord. After all, he probably thought, if he fulfilledhis duty in Nineveh, the Lord would destroy one of

Israel’s most brutal enemies! This would be a greatblessing to his people. Jonah entered Nineveh and,according to the scriptures, prophesied, “Yet fortydays, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 3:4).As the 40 days came to a close, Jonah left the city andbuilt himself a shelter from which he hoped to watcha grand show of destruction (see Jonah 4:5).

But to Jonah’s surprise and disappointment, nodestruction came. The people believed and began torepent! When news of Jonah’s words reached theking of Nineveh, the king and his nobles turned tothe Lord. They sent out a decree commanding that aperiod of fasting, humility, repentance, and prayer beobserved throughout the city. Oh, how they wantedan opportunity to repent! And in a plea strikinglysimilar to Jonah’s prayer from the belly of the fish, theproclamation said, “Who can tell, if we will repent,and turn unto God, but he will turn away from us hisfierce anger, that we perish not?” (JST, Jonah 3:9). TheLord was pleased with the Ninevites’ change of heartand spared them. How merciful is the Lord to thechildren of men!

When the anticipated calamity did not come topass, Jonah complained to the Lord, saying that heknew the Lord was merciful and that He wouldnever destroy those people. Jonah also claimed hehad fled originally because he knew his preaching tothese people would do no good. He then asked theLord to take his life, for he felt it was not worth livinganymore (see Jonah 4:2–3). How sad that Jonah couldnot rejoice in the success of his missionary labors!

The Lord, in His infinite mercy, then prepared an-other lesson for Jonah, giving him yet another chanceto see the situation from the Lord’s point of view.

THE GOURD AND THE WORM

One morning as Jonah sat in his shelter, frustratedand confused, the Lord caused a gourd, or bean plantwhose vines have large, broad leaves, to grow upover Jonah, giving him shade from the heat of thesun. This pleased Jonah and lifted his spirits. How-ever, at dawn the next day the Lord sent a worm tochew upon the plant. As the sun rose in the sky, theLord also sent a scorching east wind off of the desert,which caused the plant to wither and die. Soon thehot sun burned upon Jonah’s head, and he becameangry again and wished to die. His distemper overthe dead vine showed that, again in his mortal weak-ness, he was more concerned about his own comfortthan the possible destruction of an entire city full ofpeople.

The Lord chastised Jonah for his selfishness andasked him a question: “Should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand

NOTES1. Old Testament Student Manual, 1 Kings–Malachi (1981), 113.2. Adam Clarke, The Holy Bible . . . with a Commentary and Critical

Notes, 6 vols. (1973), 4:706.3. “Stand Up and Be Counted,” Ensign, Feb. 1982, 71.

Elder Juan Uceda is an Area Authority Seventy serving in the SouthAmerica West Area.

More on this topic: See Keith W. Perkins, “Thou Art Still Chosen,”Ensign, Jan. 1993, 14–19; James M. Perry, with Robert J. Woolley, “‘Lord, Is It I?’: What I Learned from Martin Harris and Jonah,”Ensign, July 1989, 32–33; John A. Tvedtnes, “Jonah,” Ensign, June1974, 26–27.

[120,000] persons that cannot discern between theirright hand and their left hand?” (Jonah 4:11).

GOD IS MERCIFUL

One Bible commentator has explained Jonah 4:11by paraphrasing the Lord’s response to Jonah as fol-lows: “How much is the city better than the shrub? . . . And shall I destroy them, rather than thy shadeshould be withered or thy word apparently fail? Andbesides, these persons are young, and have not of-fended, (for they know not the difference betweentheir right hand and their left,) and should not I feelmore pity for those innocents than thou dost for thefine flowering plant?”2

Throughout the story of Jonah we can see the verypersonal manner in which the Lord mercifully relatesto His children. “Remember the worth of souls isgreat in the sight of God” (D&C18:10). His influence in ourlives also testifies of that samemercy. We must not, how-ever, mistake His mercy for alicense to endlessly repeat oursins. President James E. Faust,Second Counselor in the FirstPresidency, has said: “Many of

us backslide, many stumble, and I believe firmly inthe gospel of the second chance. But the gospel of thesecond chance means that having once been foundweak, . . . thereafter we become steadfast.”3

In our family, Church, and community relation-ships, we should exercise patience and mercy by ex-tending the same chance for loving forgiveness toothers that the Lord gave to the prophet Jonah and to the people of Nineveh. �

In our family relationships,we should extend the same

chances for loving forgive-ness that the Lord gave to the prophet Jonah and the people of Nineveh.

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What can we learn from King Hezekiah’sfailure to accept the will of the Lord?

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Hezekiah became king of Judah at age 25. Histeen years were filled with impressions fromthe lifestyle of his wicked and idolatrous fa-

ther, King Ahaz (see 2 Kgs. 16:1–20). Yet Hezekiahrose above that influence to become a zealous reli-gious and political reformer. “He trusted in the LordGod of Israel . . . [and] kept his commandments. . . .And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whith-ersoever he went forth” (2 Kgs. 18:5–7). Hezekiahreigned 29 years (about 726–697 B.C.), sustained by the inspired counsel of the great prophet Isaiah.

Hezekiah’s life is a study in courage and faithful-ness before the Lord in the face of extreme opposi-tion. However, when his greatest test in life came, hefaltered, leaving a tarnished legacy and laying thefoundation for the eventual scattering and destruc-tion of his people. His life provides an important les-son for anyone facing the inevitable event of mortaldeath.

RELIGIOUS REFORMER

Hezekiah’s goal was to cleanse his kingdom of allidolatry. His first act as king was to order the repairand reopening of the temple at Jerusalem, which hadbeen looted and defiled by his father. He told all thepriests, “Sanctify now yourselves, and sanctify thehouse of the Lord God of your fathers, and carryforth the filthiness out of the holy place” (2 Chron.29:5). He also took the bold step of having the brass

0

serpent of Moses destroyed (see Num. 21:9) becauseit had become an idolatrous object (see 2 Kgs. 18:4).

Hezekiah gathered the leaders of the people torededicate the temple and invited all of Israel andJudah to come to the temple and celebrate thePassover. “So there was great joy in Jerusalem: forsince the time of Solomon the son of David king ofIsrael there was not the like in Jerusalem” (2 Chron.30:26). Hezekiah’s leadership in bringing about aspiritual renewal of his people was an unqualifiedsuccess.

COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF

Hezekiah inherited from his father a problematicrelationship with the king of Assyria. His father hadbought an alliance with the Assyrians with “the silverand gold that was found in the house of the Lord” (2 Kgs. 16:8). Hezekiah, however, courageously re-belled against the Assyrian menace. When Assyriaunder Sargon II invaded Judah, a wise Hezekiah was ready for them. He had fortified the walls ofJerusalem, appointed military officers, ensuredJerusalem’s adequate water supplies, and preparedthe hearts of the people for battle (see 2 Chron. 32:1–8).

When Sargon was killed in Anatolia, Hezekiah defied the demands of Sargon’s son Sennacherib and had a tunnel built to bring water into Jerusalemshould they come under attack (see Bible Dictionary,“Hezekiah’s Tunnel,” 702). In response to this rebel-lion, Sennacherib invaded Judah and devastated theland like a river that runs “over all his banks,” as had

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When Hezekiah con-tracted a fatal disease,

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been prophesied by Isaiah (see Isa. 8:6–8). The Assyriansthen laid siege to Jerusalem, causing much sufferingand despair among the people. As conditions in thecity worsened, Sennacherib sent three officials to thewalls of Jerusalem with a message to frighten and demoralize the people. Speaking in Hebrew theymocked Hezekiah and spoke against the Lord, tell-ing the people to not let Hezekiah persuade them to trust in the Lord. “Hath any of the gods of the na-tions delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?” the message asked.“How then could the Lord de-liver Jerusalem from Assyria?”(see Isa. 36:15, 18, 20).

When Hezekiah heard this,he tore his clothes, put on sack-cloth,1 and went into the tem-ple. He asked the prophet Isaiahwhat he should do. Isaiah as-sured him that the Lord wouldnot let these insults go unpun-ished. Isaiah also prophesiedspecifically how the Assyriansiege would soon end (see Isa. 37:1–7).

Hezekiah went again to thetemple and pled with the Lordfor his people: “Of a truth, Lord,the kings of Assyria have laidwaste all the nations. . . . Now therefore, O Lord ourGod, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, eventhou only” (Isa. 37:18, 20). As an answer to his peti-tion, the Lord sent an angel that smote the army ofSennacherib, destroying 185,000 men. The Assyrianswithdrew from Jerusalem and returned to Assyria(see Isa. 37:36–38).

FACED WITH DEATH

Shortly before the final defeat of Sennacherib,Hezekiah contracted a fatal disease and became “sick unto death” (Isa. 38:1). The Lord in His mercydirected Hezekiah to set his house in order and pre-pare to die, “for thou shalt die, and not live,” theprophet Isaiah testified. Hezekiah wept bitterly andprayed incessantly for the Lord to extend his life. Hereasoned with the Lord, complaining that his lifeshould be spared because (1) he was a good personand therefore didn’t deserve to die; (2) he was still in the prime of life, and death would rob him of hisbest years; and (3) he would greatly miss his family.Hezekiah also accused the Lord of unjustly taking hislife, thus revealing that he had little understanding ofor faith in the joy of the Lord in the spirit world (see

The example of the of Gethsemane pro

contrast to those who

Isa. 38:2–3, 9–20). He developed spiritual tunnel vi-sion, becoming so obsessed with his desire to live thathe lost an eternal perspective.

The Lord heard Hezekiah’s complaints and sentIsaiah to tell him: “I have seen thy tears: behold, I willheal thee. . . . And I will add unto thy days fifteenyears; and I will deliver thee and this city out of thehand of the king of Assyria” (2 Kgs. 20:5–6). Hezekiahthen asked Isaiah for a sign, that he might be morefully convinced of the Lord’s intentions (see 2 Kgs. 20:8).

This kind of request oftendemonstrates a lapse of faithand loss of judgment (see Alma 32:16). Isaiah askedHezekiah whether a simple or a dramatic sign would pleasehim. Hezekiah asked for thedramatic one. The Lord thenmoved the shadow on the sun-dial of Hezekiah’s father back-ward 10 degrees, a miracle that seems to have fully satis-fied Hezekiah’s seemingly inappropriate desire (see 2 Kgs. 20:9–11).

ACCORDING TO THY WILL

Although this miracle mightinitially appear to be a great blessing, Hezekiah soonbecame lifted up in pride (see 2 Chron. 32:24–25).And though he humbled himself again, the people of Judah paid a price for his pride.

Not long after the successful defeat of theAssyrians, Hezekiah was visited by the son of theking of Babylon. Hezekiah showed him all the royaltreasures and armaments (see Isa. 39:2). This was a serious mistake, for it initiated a Babylonian lust forJudah’s possessions. Isaiah condemned Hezekiah’saction and prophesied that all the treasures he hadshown would be “carried to Babylon: nothing shall beleft” and that Judah’s royal family would be forcedinto exile in Babylon (see Isa. 39:6–8).

During Hezekiah’s extra 15 years, his wife bore ason, Manasseh, the heir to the throne. Manasseh be-gan to reign at age 12 and ruled for 55 horrible years.He had the prophet Isaiah murdered and reversed all of the religious reforms of his father. He erected al-tars to Baal, installed idols in the temple, and burnedhis sons to death on these altars. He appealed to wiz-ards for spiritual direction and hid the scriptures. Hisevil influence was a principal cause of the eventualdestruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (see 2 Kgs. 24:3–4).

We do not know what would have happened to

Savior in the Gardenvides a striking

resist God’s will.

NOTES1. Sackcloth is a dark, coarse material made of goat’s hair. It

was worn to signify the burden of heavy affliction and sincerity of heart.

2. “Follow Counsel,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1964, 1062.3. Marion G. Romney: His Life and Faith (1988), 141.

Charles A. Muldowney is a member of the Valley Forge Second Ward,Valley Forge Pennsylvania Stake.

More on this topic: See Russell M. Nelson, “Doors of Death,” Ensign,May 1992, 72–74; Spencer W. Kimball, “He Did It with All HisHeart, and Prospered,” Ensign, Mar. 1981, 2–5.

Judah had Hezekiah died as prophesied by Isaiah.But Bishop John H. Vandenberg (1904–92) has said:“There have been some noble men who unwittinglysought to counsel the Lord. One such man wasHezekiah. . . . As one reviews [his life], one wonders,would it not have been better for Hezekiah to havesubmissively accepted the Lord’s first decree, ‘. . . Setthine house in order; for thou shalt die.’ ”2

The example of the Savior provides a striking con-trast to those who resist God’s will or attempt to alterit to conform with what they think should happen. In the Garden of Gethsemane, facing His great test of suffering and imminent death, Jesus prayed to the Father, “If thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, bedone” (Luke 22:42). The Lord has said, “He that asketh in the Spirit asketh according to the will of God” (D&C 46:30).

In 1967 Ida Romney, wife of President Marion G.Romney (1897–1988), experienced a stroke. She lay in the hospital for weeks. Her condition worsened despite prayers and priesthood blessings. PresidentRomney realized the outcome of this condition couldbe death or a serious handicap. Yet he did not want topray for her healing unless it was the Lord’s will. Heprayed and searched the scriptures for direction. Oneevening as he prayed to discover the Lord’s will, heended his prayer, “Thy will be done.” He seemed tofeel or hear a voice which said, “It is not contrary tomy will that Ida be healed.” It was almost 2:00 A.M. Herushed to the hospital and blessed her, promising thatshe would be healed, and she made a miracu-lous recovery. Elder F. Burton Howard ofthe Seventy wrote concerning this experience, “By refusing to ask aspecial favor without first ascer-taining the will of the Lord,[President Romney] hadunknowingly demon-strated the quality of his faith.”3

For many of us, facing our own impending deathor the death of a loved one will be a great test of ourfaith in the Lord. The example of Hezekiah is a warn-ing that we not ask at that moment for our will to bedone. We are to put the question of life and death into the hands of the Lord and pray to know His will,trusting in His tender love for each of us. We mustpray with the attitude of the Savior, who by examplehas said, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory bethine forever” (Moses 4:2). �

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 33

For many of us, facing our own impending

death or the death of aloved one will be a greattest of our faith in the Lord.

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B Y R E B E C C A M . TA Y L O RAssistant Editor

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I wept,and nothing could console me.My child, my long-awaited child,My hoped-for, dreamed-for, prayed-for child,At last had come. But she was not given a Perfect body. She could not be what IHoped for, dreamed for, prayed for.And the tears fell.(Maria Elena Dahlquist, “My Journey” [1984])

Kristiana Dahlquist Silver grew up in a quiet house.With four younger brothers and sisters, it wasn’tbecause she lacked siblings. Sometimes, though,

when her cousins would come to visit, she wouldwatch as they would drag every toy out of the closet,shouting and laughing and tumbling over each otherlike a litter of puppies—and she would think, “I guessmy family is different.”

But most of the time, Kristiana didn’t think muchabout that. Having four siblings who couldn’t talk wassomething she was used to. All four had the same un-named congenital birth defect, with its same manifesta-tions: microcephaly (small head), tiny body, weakenedimmune system, intellectual impairments, inability tocommunicate with spoken words or to walk withoutassistance.

As newlyweds, Kristiana’s parents, David and MariaElena Dahlquist, had dreamed of a large family that en-joyed spending time together. David, who in 1975 be-came choir director at Payson High School in Payson,Utah, imagined teaching his children to sing; MariaElena, an avid violinist, had visions of a family stringquartet.

The children came quickly. Kristiana, the eldest, wasborn on 22 October 1974, a happy and healthy baby. A

IN AQUIE

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 35

Unable to speak or walk, the Dahlquists’ disabled children have taught lessons that don’t require words.

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year later, Maria Elena and David learned they wereexpecting another child. When Rebekah was born on23 May 1976, David noticed right away that her color-ing was unusual: instead of a healthy pink, her skinwas almost purple. But she recovered quickly fromher birth, and the Dahlquists thought they hadbrought another healthy child into the world.

For the first part of her young life, Rebekah seemedto progress like any other baby. At 22 months, how-ever, she still wasn’t walking. Her head was smallerthan normal, which meant her brain was not growingas it should, but the doctor assured the Dahlquists thatshe would continue to develop. Kristiana had also pro-gressed slowly at first, and she was now an un-usually bright little kindergartner, so herparents were not overly concerned.

Another baby, Jenny, joined thefamily on 4 February 1979. The fol-lowing summer, three-year-oldRebekah was balancing herselfagainst furniture, but she stillwasn’t walking or talking.Finally the Dahlquists decided

to have Rebekah examined by a specialist. WhileDavid was at work, Maria Elena took Rebekah to a neurologist with infant Jenny in tow.

The doctor became concerned as he examinedRebekah. He discovered that her retinas were speckled,a rare phenomenon. Then he noticed that her sister,five-month-old Jenny, seemed far too quiet. MariaElena hadn’t been worried about the baby. “She’s justworn out from the summer heat,” she thought.

Upon further examination, it appeared that Jennyhad the same symptoms Rebekah had. The doctorsoberly announced his conclusions to Maria Elena:Something was seriously wrong with both little girls,

but he was not aware of any similar cases, did notknow if the syndrome even had a name, and

could not tell Maria Elena what to expect—beyond the fact that the abilities of the two

girls would be severely impaired.Stunned by these revelations, Maria

Elena, carrying a child in each arm, man-aged to find her way to her car. She col-

lapsed in the front seat, clutched hertwo children to her, and sobbed.

At girls’ camp, Kristiana fed Rebekah her meals

and carried her around thecampsite.

Kristiana

Jenny

Rebekah

Ryan

Sean

I questionedAnd could not find the answers.Why me? Why did this happen to me?Doubts assailed my soul—doubts of my worthiness,Doubts of the goodness of God, doubts of my purpose.What did I do to deserve this?And no one answered.(“My Journey”)

David and Maria Elena knew there was a possibil-ity a fourth baby might inherit the same rare condi-tion, but they could not deny the strong promptingthey received that another child was to join theirfamily. And after all, Kristiana was perfectly normal.So on 29 May 1981, their first son, Ryan, was born.“He did have a small head, but he was so alert,” saysMaria Elena. “He played with toys that Rebekah andJenny couldn’t play with.” Ryan followed the devel-opmental charts for the first 10 months—and then hisprogress slowed dramatically.

“When the children were really small, we func-tioned like a typical family,” says Maria Elena. Davidagrees but adds, “You go through a grieving processwith each revelation of illness, as if a child had died.Again, that’s what happened when Ryan was diag-nosed.”

Ryan was 19 months old when the Dahlquists’ lastchild, Sean, was born—a Christmas baby they againhoped would be without problems. But again, Seanfollowed the pattern set by Rebekah, Jenny, andRyan. “By the time Sean came, we were far more ac-cepting of their conditions,” says David. “Still, wegrieved.”

It took several years for the severity of the chil-dren’s conditions to become fully apparent. For thefirst few years the children seemed like most othertoddlers. “I think I was in denial for a long time,”

Maria Elena says.Life quickly settled into a routine of spoon-feed-

ing four little mouths, bathing, dressing, changing di-apers, and more feeding. For Kristiana, helping herparents care daily for her brothers and sisters wasnormal. “That’s just the way it was,” she says. “Iknew there was a reason my family was that wayand that someday I’d learn what the reason was. Butit was OK to wait; I didn’t have to know right away.”

Kristiana genuinely enjoyed growing up with herlittle brothers and sisters. Often she would put one ortwo of them in her red wagon and take them aroundthe neighborhood. On Halloween she insisted ontaking all of them trick-or-treating. One of her par-ents would drive the car, and at each house Kristianawould lug a costumed brother or sister to the door,yell “Trick or treat!” and ask for five pieces of candy.

Rebekah followed Kristiana into the YoungWomen organization. When Rebekah was healthyenough, Kristiana determined that her little sisterwould attend camp with her. While at camp, she fedRebekah her meals, slept with her in the same bunk,and carried her around the campsite. Kristiana wasaccustomed to taking care of Rebekah—so she wassurprised at the camp testimony meeting when theother young women, one after another, expressedhow touched they were by Kristiana’s example.“Rebekah was my sister,” Kristiana says simply. “Wewent lots of places together, so I hadn’t given it muchthought. That testimony meeting was the first time Iwas able to see the impact our family had on others.”

When Kristiana moved away from home in 1992to attend college, members of the ward began step-ping in to help. They assisted with housework or satwith the family during sacrament meeting whenneeded. “We’ve learned it’s OK to ask for help, eventhough it’s hard,” says Maria Elena.

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 37

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The Dahlquistfamily today:Ryan, front left;Maria Elena,back left; David;Bill Silver(Kristiana’s husband) withson, Andrew;Kristiana.

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I prayedAnd found sweet solace with the

Spirit.I sought to know the reason, the

purpose,To gain the strength to go on.Line upon line, I learned to accept,To have faith.And my spirit grew.(“My Journey”)

“If someone had told me when Igot married that I would have fivechildren and four of them would bedisabled, that I would have four indiapers for many years, I might havechanged my mind about children and said, ‘No, I can’t do it,’” says Maria Elena. “ButI didn’t know and thus have strug-gled and learned how to do whathas to be done. With the help of theLord, it was made easier.”

The Dahlquists and theirphysicians have yet to hear ofothers afflicted by the same un-named syndrome the Dahlquistchildren have had. Doctors first

predicted the four childrenwould not live past age 13, so the family has con-

sidered each additional year a gift.Each of the Dahlquist children has contributed to

the family in his or her own unique way. Jenny, forexample, loved to cuddle and be held. “My favorite

time was early in the morning when I would get up to read my scriptures,” David once wrote. “IfJenny was awake, I would take her with me tothe love seat, where she would sit quietly by myside. She snuggled and I studied. We didn’t saymuch, but I learned a great lesson from those ex-periences. How often do we take the time out

of our busy lives to simply sit and commune,

David treasured theearly mornings when

Jenny sat by his side as hestudied the scriptures.

More on this topic: See Boyd K. Packer, “The Moving of the Water,”Ensign, May 1991, 7–9; James E. Faust, “The Works of God,”Ensign, Nov. 1984, 54–60; Pat Cowley, “Living with and LovingOur Handicapped Children,” Ensign, Sept. 1984, 44–47.

particularly with those we love?Jenny gave me those opportuni-ties on a daily basis.”

In November 1995, at age 19,Rebekah passed away. MariaElena, David, and Kristianaeach turned to the gospel andthe scriptures to help themcope with their loss. “AfterRebekah died, a lot of the scrip-tures made even more sense,”says Kristiana. She found theprophet Jacob’s words to be especially comforting:

“For as death hath passedupon all men, to fulfil the mer-ciful plan of the great Creator,there must needs be a power ofresurrection. . . .

“. . . The spirit and the bodyis restored to itself again, andall men become incorruptible,and immortal, and they are liv-ing souls” (2 Ne. 9:6, 13).

“I think that all my years of scripture study inseminary finally came together,” Kristiana says. “I be-gan to really understand what the Resurrection andthe plan of salvation were all about.”

Two years after Rebekah died, 18-year-old Jennyhad difficulty breathing and was rushed to the hospi-tal. She lingered there for two days before passingaway with her parents at her side. Then, in Decemberof last year, Sean passed away at age 19—just twodays after his Christmas birthday.

Though separated from three of their childrenthrough death, the Dahlquists feel their family bondshave only grown stronger. “There is no question thatthe spirit lives on after death,” says David. “We maynot understand a lot about the blessings of beingborn in the covenant and being sealed to our parents,but there is a definite claim family members have oneach other. Death is nothing to be feared, even thoughyou don’t look forward to the separation.”

The Dahlquists have drawn strength from theAtonement. At Rebekah’s funeral, David quotedAlma 7:11–12:

“And [Christ] shall go forth, suffering pains andafflictions and temptations of every kind; and thisthat the word might be fulfilled which saith he willtake upon him the pains and the sicknesses of hispeople.

“And he will take upon him death, that he mayloose the bands of death which bind his people; andhe will take upon him their infirmities, that his bow-els may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh,

D

“spin

mortality who hations in life, whicmortals cannot no. . . They are in thand he loves themsome of those whomuch waiting upobe waited upon aus in the next wohighest of reasonsElder Neal A. Maxwell, of Today,” in 1978 DevoYear (1979), 153.

that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

“The Lord knows what it’slike to no longer be able to run,”says David. “He knows the feel-ing of knees that bend onlywith pain, of a mind that nolonger remembers, of a backthat’s not nearly as strong—andHe knows how to succor if wewill but ask.”

The family understands thatthe days they have remainingwith 21-year-old Ryan are few.His health has declined, and heis slowly losing some of his abil-ities. “We treasure every day wehave with him,” says David.“We don’t look forward to say-ing good-bye, but we know it’sgoing to happen.” In the mean-

time, they cherish his sociable personality—the wayhe looks around in church for someone to notice and interact with him. And they savor their quiet mo-ments at home with him and remember the memo-ries they have shared as a family.

“We look at it as a blessing that they’ve been with us so long, even though it’s been hard,” saysKristiana, who is now married with a healthy childof her own. “My knowledge of the gospel has grownso much, and my acceptance of the Lord’s will hasalso grown.”

Maria Elena says her children have taught her tofocus on what is truly important. Her four youngestmight not have had the same kind of beauty otherchildren have, she says, “but you love who they are.It doesn’t make a difference what they look like orsound like or walk like. You value the eternal soul of every child.”

I rejoicedAnd saw purpose to my life and their lives.I felt the greatness of their spirits.I learned the joy of simple things,Of little steps, of today.I felt the love of others who accepted, who understood,Who loved, who taught, who shared.And I found great joy.(“My Journey”) �

HOSE WITHISABILITIES

here are clearlyecial cases ofdividuals in

ve special limita-h conditions wew fully fathom. e Lord’s hands, perfectly. Indeed, have requiredn in this life mayain by the rest of ld—but for the.”Meeting the Challenges

tional Speeches of the

THE LORD LOVEST

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THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 39

Right: Emma Smith, an excellent horsewoman, had severalriding crops, including this one with her name engraved onthe ivory handle. Background: Black lace belonging toRachel Grant, mother of President Heber J. Grant;the shoulder epaulets are from the NauvooLegion uniform of Elder Charles C. Rich.

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Left: A banner honoringthe Nauvoo Legion andits general—the ProphetJoseph Smith. Below: Arare old watercolor com-memorates one of the lastaddresses given by theProphet Joseph Smith tothe Nauvoo Legion.

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In Beauty and Holiness

TheCULTURAL

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As early Latter-day Saints worked to build up the kingdom of God on earth,they also strove to improve themselves in education and the arts. For them, books and musical instruments were as necessary as shovels and plows.

B Y C A R M A D E J O N G A N D E R S O N

On Saturday morning, 6 May 1843, at 9:30 A.M., eager citizens ofNauvoo gathered for a military parade featuring the NauvooLegion. The 37-year-old Prophet Joseph Smith, tall and strong

astride his black horse, led the parade. The Prophet wore white breeches,a rich blue tailcoat trimmed with gold, and a black-plumed felt hattrimmed with silk braid. On her white horse, Emma Smith wore ablack velvet riding habit with quantities of tiny military buttons and alarge plumed bonnet with a black lace riding veil. She carried an ivory-handled riding crop. A dozen ladies on horseback, each adorned in along riding dress, followed Emma. Brigham Young, legion chaplainand Apostle, wore white pants and a black coat with gold buttons.

Made up of local citizens willing to fill a well-demonstrated needfor protection of the city, the Nauvoo Legion could rightly boast ofmore spirit and better training than other local and state militias.However, its soldiers were by no means all neatly dressed in standard issue. Their makeshift uniforms were blue, green, or red coats and

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 41

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Right: Phebe Ann Hawks, Margaret Cook, SarahKimball, Bathsheba Smith, and Sarah Cleveland visitin front of the red brick store on 17 March 1842—theday the Female Relief Society (now known simply asRelief Society) was organized. Background:Woodworking tools.

Though on the frontier,Nauvoo, with its brickhomes and picket fencesprovided a high standardof living for its people.

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white wool pantaloons, varying in designand quality. Nevertheless, the legion, car-rying their small arms, created a dramaticdisplay.

After the parade had completed itslong route around the city, the crowdgathered at the parade grounds belowthe Nauvoo Temple to hear an enthusias-tic speech by General Joseph Smith, withmusic by the Nauvoo Brass Band. At 7:30that evening, many Saints crowded intothe large room over the Prophet’s redbrick store to attend an entertainmentbilled as “Mr. Vicker’s Performance ofWire Dancing.” Although it had been along day, the entertainment continueduntil 11:30 P.M.

BUILDING THE CITY BEAUTIFUL

The Saints had arrived in Commerce,Illinois, on the banks of the MississippiRiver in the summer of 1839. They hadfound a half dozen families living thereand as many as 30 vacant log cabinsabandoned by homesteaders. An un-healthy bog harbored “the ague,” amalarial fever usually followed by pneumonia and often by death. But thehomeless Latter-day Saints envisionedpossibilities so resplendent that they re-named the spot Nauvoo, a Hebrew wordmeaning “beautiful.”

The Saints bought four acres on a glo-rious rise of land for their temple—the fo-cal point of their spiritual vision. Theyhad already bought farming land—about650 acres on “the flats” and thousands ofacres across the river in Iowa—enough to provide food for a large city. As they

dug drainage ditches to divert water from the flats, the stagnant pools of malarial water began to disappear.

In the first year after the Saints began arrivingin Nauvoo, 250 houses were built. By the next year 1,200 structures had been built. By 1845Nauvoo had 11,000 citizens, rivaling the popula-tion of Chicago. And by 1846 it supported 85 shops and industries, including mills, lime kilns, a silk weaver, and a daguerreotype shop. A library was begun, and art was displayed. Some people referred to Nauvoo as “the great city in the wilderness.”1

“IN BEAUTY, AND IN HOLINESS”With basic needs provided for, residents of

Nauvoo could pursue higher levels of living. The Saints were mostly from the poor and mid-dle classes of New England and the British Isles.Fewer than 10 percent had much wealth or educa-tion. Still, they responded readily to their leaders’counsel to develop the cultural arts for their spiri-tual and intellectual edification. This createdstrong support for a beginning library, artwork,music, dance, and theater.

A revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith in1832 had taught that Zion’s virtue and beauty gohand in hand. “For Zion must increase in beauty,and in holiness” (D&C 82:14; emphasis added).And the thirteenth article of faith affirmed that theSaints seek after all things “virtuous [and] lovely.”In the unique frontier society of Nauvoo, theSaints actively sought refinement.

MEETING IN THE RED BRICK STORE

The Prophet Joseph’s general store, made ofred brick, was more grand than the log stores of itstime. It boasted beautiful counters, drawers, andpillars painted with graining to simulate morevaluable materials—“a very respectable represen-tation of oak, mahogany and marble for a back-woods establishment,” wrote the Prophet in aletter.2 The Female Relief Society of Nauvoo wasorganized in the upper room in March 1842, withEmma Hale Smith as president. Some early publicschool classes were held in this all-purpose room,as well as parties, lectures, and meetings of thecity council, Church leaders, and Nauvoo Legionstaff. It was used as a courtroom and was also thesite of the city’s first theatrical programs.

ATTENDING THE THEATER

The Prophet Joseph organized a dramatic com-pany in Nauvoo and was “foremost in encourag-ing the production of classical plays.”3 Believingthat the theater could both teach and inspire, heattended plays himself, on occasion respondingwith tears to noble presentations.4 Most of thenine plays were historical, and they featuredthemes of heroism, friendship, love, and faith.They were entertainment, but they also taughtprinciples of truth.

British immigrants had enjoyed the theaters of England and were especially eager to continuetheir drama in America.

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A brass band always added energy and excitement to parades and special occasions.

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Nauvoo Saints had resilient spirits, and the cul-tural arts played an important role in their frontierlives. Despite hardships, privation, and religiouspersecution, they not only worked to build upGod’s kingdom on earth, but to improve them-selves through education and the higher arts.

ENCOURAGING EDUCATION

Taking to heart the teaching that “the glory ofGod is intelligence, or, in other words, light andtruth” (D&C 93:36), the Saints valued intellectualas well as spiritual achievements. Church leadersplanned to build a University of the City ofNauvoo, which was to teach “Arts, Sciences, andLearned Professions.”5

The Saints left Nauvoo before facilities could be built, but classes were held in homes for highermathematics, philosophy, chemistry, Hebrew,German, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, andEnglish. To provide schools for the hosts of chil-dren not already in private schools, the city madefour administrative divisions for public schoolsand began building substantial structures. Therewas even a low-cost school for the poorest families,who paid, as possible, in pennies.

FILLING THE AIR WITH MUSIC

The Prophet Joseph himself organized the firstof several choral groups in Nauvoo and attendedtheir singing schools. Emma Smith, who had a finesoprano voice, often sang obbligato parts in choralgroups and filled the Smith home with sweet mu-sic. Caroling awakened the Prophet’s family at 1:00 A.M. Christmas morning 1843. In 1845 vocal

and instrumental musi-cians completed theirown concert hall.

Professor GustavusHills conducted aTeacher’s Lyceum ofMusic. Meanwhile,William Pitt gathered together some highlyskilled instrumentalistsinto a brass band. Its mu-sic accompanied numer-ous gatherings of theSaints. Over the years theband became a belovedinstitution of the Saints.In addition, the NauvooQuadrille Band played atdances. And the NauvooLegion formed a band.6

ENJOYING DANCING

In the larger homes ofNauvoo, dancing wasever present, includingreels and the square and round dances ofScotland, Ireland, Germany, and England. With its energetic and fancy stepping, dance played an important part in the lives of the Saints.

LEARNING TO PAINT

Watercolor paintings were the artistic fashionof the day, and the Prophet Joseph encouragedthe young to learn to paint in this medium, even

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 45

Above: Joseph and EmmaSmith enjoy a dance together

at a social gathering in theMansion House. Right:

William Folsom, a populartheater actor in Nauvoo.

Background: Musical instru-ments, including a brass horn,

a violin, and a drum ownedby William Fowler, author of

“We Thank Thee, O God, for aProphet” (Hymns, no. 19).

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Left: Sketchbook of Bathsheba Smith,wife of Elder George A. Smith. Above:Nauvoo residents enjoyed an occasionalrecreational excursion on the steamboatMaid of Iowa. Picnic food and someform of music—flutes, fiddles, or accor-dion, with voices singing happily—made for a delightful trip. Background:Books and a paint box.

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NOTES1. Ida Blum, Nauvoo: Gateway to the West (1974), 68.2. Letter from Joseph Smith to Edward Hunter, 5 Jan. 1842,

in History of the Church 4:491.3. George D. Pyper, The Romance of an Old Playhouse (1937),

24–25.4. See Helen Mar Whitney, A Woman’s View: Helen Mar

Whitney’s Reminiscences of Early Church History, ed. Jeni B.Holzapfel and Richard N. Holzapfel (1997), 227.

5. History of the Church, 4:243.6. See George W. Givens, In Old Nauvoo: Everyday Life in the

City of Joseph (1990), 177.7. Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, July 1926, 201.8. See Richard G. Oman, “Artists, Visual,” in Daniel H.

Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 5 vols. (1992), 1:70.9. Reminiscence of Mercy R. (Fielding) Thompson, Juvenile

Instructor, 1 July 1892, 399.10. See Young Woman’s Journal, Apr. 1919, 220.

Carma de Jong Anderson is a member of the Edgemont 14thWard, Provo Utah Edgemont Stake.

This article is excerpted from a forthcoming book by the author,The Cultural Arts in Nauvoo.

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though it consumed pre-cious and expensive paper.

Joseph and EmmaSmith’s daughter Julia,along with a number of oth-ers, took watercolor lessonsfrom Mary Elizabeth RollinsLightner. As a young mother,Mary had developed herpainting skills in Missouri.She did so well that she fedher family on earnings frompictures she painted afterthe exodus from Missouriand “improved the time”giving painting lessonsaboard a boat bound for St. Louis.7

Sutcliffe Maudsley, who had emigrated fromEngland in 1842, wasNauvoo’s first professionalartist. He, with William W.Major, painted portraits ofcommunity leaders, as wellas historical murals.8

ENCOURAGING FRIENDLY DEBATE

Public lectures, lyceum discussiongroups, and a vigorous debating society oc-cupied great numbers of citizens. When thedebaters let a heated argument get out ofcontrol, the Prophet sometimes stepped in.Mercy Fielding Thompson heard him pro-duce “clear and masterly explanations of

deep and difficult questions,” cooling both sidesinto reasonable discussion.9

ATTRACTING TRAVELING SHOWS

As Nauvoo grew and illness decreased, theSaints could devote greater energy and resourcesto entertainment and the arts. In the spring of 1843public performances of all kinds increased.

A circus and wild animal menagerie came totown in September. In that era, these kinds of attrac-tions could always draw a crowd. A special arenamust have been built, because circus advertisementslisted box tickets at 50 cents and 25-cent tickets forthe pit. Two hundred visitors came up the river on aferry to attend the circus.

When traveling entertainer Dan Rice came to

Sutcliffe MaudsleyBathsheba Smith.

Nauvoo, he performed both featsof physical strength and comicrecitations—an unusual combina-tion. He recited “Major Jones’Courtship” in Southern dialectand a Yankee dialect piece.

After the performance, theProphet remarked at a social gath-ering that he wished he could hearthe comic pieces again. Hiram B.Clawson, a talented young man,immediately obliged the Prophetby repeating both of Rice’s recita-tions on the spot. Amazed that theyoung man had memorized bothpieces in just two hearings, theProphet delightedly began to plana series of theatricals, since therewas local talent in abundance.10

A REMARKABLE ACHIEVEMENT

Truly the Saints in Nauvoo fol-lowed the Prophet Joseph Smithin using the cultural arts to help

build the kingdom of God on the earth. After thephysical and emotional trauma the Saints had suffered in New York, Ohio, and Missouri, theirachievement in building Nauvoo into a beautifulcity rich in cultural arts is nothing short of aston-ishing. Only a people convinced of the innate po-tential of man and persuaded of God’s immediatehelp could have had sufficient courage to buildsuch great things out of such small means. �

’s painting of

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Teach gospel princi-ples found in the

scriptures; then tell apersonal experiencethat relates to them.

Telling Personal

STORIESRelating personal experiences can have a powerful influence on those we teach at home or in church.B Y R I C H A R D N A S H

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A story I heard in sacrament meeting several years ago changed the way I pray each day. A member of our bishopric stood up and said,

“I know the Lord answers prayers.” He told how heprays every night, sometimes almost by rote, for theLord to watch over and protect his family. Then heshared an experience about a night his family stayedon a houseboat while on a waterskiing trip. He awokesuddenly at 5:30 A.M. and for no apparent reason gotup and walked to the back of the boat. To his horror hefound his two-year-old son stretched out over the wa-ter, with his toes on the houseboat and his little handson a speedboat that was drifting slowly away to the

end of the mooring line. He grabbed his son, feelinggrateful for how directly the Lord had answered hisprayers. Since the day I heard that talk, I’ve asked theLord to watch over and protect my family.

One of the most effective methods we can usewhen teaching or participating in a discussion—whether in the home, a Church classroom, or sacra-ment meeting—is to share a personal experience and then relate it to the point we are making. Thesepoints or main ideas should come from the scrip-tures, the words of living prophets, or other appro-priate sources. Telling stories from your life––somethingthat has happened to you––adds power to what you

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teach. The events that have shapedour character and make us who weare can be tools in the hands of theLord to help others when we usethem appropriately. Some specificcounsel from our Church leadersincludes:

“Teachers and class membersare encouraged to share insights,feelings, and experiences that re-late to principles in the lesson. . . .This helps teachers and class mem-bers strengthen friendships andsee how gospel principles apply todaily life.”1

“Relating personal experiencescan have a powerful influence inhelping others live gospel princi-ples. When you tell about what youhave experienced yourself, you actas a living witness of gospel truths.If you speak truthfully and with pure intent, theSpirit will confirm the truth of your message in thehearts of those you teach.”2

MODERN STORYTELLERS

The example of our Church leaders shows the impact of telling personal experiences. PresidentGordon B. Hinckley is a model for using personal stories to teach gospel principles. In discussing pro-fanity, for instance, President Hinckley said:

“When I was a small boy in the first grade, I expe-rienced what I thought was a rather tough day atschool. I came home, walked in the house, threw mybook on the kitchen table, and let forth an expletivethat included the name of the Lord. My mother wasshocked. She told me quietly, but firmly, how wrong I was. She told me that I could not have words of thatkind coming out of my mouth.

“She led me by the hand into the bathroom, whereshe took from the shelf a clean washcloth, put it underthe faucet, then generously coated it with soap. Shesaid, ‘We’ll have to wash out your mouth.’ She toldme to open it, and I did so reluctantly. Then sherubbed the soapy washcloth around my tongue andteeth. I sputtered and fumed and felt like swearingagain, but I didn’t. I rinsed and rinsed my mouth, butit was a long while before the soapy taste was gone. In fact, whenever I speak of that experience, I can stilltaste the soap. The lesson was worthwhile. I think Ican say that I have tried to avoid using the name ofthe Lord in vain since that day.”3

The next time you listen to general conference,

teach what is foscriptures and thseal of living reatelling a similarthing that has hdispensation anand––most ideaindividuals.“Elder Bruce R. McCon“The How and Why oStories,” New Era, Ju

note how often our leaders usepersonal experiences in their talks.For example, Elder Henry B.Eyring of the Quorum of theTwelve Apostles shared this in a recent conference address:

“The afternoon my mother died,we went to the family home fromthe hospital. We sat quietly in thedarkened living room for a while.Dad excused himself and went tohis bedroom. He was gone for a fewminutes. When he walked back intothe living room, there was a smileon his face. He said that he’d beenconcerned for Mother. During thetime he gathered her things fromher hospital room and thanked thestaff for being so kind to her, hethought of her going into the spiritworld just minutes after her death.

He was afraid she would be lonely if there was no oneto meet her.

“He had gone to his bedroom to ask HeavenlyFather to have someone greet Mildred, his wife andmy mother. He said that he had been told in answerto his prayer that his mother [my grandmother] hadmet his sweetheart. I smiled at that too. GrandmaEyring was not very tall. I had a clear picture of herrushing through the crowd, her short legs movingrapidly on her mission to meet my mother.

“Dad surely didn’t intend at that moment to teachme about prayer, but he did.”4

PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND THE SCRIPTURES

The prophet Nephi was a master at blending thescriptures into his personal experiences. He referredto this practice as “likening” (see 1 Ne. 19:23). One ex-ample is when his brothers were ready to give up onobtaining the plates of brass and he said, “Let us goup; let us be strong like unto Moses” (1 Ne. 4:2; empha-sis added).

Here's how President Thomas S. Monson, FirstCounselor in the First Presidency, also wove a scrip-ture verse into a personal experience: “As a 12-year-oldboy I had the privilege to serve as the secretary of mydeacons quorum. I recall with joy the many assign-ments we members of that quorum had the opportu-nity to fill. . . . The most frightening one, however,happened at the leadership session of our ward con-ference . . . [when] without the slightest warning,President Perschon stood and said, ‘We will now hearfrom Thomas S. Monson, secretary of the deacons

“Perhaps theperfect patternin presentingfaith-promotingstories is tound in theen to put ality upon it by and equivalentappened in ourd to our peoplelly––to us as

kie (1915–85), f Faith-Promotingly 1978, 5.

A SEAL OF LIVING REALITY

NOTES1. Church Handbook of Instructions, Book 2: Priesthood and

Auxiliary Leaders (1998), 304.2. Teaching, No Greater Call (1999), 180.3. “Take Not the Name of God In Vain,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 46.4. “Write upon My Heart,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 87.5. “Duty Calls,” Ensign, Nov. 2001, 50–51.6. Teaching by the Spirit (2000), 64, 122–23.

Richard Nash is a member of the Parleys Fifth Ward, Salt Lake Parleys Stake.

quorum, to give us an accounting of his service andbear his testimony.’ I don’t recall a thing I said, but Ihave never forgotten the experience. Brethren, re-member the Apostle Peter’s admonition, ‘Be ready al-ways to give an answer to every man that asketh youa reason of the hope that is in you.’ ” [see 1 Pet. 3:15].5

THE POWER OF PERSONAL EXPERIENCES

Why are personal experiences so effective?1. They make the principles we are teaching more

credible. The people we teach are more likely to acceptour words when they know we have tried to livewhat we are teaching. What we have done carriesgreater weight in their minds than what we say.

Elder Gene R. Cook of the Seventy has counseled:“One reason why personal experiences are so effec-tive is that they have touched our hearts—and whenwe speak of things that we feel deeply, it is morelikely that we’ll be able to touch the hearts of others.If you read a lesson and tell a story in someone else’swords, it won’t have the same impact. . . . It is easierfor us to apply a truth if we can see it in action insomeone else’s life. And it is easier to commit to live a truth if we can feel the Spirit through those experi-ences of other people.”6

2. Personal experiences are interesting. Who can ig-nore the heartfelt story of how a particular event hasinfluenced or changed one’s life? Stories seem to havea magic that entices people of all ages. When we tellothers of our experiences, we are inviting them ontothe sacred ground of our memories. Listeners sense

that, and it strengthens their connection to theteacher and the principle being taught.

3. They are memorable. The details of a story helpyour listeners better remember what you teach.Illustrating a principle with a story enhances your listeners’ ability to retain information. When you tell a personal story to support a gospel principle, you are restating the principle, only in a different way.

4. Personal stories are easy to tell. When you relymore on your memory than on your notes, you willprobably be less nervous and more confident andnatural in your presentation. By telling the story inthe way you normally talk, the real you is much morelikely to come through.

When we share appropriate personal experiencesby the Spirit and follow other principles of effectiveteaching, the Lord will use the gospel principles wehave learned to touch the hearts of those who are lis-tening and change lives for good. We will be able tomore effectively fulfill our responsibilities as teachersof the gospel of Jesus Christ. �

CAUTIONS FOR SHARING PERSONALEXPERIENCES

1. Avoid embarrassing details.Although the best stories come di-rectly from your life, sometimes detailsabout those events can be embarrass-ing to you and even hurtful to anyonewho is characterized in an unflatteringway. Avoid using stories without thepermission of those who are in the sto-ries. Leave out details that are unnec-essary to the point. Be sensitive to thefeelings of others. Pray for the guid-ance of the Spirit.

2. Don’t stretch the truth.To make a story more dramatic oremotional, it may be tempting to alteror exaggerate some details of whatactually happened. Don’t do it. Telling

the truth is the right thing to do, espe-cially when you are teaching princi-ples of the gospel. Any variation fromthe truth will cause you to lose theSpirit, which will dramatically diminishthe impact of your lesson.

3. Make sure your story relates to a gospel principle.A story told merely to entertain will defeat the purpose of why we havegathered: to be “nourished by thegood word of God” (Moro. 6:4). Tieyour stories to the scriptures and the principles found in Church lessonmanuals.

4. Avoid making yourself the hero of your stories. If you are always the paragon of virtuein your stories, the one who nevermakes a mistake, you will lose credi-bility. Your students could easily get

the wrong impression of why you aretelling stories about yourself. “Be thouhumble; and the Lord thy God shalllead thee by the hand” (D&C 112:10).5. Be cautious about sharing personal spiritual experiences.“There are some things just too sacredto discuss,” says President Boyd K.Packer, Acting President of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles. Suchexperiences should not be shared, but“harbored and protected and regardedwith the deepest reverence” (Teach YeDiligently [1975], 71). The Lord hassaid, “Remember that that whichcometh from above is sacred, andmust be spoken with care, and by con-straint of the Spirit” (D&C 63:64). Trustthat the Spirit will prompt you when itis appropriate to share experiencesthat are deeply personal. Wait for suchpromptings. �

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NotJust

I was so full of gratitude for the Savior and for my

teacher that I could not speak.

Diane M. Tingey is a member of the Dayton Branch, ChattanoogaTennessee Stake.

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Our prophets and other leaders have asked ustime after time to go about doing good, to doour duty, and to be good examples. Sometimes

we may wonder what difference it makes. A ReliefSociety teacher who was just doing her best to teachher lesson completely changed my life one Sunday.

Several years ago I found myself in a position Inever would have imagined. My hopes for happinesswere turning to despair, and I was fearful and anxious.My self-confidence was plummeting, and the feelingthat I had no one to confide in about my troubles con-tributed to my feelings of isolation. Each day was astruggle, and nights were sleepless. At times my lifeseemed a ruin, hardly worth continuing, I thought. A belief in God and concern for my small daughter’sfuture kept me hanging on.

I had not been active in the Church for some time.However, some wonderful visiting teachers and neigh-bors gently encouraged me until I felt comfortable at-tending church. I was usually late and often missedmeetings, but I felt more and more as though I couldnot survive the week without the peace and safety Ifound in Relief Society.

One Sunday, Jane was teaching the lesson in ReliefSociety. She is a fun, bubbly person and a gifted teacher.I cannot recall exactly what the lesson was about thatday, but it seems that Jane was talking about being wor-thy so we could be instruments in the hands of theLord to bless the lives of others.

She related an incident from her life as an illustra-tion. She had been shopping in the basement of athrift store and overheard a mother repeatedly

scolding her young child. The little girl was in astroller and obviously was not excited about thebargains. As Jane listened, she thought that themother sounded as though she might be angryenough to become abusive. Jane, a mother of foursmall children, felt uncomfortable, but headedoff to another aisle. As she walked away, she felt

compelled to turn back and approach the woman.She did not know what she would do or say andwas not eager to interfere, yet she obeyed the spir-itual prompting.

When she came close to the woman and child,Jane felt an overwhelming sense of compassionand love for them. She smiled her infectious

smile, her mouth opened, and she told the motherwhat a lovely child she had. The Spirit touched the an-gry woman. She looked at her child through new eyes,her face and heart softened, and she agreed with Janeas if it were a new revelation. The mother and childwent their way, their lives changed for the better. Janesaid she felt drained of energy by the experience andwent to her car to weep, regain her composure, and express gratitude to Heavenly Father.

As Jane related this story, our hearts in ReliefSociety were touched and our eyes were wet withtears. She continued by saying how much the Saviorloves each one of us. She looked around the room and said to various sisters, “Jesus loves Sarah,” and “He loves Sister White.” She looked right at me andsaid, “Jesus loves Diane.” She then continued the restof the lesson.

I have no idea what else she said that day. When shelooked at me and said that Jesus loves me, I felt what Ican only describe as a lightning bolt of the Spirit, and Iknew without a doubt that despite my faults, the Saviortruly loved me. It was almost overpowering, and it wasthe strongest witness I have ever had. After the closingprayer, I quickly found my daughter and returned homewithout stopping to chat with anyone. I was so pro-foundly affected and so full of gratitude for the Saviorand for Jane that I could not speak.

Many times I longed to tell Jane what happenedthat day, and how thankful I am that she was doing herduty and living her life so she could be an instrumentin the hands of the Lord. Time has passed. I moved faraway and lost track of Jane. And though she probablythought she was just teaching a lesson, she was in factthe “small means” (see 1 Ne. 16:29) to a spiritual mira-cle that gave me hope and changed my life forever.

I am certain this sort of thing happens many times,perhaps unknown to teachers and parents who are themeans of effecting great changes in the lives of theirspiritually thirsty students and family members. Theyare just doing their duty, performing what the Lordasks of them. We cannot underestimate the wondrousand good things that are brought to pass when we dowhat small and simple things the Lord asks us to do (seeAlma 37:6). �

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K nowing ourtrue position,

we can change ourbearings if theyneed changing; wecan lay down anewour true course.

E D U C A T I O N

CHA RTEDCOU R S E

Excerpts from the

CHA RTEDCOU R S E

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This prophetic 1938 address toChurch educators offers much to guide parents and other teachersin their duties.

B Y P R E S I D E N T J . R E U B E NC L A R K J R . ( 1 8 7 1 – 1 9 6 1 )First Counselor in the First Presidency

As a schoolboy I was thrilled with the great debate be-tween those two giants,

[Daniel] Webster and [RobertYoung] Hayne. The beauty of their

oratory, the sublimity of Webster’s lofty expression ofpatriotism, the forecast of the civil struggle to comefor the mastery of freedom over slavery, all stirred meto the very depths. The debate began over the FootResolution concerning the public lands. It developedinto consideration of great fundamental problems ofconstitutional law. I have never forgotten the open-ing paragraph of Webster’s reply, by which hebrought back to its place of beginning this debate

that had drifted so far from its course. That para-graph reads:

“Mr. President: When the mariner has beentossed for many days in thick weather, and

on an unknown sea, he naturally availshimself of the first pause in the storm,

the earliest glance of the sun, totake his latitude, and ascertain

how far the elementshave driven him

from his true

course. Let us imitate this prudence, and, before wefloat farther on the waves of this debate, refer to thepoint from which we departed, that we may at leastbe able to conjecture where we now are. . . .”

Now, I hasten to express the hope that you willnot think that I think this is a Webster-Hayne occa-sion or that I think I am a Daniel Webster. If you wereto think those things—or either of them—you wouldmake a grievous mistake. I admit I am old, but I amnot that old. But Webster seemed to invoke so sensi-ble a procedure for occasions where, after a wander-ing on the high seas or in the wilderness, effort is tobe made to get back to the place of starting, that Ithought you would excuse me if I invoked and in away used this same procedure to restate some of themore outstanding and essential fundamentals under-lying our Church school education.

OUR PRIME DOCTRINAL POSITIONS

The following are to me those fundamentals: The Church is the organized priesthood of God. The priesthood can exist without the Church, but theChurch cannot exist without the priesthood. The mis-sion of the Church is, first, to teach, encourage, assist,and protect the individual member in his striving tolive the perfect life, temporally and spiritually, as laiddown in the gospel: “Be ye therefore perfect, even asyour Father which is in heaven is perfect,” said theMaster (Matt. 5:48). Secondly, the Church is to main-tain, teach, encourage, and protect, temporally andspiritually, the membership as a group in its living ofthe gospel; thirdly, the Church is militantly to pro-claim the truth, calling upon all men to repent, and tolive in obedience to the gospel, for “every knee [must]bow, and every tongue confess” (Mosiah 27:31).

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In all this there are for the Church and for eachand all of its members two prime things which maynot be overlooked, forgotten, shaded, or discarded:

First––that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the OnlyBegotten of the Father in the flesh, the Creator of theworld, the Lamb of God, the Sacrifice for the sins ofthe world, the Atoner for Adam’s transgression; thatHe was crucified; that His spirit left His body; that Hedied; that He was laid away in the tomb; that on thethird day His spirit was reunited with His body,which again became a living being; that He wasraised from the tomb a resurrected being, a perfect being, the Firstfruits of the Resurrection; that He later ascended to the Father; and that because of His death and by andthrough His Resurrection everyman born into the world since thebeginning will be likewise literallyresurrected. This doctrine is as oldas the world. Job declared:

“And though after my skinworms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

“Whom I shall see for myself,and mine eyes shall behold, andnot another” (Job 19:26–27).

The resurrected body is a body of flesh and bones and spirit, and Job was uttering a great and everlasting truth. These positive facts, and allother facts necessarily implied therein, must all behonestly believed, in full faith, by every member of the Church.

The second of the two things to which we must allgive full faith is that the Father and the Son actuallyand in truth and very deed appeared to the ProphetJoseph in a vision in the woods; that other heavenlyvisions followed to Joseph and to others; that thegospel and the Holy Priesthood, after the Order ofthe Son of God, were in truth and fact restored to theearth from which they were lost by the apostasy ofthe Primitive Church; that the Lord again set up HisChurch, through the agency of Joseph Smith; that theBook of Mormon is just what it professes to be; that tothe Prophet came numerous revelations for the guid-ance, upbuilding, organization, and encouragementof the Church and its members; that the Prophet’ssuccessors, likewise called of God, have received rev-elations as the needs of the Church have required,and that they will continue to receive revelationsas the Church and its members, living thetruth they already have, shall stand inneed of more; that this is in truth The Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints; and that its

In all our teaare two prim

which may nolooked, shadecarded: that Jethe Son of Gothe Father andvery deed appProphet Josep

foundation beliefs are the laws and principles laiddown in the Articles of Faith. These facts also, andeach of them, together with all things necessarily implied therein or flowing therefrom, must stand, unchanged, unmodified, without dilution, excuse,apology, or avoidance; they may not be explainedaway or submerged. Without these two great beliefsthe Church would cease to be the Church.

Any individual who does not accept the fulness of these doctrines as to Jesus of Nazareth or as to theRestoration of the gospel and holy priesthood is not aLatter-day Saint; the hundreds of thousands of faith-

ful, God-fearing men and womenwho compose the great body of theChurch membership do believethese things fully and completely;and they support the Church andits institutions because of this belief.

I have set out these matters be-cause they are the latitude and lon-gitude of the actual location andposition of the Church, both in thisworld and in eternity. Knowing ourtrue position, we can change ourbearings if they need changing; wecan lay down anew our true course.And here we may wisely recall that

Paul said, “But though we, or an angel from heaven,preach any other gospel unto you than that whichwe have preached unto you, let him be accursed“(Gal. 1:8). . . .

THE EDUCATION OF OUR YOUTH

As I have already said, I am to say somethingabout the religious education of the youth of theChurch. I shall bring together what I have to say under two general headings—the student and theteacher. I shall speak very frankly, for we have passedthe place where we may wisely talk in ambiguouswords and veiled phrases. We must say plainly whatwe mean, because the future of our youth, bothhere on earth and in the hereafter,as also the welfare of thewhole Church, areat stake.

ching theree things

t be over-d, or dis-sus Christ isd, and that the Son ineared to theh.

What our youth want. The youth of the Church,your students, are in great majority sound in thoughtand in spirit. The problem primarily is to keep themsound, not to convert them.

The youth of the Church are hungry for things ofthe Spirit; they are eager to learn the gospel, and theywant it straight, undiluted.

They want to know about the fundamentals Ihave just set out—about our beliefs; they want togain testimonies of their truth; they are not nowdoubters but inquirers, seekers after truth. Doubtmust not be planted in their hearts. Great is the bur-den and the condemnation of any teacher who sowsdoubt in a trusting soul.

These students crave the faith their fathers andmothers have; they want it in its simplicity and pu-rity. There are few indeed who have not seen themanifestations of its divine power; they wish to benot only the beneficiaries of this faith, but theywant to be themselves able to call it forth towork.

They want to believe in the ordi-nances of the gospel; they wish tounderstand them so faras they may.

They are prepared to understand the truth which is as old as the gospel and which was ex-pressed thus by Paul (a master of logic and meta-physics unapproached by the modern critics whodecry all religion):

“For what man knoweth the things of a man,save the spirit of man which is in him? even so thethings of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit ofGod.

“Now we have received, not the spirit ofthe world, but the spirit which is of God;that we might know the things that arefreely given to us of God” (1 Cor.2:11–12).

“For they that are after theflesh do mind the thingsof the flesh;

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but they that are after the Spirit the things of theSpirit” (Rom. 8:5).

“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shallnot fulfil the lust of the flesh.

“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and theSpirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the oneto the other: so that ye cannot do the things that yewould.

“But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under thelaw” (Gal. 5:16–18).

Our youth understand too the principle declaredin modern revelation: “Ye cannot behold with your

natural eyes, for the present time, the design ofyour God concerning those things which

shall come hereafter, and the glory whichshall follow after much tribulation”

(D&C 58:3). . . . What our youth alreadyknow. These students are pre-

pared to believe and under-stand that all these things

are matters of faith, notto be explained or un-

derstood by anyprocess of human

reason, and prob-ably not by any

experiment of known

physicalscience.

These students (to put the matter shortly) are prepared to understand and to believe that there is anatural world and there is a spiritual world; that thethings of the natural world will not explain the thingsof the spiritual world; that the things of the spiritualworld cannot be understood or comprehended by thethings of the natural world; that you cannot rational-ize the things of the Spirit, because first, the things ofthe Spirit are not sufficiently known and compre-hended, and secondly, because finite mind and rea-son cannot comprehend nor explain infinite wisdomand ultimate truth.

These students already know that they must behonest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and dogood to all men, and that “if there is anything virtu-ous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, weseek after these things” (A of F 1:13)—these thingsthey have been taught from very birth. They shouldbe encouraged in all proper ways to do these thingswhich they know to be true, but they do not need tohave a year’s course of instruction to make them be-lieve and know them.

These students fully sense the hollowness ofteachings which would make the gospel plan a meresystem of ethics; they know that Christ’s teachingsare in the highest degree ethical, but they also knowthey are more than this. They will see that ethics re-late primarily to the doings of this life and that tomake of the gospel a mere system of ethics is to con-fess a lack of faith, if not a disbelief, in the hereafter.They know that the gospel teachings touch not onlythis life but the life that is to come, with its salvationand exaltation as the final goal.

These students hunger and thirst, as did their fa-thers before them, for a testimony of the things of

the Spirit and of the hereafter, and knowing thatyou cannot rationalize eternity, they seek faith

and the knowledge which follows faith.They sense by the Spirit they have

that the testimony they

seek is engendered and nurtured by the testimony of others and that to gain this testimony which theyseek for, one living, burning, honest testimony of arighteous God-fearing man that Jesus is the Christand that Joseph was God’s prophet is worth a thou-sand books and lectures aimed at debasing the gospelto a system of ethics or seeking to rationalize infinity.

Two thousand years ago the Master said:“Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask

bread, will he give him a stone?“Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?”

(Matt. 7:10–11).These students, born under the covenant, can un-

derstand that age and maturity and intellectual train-ing are not in any way or to any degree necessary tocommunion with the Lord and His Spirit. They knowthe story of the youth Samuel in the temple; of Jesusat 12 years confounding the doctors inthe temple; of Joseph at 14 seeing Godthe Father and the Son in one of themost glorious visions ever beheld byman. They are not as were theCorinthians, of whom Paul said: “Ihave fed you with milk, and not withmeat: for hitherto ye were not able tobear it, neither yet now are ye able” (1 Cor. 3:2).

They are rather as was Paul him-self when he declared to the sameCorinthians: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11).

These students as they come to you are spirituallyworking on toward a maturity which they will earlyreach if you but feed them the right food. They cometo you possessing spiritual knowledge and experiencethe world does not know.

So much for your students and what they are andwhat they expect and what they are capable of. I amtelling you the things that some of you teachers havetold me and that many of your youth have told me.

May I not say now a few words to you teachers?

COUNSEL TO PARENTS AND TEACHERS OF YOUTH

In the first place, there is neither reason nor isthere excuse for our Church religious teaching andtraining facilities and institutions, unless the youthare to be taught and trained in the principles of thegospel, embracing therein the two great elements that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph was God’sprophet. The teaching of a system of ethics to the stu-

dents is not a sufficient reason for running ourseminaries and institutes. The great public

The youChurch

gry for thinSpirit; theyto learn theand they wstraight, un

school system teaches ethics. The students of semi-naries and institutes should of course be taught theordinary canons of good and righteous living, forthese are part, and an essential part, of the gospel.But there are the great principles involved in eternallife, the priesthood, the Resurrection, and many likeother things, that go way beyond these canons ofgood living. These great fundamental principles alsomust be taught to the youth; they are the things theyouth wish first to know about.

A testimony. The first requisite of a teacher forteaching these principles is a personal testimony oftheir truth. No amount of learning, no amount ofstudy, and no number of scholastic degrees can takethe place of this testimony, which is the sine qua non[essential quality] of the teacher in our Church schoolsystem. No teacher who does not have a real testi-

mony of the truth of the gospel as re-vealed to and believed by the Latter-daySaints, and a testimony of the sonshipand messiahship of Jesus and of the di-vine mission of Joseph Smith—includingin all its reality the First Vision—has anyplace in the Church school system. . . .

Moral and intellectual courage. Butfor you teachers the mere possession of atestimony is not enough. You must havebesides this, one of the rarest and mostprecious of all the many elements of hu-

man character—moral courage. For in the absence ofmoral courage to declare your testimony, it will reachthe students only after such dilution as will make itdifficult if not impossible for them to detect it; andthe spiritual and psychological effect of a weak andvacillating testimony may well be actually harmful instead of helpful.

The successful . . . teacher must also possess an-other of the rare and valuable elements of character—a twin brother of moral courage and often mistakenfor it—I mean intellectual courage—the courage to affirm principles, beliefs, and faith that may not always be considered as harmonizing with suchknowledge—scientific or otherwise. . . .

An object of pity (not of scorn, as some wouldhave it) is that man or woman, who having the truthand knowing it, finds it necessary either to repudiatethe truth or to compromise with error in order thathe may live with or among unbelievers without sub-jecting himself to their disfavor or derision as he sup-poses. Tragic indeed is his place, for the real fact isthat all such discardings and shadings in the endbring the very punishments that the weak-willed one sought to avoid. For there is nothing the world so values and reveres as the man who, having righ-teous convictions, stands for them in any and all

th of the are hun-gs of the are eager gospel,ant itdiluted.

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circumstances; there is nothing toward which theworld turns more contempt than the man who, hav-ing righteous convictions, either slips away fromthem, abandons them, or repudiates them. For anyLatter-day Saint psychologist, chemist, physicist, ge-ologist, archaeologist, or any other scientist to explainaway or misinterpret or evade or elude or, most of all,to repudiate or to deny the great fundamental doc-trines of the Church in which he professes to believe,is to give the lie to his intellect, to lose his self-respect,to bring sorrow to his friends, to break the hearts andbring shame to his parents, to besmirch the Churchand its members, and to forfeit the respect and honorof those whom he has sought, by his course, to win asfriends and helpers. . . .

Your spiritual trust. Another thing which must bewatched in our Church institutions is this: It must notbe possible for men to keep positionsof spiritual trust who, not being con-verted themselves, being really unbe-lievers, seek to turn aside the beliefs,education, and activities of our youth,and our aged also, from the ways theyshould follow, into other paths of edu-cation, beliefs, and activities which(though leading where the unbelieverwould go) do not bring us to the placeswhere the gospel would take us. Thatthis works as a conscience-balm to theunbeliever who directs it is of no im-portance. This is the grossest betrayal of trust, andthere is too much reason to think it has happened. . . .

I have already indicated that our youth are notchildren spiritually; they are well on toward the nor-mal spiritual maturity of the world. To treat them aschildren spiritually, as the world might treat the sameage-group, is therefore and likewise an anachronism.I say once more there is scarcely a youth that comesthrough your seminary or institute door who has notbeen the conscious beneficiary of spiritual blessingsor who has not seen the efficacy of prayer or who hasnot witnessed the power of faith to heal the sick orwho has not beheld spiritual outpourings of whichthe world at large is today ignorant. You do not haveto sneak up behind this spiritually experienced youthand whisper religion in his ears; you can come rightout, face to face, and talk with him. You do not needto disguise religious truths with a cloak of worldlythings; you can bring these truths to him openly, intheir natural guise. Youth may prove to be not morefearful of them than you are. There is no need forgradual approaches, for “bedtime” stories, for cod-dling, for patronizing, or for any of the other childishdevices used in efforts to reach those spiritually inex-perienced and all but spiritually dead.

You do nsneak u

our spirituaenced youtper religionears; you caright out, faand talk wi

Educate for eternity. You teachers have a great mis-sion. As teachers you stand upon the highest peak ineducation, for what teaching can compare in pricelessvalue and in far-reaching effect with that which dealswith man as he was in the eternity of yesterday, as heis in the mortality of today, and as he will be in the for-ever of tomorrow. Not only time but eternity is yourfield. Salvation of yourself not only, but of those whocome within the purlieus [confines] of your temple, isthe blessing you seek and which, doing your duty, youwill gain. How brilliant will be your crown of glory,with each soul saved an encrusted jewel thereon.

But to get this blessing and to be so crowned, youmust, I say once more, you must teach the gospel. . . .

You do have an interest in matters purely culturaland in matters of purely secular knowledge; but, I re-peat again for emphasis, your chief interest, your es-

sential and all but sole duty, is to teachthe gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ asthat has been revealed in these latterdays. You are to teach this gospel us-ing as your sources and authoritiesthe standard works of the Church andthe words of those whom God hascalled to lead His people in these lastdays. You are not, whether high orlow, to intrude into your work yourown peculiar philosophy, no matterwhat its source or how pleasing or ra-tional it seems to you to be. To do so

would be to have as many different churches as wehave seminaries—and that is chaos.

The philosophies of the world. You are not,whether high or low, to change the doctrines of theChurch or to modify them as they are declared byand in the standard works of the Church and bythose whose authority it is to declare the mind andwill of the Lord to the Church. The Lord has declaredthat He is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (2 Ne. 27:23).

I urge you not to fall into that childish error, socommon now, of believing that merely because manhas gone so far in harnessing the forces of nature andturning them to his own use, that therefore the truthsof the Spirit have been changed or transformed. It is a vital and significant fact that man’s conquest of thethings of the Spirit has not marched side by side withhis conquest of things material. The opposite some-times seems to be true. Man’s power to reason hasnot matched his power to figure. Remember alwaysand cherish the great truth of the Intercessory Prayer:“And this is life eternal, that they might know theethe only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3). This is an ultimate truth; so are all spiritual truths. They are not changed by the

ot have top behindlly experi-

h and whis- in theirn comece to face,th them.

For the complete text of this address, see James R. Clark, comp.,Messages of the First Presidency of The Church ofJesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 6 vols. (1965–75),6:44–58. Capitalization, grammar, paragraphing, andpunctuation standardized; subheads added.

discovery of a new element, a new ethereal wave, norby clipping off a few seconds, minutes, or hours of aspeed record.

You are not to teach the philosophies of the world,ancient or modern, pagan or Christian, for this is thefield of the public schools. . . .

All that has been said regarding the character ofreligious teaching, and the results which in the verynature of things must follow a failure properly toteach the gospel, applies with full and equal force toseminaries, to institutes, and to any and every othereducational institution belonging to the Churchschool system.

A tribute and blessing. The First Presidencyearnestly solicit the wholehearted help and coopera-tion of all you men and women who, from your workon the firing line, know so well the greatness of theproblem which faces us and which so vitally and inti-mately affects the spiritual health and the salvation of our youth, as also the future welfare of the wholeChurch. We need you, the Church needs you, theLord needs you. Restrain not yourselves, nor with-hold your helping hand. . . .

. . . I pay my tribute to your industry, your loyalty,your sacrifice, your willing eagerness for service inthe cause of truth, your faith in God and in His work,and your earnest desire to do the things that our or-dained leader and prophet would have you do. And Ientreat you not to make the mistake of thrustingaside your leader’s counsel or of failing to carryout his wish or of refusing to follow his direc-tion. David of old, privily cutting off only theskirt of Saul’s robe, uttered the cry of a smit-ten heart: “The Lord forbid that I should dothis thing unto my master, the Lord’sanointed, to stretch forth mine handagainst him, seeing he is the anointedof the Lord” (1 Sam. 24:6).

May God bless you always in allyour righteous endeavors, may Hequicken your understanding, increase

your wisdom, enlighten you by experience, bestowupon you patience, charity, and, as among your mostprecious gifts, endow you with the discernment ofspirits that you may certainly know the spirit of righ-teousness and its opposite as they come to you; mayHe give you entrance to the hearts of those you teachand then make you know that as you enter there youstand in holy places that must be neither polluted nordefiled, either by false or corrupting doctrine or bysinful misdeed; may He enrich your knowledge withthe skill and power to teach righteousness; may yourfaith and your testimonies increase, and your abilityto encourage and foster them in others grow greaterevery day—all that the youth of Zion may be taught,built up, encouraged, heartened, that they may notfall by the wayside but go on to eternal life, that theseblessings coming to them, you through them may beblessed also. And I pray all this in the name of Himwho died that we might live, the Son of God, theRedeemer of the world, Jesus Christ, amen. �

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C H O O S I N G A N D

BEINGTHE RIGHT SPOUSE

B Y T H O M A S B . H O L M A N

Prophetic counsel teaches us that finding a marriage partner takes spiritual sensitivity, maturity, and preparation—

including preparing ourselves to be the right spouse.

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President Gordon B. Hinckley has counseled thatmarriage “will be the most important decision ofyour life. . . . Marry the right person in the right

place at the right time.”1 But who is the right person?Where is the right place? When is the right time?

Fortunately, President Hinckley and other Churchleaders have given us inspired counsel concerningthese questions. Moreover, some 60 years of researchconfirms the wisdom of their counsel.

The right place is, of course, the temple. “There isno substitute for marrying in the temple,” counselsPresident Hinckley. “It is the only place under theheavens where marriage can be solemnized for eter-nity. Don’t cheat yourself. Don’t cheat your companion.Don’t shortchange your lives.”2

But how to find the right person?We sometimes are given false expectations by

movies, plays, and fiction based on the idea that thereis a “one-and-only” somewhere out there whom we areintended to marry. This would mean that finding amate is simply a matter of waiting to lock eyes with theright someone “across a crowded room,” as the song inSouth Pacific says,3 heading off hand in hand to the clos-est temple and then living happily ever after. No mat-ter how romantic this idea is, it is not supported byprophetic counsel. President Spencer W. Kimball(1895–1985) taught: “‘Soul mates’ are fiction and an illu-sion; and while every young man and young womanwill seek with all diligence and prayerfulness to find a

mate with whom life can be most compatible and beau-tiful, yet it is certain that almost any good man and anygood woman can have happiness and a successful mar-riage if both are willing to pay the price.”4

THE RIGHT PERSON

Many of us have the mote and beam problem (see Matt. 7:3–5)—that is, we can easily see the faults of others, but not our own. So before we start holdingothers up to scrutiny to see if they are worthy of us,maybe we ought to work first on becoming a “rightperson” for someone else. Elder Neal A. Maxwell of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles offered this counsel: “If the choice is between reforming other Church mem-bers [including fiancés, spouses, and children] or our-selves, is there really any question about where weshould begin? The key is to have our eyes wide open to our own faults and partially closed to the faults ofothers—not the other way around! The imperfectionsof others never release us from the need to work onour own shortcomings.”5 Therefore, when we focus on finding the right person, we should also focus onbecoming the right person for someone else. Thestrengths we bring to a marriage will undoubtedly contribute to the success of the marriage.

The first quality many young people look for in apotential spouse is someone with whom they can “fallin love,” which often means someone for whom they

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Before we start holdingothers up to scrutiny

to see if they are worthyof us, maybe we ought towork first on becoming a“right person” for some-one else.

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feel a strong physical attraction. Elder Bruce R.McConkie (1915–1985) of the Quorum of the TwelveApostles said, “The right person is someone for whomthe natural and wholesome and normal affection thatshould exist does exist.” But he went on to add, “It isthe person who is living so that he or she can go to thetemple of God and make the covenants that we theremake.”6

Being “in love” and attracted to a person is a goodstart, but clearly not enough. President Gordon B.Hinckley and Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum ofthe Twelve Apostles have suggested several other fac-tors we should keep in mind.

“Choose a companion of your own faith. You aremuch more likely to be happy,” said President Hinckley.“Choose a companion you can always honor, you can al-ways respect, one who will complement you in your ownlife, one to whom you can give your entire heart, your en-tire love, your entire allegiance, your entire loyalty.”7

Elder Scott suggested several attributes of a potentialspouse that will contribute to happiness in marriage: “a deep love of the Lord and of His commandments, a determination to live them, one that is kindly understanding, forgiving of others, and willing to giveof self, with the desire to have a family crowned withbeautiful children and a commitment to teach them the principles of truth in the home.”8

“Choose a compan-ion you can

always honor, you canalways respect, onewho will complementyou in your own life,one to whom you can give your entireheart,” PresidentGordon B. Hinckleyhas counseled.

SOME FACTORS TO CONSIDER

More than 60 years of research studies bear out thetruth of these inspired recommendations by priesthoodleaders. So do my personal experience and observationthrough years of teaching university classes about goodmarriage relationships. Research suggests several areasthat we need to look at in choosing a spouse9 if we wantto have the greatest chance of success in marriage. Theseare the individual attributes and deeply held values of theperson, the quality of the relationship we are able to buildwith that person, the person’s background, and the thingsin our own lives that affect our decisions. Let’s considereach of these.

First, we need to know a lot about the person weare thinking of marrying. As Elder Scott suggested, theperson’s beliefs about family life are very important.Research confirms that the more a potential spouse values marriage and family life, the better that mar-riage can be. Studies show also that the kind of person

President Hinckley advises seeking—someone tohonor, respect, and give our whole heart to, someonewho inspires love, allegiance, and loyalty—will usuallyhave good mental and emotional health, including ma-turity, self-control, and a healthy sense of self-respect.

The self-respect that prepares one well for marriageis not, as President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) said, “an abnormally developed self-esteem that becomeshaughtiness, conceit, or arrogance, but a righteous self-respect that might be defined as ‘belief in one’s ownworth, worth to God, and worth to man.’”10 One youngwife’s comments about her husband illustrate how apoor sense of self-worth can harm a marriage. “I lovehim and I hope he will change. He has poor self-es-teem. In any discussion of problems in our relation-ship, he puts up defenses and throws everything backon me or says he is worthless.”

Two immature behaviors are impulsive spending andlosing one’s temper. One young woman broke up with ayoung man after she observed his problem in controllinghis anger. She said to me: “He had a bad temper, and hewas power oriented and controlling. I really thought thathe would abuse me or my children if I married him.”

There is a need to find a person not only of goodcharacter but also one with whom we can have a goodrelationship. The way we communicate in dating and courtship is a key to building a solid marital relationship. Sincere, positive communicationpracticed in dating and courtship increases the likeli-hood of greater commitment, better conflict resolution,and more love between partners in marriage.

Good communication begins with a righteous heart.“Out of the abundance of the heart the mouthspeaketh” (Matt. 12:34). On the other hand, communi-cation from a selfish heart is generally just manipula-tion. Elder Marvin J. Ashton (1915–94) of the Quorumof the Twelve Apostles said: “If we would know truelove and understanding one for another, we must real-ize that communication is more than a sharing ofwords. It is the wise sharing of emotions, feelings, andconcerns. It is the sharing of oneself totally.”11

Steve and Linda, who divorced after five years ofmarriage, realized this on looking back. Linda said itthis way: “We had problems, I think, from the time westarted dating. Neither of us is really good at communi-cating. I think I am a little better now than when wewere dating. But neither one of us discussed ourthoughts and feelings; we would get full of anger andneither one of us would talk.”

THE EFFECT OF HERITAGE

In addition to weighing a potential spouse’s charac-ter and our ability to create a good couple relationshipwith that person, we need to consider past and present

family relationships. President David O. McKay(1873–1970) taught, “In choosing a companion, it is necessary to study the disposition, the inheritance, andtraining of the one with whom you are contemplatingmaking life’s journey.”12

Both research studies and experience show the wis-dom of President McKay’s counsel. Good family envi-ronments and family relationships tend to lead to goodquality marriages by the children; poor family environ-ments and family relationships often foreshadow poormarriages by the children from these homes. Youngadults from divorced families, for example, may experi-ence some depression and anger and have troubletrusting or committing to others as a result of thetrauma of parental divorce. Whether their parentsdivorced or not, some individuals may have been exposed to poor models of communication and conflictresolution in their families. Children from families thatwere emotionally cold and distant, chaotic, dangerous,unpredictable, detached, full of conflict, or where ad-dictions or violence were chronic problems may needspecial help in overcoming such an upbringing.

Fortunately, however, our backgrounds do not haveto control the outcome of our lives or our marriages.While we can do little to change our “gene pool,” wecan choose how to respond to the events and condi-tions of our upbringing, and courtship is one of themost opportune times to do so. President McKay alsosaid: “In our early youth, our environment is largelydetermined for us, but . . . in courtship and marriagewe can modify, aye, can control to a very great extent,our environment. Morally speaking, we can carve thevery atmosphere in which we live.”13

Even if we came from a less-than-perfect family envi-ronment, we are not doomed to suffer the consequencesof our parents’ iniquities “unto the third and fourth gen-eration” (Deut. 5:9). The very scriptures that warn ofwickedness being passed on unto the third and fourthgeneration also show the way out of a troubled familybackground. Doctrine and Covenants 124:50, for exam-ple, tells us that the iniquities of the fathers will be visitedupon the head of the children “so long as they [the chil-dren] repent not, and hate me.” Thus repentance andloving the Lord help free us from the sins of our parents.

The Book of Mormon is also full of examples of howto deal with parental influences. It talks about these influ-ences in terms of “the traditions of their fathers” (Alma9:17). The story of the Lamanites who responded to theteaching of Ammon and his brethren is a powerful exam-ple of a people who overcame generations of wicked tra-ditions. In brief, the Book of Mormon teaches us that wecan overcome these negative effects by having faith inthe Lord, allowing ourselves to be taught by inspiredleaders, learning the lessons of the scriptures, suffering inpatience the afflictions that parents may have brought

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upon us, and repenting of any of the unrighteous habitsand behaviors we may have picked up (see Mosiah 1:5;Alma 9:16–17; Alma 17:9, 15; Alma 25:6; Hel. 15:7).

It is important to have family and friends on our side and supportive of the upcoming marriage, ElderRichard L. Evans (1906–71) of the Quorum of theTwelve Apostles advised. “Don’t let this choice [of amarriage partner] ever be made except with earnest,searching, prayerful consideration, confiding in parents,[and] in faithful, mature, trustworthy friends.”14 Lovingparents who genuinely want the best for us, and “faith-ful, mature, trustworthy friends,” can often act as asounding board and counsel us on how best to proceed.

THE RIGHT TIME

President Hinckley offered this counsel about timing:“I hope you will not put off marriage too long. I do notspeak so much to the young women as to the youngmen whose prerogative and responsibility it is to takethe lead in this matter. Don’t go on endlessly in a frivo-lous dating game. Look for a choice companion, one youcan love, honor, and respect, and make a decision.”15

Waiting too long is clearly ill advised. But jumpinginto marriage too quickly can also be a problem.President Lee advised that a young man not think ofmarriage until he is able to take care of a family of hisown, to be independent. “He must make sure that he hasfound the girl of his choice, they have gone together longenough that they know each other, and that they knoweach other’s faults and they still love each other. . . .Brethren, think more seriously about the obligations ofmarriage for those who bear the holy priesthood at atime when marriage should be the expectation of everyman who understands [his] responsibility.”16 Womenalso need to wait until they are mature enough to as-sume the responsibilities of a wife and mother, withoutwaiting too long while pursuing less important things.

MAKING THE DECISION

After thoughtfully and prayerfully considering all of these factors, we must be sure the decision we makeis based on inspiration, not infatuation or desperation.As we seek a spiritual confirmation, we need to keep at least five things in mind.

First, we must be worthy to receive the inspirationwe need.

Second, we must understand the balance betweenagency and inspiration. As Elder McConkie taught,“We make our own choices, and then we present thematter to the Lord and get his approving, ratifyingseal.”17 The experience of one young man illustratesthis: “There are two things in my life that I’ve alwaysfelt would be important: a career and marriage. Yet at

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the time I didn’t feel like I was getting a response. Iprayed, ‘Heavenly Father, this is so important, I need to know whether or not it’s right.’ Then toward theend of our courtship, I went to the temple. I was sofrustrated because I wasn’t getting an answer eitherway. After praying and waiting for an answer, I gotmore frustrated and gave up. That was when an im-pression came to me: ‘You already know the answer.’Then I realized that God had answered my prayers. The decision to marry Becky always made sense andfelt right. I can see now that God had been telling mein my heart and in my mind that it was a good deci-sion. And later, at the time of the ceremony, I had an-other confirmation that what I was doing was right.”

Third, we may seek several witnesses if we feel theneed for additional confirmation. Sometimes we mayhave difficulty distinguishing between spiritual im-pressions and our own emotions, desires, or fears. A spiritual witness may be confirmed again in variousways. In His infinite love, mercy, and patience, ourHeavenly Father is generous with His counsel and response to His children.

Fourth, we can learn to discern the differences between inspiration, infatuation, and desperation.Inspiration, as we have already seen, comes when one isliving worthily, exercises agency righteously, and studiesthe situation out carefully. It can be confirmed by multi-ple spiritual enlightenments and peaceful feelings (seeD&C 6:15, 22–23). Infatuation is usually manifest by animmature “love” that includes great anxiety, possessive-ness, selfishness, clinging, and overdependence; thismay be more likely with individuals who lack emotionaland spiritual maturity. Desperation is often associatedwith social or cultural circumstances that create an at-mosphere (at least in the person’s mind) of “now ornever”; pressure from peers, family, or cultural normsmay lead to an unwise decision. A desire to get awayfrom an unpleasant family situation or fear of failure inschool or work can cause someone to look desperately tomarriage as a way out of a problem. Such fears and anxi-eties often speak so loudly in our minds that we cannothear the still, small whisperings of the Holy Spirit.

Fifth, the spiritual confirmation needs to come toboth parties involved. A person should not feel that ifhis or her prospective partner receives a confirmation,he or she is therefore released from the necessity of seek-ing a similar personal confirmation. Elder Dallin H.Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles hasdiscussed this issue: “If a revelation is out-side the limits of stewardship, you knowit is not from the Lord, and you are notbound by it. I have heard of cases wherea young man told a young woman sheshould marry him because hehad received a revelation that she

9. Thomas B. Holman and others, Premarital Prediction of MaritalQuality and Break Up (2001), 13.

10. Stand Ye in Holy Places (1974), 7.11. “Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976, 52.12. Gospel Ideals (1953), 459.13. Gospel Ideals, 462.14. “This You Can Count On,” Improvement Era, Dec. 1969, 73.15. “Thou Shalt Not Covet,” Ensign, Mar. 1990, 6.16. “President Harold B. Lee’s General Priesthood Address,”

Ensign, Jan. 1974, 100.17. “Agency or Inspiration?” New Era, Jan. 1975, 42.18. “Revelation,” in BYU Speeches of the Year, 1981 (1982), 25.19. Ensign, May 1999, 26.

Thomas B. Holman is a member of the Aspen Second Ward, Orem UtahAspen Stake.

More on this topic: Richard G. Scott, “Receive the Temple Blessings,”Ensign, May 1999, 25; Jonn D. Claybaugh, “Dating: A Time to BecomeBest Friends,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 18.

was to be his eternal companion. If this is a true revela-tion, it will be confirmed directly to the woman if sheseeks to know. In the meantime, she is under no obliga-tion to heed it. She should seek her own guidance andmake up her own mind. The man can receive revelationto guide his own actions, but he cannot properly receiverevelation to direct hers. She is outside hisstewardship.”18

Not long ago, my wife, Linda, and I were reminisc-ing about our courtship, and as I looked back, itseemed to me that I had been immature and inexperi-enced. I asked how she had dared to marry me. Hersimple answer was, “I saw potential.”

In that same vein, as we search for a mate withwhom we can spend the eternities, we would do well toremember Elder Scott’s counsel to recognize potentialfor growth: “I suggest that you not ignore many possi-ble candidates who are still developing these attributes,seeking the one who is perfected in them. You willlikely not find that perfect person, and if you did, therewould certainly be no interest in you. These attributesare best polished together as husband and wife.”19 �

NOTES1. “Life’s Obligations,” Ensign, Feb. 1999, 2.2. Ensign, Feb. 1999, 2.3. Oscar Hammerstein II, “Some

Enchanted Evening,” 1949.4. Marriage and Divorce

(1976), 16.5. “A Brother Offended,”

Ensign, May 1982, 39.6. In Conference Report,

Oct. 1955, 13.7. Ensign, Feb. 1999, 2.8. “Receive the Temple

Blessings,” Ensign,May 1999, 26.

As we search for a mate with whom

we can spend the eter-nities, we would dowell to remember thewise counsel to recog-nize potential for growth.

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Alone in a Foreign CountryBy Maria Mabilia

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Afew years ago my husbandand I were returning hometo Italy from the Frankfurt

Germany Temple. With us in thecar were another couple and ayoung man about to leave on afull-time mission. We had spent a wonderful week attending thetemple, but as we journeyedhome, my heart was agitated andI could not figure out why.

While we were still inGermany, I noted that Angelo,my husband, took a wrong turn.But trying not to worry the otherpassengers, I didn’t say anything.Suddenly a huge truck comingfrom the opposite direction raninto us. The force of the blow sentour car spinning out of control.Angelo was powerless; all wecould do was pray.

Our car finally stopped whenit smashed against a tree. All thewindows broke out, and glasswas everywhere. Even my eye-glasses were broken into pieces. Isoon learned that six other carswere involved and some of thevictims were in serious condition.

The paramedics arrived rightaway and took my husband, thecouple traveling with us, andsome of the other victims to thehospital. The young, soon-to-bemissionary and I were left at theaccident scene. I felt confusedand lost since I was in a foreigncountry without my husband andwithout any information aboutwhat was happening. And so Icontinued to turn my heart toHeavenly Father in prayer. Hisanswer came almost immediately.

A man approached me. Hewas German, but he spoke to me

The HomeTeachers WhoWouldn’t QuitBy David Head

After the paramedics took my husband

away, I felt lost andfrightened.

in English. Even though I don’tspeak either English or German, Iwas able to understand when heoffered to take us to the hospital.Since he was on a bicycle, he saidhe would return home to get hiscar.

We were alone again. But in afew minutes another man ap-proached. He spoke Italian! I wasso happy that I hugged him andstarted to cry. He also wanted tohelp us, but he too had to get hiscar.

Both men soon returned. Theyloaded our suitcases in their carsand took us to the hospital. Thesecond man left, but the firststayed with me the entire day,helping me find my husband,buy new glasses, and locate a ho-tel room for the night. Above all,he gave me encouragement andmoral support.

When he came back the nextday, I couldn’t help but think ofthe parable of the good Samaritan.This man, although he didn’tknow my husband or me, helpedus through a very difficult time.

That day I located and con-tacted some local Church mem-bers. Almost immediately themission president and the bishoparrived. They were strangers tous, but in their faces I saw thepure love of Jesus Christ. Whilemy husband and our travelingcompanions recovered, theChurch members helped us. Eachtime they came to visit, theybrought their love.

The most important blessingwe received during this time ofadversity was the reminder of thegreat love God has for His chil-dren. Now I know from experi-ence that if we trust in Him, Hewill never leave us alone but willbe at our side through everyday

people. �Maria Mabilia is a member of the ComoBranch, Como Italy District.

Ayear after my wife,Anthea, and I joined theChurch in 1965, we were

sealed with our two small daugh-ters in the London EnglandTemple.

At that time the Church inBritain had only one stake.Because there was a great needfor priesthood leadership, I wassoon called to serve as a branchpresident in a town 15 miles awayfrom my home branch. I wel-comed the challenge this newcalling brought and eventuallyserved in the district presidencyand then in the bishopric whenour branch became a ward.

As our family grew in thegospel, the sales management po-sition I held became more andmore demanding, often requiringme to be away from home two orthree nights a week. The pres-sures of my life, combined withnewfound friends not of ourfaith, caused me to start to havedoubts regarding some aspects ofChurch doctrine.

I had received a good educa-tion and enjoyed deep discus-sions with these new intellectualfriends. They tried to use thescriptures to prove that theChurch was not following somebasic concepts laid down as com-mandments since the time ofAdam. I should have borne testi-mony to the truth of the restoredgospel and turned away. Instead,I began to listen to them, and mylittle doubts about doctrinestarted to grow. Soon I stopped

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 69

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paying tithing and going to thetemple. When I stopped attend-ing church, my wife protested, asdid our daughters when weceased holding family homeevening.

As this was happening, twopeople from the Church nevergave up on me. Our home teach-ers invited me to church everySunday, sometimes by a visit andother times by a phone call. Theyvisited our home at least onceand sometimes twice each month.They even knew when weneeded something. I especially re-member the time I ordered a gar-den shed that was delivered

unassembled during my absence.Upon returning home, I found ourhome teachers had already assem-bled the shed.

I particularly admired our sen-ior home teacher, Des Gorman, anIrish Canadian. He was a genuineperson who truly cared for peo-ple. To me he represented theChurch, so I felt that the Churchmust be a good organization, evenif I wasn’t attending.

Eventually we were blessedwith a baby boy. Our home teach-ers reminded me that it is a priest-hood practice to name and bless ababy at fast and testimony meet-ing. I did not want to participate,

though I finally agreed to allowour baby to be blessed by others.

Brother Gorman stood in myplace and was the mouthpiece fora beautiful blessing on our son,Ronan. As I listened, I received apowerful witness from the Spirit.I had been proud. I had madesome big mistakes. I had nearlylost my testimony of the truthful-ness of the restored gospel. I stillhad my family, but I had almostlost the sweet peace the gospelbrings. Many tears flowed as mywife, Brother Gorman, and thebishopric hugged me as I felt thesorrow that leads to repentance.

From that time on, I have beenactive in the Church, with ourhome teachers continuing to sup-port me. Our baby boy is now areturned missionary, married inthe temple, and raising a familyof his own. I feel his life is a trib-ute to the man who gave him aname and a blessing.

I shall ever be grateful to twodedicated home teachers whotook their assignment seriously.Although Brother Gorman hasbeen deceased for some years, Iknow I won’t forget him for hispatient consistence in inviting meback. He never gave up. Today Icontinue to seek to emulate hisquiet and loving persistence inmy own home teaching andChurch callings. �

David Head is a member of the WorcesterWard, Cheltenham England Stake.

Our home teachersseemed to know

when we needed some-thing. Once while I wasaway, they even assem-bled a garden shed I hadordered.

V I S I T I N G T E A C H I N GM E S S A G E

Loving LifelongLearning

“There is an essence of the divine in the

improvement of the mind.”

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Read the following with the sisters youvisit, and discuss the questions, scrip-tures, and teachings from our Churchleaders. Share your experiences andtestimony, and invite those you teachto do the same.

President Gordon B. Hinckley:“You belong to a church which es-pouses education. . . . Train your-selves to make a contribution tothe society in which you . . . live.There is an essence of the divine in the improvement of the mind.‘The glory of God is intelligence,or, in other words, light and truth.’(D&C 93:36.) ‘Whatever principleof intelligence we attain unto inthis life, it will rise with us in theresurrection.’ (D&C 130:18.) . . .Education is an investment thatnever ceases to pay dividends ofone kind or another” (“Rise to theStature of the Divine within You,”Ensign, Nov. 1989, 96).

D&C 88:118: “As all have not faith,seek ye diligently and teach oneanother words of wisdom; yea,seek ye out of the best bookswords of wisdom; seek learning,even by study and also by faith.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of theQuorum of the Twelve Apostles:“We seek learning by studying theaccumulated wisdom of variousdisciplines and by using thepowers of reasoningplaced in us by

our Creator. We should also seeklearning by faith in God, the giverof revelation. . . . Seekers whohave paid the price in perspirationhave been magnified by inspira-tion. The acquisition of knowl-edge by revelation is an extrabonus to seekers in the sciencesand the arts, but it is the funda-mental method for those whoseek to know God and the doc-trines of his gospel. In this area ofknowledge, scholarship and rea-son are insufficient” (“AlternateVoices,” Ensign, May 1989, 29).

D&C 88:77–79: “I give unto you a commandment that you shallteach one another the doctrine ofthe kingdom. Teach ye diligentlyand my grace shall attend you,that you may be instructed moreperfectly in . . . all things that per-tain unto the kingdom of God,that are expedient for you to understand; Of things both inheaven and in the earth, and un-der the earth; things which have

been, things which are, thingswhich must shortly come to pass;things which are at home, thingswhich are abroad; the wars andthe perplexities of the nations, andthe judgments which are on theland; and a knowledge also ofcountries and of kingdoms.”

President Spencer W. Kimball(1895–1985): “We must be trainedto clarify minds, heal brokenhearts, and create homes wheresunshine will make an environ-ment in which mental and spiri-tual health may be nurtured. . . .Our schooling must not only teachus how to bridge the Niagara Rivergorge, or the Golden Gate, butmust teach us how to bridge thedeep gaps of misunderstandingand hate and discord in the world”(The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 391).

President Brigham Young(1801–77): “I shall not cease learn-ing while I live, nor when I arrivein the spirit-world; but shall therelearn with greater facility; andwhen I again receive my body [in the resurrection], I shall learn a thousand times more in a thou-sand times less time; and then I do not mean to cease learning, butshall still continue my researches”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church:Brigham Young [1997], 195).

• How can an understanding of “line upon line, precept upon pre-cept” (D&C 98:12) guide our effortsto become lifelong learners?

• How does a love for learning affectour families and all who fall within

our sphere of influence? �

ILL

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 71

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Tips forBeginningOrganists

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Our ward has five organistswho alternate playing forsacrament meetings. How

is it that we have more than theusual one or two? The answer isthat we encourage our pianists tolearn to play the organ.

Competent pianists who wantto play the organ can learn basicskills that will quickly en-able them to play inchurch. Followingare tips for play-ing the organand a quick in-troduction tothe instrument:

Pedal board andvolume (expression)pedals: The begin-ning organist shouldnot worry about us-ing the pedal board.Proper pedal boardtechnique can belearned later. Keepthe volume steady whenan appropriate level is es-tablished with the volumepedals.

Manuals (keyboards): Mostmeetinghouse organs have twokeyboards, called manuals. Thelower manual is called the Great;the upper manual, the Swell. Playhymns with both hands on theGreat.

Fingering: There are many fingering techniques for playingthe organ, such as legato, fingersubstitution, and glissando.Beginning organists can improvetheir fingering by practicing on apiano, trying to play smoothlywithout using the damper (right)

pedal. Moving parts should beplayed legato. When the finger-ing becomes awkward, sacrificethe legato of the alto and tenorparts first. It is sometimes desir-able to tie frequently repeatingnotes, particularly in the bass andtenor parts. Use a precise attackand release of the keys. An expe-rienced organist can suggest fin-gering that could be marked in apersonal hymnbook.

Tonal families: There are fourtonal families on an organ:Principal (Diapason),

Flute, String, and Reed. The indi-vidual sounds are marked onstops and activated by either tabsor draw-knobs.

Pitch: The stops are markedwith numbers that indicate pitch,such as 8’ (same as the pitch writ-ten on the music), 4’ (octavehigher), 2’ (two octaves higher),and 16’ (octave lower).

Couplers: These allow a stopfor one manual to be heard froma different manual or pedal. For

example, if the “Swell to Great”coupler is on, the organist canplay the Great manual and hearstops from the Swell division. Thepedal board Bass coupler, if avail-able, offers an improvement tothe performance of an organistwho is not yet using the pedalboard.

Registration: The registrationrefers to the stops selected for aparticular hymn. The stops can bemanually selected or, with someorgans, programmed. For hymns,8’ and 4’ Principals and Flutes canbe used for the manuals, with 16’and 8’ stops selected from thepedal division. For clarity andbrighter sounds, 4’, 2’, and mix-ture stops could be used. Stringsalso add clarity. Reeds add powerand brilliance. Each stop has aunique quality, volume, andpitch. Beginners can experimentwith the stops until they feel con-fident using them.

Vibrato, tremolo, tremulant, andcrescendo pedal: These controls arenot recommended for congrega-tional hymns.

Hopefully, many beginningorganists will pursue formaltraining. In addition to buildingmusical skills through practiceand training, accompanistsshould remember to pray to con-tribute to the spirit of the meet-ing.—Paul R. Howarth, QuailRidge Ward, Las Vegas NevadaGreen Valley Stake

My MotherhoodManualAs a mother, I have often

wished that my children had come equipped with

instruction manuals. Sometimes it is hard to know how to raisethem properly. But I do know

The Church offers helpful suggestionsfor preparing emergency supplies in abooklet titled Essentials of HomeProduction and Storage (item no.32288; U.S. $.75), available in

distribution centers. Regarding emer-gency storage, the booklet adviseseveryone to have portable containerswith the following: water; food requir-ing no refrigeration or cooking; medica-tions and critical medical histories asneeded; change of clothing, includingsturdy shoes and two pairs of socks;sanitary supplies; first aid booklet and equipment; candles; waterproofmatches; ax; shovel; can opener; andblankets (see p. 7). The booklet alsorecommends preparing a portablepacket with valuable family docu-ments, such as family history records.

that my calling as a parent is important, sacred, and eternal.Fortunately, as members of theChurch, we have many resourcesto assist us in rearing and teach-ing our children. With the aid ofthese resources, I have compiledmy own motherhood “manual.”

In a three-ring binder, which I keep close to my scriptures, Ihave included scriptural versespertinent to being a parent. Forinstance, Mosiah 4:15 reminds meto teach my children “to walk inthe ways of truth and soberness.”

I have also included “TheFamily: A Proclamation to theWorld,” additional counsel from Church leaders, and the resource book Teaching, No Greater Call (item no. 36123;U.S. $2.00). The Church also offers many other helpful materials such as A Parent’s Guide (31125; U.S. $1.25) FamilyGuidebook (31180; no charge), the Family Home Evening ResourceBook (31106; U.S. $5.00), and For the Strength of Youth (36550; no charge).

To further personalize mymanual, I have added ideas forfamily home evening and familytraditions, as well as goals wehave set together.

I know that motherhood is a sacred, important calling.When I get caught up in theeveryday tasks of caring for my children, I know that mymotherhood manual will help me quickly refocus my perspec-tive.—Brenda Minor, SuncrestFifth Ward, Orem Utah SuncrestStake

EmergencyPreparednessGame

Often when I watch thenews on television, I seereports of natural disas-

ters. With each new report, I amreminded of the counsel given byChurch leaders to be prepared.Since our family did not have an emergency supply kit andpreparing one seemed over-whelming, I wanted to find adoable solution. As my husbandand I counseled together, we real-ized that we didn’t have to ac-complish the task alone—wecould enlist our children’s help.

To involve everyone and makepreparing for an emergency seemfun instead of daunting or upset-ting, we decided to have a scav-enger hunt as part of family homeevening. Together we couldgather items for an emergencypreparedness kit. Consideringfamily members’ individualneeds, I made a list of supplies for our search. For starters, thebaby would need a bottle, for-mula, and diapers, while my

husband would need sturdyclothes and work gloves. I alsofound ideas from information Ihad saved from Home, Family,and Personal Enrichment lessons.

At the start of our family night,we discussed possible natural dis-aster situations and the impor-tance of being prepared so wedon’t have to be afraid (see D&C38:30). After our discussion, wedivided our family into teams andgave each group an empty laun-dry basket and part of our list.Then we had our scavenger huntthroughout the house, collectingthe needed supplies. The childrenhad a great time gathering theitems and choosing which cloth-ing to include. Within an hour,we had items for a completeemergency kit—tailored for ourfamily’s needs. What once hadseemed an overwhelming taskbecame a fun activity for our family, and we now feel betterprepared should an emergencyarise.—Windy L. Hasson, CelesteWard, Las Vegas NevadaSandstone Stake

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 73

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N E W S O F T H E C H U R C H

The new Nauvoo temple sits on the same site as the original and has almost the same outward appearance.

President Hinckley prepares to seal the temple cornerstone.

Nauvoo Illinois Temple Dedicated

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Early on the evening of27 June, President

Gordon B. Hinckley dedi-cated the Nauvoo IllinoisTemple in a session broad-cast to thousands of mem-bers participating in 72countries. The place andthe time were closely tiedto the history of theChurch and its firstPresident, Joseph Smith,charging the event with asense of history as well assacredness.

As a time capsule wassealed in the cornerstonebox earlier in the day,President Hinckley spoke ofan “unseen audience” thathe expected to be presentfor the dedication, includ-ing the Prophet JosephSmith, his brother Hyrum,and “many others whogave their life and theirtime and their energies tothe construction of [the

original Nauvoo] temple.”The dedication began at 6:00 P.M. Central Day-light Time on the samedate—27 June—when theProphet Joseph and hisbrother were martyred in Carthage Jail, about 15 miles away, in 1844.Adjusting for daylight savings time, even thehour was the same.

In the dedicatoryprayer he offered on thetemple, President Hinckleysaid: “We thank Thee thatthose harsh days are nowlong past. We thank Theefor this season in which welive, with the many bless-ings of peace and prosper-ity which we enjoy at Thy hands. Thy Spirit has brooded over us andmoved upon us, and inobedience to its prompt-ings we have now recon-structed on this hallowed

ground the temple thatonce stood here.” He peti-tioned: “We pray thatThou wilt accept of thisour offering. The hearts ofthe children have literallyturned to those fatherswho worked on the origi-nal building. They havedone so with love and awonderful spirit of conse-crated effort.”

President Hinckleyadded: “Bless this city ofNauvoo, which came to be known as the city ofJoseph. May it shine with arenewed luster as the homeof a temple of God. Maythis sacred house stand as amemorial to him who livedhere and was buried here,Joseph Smith, the greatprophet of this dispensa-tion, and his brotherHyrum, whom he loved.”

President Thomas S.Monson, First Counselorin the First Presidency,also spoke in the first dedicatory session, as didPresident Boyd K. Packer,Acting President of theQuorum of the TwelveApostles; Elder Ben B.Banks of the Presidency

of the Seventy; BishopH. David Burton, PresidingBishop; and Margaret D.Nadauld, Young Womengeneral president. ElderD. Todd Christoffersonand Elder Dennis B.Neuenschwander of thePresidency of the Seventyoffered the invocation andthe benediction.

Members of the First Presidency and theQuorum of the TwelveApostles participated ateach of the 13 dedicatorysessions through Sunday,30 June. The first dedica-tory session and the lastwere broadcast live viasatellite to members gath-ered at approximately2,300 locations around the world, and rebroad-casts of the first sessionwere scheduled at othertimes.

This was the first tem-ple dedication broadcast onan international scale, andits reach far exceeded thatof any previous Churchsatellite broadcast. An ex-panded satellite system al-lowed it to go to areas ofthe world that have never

President Hinckley’s remarks about the volunteer efforts of Churchmembers were repeatedly greeted with applause.

President Hinckley Addresses L.A. World Affairs Council

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before received any type ofChurch satellite broadcast,including Japan, Korea,Australia, New Zealand,Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, thePhilippines, Hong Kong,Taiwan, Thailand, Armenia,Bulgaria, Ukraine, Russia,and Romania.

The dedication of theNauvoo Illinois Temple issignificant because thisbuilding is in large part are-creation of the templethat the Prophet JosephSmith had located on thisbluff overlooking theMississippi River. The newtemple is built on the samesite and to virtually thesame exterior specifica-tions and design as theoriginal Nauvoo Temple.Thousands of today’smembers have ancestorswho contributed to thebuilding of that originaltemple, and every membercan feel a kinship to thosepioneers who sacrificed somuch for their faith.

More than 330,000 peo-ple—from every state inthe United States and from70 other countries—touredthe Nauvoo Illinois Templeduring the seven-weekpublic open house beforeits dedication. Visitors in-cluded prominent businessand government leaders aswell as officials from otherreligious faiths.

Music for the dedica-tory sessions was providedby members of the Taber-nacle Choir and by choirsof local Latter-day Saints.

The Nauvoo IllinoisTemple is the Church’s113th. It will serve 13,000Latter-day Saints in west-ern Illinois, eastern Iowa,and northeastern Missouri,in stakes in Nauvoo, Peoria,Cedar Rapids, Davenport,and Iowa City. ■■

“Volunteer service isthe genius of this

Church,” said PresidentGordon B. Hinckley,speaking to the LosAngeles World AffairsCouncil on 12 June 2002.

President Hinckley focused his remarks on the elderly and on theChurch’s Perpetual Edu-cation Fund as he ad-dressed the more than2,100 people attending the event. They includeddiplomats, professors, localgovernment officials, me-dia representatives, andChurch members hostingtheir guests. Religious lead-ers of many faiths wererepresented.

President Hinckleyspoke first about the chal-lenging service opportuni-ties available to retirees andthe thousands of individu-als taking advantage ofthese opportunities. “Godbless them for their greatand dedicated service.”

He highlighted a few of

the 5,300 retired Churchmembers on missions whoare having a tremendousimpact in serving others:two widows teaching andencouraging Jamaicans inneed; two brothers, retireddoctors, who established aneonatal clinic and a gen-eral practice to help thedisadvantaged in Ho ChiMinh City; and twenty retired people teachingEnglish to Thai children in Bangkok.

“Now I know, ofcourse, that there aremany other volunteergroups doing a great ser-vice in the world,” he said.“But I know of no other or-ganization which so har-nesses the abilities, thecapacities, and the willing-ness of retired men andwomen in an organizedprogram of Christian ser-vice in many areas of theworld.

“These people are expe-riencing in a very real waythe promise of the Master,

the Lord Jesus Christ, whosaid, ‘Whosoever shall losehis life for my sake and thegospel’s, the same shallsave it’ ” (Mark 8:35).

President Hinckleythen spoke of the Perpet-ual Education Fund, de-signed to help the manyyoung men and womenwho may return to povertyin their home countries af-ter they finish their mis-sions and do not have theopportunity to get an edu-cation. They receive loansto finance their educationin their own country, thenpay these loans back.

A quarter of a millionpeople have sent in dona-tions to the fund. “Wehave, without touching thecorpus, earnings enoughto provide loans to morethan 3,000 individuals,”said President Hinckley.“Today, only 14 months after the first announce-ment, we have made loansto 720 young people inBrazil, 696 in Chile, 338 inPeru, 194 in Mexico, 523 inthe Philippines, and 634 in other countries,” he reported. “I am confidentthe number will rise dramatically.”

One young man fromConcepción, Chile, wroteto the President: “This is agreat blessing. Today I canchange the future and givesomething better to mychildren. Thanks to allwho have made this possible.”

Loans from the Perpet-ual Education Fund arehelping finance training in fields from automobilemechanics to hotel admin-istration and Web technol-ogy.—Kathleen LubeckPeterson, Harbor HillsWard, Newport BeachCalifornia Stake ■■

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 75

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13. Central America

JULIO E.ALVARADO*

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

ENRIQUE R.FALABELLA*PRESIDENT

E. ISRAEL PÉREZ*

SECONDCOUNSELOR

W. ROLFE KERRFIRST

COUNSELOR

JOHN H.GROBERG

PRESIDENT

NED B. ROUECHÉSECOND

COUNSELOR

9. Utah South

14. South America North

WALTER F.GONZÁLEZ

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

CLAUDIO R. M.COSTA

PRESIDENT

*ROBERTOGARCIA

SECONDCOUNSELOR

New AreaPresidencyAssignments

The First Presidency has an-nounced changes in assign-

ments for Area Presidencies.The changes are effective 15 August 2002. All presi-dency members belong to the Quorums of the Seventy.

* Indicates Area Authority Seventy.

10. Idaho

*D. REX GERRATTFIRST

COUNSELOR

*C. SCOTT GROW

PRESIDENT

*RONALD L.LOVELANDSECOND

COUNSELOR

3. North America Northeast

GLENN L. PACEFIRST

COUNSELOR

SPENCER J.CONDIE

PRESIDENT

H. BRYANRICHARDSSECOND

COUNSELOR

8. Utah North

MONTE J.BROUGHFIRST

COUNSELOR

CREE-L KOFFORD

PRESIDENT

MERRILL C. OAKS

SECONDCOUNSELOR

2. North America Central

BRUCE C. HAFENFIRST

COUNSELOR

DONALD L.STAHELI

PRESIDENT

LYNN A.MICKELSENSECOND

COUNSELOR

7. North America West

DUANE B.GERRARD

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

LYNN G. ROBBINS

PRESIDENT

VAL R.CHRISTENSEN

SECONDCOUNSELOR

6. North America Southwest

H. BRUCE STUCKIFIRST

COUNSELOR

F. BURTONHOWARD

PRESIDENT

STEPHEN B.OVESONSECOND

COUNSELOR

5. North America Southeast

KEITH CROCKETT

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

GENE R. COOK

PRESIDENT

H. ALDRIDGEGILLESPIESECOND

COUNSELOR

1. North America Northwest

WILLIAM R.BRADFORD

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

QUENTIN L. COOK

PRESIDENT

STEPHEN A.WEST

SECONDCOUNSELOR

4. North America East

J. KENT JOLLEYFIRST

COUNSELOR

DALE E. MILLER

PRESIDENT

GORDON T.WATTS

SECONDCOUNSELOR

11. Mexico North

ROBERT J.WHETTEN

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

GARY J.COLEMAN

PRESIDENT

*ADRIÁN OCHOA

SECONDCOUNSELOR

12. Mexico South

*ARMANDOGAONAFIRST

COUNSELOR

RICHARD H.WINKEL

PRESIDENT

*BENJAMIN DE HOYOSSECOND

COUNSELOR

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28

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18. Chile

FRANCISCO J.VIÑASFIRST

COUNSELOR

JEFFREY R.HOLLAND

PRESIDENT

CARL B. PRATT

SECONDCOUNSELOR

28. Asia North

YOSHIHIKOKIKUCHIFIRST

COUNSELOR

DONALD L.HALLSTROMPRESIDENT

GARY S.MATSUDA*SECOND

COUNSELOR

29. Asia

E. RAY BATEMAN

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

JOHN B. DICKSON

PRESIDENT

*D. ALLENANDERSENSECOND

COUNSELOR

17. Brazil South

DARWIN B.CHRISTENSON

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

NEIL L.ANDERSEN

PRESIDENT

*PAULO R.GRAHL

SECONDCOUNSELOR

16. Brazil North

ROBERT R.STEUERFIRST

COUNSELOR

ADHEMARDAMIANI

PRESIDENT

*PEDRO J.PENHA

SECONDCOUNSELOR

15. South America West

CARLOS H.AMADOFIRST

COUNSELOR

DAVID R. STONE

PRESIDENT

*WILLY F.ZUZUNAGASECOND

COUNSELOR

27. Europe East

KEITH K. HILBIGFIRST

COUNSELOR

DOUGLAS L.CALLISTER

PRESIDENT

ROBERT F. ORTON

SECONDCOUNSELOR

23. Pacific Islands

ROBERT K.DELLENBACH

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

RONALD T.HALVERSONPRESIDENT

DENNIS E.SIMMONSSECOND

COUNSELOR

24. Australia/New Zealand

JOHN M.MADSENFIRST

COUNSELOR

KENNETHJOHNSON

PRESIDENT

*LINDSAY T. DIL

SECONDCOUNSELOR

26. Europe West

WAYNE S.PETERSON

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

HAROLD G.HILLAM

PRESIDENT

W. CRAIG ZWICK

SECONDCOUNSELOR

21. Africa Southeast

STEVEN E. SNOWFIRST

COUNSELOR

ROBERT C. OAKS

PRESIDENT

*DAVID J.BARNETTSECOND

COUNSELOR

22. Philippines

ANGEL ABREAFIRST

COUNSELOR

DALLIN H. OAKS

PRESIDENT

RICHARD J.MAYNESSECOND

COUNSELOR

25. Europe Central

RONALD A.RASBAND

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

D. LEE TOBLER

PRESIDENT

MARLIN K.JENSENSECOND

COUNSELOR

19. South America South

L. WHITNEYCLAYTONFIRST

COUNSELOR

JAY E. JENSEN

PRESIDENT

*CARLOS E.AGÜEROSECOND

COUNSELOR

20. Africa West

H. ROSSWORKMAN

FIRSTCOUNSELOR

SHELDON F.CHILD

PRESIDENT

R. CONRADSCHULTZSECOND

COUNSELOR

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 77

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New Visitors’Facilities inNew York, Ohio

Changes in Presidency of the Seventy

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf The new, larger Hill Cumorah center will handle growing numbersof visitors to historic sites and the annual Hill Cumorah pageant.

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The First Presidency hascalled Elder Dieter F.

Uchtdorf as a member ofthe Presidency of theSeventy. He succeeds ElderBen B. Banks.

Elder Uchtdorf beganhis service in the Presi-dency on 15 August. Theother members of thePresidency are Elder Earl C. Tingey, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder David E. Sorensen, Elder Dennis B.Neuenschwander, ElderCharles Didier, and ElderCecil O. Samuelson Jr.

Elder Uchtdorf wascalled to the Second Quo-rum of the Seventy in 1994.In 1996 he was sustained tothe First Quorum of theSeventy and has served aspresident of several areas,most recently the NorthAmerica West Area. He hasalso served as AssistantExecutive Director of theCorrelation Department.

Elder Uchtdorf wasborn in Czechoslovakia andhas lived most of his life inGermany. He and his wife,Harriet Reich Uchtdorf,have two children. ■■

On 1 July, following theNauvoo temple dedi-

cation, President Hinckleytraveled to Palmyra, NewYork, to dedicate the newlycompleted Hill CumorahVisitors’ Center.

President Hinckleyspoke fondly of visiting theHill Cumorah as a return-ing missionary 67 yearsearlier and of watchingPresident Heber J. Grantand other Church leadersunveil the statue of the an-gel Moroni on the hilltop.He also spoke of how in-trigued he is by the eventsthat occurred there.

President Hinckleybore testimony of theRestoration, the ProphetJoseph Smith, the Book ofMormon, and HeavenlyFather and Jesus Christ. Hethen challenged membersin the audience to be trueand faithful to the restoredgospel and to stand readyto declare the truth of thatdivine gift. “I know thatthe Church that came outof these events and othersthat followed is true,”President Hinckley said.

In the dedicatoryprayer, President Hinckleyprayed that the Spirit ofthe Lord would touch thehearts and minds of thepeople who would visitthe center and that theywould come away with agreater appreciation of theevents that transpiredthere.

One week earlier, on24 June, the Churchopened the doors of an-other new visitors’ centerin Kirtland, Ohio, alongwith two other historicstructures, one rebuilt andthe other restored.

The Historic KirtlandVisitors’ Center is de-signed to resemble thegristmill that Churchmembers saw when theyarrived in the area in the1830s. The years 1831 to1838 were “a defining pe-riod for the Church,” said

David Brown, visitors’center director. “Duringthe Kirtland era, we be-lieve God revealed to theProphet Joseph Smith theessential organization andmuch of the doctrine ofthe Church that is still inplace today. Kirtland wasthe site of the first Latter-day Saint temple and the Church’s first imple-mentation of the welfare,Church education, and international missionaryprograms.”

Church leaders hope todedicate other restoredand reconstructed sites inhistoric Kirtland by sum-mer 2003 as part of theOhio bicentennial celebra-tion. These sites includethe John Johnson Inn, theNewel K. Whitney Storeand Home, an 1819 school-house, a 170-year-oldsawmill, and an ashery. ■■

President HinckleyCelebrates 92nd Birthday

President Gordon B. Hinckley prepares to cutthe cake for a brief celebration of his 92ndbirthday with the General Authorities andother colleagues in the Church AdministrationBuilding on Friday, 21 June. He was born 23 June 1910.

MissionaryTraining CenterDedicated in Ghana

1881 CanadianCensusAvailable

NAUVOO TEMPLE ISAAC WAS NOT A CHILD

Fires Affect Members in Arizona, Colorado

Comment

The first missionarytraining center in

Africa was dedicated inGhana on 17 May. Thecenter is the Church’s 16thand will serve missionariescalled from West Africa.

Speaking at the dedica-tion, Elder H. Bruce Stuckiof the Seventy, President of the Africa West Area,quoted counsel from theDoctrine and Covenants:“Seek not to declare myword, but first seek to ob-tain my word, and thenshall your tongue beloosed; then, if you desire,you shall have my Spiritand my word, yea, thepower of God unto theconvincing of men” (D&C11:21). Then he added thatthe Lord has indicated thefulness of the gospel willbe taught to people in theirown tongue and their ownlanguage (see D&C 90:11).

Missionaries at the center will receive instruc-tion in both English andFrench. Instructors will belocal returned missionaries.

“The purpose of thetraining center is—underthe influence of the Spiritand in an atmosphere oflove, trust, confidence, andrespect—to help mission-aries draw nearer to Godand begin to obtain powerso that more of HeavenlyFather’s children will ac-cept the gospel of JesusChrist, receive saving ordi-nances, and come untoHim,” said Stephen Merrill

Hadley, president of theGhana Missionary TrainingCenter, in his remarks.

Also present at thededication were ElderStucki’s counselors, ElderH. Ross Workman andElder R. Conrad Schultz of the Seventy; AreaAuthority Seventies ElderEmmanuel O. Opare Sr.and Elder Emmanuel A.Kissi; and other localChurch leaders. ■■

Searching for ancestorsin Canada just got eas-

ier. Information concern-ing 4.3 million peopleliving in Canada in 1881 isnow available on CD.

This census data includes the provinces of British Columbia, Mani-toba, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories,Nova Scotia, Ontario,Prince Edward Island, and Quebec.

The National Archivesof Canada microfilmed the1881 census, and theChurch purchased a copyof it. Latter-day Saint vol-unteers in Canada ex-tracted the census intocomputer databases, andthe Church and FamilyHistory Department pro-cessed the information.The Institute of CanadianStudies at the University ofOttawa, Ontario, Canada,helped in preparing thedata for publication.

The CD package (itemno. 50179; U.S. $11.00), in-cludes Resource File Viewer4.0 and three CDs. ■■

In June and July some12,000 Church members

were evacuated from theirhomes in Arizona, wherewildfires burned over400,000 acres and de-stroyed some 200 houses.Approximately 35 Latter-day Saint families lost theirhomes. Local Church unitsworked actively with theRed Cross to provide shel-ter and supplies for dis-placed families. Churchhumanitarian funds wereused to purchase food andother supplies. In addition,several semitrailer loads ofemergency items weretransferred to the area

from bishops’ storehousesin Mesa, Arizona, and SaltLake City.

Other blazes in south-ern Colorado burned some66,000 acres, causing theevacuation of 1,100 peo-ple. Several members’homes were extensivelydamaged and one de-stroyed. Church membersworked with the RedCross to provide mealsand lodging for most evac-uees. Church welfare re-sources were donated tothe Southwest ColoradoChapter of the Red Crossto help purchase food andother items. ■■

I just wanted to thankyou for a wonderful maga-zine. I’m particularlythankful for the July 2002issue featuring articles onthe Nauvoo Illinois Temple.How wonderful these arti-cles were in helping pre-pare me for the temple’sdedication. What a power-ful witness the Spirit boreregarding the rebirth of thishistoric, sacred building.

Thanks once again forthe Spirit-filled articles thathave deepened my under-standing of and apprecia-tion for the early Saints’sacrifices and the sacrificesof today’s Saints as well inthe rebuilding of this sa-cred, holy house of God.Michelle PiercyGreencastle, Pennsylvania

While the picture on page 25 of the June2002 Ensign is moving, it regrettably perpetuatesa falsehood that Isaac was a child at the time of his prospective sacri-fice. This is likely not accurate, and peoplewould miss one signifi-cant point: that Isaac, being an adult, could have easily stopped his aged father ’s hand but chose to willingly submit to his father, as did the Savior. We do not have enough detail to know Isaac’s age at the time, but it is likely he was not a child as depicted.Boyd PetersFullarton, South Australia

THE ENSIGN/SEPTEMBER 2002 79

Making the Mostof This IssueS E P T E M B E R

S E P T E M B E R 2 0 0 2

GOSPEL TOPICS

To Strengthen Your Family• Can the Lord really

watch over every one of usin our day-to-day activities?Two stories in Latter-daySaint Voices strongly reaffirmthat the answer is yes. See“The Home Teachers WhoWouldn’t Quit” or “Alone ina Foreign Country,” pages68–70.

• What do a scavengerhunt and an emergency

supply kit have in com-mon? Find out how

you can bringthem together

in familyhome

evening,page 73.

• “I wish my childrenhad come equippedwith instructionmanuals,” mothersoften say. Thegood news is thatmany Church resources can

help. See page 73.

Second Chances• Jonah got a second

chance to change his life—but he didn’t want others tohave the same opportunity.Are we ever guilty of not giv-ing others a second chance?See page 26.

• In response to KingHezekiah’s pleas, the Lordspared him from death. Butwas it a blessing? See page 30.

Who Will You Marry?Looking for just the right

person to marry? Have you thought about whetheryou’re the right person for someone else? See“Choosing—and Being—the Right Spouse,” page 62.

Being a Better Teacher• Do you think your family

or your students won’t careabout your personal experi-ences? Sharing them can makeyou a better teacher. Learn

why and how, page 48.• Ever wondered ifteenagers are really

ready to learn

the gospel? Gain a propheticview into the hearts andminds of youth in theChurch from President J.Reuben Clark Jr., page 54.

A Cultural Oasis on the Frontier

In spite of hard-ship and privation,the Saints in Nauvooactively sought re-finement throughmusic, art, and thetheater. See page 40.

Growing through SpiritualExperiences

“Spiritual experiences con-firm our testimonies andhelp us to endure momentsof doubt and uncertainty,”writes Elder Dennis B.Neuenschwander of thePresidency of the Seventy. Tolearn more about the natureand purpose of spiritual experiences, see page 20.

Do You Have a Wayward Child?It is possible to keep both

sanity and hope when youstruggle with a waywardchild. Turn to page 8 to seehow one family does it.

Home Teachers and Visiting Teachers

Find the monthly mes-sages on pages 2 and 71.

Quiet BlessingsFour of their five children

were born with a severe disability. Terrible burdens? No, sources of joy. See “In a Quiet House,” page 34.

Tips for Beginning OrganistsHow did one ward train

five organists? Discover onpage 72 some tips to help accomplished pianists learnto play the organ.

Did You Know?Most articles in the Ensign

can easily be turnedinto family homeevening lessons. Ifyou need a familyhome evening onobedience and mak-ing the right choices,for example, turn to“Hezekiah’s Tunnel

Vision,” beginning on page30. You could use questionslike these for discussion:“What would you do if youknew you were going to die and the Lord told you He would give you 15 moreyears? What choices wouldyou make?” “When we look at the choices of KingHezekiah in the OldTestament, do they seem to be good ones?” “What can we do to make the rightchoices every day?”

Adversity, 2, 34Book of Mormon,

12, 18Conversion, 12Cultural arts, 40Death, 30Disabilities, 34Education, 61Emergency pre-

paredness, 73Faith, 20Family, 34Family home

evening, 73Hezekiah, 30Holy Ghost, 18, 52Hope, 8Humility, 30Inspiration, 20Jesus Christ, 2Jonah, 26Love, 52Marriage

preparation, 62

Mental illness, 8Mercy, 26Missionary work, 12Motherhood, 72Music, 72Nauvoo, 40Old Testament, 26, 30Parenting, 8, 72Patience, 2Prayer, 68Repentance, 26Scripture study, 18Service, 2, 68Sharing stories, 48Spirituality, 54Spouses, 62Teaching, 48, 52, 54Testimony, 12, 20, 54Value of life, 34Wayward children,

8, 11Youth, 54

Moroni Buries the Plates, by Clark Kelley Price

“Behold, I am Moroni. . . . And I am the same who hideth up this record unto the Lord. . . . For he truly saith that no one shall have [the plates] to get gain; but the record thereof is of great worth; and whoso shall bring it to light, him will the Lord bless” (Morm. 8:12, 14).

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Latter-day Saints were noticed on the rough American frontier notonly for their firm faith but also for the vibrancy of their cultural

life. While some observers were surprised that a people of faithshould be so merry, their leaders (the Prophet Joseph Smith with hiswife Emma at a ball, front cover, and Brigham Young, upper left,above) taught the value of recreation and the worthiness of praisingGod through the arts.

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