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SEPTEMBER 1956
So easy! 50% more jelly...and fresher flavor
because you boil only 1 minute with SURE-JELL or CERTO!
Recipe: perfect homemade grape jelly. Crush 3l/i lbs. ripe Con- cord grapes. Cover, simmer 10 min. with U/i cups water. Place in jelly bag; squeeze out juice. Mix 5 cups j uice with 1 box Sure- Jell in big saucepan. (Or use liq- uid Certo — recipe on bottle.)
Bring to boil over high heat, stir- ring constantly. At once, stir in 7 cups sugar, bring to boil again. Boil hard 1 min., stirring con- stantly. This short boiling time gives you fresher flavor ! And less juice boils away, so you get up to 50% higher yield !
Remove from heat, skim off foam and pour into glasses. Paraffin at once. Yield: 12 medium glasses at the cost of mere pennies a glass ! And you're sure of perfect results with all kinds of fruits when you use powdered Sure- Jell or liquid Certo !
«
J«U
Sure- Jell and Certo are brands of pectin . . . the fruit substance that causes jelling. The amount of pectin in fruits varies — so Sure- Jell or Certo takes the guesswork out of jam and jelly making. Recipes with package and bottle. Products of General Foods.
by Dr. Franklin S. Harris, Jr.
J ast year 19,962 book titles were pub- lished in the United Kingdom and 12,589 in the United States. A survey made by the American Institute of Pub- lic Opinion and foreign affiliates found only 17 percent of adults were reading books at the time of the most recent survey in the United States compared with 29 percent in a 1937 survey. Recent surveys in Canada found 31 percent, Australia 34, and England 55 percent reading at time of survey. In the United States 57 percent of the high school and 26 percent of the college graduates have not read a book in the past year. Five of six college graduates had not read a serious book outside their fields of special interest during the pre- ceding several months.
TVTeasurements on 1/10 acre plots by the Intermountain Forest and Range Experiment Station in the Was- atch Mountains of Utah found that for an eleven-year period, 1936-45, there was a total of 448 inches of precipita- tion with a trace of surface runoff and no eroded soil when the original aspen- herbaceous cover was present. When the same area was denuded of cover in the six-year period 1947-1952, there were 271 inches of precipitation, 2.9 inches of surface runoff and 60.6 tons of soil per acre eroded away.
r^R.'R. S. Manly of Tufts Dental Col- lege has spent two years testing nearly 2,000 substances as anti-enzymes, of which about a hundred stop acid pro- duction. Research is continuing to find which substances will be most effective and also non-toxic for use on teeth.
Icy adding sesamolin, an oil from the sesame seed, in equal parts to pyrethrum, the insecticide's insect-kill- ing power is increased 31 times or about two and a half times better than present additive boosters. Sesamolin does not affect pyrethrum's low toxicity to hu- mans and warm-blooded animals. Com- mercial utilization should follow in time the working out of the chemical struc- ture of sesamolin by Dr. Morton Beroza of the United States Department of Agriculture.
SEPTEMBER 1956
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610
Adam and Eden
by Dr. G. Homer Durham
VICE PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH
Each of us identifies himself with the concept of territory, land, country, a district, or other part of the earth's surface. When we say we are English- men, Canadians, Frenchmen, Americans, Mexicans, we usually think of ourselves on a plot of ground, a spot on the map. We belong to a ward, a stake; we live in a city, a county, a state or province; or in a branch, a district, or a mission. ' We work for a certain company and serve a certain "territory." We are much identified with imaginary lines drawn on the map. They are carried in our minds as real and permanent (or semi- permanent) guide lines to all that we do.
Most human organiza- tion has to do with the concept of territory and territoriality. Even our professional societies and associations are called the "Los Angeles County Medical Association," or the "British Medical As- sociation," or carry some other tie to lines on the map.
The land and control of a piece of it, the sense of property, loom large in human affairs. Abraham left Ur of the Chaldees and sought a new land of promise. The quarrels of his descendants over occupancy of that land make some of today's headlines.
A curious parallelism marks man's sojourn on the land. In the main, his- tory and literature celebrate the city or village and the city dweller. There are notable exceptions. But take the Bible, and note how important are the cities and towns: Ur, Hebron, Jerusalem, Beth- lehem, Jericho, Tyre, Sidon, Antioch, Damascus. Pastoral scenes are plenti- ful. But after Jacob and Moses, how many stories, events, or incidents can you visualize in a rural farm situation — that is, apart from either an urban, nomadic, pastoral, tribal group (like Moses and Israel) seeking an urban setting? In secular affairs, Athens, Sparta, Thebes, Troy, Rome, Paris, Lon- don, New York, Moscow, Peiping, Cal- cutta seem to tower over life and events. Even in Asia, the Chinese, Mongol, or Hindu village and village culture seem to predominate.
Plato in his Republic depicts the ever- increasing complexity and specialization which characterize the city. The word civilization itself, as it has come into the
English language, means the life of the city and the city dweller. At the same time, the conception of each man sitting under his own vine and fig tree, man on the land, on his own piece of land, in control -of it, and master of his little rural kingdom, is a thread running throughout all our literature. If civiliza- tion is the result of city growth and city life, the memory of man seems to run back to an earthly rural paradise, an Eden of private occupancy. Man then projects the memory of the race into his future dreams.
In the United States of America in the nineteenth century, the dream of free men on free land reached grand proportions. The Missis- sippi Valley and the western plains filled up with men and women on ■;*£ their own family farm-
steads. In the Utah frontier, as Dr. Lowry Nelson's studies of the Mormon Village have demonstrated, the com- pact village, city, or town pattern was retained. The people lived in the town and worked on the farm. In many places elsewhere, the people both lived and worked on the farm. Villages and cities grew up later at the crossroads. The Mormon people seem characteristically to have viewed them- selves as "farming" people; as people living "on the land," i.e. as rural or country folk. This has probably never been really true. Certainly today Mor- mons are an urbanized group. They are commercial, industrial, professional, service workers in the main, not farmers. Why do we think of ourselves as a so- ciety of farmers? As country folk? And, why do most Americans? Do most of the inhabitants of the world's cities and villages think of themselves as rural rather than urban? Adam, Eve and their Eden, the concept of an earthly paradise lost — and the urge to regain that paradise — seems to be a powerful image. It may be twisted, bent, dis- torted. But from station wagon and swimming pools in suburbia, to gera- nium boxes in the tenements, the image seems ever-present today, at least in North America and Western Europe.
In carrying this image in our minds,
together with the constant reminders
of territoriality, are we missing some
of the real perspectives of contemporary
{Continued on page 686)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Add these New LDS Books to your Library. . . .
itOVS fflS/&§X
1. DOCTRINES OF SALVATION-Vol. Ill
Sermons and Writings of Joseph Fielding Smith COMPILED BY BRUCE R. McCONKIE This third volume in the series gives pointed consideration to many of the most fascinating and little understood principles of the gospel such as the signs of the times, prophecies concerning the Second Coming of Christ and the events which will precede and attend that glorious day. Many other vital subjects described and discussed. $3.25
2. PAUL'S LIFE AND LETTERS
BY DR. SIDNEY B. SPERRY Here is a great new reference text for the 1956 Gospel Doctrine course of study. Many, many facts and experiences in Paul's life are presented with rare insight into his ministry. $3.25
3. IT'S YOUR LIFE TO ENJOY
BY WENDELL J. ASHTON
This is a book for those who would keep young in heart. From the covers of "The Instructor," here are 52 articles filled with anecdotes, glimpses at interesting places and great people, and sound LDS philosophy. $2.50
4. TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH
BY EMMA MARR PETERSEN
Here is the moving account of the terrible price one man paid when he
Told by a master storyteller, 'to love and to cherish" the
$2.00
5. GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN ENGLAND AND WALES
BY FRANK SMITH AND DAVID E. GARDNER
This important volume is a must for anyone inter- ested in doing genealogical research in England and Wales. Contains 18 informative chapters with 60 illustrations. A tremendously important aid to research. $3.00
6. HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH
BY HIS MOTHER, LUCY MACK SMITH
Here is an intimate look into the inspired life of the beloved Prophet Joseph. It is packed with rich and exciting historical truths. Dictated by Lucy Mack Smith in 1845; edited for modern reading by Preston Nibley. $3.00
set aside his family and marriage vows, this inspirational volume instils a desire marriage covenant.
wmmmmmmmmm SEPTEMBER 1956
BOOKCRAFT
PUBLISHERS TO THE L.D.S. TRADE 1186 SOUTH MAIN
BOOKCRAFT Sept. 1956
1186 South Main, Salt Lake City, Utah
Please send the following circled books:
12 3 4 5 6
for which I enclose check ( ) or money order ( ).
Name
Address
City State
611
Edrtors: DAVID O. McKAY - RICHARD L. EVANS
Managing Editor: DOYLE L. GREEN
Associate Managing Editor: MARBA C. JOSEPHSON
Production Editor: ELIZABETH J. MOFFITT
Research Editor: ALBERT L. ZOBELL, JR.
Manuscript Editor: ALLIE HOWE
Contributing Editors: ARCHIBALD F. BENNETT - G. HOMER DURHAM
FRANKLIN S. HARRIS, JR. - MILTON R. HUNTER - HUGH NIBLEY
LEE A. PALMER - CLAUDE B. PETERSEN - SIDNEY B. SPERRY
General Manager: ELBERT R. CURTIS - Associate Manager: BERTHA S. REEDER
Business Manager: VERL F. SCOTT Subscription Director: A. GLEN SNARR Regional Advertising Representative: THAYER EVANS
The Editor's Page
Some Thoughts on Happiness President David O. McKay 621
Church Features
Your Question: Who Are the Gentiles?
- President Joseph Fielding Smith 622
President David O. McKay Reaches 83 Years September 8, 1956 623
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. Attains 85 Years September 1, 1956 ..... 624
There Were Jaredites— The Shining Stones, Cont Hugh Nibley 630
Experiences in Genealogical Research Johann Georg Meyer, Jr. 635
Jesus Christ, the God of the Old Testament— MIA Reading Course:
Jesus the Christ— III Doyle L. Green 636
Talking with Our Father through Prayer ...Royal L. Garff 646
Two New Members of YWMIA Gen- eral Board 614
The Church Moves On 616
Genealogy 635
Melchizedek Priesthood 666
Presiding Bishopric's Page 668
Special Features
A Great Caring Mae B. Rose 625
"Carry Over" ; Mark E. Petersen 626
Fruits of Wise Leadership Hugh B. Brown 627
Servicemen in West Germany Lynn Eric Johnson 640
The Planet Mars D. H. McNamara 649
On the Bookrack 639
The Spoken Word from Temple Square
Richard L. Evans 653, 656, 664, 684
Exploring the Universe, Franklin S. Harris, Jr 609
These Times, Adam and Eden, G. Homer Durham 610
TODAY'S FAMILY— Allie Howe, Editor
About Face to Success, Allie Howe.. 676 Preserving Autumn Colors, Alice
Whitson Norton Handy Hints
.680 .683
ies, Poetry
To Make A Home Pansye Powell 633
The Bride Wore Lace .....Christie Lund Coles 644
Frontispiece, Pupils' Progress, Jane
Merchant 620
Poetry Page 620
David Oman McKay — Prophet and
Teacher, Leone E. McCune 648
Daylight, Eloise Wade Hackett 656
Summer Song, Lance DeLaney 681
Before the Sunrise, Cherry McKay ..687
icia
I LJrqan of
THE PRIESTHOOD QUORUMS, MUTUAL IMPROVEMENT ASSO- CIATIONS, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, MUSIC COMMITTEE, WARD TEACHERS, AND OTHER AGENCIES OF
^Jke (^-nurcn or
speAii6 K^knit
ot otatier-aau Jaw/j
■Jne Cc
over
The golden-haired girl in a swing in autumn is our cover subject this Septem- ber. It is the full-color photography of Bob Taylor.
EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICES
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Copyright 1956 by Mutual Funds, Inc., and published by the Mutual Improvement Asso- ciations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints. All rights reserved. Sub- scription price, $2.50 a year, in advance; foreign subscriptions, $3.00 a year, in advance; 25c single copy.
Entered at the Post Office, Salt Lake City, Utah, as second-class matter. Acceptance for mailing at special rate of postage provided for in section 1103. Act of October 1917, au- thorized July 2, 1918.
The Improvement Era is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts, but welcomes con- tributions. Manuscripts are paid for on ac- ceptance at the rate of l%c a word and must be accompanied by sufficient postage for delivery and return.
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Thirty days' notice required for change of address. When ordering a change, please in- clude address slip from a recent issue of the magazine. Address changes cannot be made unless the old address as well as the new one is included.
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THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
"Seek Ye Out of the Best Books Words of Wisdom -D & C 88:118
LDS Books Club
Proudly announces as its September selection THE GREAT MORMON CLASSIC
Discourses of Brigham Young
Selected and Arranged by Dr. John A. Widtsoe
This classic volume is but another testimony that the Lord speaks through his prophets.
No LDS library is complete without it.
Brigham Young, second President of the Church and first governor of Utah, is recog- nized as one of the greatest colonizers of all times, but first and foremost he was a spiritual leader and teacher. Working over a period of many months, the great scholar and church- man Dr. John A. Widtsoe made excerpts from President Young's discourses and arranged these in 42 chapters which cover all phases of the Gospel. The book reveals Brigham Young as a man who applied the simple principles of the Gospel to the everyday affairs of men. The book is Brigham Young's witness to the existence of God, the restoration of the Gospel in its fullness by Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and the possibility of securing happiness by obedience to the requirements of the Gospel. The book contains 498 pages and is completely indexed. It sells for $3.50.
HOW THE CLUB PLAN WORKS
1. You join the club by ordering the book "Discourses of Brigham Young" or one of the four alternates described in the coupon. You may order two or more of the books if you desire. Fill out the coupon and mail along with your check or money order. (C.O.D. orders are accepted from U. S. or possessions.) Your selection will be mailed to you immediately.
2. Each month after you become a member you will receive in the mail reviews of several books, carefully selected, with one named as the book of the month. If you wish to re- ceive the top book you do nothing— it will be sent to you in the mail, postpaid, along with a statement. If you do not want the book, you return the post card provided for an alternate choice (or none at all).
3. After you have purchased four books, a fifth will be sent you FREE. You select this bonus book from a long list of choice Church books which will be provided.
4. You need order only four books during the year, but you may order one or more each month, if you desire.
SEPTEMBER 1956
NEW BOOKS COMING
Several important new books which will be LDS Books Club selections will be off the press this fall.
\/ our membership in the LDS Books Club will help enable you to increase your knowl- edge of the gospel, assist you in building your testimony, and give you these additional ad- vantages:
• SAVINGS
of about 20% thru a free bonus book plan.
• CAREFUL SELECTION
of ALL books recommended.
• CONVENIENCE
of books delivered to your door.
• METHODICAL
way of adding to your library.
• BEST NEW LDS BOOKS
as they come from the press.
• OLDER LDS CLASSICS
such as the one above.
FILL OUT AND MAIL THIS COUPON NOW
LDS BOOKS CLUB, 161 East Utopia Avenue, Salt Lake City 15, Utah Gentlemen:
Please enroll me as a member of the LDS BOOKS CLUB and send me the current selection. Discourses of Brigham Young, or/and the alternate(s) below. I understand that I will receive a free bonus book with each four selections I buy.
NAME
ADDRESS
CITY AND STATE
Amount of Check or Money Order enclosed $ Please send C.O.D. □•
(Utah residents add 2% sales tax.)
G Please send Discourses of Brigham Young— $3.50.
- ALTERNATES -
Please Send:
Q Jesus The Christ, by James E.
Talmage $3.00
A study of the Messiah and his mission.
M.I. A. reading course book for the next
two years. □ Home Memories of President David O.
McKay, by Dr. Llewlyn R. McKay ... $3.75
Intimate glimpses into the home life of
this great leader.
□ Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 3, \
by Joseph Fielding Smith $3.25
Contains much valuable material on many gospel subjects.
□ Bible Stories for Young Latter-day Saints, by Emma Marr Petersen $3.00
Wonderful, faith promoting stories from the Bible told in a highly readable style.
If you do not wish to mutilate this page, send information required on a separate sheet.
613
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ORGANIZATION.
BY.
L 614
ADDRESS. CITY
.ZONE.
_STATE_
TWO NEW MEMBERS OF YWMIA GENERAL BOARD
Lorna M. Tayler
Lorna M. Tayler and Dorothy Jacob- son, both Salt Lake City high school- teachers by profession, have been called to the general board of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Associa- tion.
Miss Tayler was graduated from the University of Utah. She has also at- tended the University of Hawaii and has taught art in Honolulu. She was a member of the former Salt Lake Theatre group. Her Church activities have in- cluded supervisor of the Junior Sunday School in Liberty Ward, Gleaner in- structor in Liberty Ward, Junior Gleaner instructor in Harvard Ward, stake YWMIA secretary, activity counselor, and president of YWMIA in Liberty (Salt Lake City) Stake.
Miss Tayler's first assignment with the general board will be with the drama committee.
Dorothy Jacobson
Miss Dorothy Jacobson, like Miss Tayler, was graduated from the Uni- versity of Utah and was a member of the former Salt Lake Theatre group. She has served in the following YWMIA positions; as president, age-group coun- selor, Bee Keeper, drama director, and attendance secretary in the Wilford Ward; Bee Keeper in Grant (Salt Lake City) Stake, and as East Mill Creek (Salt Lake City) Stake drama director.
Miss Jacobson's first assignment with the general board will be with the speech committee.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Farm-fresh honey, natural golden flour
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i
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Wfy HONEY GRAHAMS
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SEPTEMBER 1956
615
THE CHURCH MOVES ON
A Day To Day Chronology Of Church Events
June 1956
0 A More than five thousand persons, 4 each seventy years of age or older, representing all creeds and colors, were guests of the Church at the annual Old Folk's Day in Salt Lake City.
Oi President David O. McKay dedi- w* cated the Cassia (Idaho) Stake house — Oakley First and Second Ward chapel.
President Joseph Fielding Smith of the Council of the Twelve dedicated the chapel of the Emery Ward, Emery (Utah) Stake.
Elder LeGrand Richards of the Coun- cil of the Twelve dedicated the chapel of the Mt. Pleasant First and Fourth wards, North Sanpete (Utah) Stake.
Elder Richard L. Evans of the Coun- cil of the Twelve dedicated the chapel of the Highland View and Highland View West Ward, East Mill Creek (Utah) Stake.
Elder John Longden, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, dedicated the chapel of the Brentwood Branch, San Joaquin (California) Stake.
Elder Eugene C. Ludwig sustained as president of Grant (Salt Lake City) Stake, with Elder Horace W. Tame and William Sterling Evans as his coun- selors. Elder Tame was serving as sec- ond counselor in the former presidency. President Oscar J. Harline and his first counselor, Elder George W. Fowler, were released.
Elder Boyd L. Fugal was sustained as president of the Timpanogos (Utah) Stake, with Elders Elwood Allen and Ertmann H. Christensen as his coun- selors. They succeed President Merrill N. Warnock and his counselors, Elders Vilace N. Radmall and Lewis E. Olpin.
Elder Glen A. Christensen sustained as first counselor to President Leo A. Crandall of the Koloh (Utah) Stake, succeeding Elder Perry D. Goodliffe, who was moving from the stake. Elder Christensen was serving as second coun- selor. Elder Ernest A. Strong, Jr., sus- tained as second counselor.
July 1956
29
The MIA conference of Southern California opened. It had been
preceded by several days of institutes
and road show performances.
OA The day was devoted to depart- mental sessions at the MIA confer- ence in Southern California.
616
IThe MIA conference of Southern California concluded with general sessions in Los Angeles, under the di- rection of President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., of the First Presidency, Elder George Q. Morris of the Council of the Twelve, and the general executives, of the Mu- tuals.
6 The First Presidency appointed Elder Henry Ray Hatch president of the newly-created Idaho Falls Temple Mission. President Hatch selected Elders Oscar W. Johnson and Joseph M. Tucker as his counselors.
7 It was announced that the old John Johnson farm and home in Hiram, Ohio, has been purchased. Ac- cording to Church history, the Prophet Joseph Smith lived at this home for three years during the early rise of the Church. There he received fifteen revelations which are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. Approximate- ly ten acres of ground will be retained with the home, and the remainder of the farm, approximately 150 acres, will be sold, according to a spokesman for the Church Historic Sites Committee. It is expected that a missionary couple will be sent to the newly purchased homestead and that it will be main- tained as an information center.
8 Elder LeGrand Richards of the Council of the Twelve dedicated the chapel of the Pocatello Thirteenth and Seventeenth wards, Pocatello (Idaho) Stake.
13
The Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir presented the first of two evening concerts at the Red Rocks Music Festival near Denver, Colorado. Some of their numbers were accompanied by the Den- ver Symphony orchestra.
MThe Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir joined the Denver Symphony Or- chestra in presenting Brahms' German Requiem at the Red Rocks Music Festi- val near Denver, Colorado.
1
The Salt Lake Tabernacle Choir w presented its regular Columbia Broadcasting System radio program from the Red Rocks amphitheater, near Denver, Colorado. (This was the be- ginning of the twenty-eighth year of nationwide broadcasting by the choir.) Afterwards the group gave an hour-long concert in this natural amphitheater.
-17 Salt Lake City began its "Days ** of '47" celebration in honor of the arrival of the pioneers. In the days to follow there were concerts, a pageant in Pioneer Park, rodeo performances, sun- rise services, long-distance swimming events in Great Salt Lake, and the tra- ditional parades. The theme of the 1956 celebration was: "They Came in '56 in Handcarts."
21
It was announced that the average over- all attendance of the Church membership at Sunday School has in- creased 10.5 percent in the period from 1945 to 1955. General Superintendent George R. Hill said that in 1945 the percentage of attendance at Sunday Schools throughout the Church was 28.2, and in 1955 it had increased to 38.72 percent, or an average of one per- cent increase each year. Total enrol- ment for the Church in Sunday School on December 31, 1955, was 1,196,780. The average weekly attendance in 1955 was 406,800 pupils and 56,627 officers and teachers.
art Religious services in the wards and ww branches of the Church honored the coming of the Pioneers into the valley of the Great Salt Lake 109 years ago.
oi The annual pioneer celebrations wt came to a close in Utah communi- ties and wherever the Church is or- ganized.
In Salt Lake City there was a gigantic parade, a luncheon honoring the few remaining pioneers, the unveiling of a bust of Brigham Young in the Utah State Capitol building by the Brigham Young family organization, the final performance of the rodeo, and a con- cert tableau in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, featuring the Tabernacle Choir and guest soloist Carl Palangi.
syr The First Presidency announced ww the appointment of Elder Lorin N. Pace as president of the Argentine Mis- sion, succeeding President Lee B. Valen- tine. President Pace, who has, recently been situated in Honduras in the US diplomatic service, is a former resident of Salt Lake City. He filled a mission in Argentina about ten years ago. Ac- companying him to the new field of labor will be his wife, the former Mari- lynn Haymore, and their three children. {Concluded on page 670) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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Name — Address..
City
State
SEPTEMBER 1956
617
families Do agree on KSL-TV
Channel 5 is way ahead!
All because of the growing
habit of Mountain West
families . . . taking 5 for
their family TV viewing!
channel
Most Mountain West families agree on these top shows on KSL-TV
$64,000 QUESTION Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.
ED SULLIVAN SHOW Sundays at 8:00 p.m.
HIGHWAY PATROL Sundays at 9:30 p.m.
BURNS AND ALLEN Mondays at 9:00 p.m.
WHAT'S MY LINE? Sundays at 7:30 p.m.
$64,000 CHALLENGE Thursdays at 10:00 p.m.
GUY LOMBARDO SHOW Sundays at 9:00 p.m.
SCIENCE FICTION THEATRE Thursdays at 9:30 p.m.
ART LINKLETTER Weekdays at 1 1 :30 a.m.
BOB CROSBY Weekdays at 12:30 p.m.
618
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Pupils' Progress
by Jane Merchant
They zigzag down each. sidewalk crack, They spin like tops, they dart like wrens, And constantly keep dashing back To pick up mittens, caps, and pens.
As well demand that fish be styled To fly, or that the sun be cool, As to insist that any child
Should come straight home from school!
SCHOOL DAYS By Gladys Hesser Burnham
Whe held my hand as we walked to school,
Shyly possessive, finding her way, As all six-year-olds start out in the world Feeling important, still hating to say Good-bye after roll call when Mother must
leave. Heartaches on both sides were big yester- year. Today she is at college, feeling her wings. A letter says, "See you some week-end near, The boys are sublime — It is all paradise!" Suspicions of marriage stab at my heart; I answer gaily, though this breaks a bond — Heartstrings are shattered to make each new start.
CORN By Helen Harrington
Almost two thousand years ago
Christ's disciples walked along a row of grain and ate of it. Upon that morn, they — like men before them — found that
corn is good in time of hunger and a taste to satisfy the tongue. Jacob, faced with famine, sent his sons to Egypt for it lest they die, and joyously exquisite were songs that David, the sweet singer,
knew — sung by the valleys where the green corn
grew.
The blade, the ear, then full corn in the
ear — still the pattern — and the fields appear rich with sustenance for man. Each hill and bottomland, the great machines that
till and harvest, trucks, and mills, and stores join in endeavor to provide a food healthful and pleasant for the multitude.
Still do the valleys shout, the green hills
sing, Still are men eager in the garnering!
BREAKING OF THE DROUTH
By Martha Sherwood Johnson
T'he farmer, standing in his doorway,
breathes An air made sweet with cruelly needed rain, As grateful trees uncurl drouth-nibbled
leaves And ponds grow full again. He knows the stark necessity Of hauling daily water through the blast Of searing winds, and hub-deep dust Is now a nightmare of the past. It is too late for summer hay, but he may
plant, before The frost comes, now, and rib-bound stock
may munch Green grass once more. The breaking of the drouth has left him
warm With thankfulness — his heart is made So strong he feels he can reach up and
touch The topmost curve of semi-circles, appli-
qued In double rainbow's tints, against the dark
blue of the storm.
620
THE HILL CUMORAH By Evelyn Tooley Hunt
Against the backdrop of a summer night
The folded velvet of a darkened hill Displayed behind an arc of shafted light A statue, tall and slender, white and still, — The statue of Moroni, like a gem Set forth in splendor to invoke the gaze Of passersby. And I was one of them, The tens of thousands who had gone their
ways But who now stopped, and looked again,
and saw The moving pageant, heard the gloried
sound That reaffirmed the Witness and the
Law . . . And knew the place I stood was holy
ground.
SUNSET CIRCUS
By Thelma Ireland
TPhe sunset-tinted mountains
Like trained seals, painted rose, Are balancing red balls of clouds On each one's pink-tipped nose.
— Photo by Wayne B. Hales
SEPTEMBER
By Nell Womack Evans
| ewels of hummingbirds top hollyhocks red,
Avian helicopters hovering o'er head; Thickets of berries on a rambling fence line, Loose clusters of beauty in shades pink to
wine; Wild asters in medleys of violet and blue; Species of honeysuckle in orange-yellow
hue; Black-eyed Susans, goldenrod on sunny
slopes Watch bittersweet pose scarlet seed en- velopes. It is September's mad floral display. Spring in her youth was never more gay Than this summer's farewell in colors so
bold- Warmth to protect against winter's cold!
PRESERVING TIME
By Ila Lewis Funderburgh
I^resh fruit, ripened and luscious,
Sugar by generous pound, Jars and a big long-handled spoon, A kettle that's deep and round; Steady and gentle boiling, Stirring and skimming with care, And oh, the wonderful fragrance That fills the summer air!
Are my preserves successful?
I can tell in a little while;
Does every child within smelling range
Bring a slice of bread and smile?
A SONG OF WORKERS By Clarence Edwin Flynn
"Phe strong go forth to labor ' When dawn is in the sky, When worthy 'tasks are waiting, And strength and hope are high. They meet the hours of challenge Until the close of day When evening brings them resting To meet another day.
The strong go forth to labor Under the morning's gleams. Their hearts are full of courage. Their eyes are bright with dreams. Fearless they are and ready Because their hands are free To build the hope of ages, The world that is to be.
SUMMER NIGHTS By Alice Josephine Wyatt
Tt is enough to sit on summer nights Alone where crickets chirp their giddy song. It is enough to see the glowworm lights Weaving noiselessly, a jeweled throng Of beings unconcerned about their source, Untroubled by the mystic, higher plan, Unorganized for taking things by force, Lacking ambitions of the greater man.
It is enough to watch a dancing star Performing for the universe to see. Less simple things would interfere and
mar The deep enchantment of the night for me. It is enough. A man does not contend Who finds the universe to be his friend.
MY HEART TURNS BACK
By Georgia Moore Eberling
II/Iy heart turns back to days that are no more
When purple dusk creeps in at sunset's door;
Night is a mother whose soft words restore
The hope that faded, and the dream that's lost.
Night whispers, "Float, my child, on sleep's vast ocean;
Ahead's a summer harbor, where no frost
Of disappointment burns, nor pain's emo- tion."
The heart is hushed, and all the day's black thunder
Is stilled; the world is blest with star- flung wonder.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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Some Thoughts On Happiness
by President David O. McKay
True happiness is found in the paradoxical say- ing of the Savior, "He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." (Matt. 10:39.) Our lives are wrapped up with the lives of others, and we are happiest as we contribute to their happiness.
* * * *
Happiness is the end and design of life, for man is that he might have joy. The real purpose of life is happiness. Obedience to God's will brings that happiness and abundance of life.
* * * *
There are seeds of happiness planted in every soul. Our mental attitude and disposition con- stitute the environment in which these seeds may germinate. There is as much need for sunshine in the heart as for sunshine in the world.
* * * *
Everybody can enjoy a glorious sunset. You would have to pay a great sum for a painting by a skilled artist. Only the wealthy can afford it, but almost any evening we can look at a brilliant western sky, and each one of us can say, "That's mine." Too few of us appreciate what this means.
* * * *
The opposite to this happiness comes as thieves in the night, thieves of jealousy, hatred, animosity, and the like.
Many people have lost the proper sense of values and have sought peace and happiness in vain in the acquisition of wealth at the expense of spiritual growth.
* * * *
To seek happiness or even contentment in acquisition of worldly things alone is to lose sight of the highest purpose of life. And that is one reason why there is discouragement and why there is despair generally in the world. The seeking
of material things has been the end, and when they are suddenly wiped away, men are dis- tracted.
There are three means of achieving the happy, abundant life: first, making God the center of one's life; second, using the free agency given to man; and third, rendering service to others.
* * * *
There are signposts along life's highway which, if followed, will lead any man to do the Lord's will, to know his Son, the Redeemer of the world, to know whom is eternal life. And while we are gaining this great knowledge which leads to im- mortality, we find the greatest happiness in mor- tality that can be experienced by the human soul.
* * * *
Wherein then does the secret of happiness lie? The Savior gave us the key to it when he said: "The kingdom of God is within you." The power is within men to choose the right or to choose the wrong. Happiness is not an external condition: it is a state of the spirit and an attitude of the mind.
My experience has taught me that the safe anchor of the soul, and indeed, the security and happiness in life, are founded upon a faith in God, upon a faith in the divinity of Jesus Christ and in his gospel of peace and life, upon a faith in the efficacy of prayer, and in the power of the priest- hood as bestowed upon the Prophet Joseph Smith and through him conferred upon others who have been and are worthy to receive this blessed pos- session.
Such a faith becomes as fixed and constant in its guidance as the Polar Star. It enables one to overcome trials and discouragements, to face life with courage, to meet disaster with fortitude, and to find true happiness on earth.
SEPTEMBERll956"
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621
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by Joseph Fielding Smith
PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
Who are the Gentiles?
"In the Gospel Doctrine class we are
MB&StttM studying The Acts of the Apostles, and
the question arose, who are the Gentiles? There was a
difference of opinion. Are the Gentiles of the blood of
Israel? Will you kindly inform us?"
The definition in the Standard Dictionary of a Gentile is as follows: "(f) Among the Jews, a person of a non-Jewish race or faith; one who is not a Jew. (2) Among Christians, one who is neither Jew or Christian; a pagan; heathen. (3) Among the Mormons, one not a Mormon. 2 Gram. A noun or an adjective denoting race or country. 3 A member of a gens or clan."
This definition does not enlighten us in relation to the original meaning, nor does it accurately fit the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are many races on the earth not members of the Church whom the Mormons do not class as Gentiles. The Polynesians, the American Indians, Jews, Arabs, and other races of Semitic origin who trace their lineage back to Abraham are not Gentiles in the strict sense of the word. The African Negroes, according to Mormon teach- ings, are not Gentiles.
The first use of the word is found in Genesis 10:5, in reference to the sons of Japheth, son of Noah, and reads as follows: "By these were the isles of the Gentiles di- vided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations." Both Dr. Adam Clark and Dr. Thomas Scott, in their comprehensive com- mentaries refer to the people who settled Europe, Asia Minor, England, the United States, and Canada, as being of the Gentiles.
The name Gentile to a great extent has lost its original significance. It was not used in an opprobrious sense and not in derision in biblical times, but referred to certain peoples who had not descended from Abraham. However, in the blessing the Lord gave to Abraham he extended favors even to the Gentiles:
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations;
"And I will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father."1
Before the days of the coming of Jesus in his min- istry the Jews looked upon those not of their race as inferior because they were not the seed of Abraham. They boasted of their superiority because they were of the seed of Abraham. When the Savior came in his
622
ministry, he may have lent some color to this thought, for he declared that he was sent only to the house of Israel. One striking example was his answer to the woman of Canaan: "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."2 Likewise in the call of his apostles he said: "Go not into the way of the Gen- tiles, and into any city of Samaritans enter ye not:
"But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."3 The ministry of our Lord was confined to Israel, except in the special cases where those of other nations by ex- ceeding faith sought him for blessings. After his resur- rection he commissioned his servants to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature; thus he widened the field to cover the whole earth.4 It was difficult for his apostles to grasp the significance of this commission, so well had they been trained in the thought that the gospel was for Israel only. Following the con- version of Cornelius their views concerning the gospel broadened, and they went forth as they had been com- manded to do.
In the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time, the gos- pel was first preached to the Jews, and when they re- jected it, then it was carried to the Gentiles. In this Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the gospel is first to the Gentiles and then is to go to the Jews. The first have become last and the last first in this dispensation in fulfilment of the teachings of our Lord.
The ancient prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others understood this order and great promises were made by them to the Gentiles. In the restoration of the gospel in our day it came "by way of the Gentile,"5 and to the Gentile nations it has been taught, and by them it will be carried to the Jews and the scattered house of Israel.
Latter-day Saints pride themselves because they are of Israel; but they are also of the Gentiles. We are the descendants of those members of the house of Israel who were scattered among the Gentiles to be a blessing to the Gentile nations and make them of the blood of Israel through the gospel. The scattering of Israel among the nations was not intended merely as a punishment, but as the leaven which would leaven the Gentile na- tions and make them of the blood of Abraham, accord- ing to the promises given to Abraham. The Book of Mormon came by way of the Prophet Joseph Smith, a descendant of Ephraim, yet it came "by way of the Gentile," and in the time of the Gentiles.
*Z<l/^ /£&>U&^
Abraham 2:9-10.
2Matt. 15:24.
3Matt. 10:5-6.
*See Mark 16:15-16.
BTitle page of Book of Mormon. D & C 20:9.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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President David 0. McKay Reaches 88 Years
September 8, 1956
The dictionary defines the given name David as "the beloved." Cer- tainly there is no better description of President David O. McKay, our prophet and leader who attains the eighty-third anniversary of his birth, September 8, 1956.
The life of President David O. McKay has been well chronicled. (Still, hardly a week goes by without someone communicating with the Era office and requesting biographical material about him.)
First called to the Presiding Coun- cils of the Church as a member of the Council of the Twelve in April 1906, he soon found himself in the great Sunday School cause. In the early 1920's he was the first apostle in modern days to circle the earth on a world-wide mission tour.
After twenty eight and one-half years of service in the Council of the Twelve, he was called, in October 1934, to the First Presidency, where his task was much of the administra- tive work of the Church. He has been "President McKay" now to a full generation of Church folk.
In the comparatively short five and one-half years since he became Presi- dent of the Church, our world-travel- ing leader has brought, as he has visited our missions and stakes in the earth, a fuller realization of the true meaning of brotherhood in the Church. (And this in a Church that has always proclaimed the brother- hood of man.)
His leadership, spirituality, and calm, wise guidance have won un- told friends not only for himself but also for the Church and for America.
It is doubtful if his popularity and personal appeal have ever been ex- celled by a leader of the Church. At general conference time, vast crowds gather in his path for a glimpse of this handsome, white-haired Presi- dent.
He is as much at home with the leaders of the world as he is with a group of children who come to visit him at his office or who cluster around him following a Church meet- ing.
We read of his going out to the far places in the stakes and missions of the Church to participate in some activity. Sometimes it is for a re- gional holiday and observance; more often it is to dedicate a Church build- ing, to bring to final glorious reality the dream of many years for the Saints in the area. We read his speeches that he gives on such occa- sions. They are masterpieces. And we realize that after he stands at the pulpit for ofttimes an hour or longer, he stands for at least that long greeting the people who have come to the meeting to see and hear his words and wisdom. For all there are a smile and a hearty handshake. There are books and programs to be autographed by the dozens.
President David O. McKay is a
man of great personal courage. He has the keen insight of what should be done, and he boldly charts the way to accomplish the task. It is a thrill to watch him set the pace and pattern of a program at those times. Once the path is indicated, he waits for the results, knowing that results will come as expected.
He has great faith in the future, great faith in the people, great faith in the destiny of the Church, and his decisions and planning show the re- sults of such faith.
We saw him, together with his life- long companion, Sister McKay, at the music and speech festival at the MIA conference in June. It was one of those rare occasions when he could sit in the body of the Tabernacle, and he was enjoying it. After the bene- diction President and Sister McKay found themselves as usual surrounded by admiring young folk. As they shook hands and chatted with them, it was apparent they were happy to be in the presence of these young people.
Almost daily President McKay's car is in the Church parking lot early in the morning, and it is usually one of the last to leave in the evening.
Surely the God of modern Israel is answering the daily prayers of the faithful Saints to sustain the life of their present-day Prophet. May he be with us to counsel and to lead us for many years to come!
Happy birthday, President McKay!
SEPTEMBER 1956 623
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President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.
Attains 85 Years of Age
September 1, 1956
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr.'s first talk in a public meeting, ac- cording to his father's diary, was a biographical sketch of the life of Christ. He was fifteen years of age at the time. He must have taken to his subject. Over the years the Church has been made rich by thoughts that have come from his tongue and pen on Jesus the Christ. President Clark will be eighty-five years of age September 1.
As a youth in his native Grants- villc, Utah, he served -as treasurer of the Primary Association and as presi- dent of his deacons' quorum.
Coming to Salt Lake City for an education, he obtained work as clerk for the curator of the Deseret Mu- seum. In the words of Elder James E. Talmage, the curator, this was to be regarded as a foreign mission. He served here from 1891 to 1898.
In 1894 he entered the University of Utah. He did six years of pre- scribed work in four years. He was graduated June 15, 1898, with a bachelor of science degree. He ranked first in his class scholastically and was president of the student body, managing editor of the Chronicle (student newspaper), and secretary to the president of the University of Utah, Dr. James E. Talmage. At the University of Utah he first met David O. McKay, a fellow student who was graduated in 1897, the year before J. Reuben Clark was.
In 1898 he became a teacher in the Salt Lake City Twentieth Ward Sun- day School, and assisted in organiz- ing what was said to be the first
graded Sunday School in the Church.
That same year, on September 14, 1898, he married Luacine Annetta Savage in the Salt Lake Temple.
He embarked upon a teaching career, serving as teacher and as principal of several schools in the state. Then in 1903 he became a student at Columbia University Law School. He obtained his bachelor of laws degree June 13, 1906. The year before he had been admitted to the New York Bar.
While in the East, he carried a mis- sionary certificate to preach the gos- pel to the people of the United States, signed by the members of the First Presidency, President Joseph F. Smith and his counselors, Presidents John R. Winder and Anthon H. Lund.
He served the federal government by appointments from seven presi- dents of the United States. They were Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Woodrow Wil- son, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, and Frank- lin D. Roosevelt.
In August 1920, he decided to bring his family back to Utah. Soon his law offices in New York City and Washington, D. C, were closed, as he expected his third office, in Salt Lake City, to take his full time.
But the call to government service soon came again, and his activities in the 'twenties read like a capsule uni- versity course in political science and history: In 1921 he served as counsel and expert assistant to the American Commissioners at the conference on
the Limitation of Armament; the American-British Claims Arbitra- tion 1924-25; the American-Mexican Claims Commission 1926-27; he was with Dwight Morrow in Mexico 1927-28; and in 1928-29 he was the US Under-Secretary of State. He had become counsel for the American International Corporation in 1913, where he served through 1923.
On June 7, 1925, he was appointed a member of the general board of the YMMIA, a position he held until April 1933. As a member of that board, on February 17, 1926, he be- came a member of the advisory edi- torial committee for The Improve- ment Era.
He became the teacher of the ad- vanced theological class in the Salt Lake City Twentieth Ward Sunday School in 1925, and worked out and had printed a Harmony of the Gos- pels, for use by the class. Over the years, and with countless more hours of study, the "harmony" became the groundwork for President Clark's book, Our Lord of the Gospels.
Throughout the years he spent in the East (Solicitor for Department of State and Under-Secretary of State) and in Mexico (he was appointed US Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Mexico in 1930), one finds him maintaining standards and affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While US Ambassador to Mexico,
under President Herbert Hoover,
President Clark preferred his lifelong
habits of quiet study to extensive
(Concluded on page 660)
624 THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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A Great Caring
by Mae B. Rose
"I only ask a great caring — an honest and humble caring about what happens to human beings . . ."
-H. Armstrong Roberts Photo
I do not ask of any man alive that he know all the answers. I only ask a great caring — an honest and humble earing about what happens to human beings and their hopes — and that I ask of myself as well as another.
— Bonaro Overstreet
After the long worrisome day at the office, my heart beat a little faster as 1 entered the door in anticipation of a warm welcome and the sound of happy voices. Instead, the sound of muffled, convulsive sobs greeted my ears. The sobs of a heart- broken child chilled the very heart of me. I hesitated but a moment, then approached and placed my hand firmly on her shoulder, hoping she could feel the warmth of my love in my hand. After what seemed an eternity, she looked up at me with those swollen, big blue eyes, so beau- tiful, yet now nearly wild in fear. Through the tears she sobbed: "Why, oh, why, do they have to say such dreadful things about us? I never, never want to go to school again! I can never face my friends. I never want to see Mary or Bob! Mom, why did John go with the boys yesterday? Why didn't he stay at school? Why do you have to be away so much of the time? Why can't you stay at home with us? Why? Why? Why?"
What could I say to her? The mother heart in me ached as it had never ached before. I love my chil- dren and want them to be happy more than anything in life.
My work at the office had dragged all day. My heart was heavy because of John. How could he have forgotten
SEPTEMBER 1956
himself so completely? He had always been a good boy, as have my other children. But now he has been ar- rested. He has confessed that he played hooky from school and, with other boys, has helped cause great property damage. I cannot condone him. He was wrong. The newspapers have great headlines about the crime and juvenile delinquency in general. The people in our community are greatly upset and agitated. They say it must stop — and rightly so. Already many letters have been written and printed in the paper blaming parents for the increase in juvenile delin- quency and especially the parent in a broken home. They say parents should be punished, that they should be held responsible for the acts of their children.
I have tried hard to be a good mother to my children and to fill in a vacancy left by their father's death. I have tried to provide opportunities for good wholesome experiences for my children.
Where have I failed? My boy is in serious trouble. My other children are almost beside themselves, frus- trated and afraid. They do not un- derstand the attack on our home. Must I shoulder the blame alone? What should I have done? Where have I failed my children?
The desperate plea of this mother was made in our community not so very long ago. From the pen of one who was a juvenile delinquent and who has paid dearly for his acts, we quote the following:
&— my
"We walked off together brother asked me what our father was talking about. I told him about war and whiskey, and they had been drinking. Let's play like we are drunk and the policemen are after us. That was all right with my brother for he thought things his father did was just the thing. So we joined two more neighbor boys, explained that we wanted to play drunk and tough men. Then they joined us in play.
"My brother and I pretended that we were fighting, and were hitting each other pretty hard. Finally he got mad and picked up a stick with a piece of wire on it, hitting me on the forehead. The wire struck deep. I ran over and hit him hard and we both went home crying. Mother came out to see what had happened. She treated the place where the wire had cut, not saying much because she and my dad were fussing about father coming home drunk."
True, those who run afoul of the law or who become problems in the home or in the school represent a great minority of our young folk. We are justly proud of our young people generally, and for them we are grate- ful. But regardless of this, far too many are bringing heartaches and great concern. Is there anything we can do to decrease the number of heartaches?
While it is difficult to explain the
causative factors where children are
in conflict and giving trouble, we do
know that certain things contribute
(Concluded on page 662)
625
Elder Mark E. Petersen
1 greet you MIA workers with pride and gratitude. I, too, am very grateful for the magnificent work which you do, for the glorious influence which you have with the youth of the Church. I commend you for your diligence and your untiring efforts, and pray that the Lord will continue with you and make you great ministers in his Church.
One of the inspired theme songs of the MIA is that lovely number which was written by Sister Ruth May Fox and Brother Alfred Durham, entitled, "Carry On." I believe there has never been a time when I have sung that song with you when my eyes have not filled with tears as I have come to that particular expression, "Youth of the noble birthright, Carry On." But each time as I sing it with you I am convinced that in order for the youth to carry on there must first come about a conversion to the prin- ciples we hope they will carry on in their lives, and that conversion in turn comes back very largely to us as MIA workers.
If we expect the youth to "carry on," we must make certain that there is a "carry over" also, a "carry over" of two kinds: a "carry over" in the precepts we teach, and a "carry over" in the practice of the gospel in our daily lives.
We sing another song very often in MIA— "True to the Faith": "True to the faith which our parents have cherished." Brother Curtis has told us so well here this morning that one of the reasons there is a "carry over" on the part of the youth in the home is that the parents have cherished the faith. That same principle must hold true with the officers and the teachers of the MIA. There must be a "carry over" from you to the youth
626
Carry Over*
by Elder Mark E. Petersen
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
in terms of conversion to the gospel, or there never can be a "carry on," and so our responsibility is indeed great. We must understand the pre- cepts. We must be sure our doc- trines are true, and we must teach ef- fectively those doctrines and those principles and those precepts to the youth of the Church with the one thought in mind of bringing about such a conversion within their souls that they will be impelled thereby to live the gospel and thereby "carry
33
on.
So, brothers and sisters, there is a great responsibility on the part of each of us to examine our own selves and see whether there is the proper "carry over" so that there may be the follow- up of a "carry on."
We have been gathered here by the general boards, and they have given us wonderful and inspired teachings. Will those teachings of the general boards "carry over" to the stake boards and to the ward boards so that actual practice will bring about the conversion that we are seeking in the lives of the youth? As the general boards' teachings "carry over" to you, will your teachings "carry over" to the youth and establish faith in their hearts?
We must be so careful with our teachings. We must be so careful that we are teaching the proper doc- trine, that we are pointing in the proper way, that all the signposts we set up point to the right road — -the straight and narrow way which leads to salvation.
But then there is that second part, the practice as well as the precept. It takes fire to kindle fire, it has been said. Will the way we live the gospel convince the young people who ob- serve us that they also should live the gospel? Do we practise what we preach? In our lives are we establish- ing a set of habits which will "carry over" into the lives of the people we influence so that they will have the same righteous habits? We can never suppose that there will be a "carry over" of obedience from disobedience.
Crowds gathering on Temple Square for the annual MIA conference.
We can never suppose that there will be a "carry over" of devotion and faithfulness from faithlessness. We must remember always that love be- gets love, faith begets faith, obedi- ence begets obedience.
If you hope to teach modesty, are you modest? If you hope to teach chastity, are you chaste? If you hope to teach honesty, are you honest? If you hope to teach faith in the mis- sion of Joseph Smith, do you have faith in the mission of Joseph Smith? If you hope to teach the principles of the Word of Wisdom, do you live the Word of Wisdom? If you hope to teach tithing, do you live the law of tithing? If you hope to teach be- lief in prayer, do you believe in prayer, and do you pray? Are you arranging that your life will be such that by your example your living habits may carry over to the youth of Zion so that they can "carry on?"
We sing "Carry On." How are we to interpret it — as a command or an invitation? Will you command the youth to "carry on," to go and do this and do that whether you do it or not? Are you going to say, "Do as {Continued on page 684)
*Address delivered at the annual MIA Conference, June 17, 1956.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Fruits of Wise Leadership
*
by Elder Hugh B. Brown
ASSISTANT TO THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE
The Church recognizes in every in- dividual a child of God. The God-image quality in man's nature is the root to his dignity. The MIA has been proceeding on the basis that each of these young persons is physical, mental, moral, esthetic, and spiritual. You, the officers have pro- vided training in these fields, and the results of what you have been doing and are now doing are felt in the far corners of the earth. I say you have been reminding these young people of their God-like status. May I cite what Cronin wrote recently:
"The aim of human life and the satisfaction of each person's deepest desires must be inescapably to grow into greater likeness of God by active imitation of him, in intelligent living according to his plan."
You have been glorifying in the minds of these young people in your wards and stakes, and throughout the
*Address delivered at the annual MIA Conference, June 17, 1956.
SEPTEMBER 1956
Church, the idea of knowledge, of wisdom, of intelligence. You have been telling them, we are sure, that wisdom is not mere accumulation of fact, however encyclopedic or exact. Wisdom is not mere knowledge. It is its distillation. And as Drake said, "Wisdom is like honey. It results from many trips to many flowers, and like honey, it finds its function in furnishing sustenance to life."
May we say to you, and through you — general, stake, ward, mission, and branch officers of the MIA — may we say to you and through you to all the young people of the Church, in harmony with what Elder [Mark E.] Petersen has just said, if you would be among the noble, you must be noble. If you would be among the wise, you must be wise. If you would be among the pure in heart, you must have unsullied hearts. And if you would dwell in the kingdom of God, your actions must be such as will
make it possible for you to feel at home when you get there.
Someone has wisely observed, in fact it is an ancient proverb from Tibet, "He who knows and fails to practice the precepts, is like a man who lights a lamp in the darkness and then closes his eyes."
Yes, we plead through you, with all the young people of the Church, that you will gather wisdom as you go forward and realize that with it must go virtue. If you do not or cannot have an inner peace, all your pleas- ures will go sour. As Hippolytus said, "Some have sinned with safety but none with peace of mind."
Now, for a moment, may I say to you officers and teachers of the MIA, and the other auxiliary organizations of the Church — priesthood quorums and others — that your work flowers and bears fruit at times and in places which you little suspect — often in far places, far removed from the homes of these youths whom you teach. To illustrate that may I cite an incident, one which I have referred to in some of the stake conferences, which some of you might have heard, and those of you who have may have a few moments' quiet sleep.
I cite this incident to indicate that the young people of the Church, as represented by the boys in the serv- ice, have carried on magnificently. This incident occurred in England in 1944. I had gone to England at the request of the First Presidency as co- ordinator for the LDS servicemen. One Saturday afternoon I sent a tele- gram from London to the base chap- lain of a certain area near Liverpool, saying, "I shall be in your camp to- morrow morning, and shall appreciate your advising the Mormon boys who are there that we will have a service at ten o'clock."
When I arrived in that camp there were, as the count afterwards proved, seventy-five Latter-day Saints, all in uniform, and quite a number in bat- tle dress. The chaplain to whom I had sent the wire proved to be a Baptist minister from the Southern States. He was waiting, too, for my arrival, and as these young men ran out to greet me, not because it was I, but because of what I represented, and as they literally threw their arms around me, knowing that I was rep- resenting their parents as well as the Church, this minister said to me: "Please tell me how you do it?"
"Do what?"
(Continued on following page)
627
Fruits of Wise Leadership
(Continued from preceding page)
"Why," he said, "I did not get your wire until late this morning. I made a hurried search. I found there were seventy-six Mormon boys in this camp. I got word to them. Seventy- five of them are here. One is in the hospital. I have over six hundred men of my church in this camp, and if I gave them six months' notice I could not get a response like that," and then he repeated, "tell me how you do it."
I said, "Sir, if you will come inside, perhaps you will see." We went into the little chapel. The boys sat down. I asked "How many here have been on missions?"
I think fully fifty percent raised their hands. I said, "Will you and you and you," and I pointed to six of them, "come and administer the Sacrament. And will you and you and you," and I pointed to six others, "please come and sit here and be pre- pared to speak."
Then I said, "Who can lead mu- sic?" A number of hands were raised. "Will you come and lead the music? And who can play this portable organ?" There were several hands, and one was selected. Then I said, "What would you like to sing, fel- lows?" And with one voice they re- plied, "Come, Come Ye Saints."
We had no hymnbooks. The boy sounded the chord. They all arose. I have heard "Come, Come Ye Saints" in many lands and by many choirs and congregations, and without in any way reflecting adversely on what we usually do and hear, I think I have heard "Come, Come Ye Saints" sung only once when every heart seemed bursting, as they sang every verse without books. When they came to the last verse, they didn't mute it, they didn't sing it like a dirge, but throwing back their shoulders, they sang out until I was fearful that the walls would burst: "And should we die before our journey's through, happy day, all is well," and I looked at my minister friend and found him weeping.
Then, one of the boys who had been asked to administer the Sacra- ment knelt at the table, bowed his head and said, "Oh, God, the Eternal Father," then he paused for what seemed to be a full minute, and then he proceeded with the balance of the blessing on the bread. At the close
628
of that meeting I sought that boy out. I put my arm around his shoul- ders, and said, "Son, what's the matter? Why was it so difficult for you to ask the blessing on the bread?" He paused for a moment and said, rather apologetically, "Well, Brother Brown, it isn't two hours since I was over the continent on a bombing mis- sion. As we started to return, I dis- covered that my tail assembly was shot away; that one of my engines was out; that three of my crew were wounded, and it looked like it was absolutely impossible to reach the shores of England. Brother Brown, up there I remembered Primary and Sunday School, and MIA, and home and Church, and up there, when it seemed that all hope was lost, I said, 'O God, the Eternal Father, please support this plane until we reach a landing field.' He did just that, and when we landed I learned of this meeting, and I had to run all the way to get here. I didn't have time to change my battle dress, and then when I knelt there and again ad- dressed the Lord, I was reminded that I hadn't stopped to say thanks. Brother Brown, I had to pause a lit- tle while to tell God how grateful I was."
Well, we went on with our meet- ing. We sang. Prayers were offered, and these young men, with only a moment's notice, each stood and spoke, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to their comrades, and bore their testimonies, and again I say with due respect to the various ones with whom I have associated and labored, they were among the finest sermons I ever heard. Then the time was up, and I said, "Fellows, it's time for chow. We must dismiss now or you will miss your dinner." And, again almost with one voice, they said, "We can eat army grub any time. Let's have a testimony meet- ing." So we stayed another hour and a half while every man arose and bore witness to the truth of the re- stored gospel of Jesus Christ, and each one in turn, in his own way, said, "I know that God lives, I know that the gospel is restored, I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God." Again I looked at my friend, and he- was weeping unashamedly.
At the close of that meeting this minister said to me, "I have been a minister for over twenty-one years,
Elder Hugh B. Brown
but this has been the greatest spiritual experience of my life." And again he said, "How do you do it?"
Then it was my pleasure to tell him about the Primary and the Sun- day School and the MIA with its various activities, of the priesthood quorums, the seminaries, the Church schools, and the great educational system directed by the Church board of education through the faculty of Brigham Young University. I told him of our missionary system, of the training it provides and the testi- monies resulting from such gratuitous service.
This minister said to me, "If we could accomplish something like that among the young people of our Chris- tian churches, there would be no more war. Why, I would not dare to call on members of my congregation to speak without a moment's notice. They who do come to church know that I am going to speak and that they have no responsibility. But here it seems every man is a minister, and every man has been trained to par- ticipate."
I explained to him that those men had been taking part since they were little tots, and I told him further, and I say to you, that that experience could have been, and was in many in- stances, repeated in various camps in the United States and Canada and Europe. Wherever enough LDS boys were gathered together, we could re- peat that experience.
MIA officers, teachers, and mem- bers, I saw the fruits of MIA in far- away places, and under difficult cir- cumstances. I plead with you in the words of Elder Petersen, "Carry On." I plead with you to remember that
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
the young people of this time espe- cially must have some knowledge of the interrelatedness and interde- pendence of the individual and so- ciety, of man and nature, of the world and God, knowledge of the centrality and the necessity of religion, and the reality of the living God and man's relationship to him. We must teach them that religion is no longer periph- eral or incidental, but that it is the very queen of the sciences, and this is not because the Church has said so or because tradition or superstition have imposed it upon human credulity: This is true because of the nature of reality, and as one has recently said, "If there be a God at all, he must be the ultimate and controlling reality, and the truth concerning him, as best man can apprehend it, must be the keystone of the ever incomplete arch of human knowledge."
Yes, I say to you and to all of us, we have a challenge, and the chal- lenge is to recognize the potential God-like status of these young peo- ple, and recognizing that, become more poignantly aware of our re- sponsibility as their parents and teachers.
Referring for just a moment to Father's Day, may I remind you teachers and officers that you are, as they say in law "in loco parentis." You do, in some cases, share much of the responsibility with parents, and let this line apply to you as it would apply to any father:
A father and a little son
Crossed a rough street one stormy day
"See, Father," said the little one,
"I stepped in your steps all the way."
O random, childish thoughts that deal
Quick thrusts no coat of mail can stay.
It touched him as a touch of steel "I stepped in your steps all the way."
That will be true of you, teachers, officers, members, all who undertake to teach the truth in the Church and kingdom of God to its young mem- bership. They may forget what you say, but they'll step in your steps all the way. This is an awe-inspiring responsibility.
Let us teach them that morality de- pends upon one's capacity to be aware of and to identify oneself in a wholesome way with others; that morality is an eternal quest for com- passion in a world often dominated by callousness; that every human con- tact, whether physical, mental, or spiritual must be clean and whole- some if the memory of them is to be enjoyed. As James Barrie said, "God gave us memory that we might have roses in December." Let us teach them that the heart has a certainty which the mind cannot fully compre- hend and to listen to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Teach them that more important than our theories is the way we act, more significant than analysis, is our capacity for faith; more valuable than our intellect is our sense of morality.
Young men and young women of the Church, we, your seniors, some of us having spent almost a lifetime among you — and we thank God for that glorious privilege — would ask for no higher appointment than to work and be associated with you. We plead with you to keep your eye on your goal which is Godhood. Milton said, "The chief aim of life is to come to know God, and through that knowledge to love and to imitate him."
General MIA executives and board members greet conference guests on Temple Square. SEPTEMBER 1956
Be aware of your limitless possi- bilities because of your God-like status. Live worthily. Keep clean. You will need firmer and purer char- acter, higher integrity, larger spiritual vision, unimpeachable and unshak- able fidelity, and a righteous and dynamic faith as you resist the down- drag of this atomic age.
Go forward and win, and I promise you you can, but it will not be an easy fight. Be like those fine young men in uniform. Be unashamed of the truth. Keep close to God. I pray that you may have the ambition to be the kind of young men and young women of whom the President and great leaders of the Church can justly be proud, and can hold you up to all the world and say, "This is Mormonism."
I say the way will not be easy. Eliza R. Snow put it well when she said in one of our hymns:
Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you
His arm is sufficient, though demons op- pose.
I could not do better, I am sure, in closing than to bring to you officers, teachers, and members of the MIA the words of the Lord — his yearning, pleading words, coupled with a prom- ise:
... let virtue garnish thy thoughts un- ceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doc- trine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever. (D & C 121:45- 46.)
Brethren and sisters, I humbly bear testimony that God has been so good to me personally as to cause me to know from the center of my heart to the ends of my fingers and toes that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the Church is led by prophets of God, that Jesus himself is coming again to live and to rule among men. I commend you for the fine work you are doing, and assure you of the love and confidence of the brethren with whom I have the privilege to asso- ciate. We believe in you, and in your future. We pray that God will help us all to carry on to the end, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
629
There Were Jaredites
The Shining Stones— Continued
Twenty-four hours later the orien- talist received his two friends with beaming benevolence and a table piled with old texts and a number of bound periodicals.
"Well, sirs," he began as they sat down around the table, "I have something for you! Not much, of course- — that would take some time — but enough. Let us begin by con- sidering the Jewish sources that wor- ried us yesterday, going from the latest to the earliest. The Midrash Rabbah tells us that the various con- flicting opinions of the rabbis as to the true nature of the tsohar, the light in the ark, simply demonstrates the fact that none of them knew what it was.31 Rabbi Akiba ben Kahmana, for example, says it means a skylight, while R. Levi says it was a precious stone. R. Phineas, quoted by R. Levi, explains that 'during the whole twelve months that Noah was in the Ark he did not require the light of the sun by day or the moon by night, but he had a polished gem which he hung up: when it was dim he knew that it was day, and when it shone he knew it was night.'32 To illustrate this odd arrangement, Rabbi Huna tells a story: 'Once we were taking refuge from (Roman) troops in the caves of Tiberias. We had lamps with us: when they were dim we knew that it was day, and when they shone brightly we knew that it was night.'33 The reference to hiding from the Romans shows that this tra- dition is at least two thousand years old. But all such stories seem to go back to a single source, a brief no- tice in the Jerushalmi or Palestinian Talmud, which reports that Noah was able to distinguish day from night by certain precious stones he possessed, which became dim by day and shone forth by night."34
"Is it not quite conceivable," F. in- terposed, "that anyone might em- broider these accounts into the Jared- ite story?"
"There is no limit to the embroi- dery that can be put on a tale, I sup-
630
by Dr. Hugh Nibley
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
pose, but it so happens that the pe- culiar elaboration of the story in Ether follows other and much fuller and older versions — far older, in fact, than anything in the Talmud. And none of those versions was known when I was a boy. That is what makes me wonder. What is more, it seems to me quite unthinkable that anyone writing the Book of Mormon at that time either exploited the Jew- ish sources or knew about them."
"Why unthinkable?" F. asked.
"Well, first with regard to using the material, you can be sure that anyone who had access to this old Jewish stuff, whether at first or sec- ond hand, had a gold mine of use- ful information at his disposal. Yet he never makes use of any of it with the exception of this one little note. Along with that, the chances of any- one coming across this item seems in- finitely remote when one considers where it is found, namely, in the Palestinian Talmud."
"What is so inaccessible about the Palestinian Talmud?"
"Everything. One might have been reading sometime in the Babylonian Talmud, but in the Jerusalem 'Tal- mud? Never! — only eminent rabbis ever read or cite it.35 Do you see these four modest volumes? They represent all the printed editions of the Palestine Talmud that have ever appeared! Two of them came out after 1860, and could not have been used by the author of Ether; the other two are the Bomberg edition of 1523 and 1524 which as you see contains no commentary, and the Cracow edi- tion of 1609, with a very short com- mentary on the margin."
"How about translations?" Blank inquired.
"Even worse. In 1781 a small sec- tion was translated into German — it was not the section in which our story occurs, by the way — and there was nothing after that until the Ger- man translation of 1880. Schwab's French translation done between 1871 and 1890 is the best known; Schwab also undertook an English version in 1886 but only completed the begin-
ning of it. But no translation was available in any modern language in 1830, and who could read the origi- nal?36 Who can read it today? It is in the difficult West Aramaic dialect — not the East Aramaic of the Baby- lonian Talmud, which is close to modern Hebrew — and so many of the words are technical that nobody knows what they mean anyway. :i7 It is much smaller and is considered much duller than the Babylonian Talmud — and who reads that? Right now Professor Zeitlin is loudly pro- claiming that the host of scholars at work on the Dead Sea Scrolls are one and all unqualified to read medieval Hebrew — which means that he is about the only man in America who can! The scholars and ministers who studied Hebrew in America in 1830's knew rabbinical Hebrew no better than they do today; their whole interest was in the Old Testament, and if any of them ever looked into the Talmud, you can be sure it was not the Jerushalmi. Then too we must not overlook the fact that the Jewish accounts do not say that Noah used the gems for illumination, but only to distinguish day from night."
"That seems like a strange quib- ble," said F.
"Yet all the sources insist on it. They never come out and say that Noah used the stones for lamps, but only that he used them to tell day from night. That no doubt seems strange to you, but it happened to be a subject of considerable concern and discussion among the ancient doctors, both Jewish and Moslem. They had a good deal to say about distinguish- ing when it was day and when night by such ingenious methods as hang- ing up a black and a white thread side by side or by distinguishing cer- tain forms or objects of certain size and certain shape. You see in their way of thinking it is extremely im- portant for ritual reasons to know when it is night and when it is day. There was a whole branch of divine science devoted to the subject, and this naturally was the aspect of the shining stones that would interest any
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
rabbi — not the problem of illumina- tion. I can assure you that only a rabbi would ever have read this pas- sage in America a hundred years ago. Apart from all this, it is quite plain to me that the account in Ether was not taken from the Jewish sources. As I said, it is much nearer to a far more ancient source of recent dis- covery; for example, your book of Ether says that the brother of Jared made transparent stones by 'molten- ing' them out of rock — the word is perfectly good English, by the way, though archaic. Where do you think he got the idea?"
"I have read the book to oblige Blank here," said F. "As I recall, the Lord is supposed to have told him what to do."
"Nothing of the sort!" cried Blank. "In building his ships there were three problems which the brother of Jared recognized as insoluble by con- ventional means, namely the problem of navigation under condition of per- petual storm with overcast skies, the problem of ventilation, and the prob- lem of lighting. (Ether 2:19.) As to the last of these, the Lord told him that the usual methods of lighting by windows and fire would not do — the wording of Ether 2:23 makes it quite clear that those were the ordinary methods used. But instead of solving the Jaredites' problem for them by giving them a light on the , spot or telling them how to make one, the Lord put the brother of Jared entirely on his own by retorting to his question, '. . . Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?' with another question: 'What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? . . .'" (Ether 2:22, 25.)
"And being thus thrown back on his own resources, what would the great man do?" Schwulst asked with a smile. "He would do what he had done before — follow the example of Noah. So he proceeded to cast some clear transparent stones in the hope that they might be made to shine in the dark."
"Did Noah do that?" F. asked with astonishment.
"That is the part I am now com- ing to, if you will have a little pa- tience. First of all, then, the brother of Jared made some transparent stones by 'moltening' them out of
rock, a process requiring a very high temperature indeed. Now the oldest writings of India, reporting her oldest traditions, have a good deal to say about a particular stone that shines in the dark;38 such a stone, we are told, can be produced only by sub- jecting a stone or the heart of a per- son who died of poison to terrific heat — it must in fact be kept in an exceedingly hot fire for no less than nine years! This would turn it to a perfectly clear, transparent crystal, we are told, and this crystal 'would il- luminate even the deepest darkness and sometimes shine as brightly as the sun.'39 Meyer and Printz have traced this strange belief from India to China and the West, where it is mentioned by some of the most cele- brated scholars of the Middle Ages. It was even believed in Europe that the Holy Grail was such a jewel and of such fiery power that the phoenix- bird cremated itself in its heat and was thus reborn, for among other things the stone had the power of regeneration."10
"And what," said F., "has that to do with the shining stones of the ark?"
"A great deal, if you will follow me. The stone was known to the Greeks and hence to the Middle Ages as the Pyrophilos or 'Friend of Fire,' and is most fully described in the Indian sources which say it was a perfectly transparent crystal and also went by the name of 'Moonfriend' and Jalakanta or 'that which causes the waters to part.' For among all its marvelous properties, such as protect- ing its bearer from poisons, lightning, fire, and enemies, its most particular power and virtue was that it enabled its possessor to pass unharmed through the depths of the waters.41
"Dear me!" Blank interrupted. "That is surely something of a coinci- dence: a transparent stone formed with fierce heat that shines in the dark and guides and preserves its owner beneath the waves! Where do you think the Indians got all that?"
"That has been the subject of con- siderable search," Schwulst replied, "and it is quite clear that the tradi- tion did not originate in India, though it may have been brought there at a very early time by an offshoot of the same Indo-European people to whom the story has been traced far to the
north. But it has been so traced only by following a trail that led to the earliest Babylonian accounts of guess what — the deluge! Later writers quote a letter from the philosopher Aesculapius to the Emperor Au- gustus, in which he describes the Pyrophilus as the heart of a poisoned man turned into stone by nine years in the furnace; he also says that Alexander the Great possessed such a stone, which he carried in his belt, but that once while he was bathing he laid the belt aside, and a serpent stole the stone and vomited it into the Euphrates.42 Aristotle tells the same story three hundred years ear- lier, and other Greek writers know of it many years before Alexander was born.43 In these older versions the stone is interchangeable with the plant of life — it was a life-giving stone, as the case of the phoenix shows — or the "medicine of immortality.44 In this form the story is identical with the prehistoric Sumerian tale of Gil- gamesh and the plant of life, as many scholars were prompt to recognize as soon as the latter was published to- wards the end of the nineteenth cen- tury. Printz points out that this relationship illustrates both 'the im- mense span of time' over which traditions can survive and the degree to which they can become distorted in the process of transmission and still preserve clearly recognizable traits.45 This story, in fact, seems to go back to that pre-Sumerian epic milieu that Kramer talks about. In the oldest Babylonian version only one person can tell the hero how and where to get the plant of life, and that person is Ut-napishtim, the Babylonian Noah. He it was who had possessed the plant of life which from the earliest times seems to be confused with a shining stone."40
"Where do we find the stone?" "In the west — in Syria. There we find a most interesting series of ritual texts which for fulness and detail are hardly to be matched anywhere. The actual documents cover a full two thousand years, and the things they deal with are far older, as a lit- tle comparative study will show. Through all that period they tell es- sentially the same story, the now well-known 'Year-Drama' in which the death and resurrection of the
(Continued on following page)
SEPTEMBER 1956
631
i
There Were Jaredites
(Continued from preceding page)
hero, his victory over the powers of the underworld, and his marriage with the Mother Goddess are the principal episodes. The hero him- self goes by many names, but the ones that concern us here are Attis and Humbaba, whom Stocks has shown to be one. and the same per- son.47 Everyone knows about Attis who is identical with the Syrian Adonis who is identical in turn with the Egyptian Osiris, but as the pre- Sumerian Humbaba he is less famil- iar."
"A strange-sounding name," F. commented.
"It is a Hurrian name, like Noah," Schwulst replied. "That illustrates my remark that everything points to a mysterious people of the north. That opens up the way to a lot of investi- gation and speculation, but now let us consider the Syrian hero. The most celebrated shrine in the East in classical times was the cult center of this hero and his wife the Syrian goddess at Aphek. Lucian visited the shrine which he describes as the great- est cult center in the world. The principal legend of the place and that invoked most often to explain rites and customs observed there was the story of Deucalion and the flood, which Lucian recounts in detail, showing it to be quite close to the biblical account.48 The vast throngs of pilgrims that came to Aphek from all parts of the world were shown the hole down which the waters of the flood were said to have retreated and told how Deucalion erected at that spot the first temple and the first building to be constructed after the deluge.49 The most remarkable ob- ject in the temple was, according to Lucian, 'a stone which is called lychnis, and the name is very appro- priate; for by night it gives off a good deal of light, which illuminates the whole shrine just like a lamp, though by day the glow is weak. It looks ex- actly as if it were burning.' This stone shone forth from the crown of an image of the lady in her capacity of moon-goddess.50 Nothing could be more natural than to associate with the moon a stone that shines by night and is dim by day. You will recall that the principal designation of the shining crystal in the Indian descrip- tions is 'Moonfriend.' "
632
"We may also recall," Blank com- mented, "that the magur-boat of the Sumerian Noah was compared with the moon, not only because it was crescent-shaped and wandered through space for twelve months, but especially because it was illuminated by a miraculous light."
"Then couldn't the whole story of a miraculously illuminated ark have come down from an original moon- cult?" F. demanded.
"A boat may remind anyone of the moon after it is built," Blank replied, "but the moon cannot have supplied the model for any workable boat. The moon is always there for all to see, but one can only compare it with a boat after one has seen not only the moon but boats as well. You can see from that that our whole story must start with a boat. You know as well as I do that the oldest graves and the oldest temples in the world contain beautiful and accurate boat- models and sometimes full-sized boats. Whatever the symbolism may be, they are always real boats or scale models of such. Today the experts are play- ing around a good deal with the idea that these boats refer to some great primal migration, for which the ark of Noah is the archtype. Granted the boat theme, the ancients were free to add any ritual or mythological frills that caught their fancy, the most obvious being the moon motif which every poet discovers inde- pendently. But the whole thing be- gan with a real boat, not with the 'nature myths' that were once so popular with scholars but have now been so completely discredited."
"On that point," said Professor Schwulst, "we must insist that the Babylonian coloring of this and many other tales of great antiquity does not imply for a moment that the story it- self has a Babylonian origin. Take the Greek stories of Deucalion's flood, for example: They go back to pre- historic times and to sources far older than any Bible manuscripts we pos- sess. Yet no one ever suggests that the deluge story originated with the Greeks. Why not? Simply because the Greek versions of the story have been known all along and did not need to be dug up by archaeologists. If they had first been discovered in the nineteenth century, you can be sure they would have been instantly
hailed as debunking the Bible! But let us return to our Syrian stone.
"Jirku has pointed out that the moon cult of Syria goes back to pre- historic times, so that what Lucian is describing is of great age — albeit overlaid, as such old traditions always are, by all sorts of mythologized and rationalized explanations.51 Macro- bius, for example, says the image of the Lady was crowned with an ar- rangement designed to represent a sunburst of rays 'which symbolize the way in which Mother Earth is made to bring forth life by the fructifying rays sent from above.' In his day the stone was not working, apparently, but the crown on the image was de- signed to look as if it emitted a life- giving light.52 Carl Clemen believes that the report that one of the jewels that adorned the image of the God- dess actually shone in the dark is 'naturally an impossibility.' "53
"Do you think there actually could have been such stone?" F. asked.
"I think you will find in Athanasius Kirchner that the ancients were familiar with the properties of such fluorescent stones as barite, which will shine for some time in the dark after exposure to the sunlight or after being placed near a fire. The question would require some looking into, but it is notable that all sources describe the shining stones only as part-time illuminators: they seem to fade out completely during the day. But after all what we are dealing with here is not scientific or historic fact, but literary and legendary coincidence, which can be just as instructive in its way. Here, for example, Stocks points out that the image of the ark at the great Syrian shrine was represented by an altar with a burning fire on it which seemed to be floating on a lake so that the devout could only gain access to it by swimming."54
"A sort of baptism, eh?" said F. with a laugh.
"It is not so fantastic, at that," Schwulst replied. "Remember, we have in things like this a great wealth and intermingling of typology — one thing is the type of another. In the earliest times the shining stone was confused with the plant of life, as we have seen; and we have just noted that Macrobius describes the light of the lady's crown as life-giving."
(Continued on page 672)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
To Make a Home
Waiting for them, seated in a row on the top step of the veranda, sat the twins, Lester, Chester, and little Debbie.
by Pansye H. Powell
When John Ferris opened the back door of his home after putting his car in the garage at the end of a busy day at the office, he knew that Mary had been clean- ing again. A narrow lane of news- papers spread carefully in a path across the porch indicated the line of his approach to the kitchen door. He knew by experience that another lane would lead him across the newly waxed linoleum of the kitchen into the living room.
John smiled indulgently and stepped carefully as directed. He did not call out as he would have liked to do, heralding his approach to the kitchen door. Mary would be asleep prob- ably, tired from her all-day siege of scrubbing, shaking, waxing, and otherwise recleaning a house that to John always looked immaculate. He would not disturb her. Supper would probably be late, too; but he would let her sleep. If she were not asleep, she would be resting.
SEPTEMBER 1956
But as he entered the kitchen, he was surprised to find Mary busily slicing tomatoes and cucumbers for salad. The table in the breakfast nook was set for two, and potatoes were bubbling merrily on the stove. John's heart skipped a beat at the sight of the curly headed, trim little figure in pink gingham standing by the kitchen sink. Married only six months, he still felt at times that all this was unreal — the neat little house, his in- dustrious young wife, the hominess and security of it all.
"Hello, darling," she called cheerily and leaned her face toward him to be kissed. "Dinner will be ready as soon as I cook the steak."
John smiled contentedly, pressing his cheek against hers for a second. She was so sweet, so lovable, and so unpredictable. Here he was expect- ing her to be tired out from her day's activities, and she was apparently as alert as she had been at eight o'clock when he dashed off to work. He
glanced around at the spick-and-span kitchen and involuntarily felt a thrill of pride that this was his house. It was as attractive and neat as the home of any other young couple in the town; he would never be ashamed to bring anyone home to this place. If only Mary didn't take it so seriously. She had set out to be the best house- keeper in town, and she was well on the way.
"We're having company tonight," she called, as John settled down in his chair in the living room to read the paper while he waited for dinner. "The Schultzes are coming to call on us — the Grover T. Schultzesl"
"How does that happen? I didn't know you knew them."
"Oh, I met her at Relief Society meeting. She's said to be one of the best housekeepers in this town. Her husband could hire all the help she needs, but she prefers to do things herself. I can understand that, of {Continued on following page)
633
To Make a Home
(Continued from preceding page) course; I always feel I can do things to suit me, when other people can't."
John knew about the Grover T. Schultzes. He was the president of the Center County Bank, the largest of the three banks in Lathrop. The Schultzes lived in a big two-story white house set back on a spacious lawn. They lived alone, their one daughter having married and moved to another town sixty miles away. John had met Mr. Schultz in the course of his business — a little man, he was, rather thin, with a close- clipped white mustache and gray hair. John had heard that Mr. Schultz was henpecked. It was a joke among the men at the business- men's club that Grover T. Schultz had to take off his shoes when he went into the house. Now John could understand why — his wife was one of the best housekeepers in town.
Over steak and salad Mary com- mented, "I do hope the house looks all right. She and I had so much in common on the day we met at Relief Society. I don't want to give the wrong impression."
"Your house always looks right," John answered encouragingly. "You don't need to worry. They are coming to see us, you know, not the house."
"Yes . . . but. . . ." Mary's tone showed that she still considered the house most important to this visit. "We don't have as much as they, of course, but what we have can be as neat and clean as I can make it. Someday we'll have more, too."
They did the dishes together. Mary gave the living room furniture a final dusting before she changed her dress and fluffed her curly bob around her piquant face. John's pride was bound- less as he watched her in the door- way, surveying her little domain with a critical eye.
"Think we'll pass inspection?" he queried.
"You will, handsome." She pressed a kiss against his cheek in sudden approval. "And I hope I will — but does the house look all right? Per- haps I should have shaken those cur- tains again today. And I didn't wash the woodwork in here; I did it two weeks ago, so I thought it would do."
She was putting a pitcher of punch in the refrigerator when the doorbell rang. John had already seen a batch of Mary's luscious oatmeal cookies sitting on the kitchen cabinet.
634
John opened the door and greeted their callers hospitably. Mrs. Schultz was short and thin, too, like Mr. Schultz. John noticed the quick way she scanned the room as he escorted them into the living room. He thought he detected approval, but he pretended not to notice her scrutiny. When Mary came in, John could see that she and Mrs. Schultz were already good friends.
What surprised John was that Mary, who had grown up in a com- fortable, clean, but cheerfully untidy house, could be so meticulous about her own home. She was asking Mrs. Schultz question after question about cleaning agents and the best way to do the thousand jobs that any house- keeper has to manage. Mrs. Schultz was generous with advice.
While the punch and cookies were being served, Mr. Schultz mentioned that their daughter and her three small children were coming soon for a visit during the children's vacation.
"They're live wires," he added. "Two boys — twins — and a little girl, all full of pep and into things every minute."
"How old are the children?" Mary asked, as she poured him another glass of punch.
Mrs. Schultz spoke up. "The twins are eight; little Debbie is four."
"Do they come home often?"
"Not often enough," Mr. Schultz answered. "When were they home last, Mother?"
"It was last October, when they had a long week end during teachers' convention. I so much wanted them to be here for Christmas, but they haven't been able to come for Christ- mas since the boys were a year old. They came home then for a week, but they've had all their other Christ- mases at their own home; their father prefers them there for the holidays."
"It's certainly nice that they're coming now," Mary said. "Will they be able to stay longer this time?"
"Oh, they never stay very long when they come. Children are so much better off in their own home," Mrs. Schultz continued. "I have so little now that amuses them. Toys clutter up the house so, and they are a little hard on the grass when they run through the lawn with the neigh- bor children. They usually want to go home after just a few days."
"Like to have you meet our daugh- ter," Mr. Schultz said. "She's a
mighty good little mother to those three youngsters — never too busy to talk to them or help them."
"I'll ask one of Helen's girlhood friends to bring you up while she is here," Mrs. Schultz smiled. "Martha Graham's children are about the age of Helen's. I'll tell her to call for you."
After the Schultzes were gone, Mary walked thoughtfully around the house, straightening a doily here, moving a drapery a little there.
"Very nice people, the Schultzes," John commented, as he locked the front door.
"Very," Mary answered laconical- ly. "She really must have a very beautiful home. She knows so much about taking care of things."
"I'm glad you're going to meet their daughter. She knows all the young women in town, and she'll help you to become better acquainted."
Mary carefully washed the glasses and put away the left-over cookies and punch. "I'd love to see the chil- dren," she said. "It's really too bad that they don't come to see their grandparents more often. They don't live so very far away."
John said nothing, but there was an extra tenderness when he put his arms around her and held her close a minute.
rPwo weeks later Mrs. Schultz invited ■*■ Mary to meet Helen. Martha Graham obligingly called for Mary. Martha's two children sat primly on the back seat of the car, their hands at rest in their laps. They were Jen- nifer, aged four, and Harvey, seven. They were scrubbed and very polite when their mother introduced them to Mary, but Jennifer piped up sud- denly, "We're going to a party, and we have to be good."
Martha smiled, "They know that when they go to Mrs. Schultz's they have to be on their best behavior."
"I don't want to go much," Harvey put in. "She makes you be so care- ful. You can't even swing in her porch swing; it mashes down the cushions if you sit on them. I'd a lot rather go to see the twins down at their house. We have fun there."
Martha explained. "We drive down to Helen's house in Tremonton sev- eral times a year. Harvey and Debbie love to go there. They can play any- where they please, within bounds, that is. Helen has such a happy little home. She's not at all concerned about housekeeping, the way her (Continued on page 663) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
GENEALOGY—
Experiences
I in
Research
I was very earnest in seeking out my genealogy and tracing it out of my native country, South Africa.
It was on my Meyer line on the fourth generation that I came to the name of my great-grandmother, Jo- hanna Magdalena Meyer, and had to trace farther. I knew she was born in 1845 and that she was born at Prins Albert, Cape, South Africa.
In Cape Town the missionary in charge of genealogy helped check the records of the Cape.
It was not long until I received a letter from Cape Town giving me the date of birth of Johanna Magdalena Meyer as November 27, 1845, and christened March 8, 1846. Extract from this letter is as follows:
Concerning Johanna Magdalena Meyer: I received the information of her parents from the christening records of the Dutch Reformed Church in the Archives of Cape Town, following is a copy of the Christen- ing Record.
JOHANNA MAGDALENA MEYER
Born: 27 November, 1845
Christened: 8 March, 1846
Father: Cornelia Floris Johannes Meyer
Mother: Hester Hendrina Meyer
Witnesses: Cornelis Floris Johannes Meyer Johanna Magdalena Swanepoel Jacobus Johanes Meyer Salomina Fracina Meyer.
I went to the library to check the DeVilliers family records which con- tain the names of nearly all the South African families. When I got there and opened the book to work on the line of Johanna Magdalena Meyer, my mind became blank and I had no desire to continue, but when I turned to another name I was filled with the spirit to proceed. A number of times I tried doing research on Johanna Magdalena Meyer, but every time had the same experience.
SEPTEMBER 1956
by Johann Georg Meyer, Jr.
I then wrote a letter to the Dutch Reformed Church in Prins Albert for a death certificate of Johanna Mag- dalena Meyer born 1845. In a few days I received a christening certifi- cate with the name Johanna Magda- lena Meyer born February 1, 1845 and christened March 2, 1845, which gave her parents as Johannes Georg Meyer and Hester Christiana Mulder. I again went to the library, and this time it was as though these people were sitting beside me, as my mind was clear, and in a matter of days I was able to trace back seven more generations, making a total on that line of eleven generations.
I wrote to the missionaries helping me and gave them the information I had found. This is the reply I re- ceived :
Yesterday Mom Yarn received your letter stating that you had received a christening record for Johanna Magdalena Meyer and that by so doing you have been able to find out that that line is wrong that we have given you. I also have a christening record for her and it gives the information that we have given you and also it has the same witnesses as you sent down on the other christening record so in the light of what we have been able to receive it ap- pears that we have just as much proof one way as we have the other so I would suggest that it be left as it is in agreement with President Wright [then the mission president in South Africa] unless further information can be received to prove that it should be changed. If you receive any further information I would certainly ap- preciate it if you would write me on what you have received.
I wrote to them again and got the following reply:
Thanks for your letter of the 3rd. And I appreciate and admire you for the de- termination that you have to finish your genealogy. I hope that you will be able to find the necessary information that will lead your pedigree lines out of South Africa.
I'm not going to argue with you over the name of Johanna Magdalena Meyer be- cause I said in my last letter you have just as much proof for the line as I have and if you feel that the one that you have is correct by all means go ahead and work on that line. It being your own family line you would be in a better position to judge which is right than I am, so I will alter the information I have to fit that which you have in your possession.
Do you have a death notice for Renier Stefanua Meyer No. 8 on pedigree chart "A"? If you don't have a death notice for him I would suggest that you start from there again and try and find his wife and get the line going properly again.
According to the information that you have given me in this above mentioned letter you stated that Johanna Magdalena Meyer married a Johannes Matthys Heunis and in that case the line that we have been working on is definitely wrong.
May the Lord bless you in this wonder- ful work with all of the things that are for your betterment and would you please send me the information that you have so that I will be able to continue on with your genealogy.
T^hrough a family record I later ob- •*- tained, I found that the two Johanna Magdalena Meyers men- tioned were first cousins, but I cer- tainly would have had an incorrect genealogy if the experience had not come to me and if I had not been so persistent that I was given a wrong line to work on.
My second experience teaches me that genealogy is a game of, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
I once again arrived at a name that I had to trace farther. It was my great-grandmother, also on my fa- ther's side, by the name of Anna Susanna Jacobse, who I knew had died in the Transvaal Province, South Africa. I was 450 miles away from that province, so I wrote a letter to the master of the Supreme Court who kept all death notices of people leaving any possessions whatsoever at the time of death. He wrote back and said they had no record of that name, and that she had evidently left no estate. At the time I could do nothing, so waited until I went back to the Transvaal in 1951, about thirteen months after I wrote the let- ter. I was still forty five miles away from the city where the records were kept, so I made a phone call. They told me, after looking in their files, that they had no record, so I had to leave it at that again.
About six months later I had the
opportunity to go to the city where
the records were, and while there, I
{Concluded on page 662)
635
MIA READING COURSE: JESUS THE CHRIST-HI
Jesus Christ—
the God of the Old Testament
by Doyle L. Green
MANAGING EDITOR
One of the modern attractions from which none of us seem to be able to escape, and which con- sumes much of the time and attention of young people, is science -fiction. Books, including so-called comic books, radio, television, and motion pictures, all join constantly to pelt us with the most mysterious and fantastic ideas of creatures and inven- tions and situations.
There is a so-called mystery, a re- ligious one, which seems to fall into this same category, even though it is not a product of modern science-fic- tion. Invented by man ages ago it has been taught as truth to millions of honest Christian people.
This mystery has to do with God, the kind of Being he is, and the re- lationship of God, the Father, to the Son, Jesus Christ, and of both of them to the Holy Ghost. The simple truths of the scriptures have been so garbled by the teachings of men that some unbelievably fantastic notions have arisen, notions which would cause the most infamous of our pres- ent-day science-fiction writers to hang their heads in shame because in their wildest moments of absurdity they have never been able to concoct such utterly weird ideas.
Can you imagine a science-fiction story in which the main character, the God and Supreme Ruler of the entire universe, is three beings, yet he isn't three at all but rather just one? And can you further imagine this Being as having no body, no eyes, no ears, no mouth, no hands, no brain, no heart, no feelings? And yet this great intelligent nothingness, who is so large he can fill the entire uni- verse yet so small he can dwell in a child's heart, rules over us from the top of a throne which has no top!
636
Such a Being is impossible to comprehend, but this is typical of the smoggy ideas of the Godhead which have beclouded the thinking of the Christian world for generations.
How humbly thankful we should be that to Latter-day Saints, both young and old alike, and to all who will study honestly the standard works of the Church and the teach- ings of our leaders, is given the glori- ous privilege of knowing the precious truths about these important matters. There is no mystery here! God can be understood. And understanding is necessary if we are to understand the plan of salvation. This knowledge is also essential to the understanding of the story of Jesus, to which pur- pose these articles are dedicated.
The basic pattern of the organiza- tion of the Godhead can be traced down through the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth. Our auxiliary organizations, of which the Mutuals are examples, are headed by a presidency or a superintendency of three individuals. This is true on the ward, stake, and general Church levels. Further, a bishop and two counselors are in charge of a ward; a president and two counselors are in charge of the work in a stake, and there is a similar organization in the missions.
The council of three which stands at the head of the Church in all of the world we call the First Presidency. It consists of President David O. Mc- Kay, President Stephen L Richards, and President J. Reuben Clark, Jr. This council of three Presidents can be compared to the council of the three Gods who rule over all crea- tions. This council, which is called the Godhead, is made up of God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ, and the
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
— Photo by Wilde Company
"Moses and the Law" by Philippe de Champaigne — 1602-1674. It was Jesus who gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
Holy Ghost. They are separate and distinct beings, just as the three mem- bers of our First Presidency are sep- arate individuals. Man was made in their likeness. They work as one to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," just as the First Presidency on earth work for pre- cisely the same purpose.
Just as the counselors in the First Presidency are assigned certain re- sponsibilities under President McKay's direction in connection with running the Church upon the earth, even so do the "counselors" in the Godhead have specific responsibilities in connection with the earth, under the direction of the Father.
The Holy Ghost, whom it is not our purpose to discuss at length here, is a witness of the Father and the Son, a messenger, and a comforter. The gift SEPTEMBER 1956
of the Holy Ghost is given each of us after we are baptized.
The Son, as we have already seen, was assigned to be the Creator and Savior of the earth and to direct all the work of God here. He is re- sponsible to the Father for seeing that the great plan of salvation is carried out.
The Savior is known by many names and titles. Jesus is his indi- vidual name. Christ is a sacred title and comes from the Greek, its He- brew equivalent being Messiah which means "the anointed one." Some of the many other names and titles by which he is known in the scriptures are: God, Lord, Lord God, Son of God, Son of man, Emmanuel, the Redeemer, the Only Begotten, Only Begotten Son, I Am, Jehovah, and even the Father.
(Continued on following page)
637
Jesus Christ— the God of the Old Testament
(Continued from preceding page)
These numerous names and titles are confusing to the young student of the scriptures and may be one of the reasons why such fantastic ideas have grown up concerning the Godhead. From the wording alone of many pas- sages of scripture, it is often impos- sible to tell whether it is God the Father or God the Son to whom refer- ence is being made.
In view of these facts we can see how desirable it is that we understand the plan and the workings of God and know that the ways of God are the ways of order and not confusion.
Because Jesus Christ has the re- sponsibility of this earth, generally speaking whenever contact is made between heaven and the earth, it is done through Jesus or a messenger sent by him. President Joseph Field- ing Smith has said, "All revelation comes through Jesus Christ."1 There have been occasions when the Father has spoken to the Earth, but when he has done so it seemingly has been for the purpose of introducing or bearing record of the Son.
President George Q. Cannon made the following statement, which was repeated by President Joseph Fielding Smith in the general conference ser- mon referred to above: "There is in modern Christendom a strong ten- dency to ascribe to the Father, visits and communications with mankind that were really made by the Lord Jesus. There is even a respectable percentage of the members of his Church, established in these days, who have the idea that it was the Father and not the Son who appeared to the patriarchs and prophets of old. . . ."2
These glorious truths were demon- strated at the time the Prophet Joseph Smith received his first vision. When the two heavenly Personages, God the Father and the Son, appeared to him in answer to his fervent prayer, the proper order of authority was ob- served. In his own story, telling of the vision, the Prophet writes: "One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other, This is My Beloved Son, Hear Him!"3 The conversation which then took place was between Joseph and the Son. Although the Prophet reported talking with and seeing other heaven-
ly messengers later in his life, as far as we know this is the only time he ever saw the Father, and the only time the Father ever spoke to him.
It is interesting to note that on two other occasions when the Father spoke to earth he used almost the same words that he did when he spoke to the boy Joseph Smith. When the Savior was baptized by John in the River Jordan, the voice of the Father was heard, saying, "This is my be- loved Son, in whom I am well pleased."4 When the Savior appeared to the Nephites on the American continent following his resurrection, the Father again introduced him, saying, "Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name — hear ye him."5
Some have thought that it is in- consistent for the Savior to be called the Father. Actually though, Jesus is the Father of the earth, inasmuch as he created it. The term father also fits him as shown by the follow- ing selected dictionary definitions of the word: "one who cares for as a father might; an originator; the lead- ing men of a country, a city, or a council; to be a founder or author of; to accept or claim responsibility for."
Co it has been the Son down through ^ the ages who has watched over the earth for the Father. Fie spoke to the prophets in all dispensations, instructing them to preach the gospel and to call the people to repentance in order to give them every opportu- nity to live in righteousness. It was he who spoke to Adam after he had been cast out of the garden. It was he who asked of Cain: "Where is Abel thy brother?"'1
Later, when the people of the earth became corrupt, Jesus called Enoch to preach to them and afterwards took his righteous city into heaven so that its people would not be de- stroyed. Then he raised up another great prophet, Noah, who preached to the people for many years, and through whom life upon the earth was preserved when men became so wicked that they had to be destroyed.
Still watching over his people, Jesus "came down to see the city and the tower"7 which they were build- ing (Babel) and confounded their
The Improvement
nGeneral Conference Section, The Improvement Era, December 1953, p. 931.
-General Conference Section, Era, December 1953, p. 931.
3Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, 2:17.
638
Matthew 3:17. E3 Nephi 11:7. "Genesis 11:5. ^Genesis 4:9.
language and scattered them upon the face of the earth.
In another generation, Jesus called Abraham to go from his native city of Ur into the land of Canaan. Speak- ing unto him the Savior made a great promise, as Abraham was one of "the great and noble ones" who had been chosen before the foundations of the world were laid. To him Jesus said: "Abram, Get thee out of thy coun- try, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."8
When Abraham was old, he and his wife Sarah were given a son whom they were instructed to call Isaac. Jesus said to them, ..." I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him."" As he had been with Abraham, so Jesus was with Isaac all his life, and with Jacob his son, who became Israel, the father of the Twelve Tribes.
The Lord, Jesus, permitted Joseph, one of Jacob's sons, to be sold into Egypt so that he could become a ruler of the land and prepare for the coming famine. In this way the Israelites were saved from starvation and brought into the land of Egypt. When Israel hesitated leaving Ca- naan, Jesus spoke to him "in the vi- sions of the night" and said, "I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation:
"I will go down with thee . . . and I will also surely bring thee up again: . . ."10
Four hundred and thirty years passed, and another great prophet, Moses, was raised up to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, where they were then in bondage to the Egyptians, back to the land of Ca- naan. The Lord spoke to him first from a burning bush and later gave him power to perform miracles, helped him deliver the Israelites from the hands of the Egyptians, guiding them
(Concluded on page 654)
^Genesis 12:1-3. "Genesis 17:19. "Genesis 46:2-4.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
On the Bookrack
THE CUP OF FURY
(Upton Sinclair. Channel Press, Inc.,
New York. 1956. 190 pages. $3.00.)
In this age when drinking seems to have captured the mind and heart of man, this book is a sober and thought- ful indictment of any kind of drinking: from the social cocktail to the secret drinker. The author, long known for his crusading against some of the evils of mankind, has loosed a bitter but convincing invective against this evil. The book becomes an interesting docu- ment, alive as it is with the names of brilliant men and women whose bril- liance was dimmed or even damped out by their succumbing to this terrible habit.
Throughout the book there are exam- ples which would serve to warn every- one from even one sip of this deadly vintage. As the author states, "Alcohol- ism is a disease, of course, but it scarcely seems to me that this excuses or clears the distillers of responsibility. Cancer does not advertise itself as a symbol of 'thoughtful hospitality'; heart disease does not spend a quarter of a billion dollars annually to announce that it is an 'aid to gracious living'! Neither polio nor tuberculosis describe themselves in handsome posters and colorful magazine- spreads as a means to healthful relaxa- tion and enjoyment. . . . Other diseases are not sold, advertised, pressured, pro- moted, bobbied and press-agented in this way. Other diseases are fought with drastic surgery or skilled preventive medicine."
Latter-day Saints who know the com- mandment that liquor is not good for man will find additional ammunition for their guns in this deeply stirring book.— M. C. /.
GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN ENGLAND AND WALES (David E. Gardner and Frank Smith. Bookcraft, Salt Lake City. 1956. 291 pages. $3.00.)
Interestingly illustrated, this work by trained researchers will prove of great interest to genealogists who have ancestors who stemmed from England and Wales. The authors have indicated the background and some of the history of these countries and then have pro- ceeded to indicate the various means through which material may be gleaned, verified, and used to advantage in tem- ple work. That the authors have been painstaking in their studies is indicated in the sources they have listed: tradi- tions, correspondence and advertising in newspapers, cemeteries, churchyards, civil .registration of births, marriages, and deaths, census records, street and lo- cality addresses in the 1851 census returns, parish registers, etc., etc.
SEPTEMBER 1956
The book is interesting and also stimulating, and is but a taste of other projected books which will deal with other unusual and impressive means of tracing ancestry in the tight little isle of England.— M. C. /.
STORIES FROM SHAKESPEARE (Retold by Marchette Chute. World Publishing Company, New York. 1956. $3.75.)
For people twelve years old and up this book will prove an interesting introduction to Shakespeare. The author has made an intensive study of this playwright and recognizes some of the difficulties a beginner has in reading Shakespeare for the first time. She re- tells the thirty-six plays found in the First Folio, including the comedies, his- tories, and tragedies.
The author's two previous books on Shakespeare have won her acclaim: Shakespeare of London and Introduction to Shakespeare. She has also won recog- nition for other studies: Ben Jonson of Westminster and Geoffrey Chaucer of England.
The book will prove second best only to reading Shakespeare. — M. C. ].
COINS OF BIBLE DAYS
(Florence Aiken Banks. Macmillan, New York. 1955. 178 pages. $4.50.)
A delightful volume, this book should prove most helpful because the au- thor states: "The handling of ancient coins does with time what radio, tele- vision, and airplanes do with space. Carry a few tetradrachms and farthings in your pocket, and somehow you will find the world of two thousand or more years ago moving up to yesterday."
Interest in the book is enhanced by the 190 actual-size photographs of coins of Biblical times. The author uses as the basis of her introduction to the coins the King James Version. She of neces- sity introduces the history of the coun- tries whose activities influenced or changed Israel's course. The author has traveled widely and has long been a student of ancient coins. She has, in addition, been a teacher in both Cali- fornia and Oregon. Now retired, she is devoting her time to writing. — M. C. /.
BABIES AROUND THE WORLD CHILDREN AND THEIR HOMES AROUND THE WORLD (Pictures by Janet Smalley and Stories by Nina Millen. Friendship Press, New York. $1.25.)
Planned for special use by kinder- garten children, the illustrations in these books can be cut apart to make separate pictures to heighten interest. The author and artist have included in these books babies and children from Mexico, India, Alaska, China, Africa,
Peru, Japan, the United States, as well as a Navajo Indian baby. In the second book the author and artist include in addition to the above list, children from the Philippines, Norway, and a Hopi Indian family. The books are interest- ingly developed and should assist in creating genuine interest in other peo- ples.
Added to the unusual interest of the books are the directions for their ad- vantageous use by both parents and teachers. — M. C. J.
BALBOA
(Ronald Symc. William Morrow &
Company, New York. 94 pages. $2.50.)
The biographies of great men are al- ways more interesting than fiction, and in this fictional treatment of the facts of the life of Vasco Nunez de Bal- boa, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean in 1513, the author has a natural for a story of intrigue, adventure, and courage that will make modern young folk from 8 to 12 thrill to history.— M. C. /.
IDAHO IN THE PACIFIC
NORTHWEST
(Floyd R. Barber and Dan W. Martin.
Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Idaho.
433 pages. $5.00.)
Latter-day Saints have always had a keen interest in the great state of Idaho, particularly since many of the first settlers in the state were sent from Utah to build homes, develop the land, and become stalwart citizens of the state to the north. In fact, as the au- thors state, "Latter-day Saint pioneers established the first permanent settle- ment in Idaho in 1860." Beautifully il- lustrated, the book is a museum piece, worthy of preservation for the attractive- ness of its format and the wealth of in- formation it contains. Both publisher and authors are to be complimented on the volume.
There is one semi-error that should be corrected in subsequent editions, since there are certain to be many of this excellent book. On page 38 this state- ment appears. . . . "they (the Mormons) organized the 'State of Deseret,' now Utah." The state of Deseret included much more territory than the present confines of Utah.
The book well deserves reading and treasuring. — M. C. J.
STRANGE BABIES
(Margery S. Stewart and Eunice V.
Buck. Illustrated. The Caxton Printers,
Ltd. Caldwell, Idaho. 1956. 110 pages.
$3.00.)
This book of five stories deals with babies: a bear, a penguin, a pika, a "liger," and an ostrich. Each of the stories, fictionized to create greater in- terest for children, helps orient children into the habitat of these animals. For adults there is a satirical note that re- freshes as they read or tell these strange baby stories to their children. — M. C. /.
639
,::,;.
tfSlb'
I
Servicemen in West Germany
by Lynn Eric Johnson
SERVICEMEN'S CO-ORDINATOR, WEST GERMAN MISSION
RECEPTION LINE AT THE BERCHTESGADEN CONFERENCE HELD APRIL 1955. Left to right: Elder William V. Nash, Mission servicemen's co-ordinator (barely visible); President Kenneth B. Dyer, West German mission president; Sister Bernice O. Dyer; Elder Spencer W. Kimball, of the Council of Twelve, and Sister Kimball, visitors.
640
BERCHTESGADEN CONFERENCE, held in October 1954, where servicemen's co-ordi- nators, Retreat House Administrator, and President and Sister Kenneth B. Dyer of the West German Mission met with serv- icemen and LDS members.
How often has each of us dreamed of going to Europe and viewing the old world with its quaint cus- toms, castles, and traditions, of hear- ing concerts and operas of the great music masters played by their own people, or of viewing the magnificent Rhine as it flows through steep hills covered with luxuriant grapevines, of standing before the matchless works of Rembrandt, Titian, Van Dyke, and Goya?
There are many LDS servicemen's groups within the boundaries of the West German Mission. Also coming under the jurisdiction of the mission are five groups in North Africa. These groups are comprised of approximately 1700 men and their dependents. Though the number fluctuates con- stantly, at the present forty-six groups and two branches are carrying on a nearly complete Church pro- gram with priesthood and Sacrament meetings, Sunday Schools, MIA's, Primaries, and Relief Societies.
The Church servicemen's program is two fold in nature: missions, stakes, and wards of the men going into the service give them consultation, litera- ture, subscriptions to Church publica- THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
SERVICEMEN'S AREAS AND THEIR GROUPS IN WEST GERMANY
tions, and regular correspondence; and the stakes, wards, and missions where the men may be stationed af- ford them a servicemen's program de- signed to meet their religious needs. President Edwin Q. Cannon set up the present servicemen's program in the West German Mission during April 1951. He selected as his serv- icemen's co-ordinator Elder Albert P. Ostraff, from Pasadena, California, who had been originally called to Lebanon, but at the outbreak of vio-
lence there, was transferred to the West German Mission.
Elder Ostraff, devoting his entire time to the all -important work of getting things organized and func- tioning, visited chaplains, camps, bases — any and all places and people concerned with the spiritual welfare of the servicemen.
Groups were formed wherever pos- sible. Twenty-one were functioning at the time of his release in February 1952.
Church members are conference- minded, and a conference program was soon begun. The first mission - wide conference was held February 22, 23, and 24, 1952, with President Stayner Richards, Assistant to the Council of the Twelve and President of the British Mission, the visiting authority. Special servicemen ses- sions were also held during the regu- lar mission German conferences.
The program gained additional strength with the arrival of Chaplain Leon H. Flint in October 1951, the first of several LDS chaplains to enter the organization.
Elder J. C. Lillywhite, from South- gate, California, was selected to carry on the work of mission co-ordinator at the release of Elder Ostraff. Groups were visited regularly, new ones formed, and a closer correlation with army chaplains in finding new LDS men and implementing the program was established. More servicemen's families from the United States began to arrive, and the program was broadened to meet the increased needs.
The conference program was con- tinued and particularly highlighted during President David O. McKay's visit in 1952. At that conference an- other LDS chaplain, Marvin Green, was welcomed into the program.
(Continued on following page)
STUTTGART CONFERENCE DIREC- TORS. Left to right: Elder William V. Nash, mission servicemen's co-ordinator; Sister Bernice O. Dyer, Relief Society president; President Kenneth B. Dyer, West German mission president; Chaplain Mar- vin Green, LDS chaplain assisting confer- ence proceedings.
SEPTEMBER 1956
HEIDELBERG CHAPEL AND SERVICEMEN'S CENTER. The $65,000 edifice is being financed from contributions both from German members of the Church and US servicemen stationed in the area. Those looking over the structure are, left to right: Jackson Poulson, second counselor, Aberdeen, Idaho; Paul Nuttall, Pacific Grove, California; Grant W. Mason, first counselor, Aurora, Utah; W. LaGrand Nielsen, group president, Hyrum, Utah; Harold Herzog, clerk, Kemmerer, Wyoming; Max Eldredge, Provo, Utah; David P. Forsyth, Spring Canyon, Utah.
641
Servicemen in West Germany
(Continued from preceding page)
When Elder Lillywhite was re- leased in September 1953, Elder Wil- liam V. Nash, from Ogden, Utah, was called to fill the position of co- ordinator. The program now was be- ginning to come into its own, and under the able supervision of Elder Nash, several notable advancements were brought into being.
Since there is strength in numbers, the conference program was encour- aged. Elder Henry D. Moyle of the Council of Twelve presided over a mission-wide conference of service- men held in Frankfurt am Main in March 1954. During the same year, the army began a program whereby men of all faiths could attend three days of religious instruction among Berchtesgaden's beautiful Alpine sur- roundings in southern Germany. Ironically, this area used to be the summer playground of Adolf Hitler and his staff. Two conferences for LDS servicemen were held there dur- ing August and October 1954. Since then two annual conferences have been held, one presided over by Elder Spencer W. Kimball, the other by Elder Adam S. Bennion.
These served as forerunners for the April 1955 conference arranged by Elder Nash and Charles Bartanen, the Swiss-Austrian Mission co-ordi- nator. Eight hundred participants from England, France, Africa, Turkey, Egypt, East and West Germany were in attendance to hear the inspiring messages of Elder Spencer W. Kimball and mission leaders.
The attendance at these conferences broke all previous attendance records and delighted the chief chaplain, European Command, stationed in Heidelberg. While being visited by Elder Nash, Chaplain Edwin Kirt- ley showed him the attendance chart of those attending Berchtesgaden, and remarked: "After the Mormon con- ference down there, our chart looks like a cut-a-way section of the United States with your conferences making up the Great Divide and all the other faiths the Great Plains. We are very pleased with the support you give to our religious program."
Additional organization was intro- duced as the number of groups in- creased. The groups were divided into five areas, and area co-ordi- nators were called to supervise them, assisted by counselors, and area secre- taries. Complementing this, a serv- 642
icemen's committee composed of the LDS chaplains, servicemen's co-ordi- nator, and mission president was formed to function much as a stake high council. Within each area, quarterly conferences were begun, and today many would rival stake con- ferences in appearance and spiritual- ity.
Those first accepting calls to the position of area co-ordinator were: William Conant, Kaiserslautern area; David Miller, Stuttgart area; Allyn Mahoney, Nurnberg area; Chaplain Lawrence Rast, Munich area; and Chaplain Russel C. Robertson, Frank- furt area. Since that time, Brothers Conant, Miller, and Mahoney have returned to the "Land of the PX," as servicemen refer to the United States, and have been replaced by Chaplain Timothy H. Irons, Arthur R. Keeley, and William R. McConkie, respectively. In January 1956, the increasing number of groups within the Frankfurt area necessitated a divi- sion. Consequently, the Rhine Valley area was with the lower part of the Frankfurt area and is now presided over by Chaplain Robertson. At that time, Chaplain Rast was transferred from Munich by his duty and was called to preside over the Frankfurt area. Denzil Stewart was then called to supervise the Munich area.
Under the guidance of these men, each area has grown and flourished. The increased supervision and help given to the groups by this organiza- tion resulted in the betterment of all phases of group activities. Standard courses of instruction were begun, and it was discovered that a group having only one or two children could have a Primary, and with one or two women a Relief Society could be con- ducted in which non-members were invited to participate.
Today, the program has six Pri- maries and twenty-one Relief So- cieties. Most servicemen's families are young, and the children are not old enough for Primary except in the larger groups. However, nearly all the Relief Societies are fully organ- ized and well attended, some with twenty -five women. Their effective- ness was well stated by Sister Barbara Pancheri who came to join her hus- band stationed in Munich. The day after she arrived, she attended Re- lief Society. After the meeting, her relieved comment was: "Why, I came here expecting to be a total stranger,
and here it is just like home. They even asked me to lead the Singing Mothers in the next conference!"
MIA's soon made their appearance, and standard achievement awards could still be gained as evidenced by Richard and Patricia Michaud who received their Master M Man and Golden Gleaner awards respectively in the Kaiserslautern group. Gold and green balls, firesides, basketball, and socials are sponsored with fine success. During the winter cycle of conferences, roadshows of high qual- ity were given. The best one from each area was selected to be given at the Berchtesgaden conference dur- ing April.
More complete and accurate forms for reporting meetings, attendance, and ordinances have been created. By so doing, normal Church func- tions are carried forth, including priesthood advancements, blessings of babies, baptisms, and marriages, and an accurate monthly report is sent to the general servicemen's committee.
During this period of development, a unique branch was formed in Wies- baden, consisting of German and American members. A new person coming into the branch would be amazed to find the singing done in both languages, and announcements and talks during Sunday School given alternately. Since then, other groups have been meeting jointly with Ger- man branches in Heidelberg, Stutt- gart, Munich, Mannheim, Heilbronn, and Friedberg.
Recognizing the needs of the Church here in Germany, many serv- icemen requested that they be given a project to accomplish in order to leave something of worth when they returned home. Thus, a fund for the support of local full-time missionaries was begun, and through this, several fine young German brethren and sis- ters, who do not have the financial support for themselves, have been able to join the missionary ranks.
Groups meeting ' with German Saints soon began collecting building funds for chapels. The Heidelberg- group under the guidance of LaGrand Nielsen began a drive for a new chapel in March 1955, and presently have it well toward its dedication date. The Wiesbaden Branch di- rected by Lynn G. Sleight, began a similar drive, and is presently looking for a building site. The Frankfurt am Main American branch priest- hood group began a bookstore project
(Continued on page 670) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
FRANKFURT AREA'S LEADERS, Front row, (left to right) Lawrence K. Raty, La- Grande Nielsen, Elder Lynn Eric Johnson, Bernard Baker, Russel C. Robertson, chap- Iain, Frankfurt Area co-ordinator; Arnold J. Dance, Richard Devlin.
Second row, (left to right) Jorn Grawe, Paul Jensen, Lynn Davenport, Lowell Ralph, Boyd Nielsen, Loren Stoddard, Rex Ben- nion.
KAISERLAUTERN AREA'S LEADERS: front row, (left to right) Warren R. Rupper, Russell O. Hawks, Elder Lynn Eric Johnson, Kenneth B. Dyer, West German mission president; Sister Bernice Dyer, mission Re- lief Society president; Chaplain Timothy H. Irons, Kaiserslautern area co-ordinator; Milton E. Bond.
Second row, (left to right) Willis C. Pul- ver, George W. Shell, Calvin R. Marchant, Millard Wilde, Merlin Baker, Leonard G. Scrivens.
Third row, (left to right) John Burr, Lee Harmon, Harold L. Anderson, Blair E. Nils- son, Allan B. Laidlaw, Robert Clawson, Ronald G. Hendry.
MUNICH AREA AND GROUP LEAD- ERS: front row, (left to right) Elder Lynn Eric Johnson, Carl Bair, Orthel Dennison, Niel Coleman, Stanley Hammond, Sister Bernice O. Dyer; President Kenneth B. Dyer, Chaplain Lawrence Rast.
Second row, (left to right) Fred Finlayson, Willis Gurr, Gary Cook, Robert Pace, Chap- Iain Theodore E. Curtis, deputy chaplain, Seventh Army (LDS).
NURNBERG AREA AND GROUP LEADERS: front row, (left to right) Wil- liam R. McConkie, Allyn R. Mahoney, Sister Bernice O. Dyer; President Kenneth B. Dyer, Elder Lynn Eric Johnson, Richard S. Bowers, Max R. Ranquist.
Second row, (left to right) Clair T. Kilts, Graham H. Misbach, Kenneth J. Biddle, LaMonte Sant, Don L. Giauque, Kenneth Littlefield, Lynn J. Esplin, Gordon R. Ber- quist, Jim Hamilton.
f*s I**1 J?^
STUTTGART AREA LEADERS. Front row, (left to right) Craig Bentley, Kent Smith, Royal J. Swenson, Howard Gonzales, Arthur R. Keeley, Chaplain Theodore Curtis, Jr., Grant Haertel.
Second row, (left to right) Donald Lyman, Owen L. Cash, Jerry D. Wilde, Donald Middleton, Kenneth Jensen, Max Dunford, Elmo Carlisle, John Riding, Ray H. Garri- son, Jerry Dunn.
SEPTEMBER 1956
by Christie Lund Coles
Della watched her lovely daugh- ter descend the stairs. She was more beautiful than usual in the deep velvet formal with the over- skirts of paler blue tulle.
"You look like a heavenly blue fairy," she told her, smiling, "that color really brings out your eyes."
"Thank you," Coleen said, whirl- ing about as she reached the bottom of the steps, "watch it twirl."
It was a phrase she had used since a small child, and it tugged at her mother's heart. The girl seemed to use it purposefully, and her eyes were gentle as they met her mother's eyes.
Intuitively Delia looked at her, sensing something different — a ma- tureness, an almost old kindness to the older woman.
Maybe it was just because Coleen was so young and so happy and pitied anyone who had to sit home on the night of the senior ball.
Della remembered feeling that way about her parents twenty years ago — as if the world were over for them — wondering how they could endure the monotony, the boredom.
But now she knew the compensa- tions, the deep satisfactions that came with settling down, raising a family; the tiredness that was real but good at the end of a busy day. Each age had its joys and its wonders. Romance and dancing were for the young.
Even so, after Tom had come — in his rented tux — smiling, gracious, with eyes that lighted up for Coleen and made her doubly beautiful as she smiled at him, and the two had left for the dance, she went out to the kitchen. Instead of retiring early as she had planned, she decided to join
644
Della was unable to speak, she merely stared at her daughter, and the girl went on happily ... "I want a big reception . . ."
her husband who was having his usual snack of bread and milk.
"Well," he said, "this is quite un- usual for you. Aren't you afraid of the calories?"
"Tonight, I'm a little afraid . . . but not of calories. George, do you suppose Coleen and Tom are getting serious?"
"I thought they had been that way for quite some time."
"Oh, I mean serious, like — well, like thinking of getting married,"
"Not for a few days, I don't im- agine. Don't go dreaming up trou- bles."
"But, it's something I feel — the way I used to when she was going to be ill or in danger. I couldn't con- sent to it, George. She won't be
nineteen for three months. And she must have some college; we've planned it so long."
"Sure. And she's just a baby."
"She's not a baby, George. You can't seem to realize that she is grown, that it could happen. She's gone with Tom over a year, and of course he's a wonderful boy. The fact that he finishes college this year makes it even more of a possibility. He's old enough."
"Well, he can't get married just because he finishes college. He has to have a job. You quit your stewing."
Della watched television for a while but was bored with it, so she went to bed and tried to read. The book was uninteresting. She turned off the light and wondered why her
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
husband was staying up so late. She heard the clock strike twelve, fluffed her pillow, and turned from one side to another.
It wasn't very long until she heard the sound of Tom's car in the drive- way, heard the door open, and the two of them come in. Coleen said excitedly, "Daddy, do you think mother is awake?"
"I wouldn't be surprised," he told her, "you might run up and see."
But before she had a chance, Delia called down, "I'm awake, dear. What is it?" But she knew just as surely as she had known something had happened one day when the girl was practically a baby. She had been put down for her nap, had somehow climbed from her crib, and was just ready to run into the road when her
SEPTEMBER 1956
mother's intuition led her to look for her.
But as Delia came down in her quilted robe, she asked again, "What is it?"
The girl stepped over to Tom, took his arm, flushing, "Tom has some- thing to ask you and Daddy."
Her husband came closer to her. "Yes . . . ?" and Delia noticed that his face was suddenly white, as she knew her own must be.
Tom was pale, too, as he tried to speak, then he hesitated. Delia felt pity and tenderness go out to him in his embarrassment, but she waited. Finally, he said, "I suppose you've known that I have been in love with Coleen for some time. With your permission, I'd like to give her a dia- mond."
Delia asked, softly, "You wouldn't be getting married right away? You would just be engaged?" Somehow, it was all she could say.
Tom nodded. Delia looked at George, and he looked almost desper- ately at her. She spoke first. "I suppose if her father thinks it is all right ... it is all right with me. You know we're very fond of you, Tom. She couldn't find a finer boy." It was true . . . true . . . but. . . .
George agreed saying, "That's right. We'd be glad to have you for a son-in-law . . . someday. Aren't you a little young yet?"
"I'm past twenty-one, sir. And I have bought the ring. You see, she has consented."
"Oh, honey," Delia cried, reach- ing out for her, "why didn't you tell us?"
"He wanted to ask you, to make it all strictly according to custom and all that." The girl went into their arms, first her mother's, then her father's. They shook hands, and Del- la kissed Tom. Then he slipped the lovely solitaire upon the slim, white hand and kissed Coleen.
The familiar room seemed a sea of motion as Delia tried to hold back the tears that persisted and finally rolled down her cheek.
Coleen, seeing them, cried, "Now, Mother, none of that. Remember, you're not losing a daughter, you're gaining a son!"
"I know, dear. And it isn't like you were going to be married right away. But a mother deserves the right to shed a few tears. Kip will be sur- prised."
Kip, her younger son, was spend- ing the night with the neighbor boy. He and his sister had been extremely close despite their teasing and occa- sional arguments. Of course they still had a long time to be together — a year perhaps, or even more. Hadn't Tom said it was not to be right away?
Graduations were no sooner out of the way and summer upon them than Coleen came home one day ex- cited and happy. She seized her mother by the arms and cried, "Tom has a job — a very good job with a big engineering firm. We're going to get married in September!"
Delia was unable to speak. She merely stared at her daughter, and the girl went on, happily. "That will give us time to get things ready. I want a big reception, and six brides- maids, and ... I want a white lace (Concluded on page 658)
645
Space is thronged with wonders that lie beyond the perception of our physical senses. Speaking of the vastness and magnitude of his creative powers, God said to Moses:
And worlds without number have I cre- ated; . . . and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
. . . and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.
. . . and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.
For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortaliy and eternal life of man.1
The heritage of man as a child of God is to assist in the work and joy of endless creativity. Man can only achieve his destiny if he keeps in touch with his Divine Father. Then and then only does the meaning of eternal life illuminate his mind and spirit.
"Prayer is the soul's sincere desire," one of our hymns proclaims. It is not a means by which we secure our own private and selfish ends or beg God for wealth, pleasures, honors, or preferments. Rather, prayer endows us with the power to attune our lives to the creative influences of our Heav- enly Father so that he may do his will in and through us.
Amulek exhorted God's people about the importance of prayer in their lives:
Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may . . . call upon his holy name,
. . . Yea cry unto him for mercy; . . .
Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him.
Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, . . .
— over the flocks of your fields, . . . But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.
... let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually. . . .2
The hearts of Latter-day Saints are "drawn unto him continually" from birth to death: at the time of the baby's blessings, at the marriage altar, and at the grave. We pray in thanks- giving for our daily bread, around our firesides in the sacred circle of the family, at the bedside of the ill and infirm, and with our brothers and sisters of the larger family in ward and stake. With prayer we
Talking With Our Father Through Prayer
by Dr. Royal L. Garff
OF THE YMMIA GENERAL BOARD
*Adapted from the new edition of You Can Learn to Speak by Dr. Royal L. Garff, Chapter 21.
Wfoses 1:33, 35, 38-39.
=AIma 34:17-19, 24-27.
646
dedicate our sacred buildings as did the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Kirt- land Temple.
Okayer is divine fellowship with ■*■ God. Such spiritual companion- ship brings man a matchless blessing, the assurance that, "... I am not alone, because the Father is with me."3 President Heber J. Grant once wrote in The Improvement Era: "The minute a man stops supplicating God for his spirit and direction, just so soon he starts out to become a stranger to him and his works. When men stop praying for God's Spirit, they place confidence in their own unaided reason, and they gradually lose the spirit of God, just the same as near and dear friends, by never writing to or visiting with each other, will be- come strangers."1
Eldred G. Smith, Patriarch to the Church, has counseled us: "We must not be hampered by any anger or meanness or hardness of heart, or any selfish desires. We must tune our minds and our hearts to the spirit of God just as we tune our radio to receive the program from the broadcasting station. We want no interfering static from outside influ- ences. In the attitude of true re- pentance we should seek forgiveness of our past mistakes and guidance for improvement."5
This being true, all of us should think more often and more creatively about our prayers. If we do we may be able to utter prayers that are not only deeply earnest and sincere but are also understandable to those who share our communications with our Father in heaven.
The habit of prayer expresses the basic character of many great men. Benjamin Franklin recognized the
=John 1632.
■■Grant, Heber J., "Some Sentence Sermons" (The Editor's Page) The Improvement Era, August 1944, p. 481.
5Smith, Eldred G., 121st Semi-annual Conference Report, September 1950, p. 57.
necessity of communicating with an all wise Father in the founding of our nation. Stonewall Jackson, stalwart leader of the Old South, bore this testimony: "I have so fitted the habit in my mind that I never raise a glass of water to my lips without asking God's blessing; never seal a letter without a brief word of prayer under the seal; never take a letter from the post without a brief sending of my thoughts heavenward; never change my classes in the lecture without a minute's petition for the cadets who go out and those who come in."
W/e should condition our minds and '* hearts to the act and spirit of praying. Lofty thoughts of beauty, spiritual power, peace, happiness, ap- preciation, and thanksgiving should permeate our souls; for it is not what we possess that matters, but what possesses' us; not what belongs to us, but what we belong to that is most important. We need to belong to that group which remembers to be thank- ful. Jesus taught us this lesson as he traveled to Jerusalem:
And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:
And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.
And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God.
And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan.
And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?
There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger.
And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.0
When praying, each of us should speak clearly and distinctly. Disraeli appropriately said: "There is no in-
"Lukc 17:12-19.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
dex of character as sure as the voice." Let us remember that voice tones should ring out with the conviction that expresses sincerity. They should win and sustain favorable attention. The quality of our voices should create a worshipful mood and stimu- late feelings of reverence, thanksgiv- ing, and inspiration. A mumbling, bumbling, fumbling, grumbling prayer puts a rude damper upon our wor- ship.
In addition to the Lord's Prayer, here are several of the other scrip- tural supplications that open our hearts to God:
And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congre- gation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven: [and prayed:]
. . . Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart.7
Hezekiah, during the time of Isaiah, was sick unto death and was told to set his house in order for he was to "die and not live."
Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
And said, Remember now, O Lord, I be- seech thee, how I have walked before thee
in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. . . .s
The Lord heard his prayer and promised him fifteen years more of life. Then Hezekiah returned thanks in joyous prayer:
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
The Lord was ready to save me: there- fore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.9
In the first year of the King Darius, Daniel read the prophecies of Jere- miah and understood that the Lord "would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem." Daniel sought the Lord
... by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes: [and cried out]
. . . O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary. . . .
O my God, incline thine ear, and hear: open thine eyes, and behold our desola- tions, . . . for we do not present our sup-
7I Kings 8:22-23.
sIsaiah 38:2-3. Hbid., 38:16, 18-20.
'Give us this day our daily bread.
SEPTEMBER 1956
plications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies.10
In all history, God has dealt with his children according to their faith and prayers. He has heard their supplications, their expressions of thanksgiving, and their triumphant prayers of exaltation. The language used in such utterances should in- spire our deepest interest and most sincere study if we are to rise above the most ordinary and commonplace manner of speaking. He is our king and should be addressed in language befitting his majesty and power.
There are also among the writings of the literary masters many lovely prayers. Read them for sheer beauty, depth of sacred feeling, and loftiness of expression.
Some prayers are shared through singing together. A favorite hymn of Latter-day Saints is "Guide Me To Thee:"
When strife and sin arise,
Guide me to Thee;
When tears bedim my eyes,
Guide me to Thee;
When hopes are crushed and dead,
When earthly joys are fled,
Thy glory round me shed,
Guide me to Thee."
Although we may not use the words of sublime scriptures and writings as a part of our prayers, they can pro- vide inspiration and be reflected in our expressions before the Lord.
A word of caution is offered to all who pray: Let us not presume to specify the manner in which God shall answer our prayers. Rather let us trust to his benevolent wisdom.
When we pray in our Church gatherings, we should realize that we are expressing the thoughts and feel- ings of an entire congregation and should avoid the common mistake of praying for ourselves alone. Instead of saying "my prayer" and "my faith" we should say "our prayer" and "our faith." We should direct our thinking to the purpose of the prayer, the significance and theme of the meeting, and the needs and feelings of the entire congregation.
Our prayers should not become stereotyped, rigid, or routine. We should remember that needs and cir- cumstances change from day to day and that our prayers should be ap- (Concluded on following page)
K>DanieI 9:3, 17-18.
^The Latter-day Saint Hymnhook under the title "Jesus, My Savior True."
647
Talking With Our Father Through Prayer
(Concluded from preceding page)
propriate to the occasion, season, and times.
We should not use the name of Deity too often nor repeat over and over again such phrases as "Our Father in heaven," or "Dear Father." Needless reiterations change the sacred connotations of prayers into redundant utterances.
We have been instructed by our General Authorities in the words of Elder Francis M. Lyman not only re- garding the "repetition of the name of Deity" but also most impressively about the length of our invocations and benedictions. Heed his wise words:
It is not necessary to offer very long and tedious prayers, either at the opening or closing. It is not only not pleasing to the Lord for us to use excess of words, but also it is not pleasing to the Latter-day Saints. Two minutes will open any kind of meet- ing, and a half minute will close it.
We ought to take into account the occa- sion, and let the prayer be suited exactly to it. Some times our habits may control us more strongly than the Spirit of the Lord, so we should consider these things. Offer short prayers and avoid vain repeti- tions, particularly the repetition of the name of Deity, and. the name of the Savior. It is quite common to open a prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, to close it in his name, and possibly use his name a few times through the prayer. If we approach the Father and offer our petitions to him, and then close in the name of Jesus Christ, it is sufficient. There is no prayer so great and important that it is necessary to use more than once the name of the Son of God and the Father.12
Dr. Royal L. Garff
that I myself have been shocked as I have heard missionaries called on for prayer who seem to have had no experience or training whatever in the use of the language of prayer.
... I think, my brethren, that in the quorums and in the classes, you would do well, as in the homes, also, to teach the language of prayer — "thee" and "thou"
rather than "you." It always seems disap- pointing to me to have our Father in heaven, our Lord, addressed as "You." It is surpris- ing how much we see of this ... I think you might make a note of it, and avail yourselves of any opportunities that may come in order to teach the sacred and reverential language of prayer.
It should also be observed that the verb, when it is used with a sacred pronoun, ends in "est" or "eth." Here are a few examples: "Thou knowest," or "He knoweth," "keepest" and "keepeth," "bringest," "bringeth," "worketh," or "workest," "abideth" or "abidest," "supplieth," "believest" "nearest," "doeth," "hast," "wilt," "canst," and the like. There are scores of words like these. Surely, we should form the habit of using them correctly and of pronouncing them clearly and easily.
In the classical language of the Old Testament, the Lord spake unto Moses, saying:
. . . On this wise ye shall bless the chil- dren of Israel, saying unto them,
The Lord bless thee, and keep thee:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."
"Numbers 6:23-27.
David Oman McKay Teacher and Prophet
By Leone E. McCune
If there remains any question about being reverently brief, hearken to the plain words of Jesus:
But when ye pray, use not vain repeti- tions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.13
We should always address Deity with the use of the sacred pronouns thou, thee, thy, and thine, observing the wise counsel of President Stephen L Richards as given in the general priesthood meeting, October 6, 1951:
We have discovered ... a lack of proper teaching with reference to prayer. I know
CJtraight-backed and dignified ^ A tall broad-shouldered figure Of a man, sculptured white hair, Dark, soul-searching eyes, Sincere, gracious and magnetic.
Born of noble parents, in a home Where family love and true devotion To God were paramount. Reared amid lush green summer Vales and hills, the blue-white silences Of winter snows.
In this peaceful place the boy grew up, Sledding, riding horses, working, study- ing In the old rock schoolhouse — Later in schools of higher learning.
12From an address delivered in MIA conference, June 5, 1892, and reprinted in The Improvement Era, April 1947, p. 245.
^Matthew 6:7-8.
648
And always with him the dream, the
desire To teach, to explain God's purposes With His people here on earth, To render compassionate service.
Teacher, President of Weber Academy, Apostle of the Church, and last, Beloved Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. Leader and teacher wherever he goes, In character, in example, An inspiration to all who are privileged To come in contact with his divine spirit.
God grant him years and years To guide, to voice His teachings To the peoples of the world.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
63,000,000
On the night of September 7, 1956, Mars will be at a distance of some 35,200,000 miles from the Earth, the nearest Mars will approach the Earth for another fifteen years. Ris- ing in the east in the early fall eve- ning, Mars is the most conspicuous star-like object in the heavens. It can be easily distinguished from the stars by its great brilliance and red color.
Of the Sun's family of planets, no planet except the Earth has been the object of so much observation and study. While these studies have re- sulted in some well-founded results, many questions concerning the planet Mars remain unanswered. Let us re- view what three hundred years of telescopic observations have revealed.
Viewed with a telescope, Mars is usually a disappointing sight unless the atmosphere of the Earth is ex- ceptionally steady. Turbulence of the air blurs the image, and many of the details of the planet are lost. Under exceptionally steady atmos-
SEPTEMBER 1956
pheric conditions, however, much of the intricate detail on Mars can be seen with even moderate size tele- scopes.
The polar caps are the most con- spicuous features on the surface of Mars; they appear as white patches that cover the polar regions. Both caps change size; they are large dur- ing the Martian winter months and small during the summer months, for Mars has seasons that resemble our own, although they are twice as long. The alternate expanding and shrink- ing of the caps is repeated each Mar- tian year with great regularity.
Occasionally during the shrinkage of the caps, white isolated spots oc- cur, persist for a time, and then disap- pear. These isolated patches always occur at the same points on the sur- face, thus suggesting they are located on a summit or the shady slope of a hill.
The cyclic behavior of the polar caps suggests that they are extensive snow or frost fields which are formed
The Planet Mars
By D. H. McNamara
BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY
in the winter nights and progressively shrink under the heat of the return- ing sun. If this is true, there should be water present at the melting, un- less the snow or frost is transformed directly into the gaseous state. A dark fringe bordering the polar cap has been reported by many observers. This suggests the existence of a zone near the edges of the cap where the soil has been dampened by the melted snow or frost. On the other hand, some observers regard this fringe as an optical illusion. There is suffi- cient evidence from other sources, however, to conclude almost with cer- tainty that at the ground level the caps are composed of a thin layer of frost or snow. They appear to be surface features with a cloud or mist hanging above them.
About two-thirds of the surface of Mars has a rosy or orange color, which accounts for the ruddy glow of the planet as seen with the naked eye. Such areas for a long time have been regarded as barren desert regions which have been reduced to a fine powder by the action of winds. If mountains are present, they cannot be higher than a few thousand feet.
The exact mineralogical nature of these regions remains unknown. From the observed fact that these regions appear to be uniform in color, we can probably conclude correctly that the chemical composition of the top layer shows less variety than the cor- responding top layer found on Earth.
In addition to the bright orange- colored regions, there are dark re- gions (blue-green) which form per- manent patterns on the surface of the planet. Useful telescopic ob- servations of these dark areas extend- ing back to 1660 have made possible an accurate determination of the pe- riod of rotation. The period is 24h 37m, just a little longer than the Earth's period of rotation. Hence, a day on Mars would be very similar to a day on the Earth.
Careful studies of the dark regions have revealed that they undergo cer-
(Continued on following page)
649
The Planet Mars
(Continued from preceding page) tain modifications in detail. These changes are intrinsic, definitely affect- ing the true surface of the planet. The variations are of two types: One type is completely irregular; it consists of changes in brightness that occur usually on the edge of a dark region. These bordering areas take on the same coloring as the ad- jacent dark regions; then, after per- sisting for several years, the areas gradually change and regain their normal appearance. Certain areas on the planet are more subject to these irregular changes than others.
More interesting are the seasonal variations of the blue-green areas which occur with regularity each Martian year. With the shrinking of the polar caps, the blue-green areas around the caps gradually darken; the darkening extends day by day to- ward the Martian equator, reaching
650
Seasonal changes in South Polar Cap of Mars
the equatorial regions by the late spring and summer.
This remarkable change in the in- tensity of the dark regions of Mars suggests a phenomenon that is cor- related directly with the arrival of moisture provided by the melting of the polar caps. One appealing ex- planation is that the dark areas are regions supporting forms of vegeta- tion whose growth and decay during the Martian season account for the changes that we observe. Appealing as this hypothesis is, it has its difficul- ties, for a study of the light reflected from these regions has demonstrated the lack of chlorophyll which is re- sponsible for the green pigment of the higher forms of plant life found on Earth. This does not rule out, how- ever, the presence of lower forms of plant life such as lichens and certain hardy mosses. It is true that the existence of an atmosphere on Mars is proved by the presence of occasional clouds that obscure the surface of the
— Photograph by E. C. Slipher, Lowell Observatory.
planet. Transitory bright spots, last- ing only a few hours, are haze; others, which are conspicuous in yellow light and last for several days, are prob- ably dust storms. But the most serious objection to the vegetative hypothesis is the almost total absence of free oxygen in the Martian atmosphere. Spectrographic studies have revealed that free oxygen, if there is any, does not exist in density equal to one per- cent of that found on Earth at sea level. Although there is also no trace of water vapor present in a spectrum of Mars, there still may be enough present to form thin snow caps, haze, and perhaps thin clouds as well. Carbon dioxide is present in an abundance greater than that found in our own atmosphere. Although it is impossible to verify, the chief con- stituent of the Martian atmosphere is probably nitrogen, which is also the chief constitutent of Earth's atmos- phere. That the Martian atmosphere
(Continued on page 653) THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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The Planet Mars
(Continued from page 650) is much thinner than the Earth's is certain because of the lower surface gravity on Mars and the clearness with which we can view the surface. At the distance of Mars, the in- tensity of the Sun's radiation is only four-ninths that received by Earth; it is to be expected that the tempera-
ture is lower than Earth's. By direct measurement the average temperature of Mars has been found to be 40° be- low zero compared with a mean tem- perature of 60° above zero on Earth. At the Martian equator, however, the temperature may rise to as high as 50° above zero at noon, but at night
(Concluded on following page)
Richard L. Evans
'T'here was once perpetrated upon the public a two-word -1- phrase that is contrary to truth and goodness and good sense: "Live dangerously." Many do it, and many have done it — of which the rising accident rate is eloquent evi- dence, and of which there are other evidences also, with broken lives, and broken bodies, and broken minds— and broken hearts — and senseless waste and sorrow. Some of it may be unavoidable, so far as human power to prevent — but much of it comes from a brash or thoughtless or in- temperate attitude toward life, from lack of calm purpose and calm consideration, and lack of understanding of the ultimate objective. And it isn't only with physical or me- chanical mishaps that we are concerned. Many men live dangerously mentally and morally, and run contrary to the current of truth, contrary to the simple, ageless God-given commandments, and so create worries and frictions and ten- sions and troubles inside themselves — and outside also. Everyone who violates any valid law lives dangerously, be- cause the very violation of law is evidence of an unsafe atti- tude. There is no wisdom really in crowding corners, in scuffing against every obstacle, in contesting every right-of- way, in cutting to the unsafe side, in pushing headlong ever faster than the safe legal limits. (Nor even is there any wisdom in taking into ourselves things which are damaging or deteriorating.) There is great, quiet sustaining strength and satisfaction in the calm and thoughtful living of life — in running sensibly in safe channels; but there is no satisfy- ing happiness in the tensions and anxieties of an unsafe situation; there is no happiness in having to run away; there is no happiness in the fears of an unquiet conscience; there is no happiness in gambling away irreplaceable things; there is no happiness in uncontrolled temper. There is no real happiness in a wildly flaming fire— excitement perhaps, but not happiness. There are commandments; there are rules; there are laws; there are ways of quiet and considered safety that would lengthen out our lives and endear us to others and cut down the tragedies, the injuries, the illnesses, the accidents. And in contrast to the false and futile invitation to "live dangerously" we suggest simply for those who seek peace and health and happiness — and safety and survival: Live thoughtfully, with high purpose and a quiet conscience.
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The Planet Mars
(Concluded from preceding page)
the temperature must fall consider- ably below zero. Thus, the range of temperatures experienced through a Martian day is considerably greater than we experience on Earth during twenty-four hours.
In view of our present knowledge of Mars, what can we say about the presence of life on Mars? The ques- tion of the existence of life naturally has to be restricted to the case of life as we know it. Life on Earth requires an abundance of oxygen, re- stricted conditions of temperature and atmospheric pressure. Since these con- ditions are not met satisfactorily on Mars, we can say with reasonable certainty that the great majority of living things found on Earth, in- cluding ourselves, would perish if ex- posed to the atmosphere of Mars. Yet we cannot say with certainty that Mars is devoid of life, for the real possibility exists that life can adapt itself to Martian conditions — condi- tions in some respects not too differ- ent from our own.
Some observers have reported see- ing a network of dark lines that criss- cross the surface of the planet. These lines, which are known as "canals," have been reported as being very thin and often double, exhibiting a re- markable geometric regularity which is hard to account for on the basis of natural causes. Others consider the "canals" an illusion; to them the canals appear as wide, diffuse bands. Perhaps additional study of the planet during the present favorable approach will help to solve the argument about "canals" that has persisted for more than half a century.
Mars has two satellites (moons) which were discovered in 1877. They are very small, less than ten miles in diameter. The inner moon is named Phobos (fear) and the outer moon Deimos (panic). Phobos is only 3700 miles from the surface of Mars and would, to an observer on Mars, appear to rise above the western sky every eleven hours; it would, there-
fore, rise twice during a single Mar- tian day and change from a crescent to a full moon in about five hours. Deimos; on the other hnd, would rise in the east and remain above the horizon for several days, as it passes through two complete cycles or phases before setting on the western horizon.
Perhaps of even greater interest is the remarkable anticipation of these curious moons in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. In this book, he describes the astronomical accom- plishments of the Lilliputians who "discovered two lesser stars, or satel- lites, which revolve about Mars, whereof the innermost is distant from the center of the primary planet exactly three of the diameters, and the outermost five; the former revolves in the space of ten hours, and the latter in twenty-one and a half." The figures for the distances and periods of the moons are close to their true values, yet the book was written by Swift a century and a half before the moons were actually discovered!
Jesus Christ — the God of the Old Testament
(Concluded from page 638) by a pillar of fire at night and a cloud by day, providing them with manna when they were hungry and water when they were thirsty, and parting the waters of the Red Sea for them.
At Mt. Sinai, Jesus spent forty days conferring with Moses, and there gave him the Ten Commandments and many other laws and instructions.
Before his death Moses ordained Joshua to lead the children of Israel. Jesus spoke to him saying: ". . . as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will