/^llmproucmentlEra
JANUARY, 1945
VOLUME 48 NUMBER 1 RETURN POSTAGE GUARANTEED SALT LAKE CITY 1, UTAH
The magic flame that will brighten your future. Unequalled for economy, heat control and speed
MOUNTAIN FUEL SUPPLY COMPANY
Serving Twenty-three Utah Communities
By DR. FRANKLIN S. HARRIS, JR.
A map of the starry heavens was made by the Pawnee Indians about the time of Columbus. Now in the Chicago Natural History Museum, the map gives the positions of the planets accurately enough for astronomers to be able to tell when it was made. ♦
"\17hen spiders span a wide gap the first time to build a web, it is usu- ally done by the wind carrying a single silken line across first. Spiders have been known to fix one end of a single strand to an object high above the ground, climb down to the ground while reeling out the strand, then climb up high on another object many feet away and reel in the line to take up the slack. 4
7V study of the time to locate the proper holes and dial a telephone number has revealed that the over-all time to dial a seven-digit number is about twelve seconds. +
VSTisconsin and Oregon were likely both named for the same river, the Wisconsin, one of the main routes used by the French in passing from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. Oregon has been traced back to the form Oaaricon on early maps, but on most early maps Wisconsin is written Ouiconsing, the oui later being changed to wi the way the same sound may be represented in English.
4 :
A new two-million volt X-ray tube has been developed. Medically this will make possible deeper treatment for cancer, and industrially it will make pos- sible examination of materials for flaws, by taking pictures in a fraction of the time necessary with the best previous tubes.
FOR WINTERTIME
"Rish can be trained to respond to sound over about the same pitch range as the sensitivity of the human ear. Using tuning forks and food, fish have been found to hear weaker sounds than do human ears also under water. Many kinds of fish make sounds. Min- nows when excited give a soft piping sound.
A hundred pounds of scrap fats and "^ oils can be converted into more than six pounds of glycerin, then to fifteen pounds of nitroglycerin. This nitroglycerin used in blasting dynamite can loosen 1500 tons of soft coal or suf- ficient iron ore to provide steel to make two thousand hundred-pound bombs. {Concluded on page 4)
JANUARY, 1945
ot only are $fo*fy <&* grrhrms delicious and good to eat, but they re so nourishing, too! Five gyoH£v&££. grrhrms in a glass of milk actually double the nutritive value of milk! Keep a generous c,lpply on hand for hearty
■ ■
£- look for the Rich Brown Package
A HABIT WORTH WHILE
Thousands of women regularly every Tuesday and Thursday morning tune in Mary Lee Taylor's broadcast of recipe demonstrations from the Sego Milk Experimental Kitchen. They do it to get new ideas that help them pre- pare wartime meals that are more wholesome and delicious and that cost less . . . with Irradiated Sego Milk.
Listeners are invited to write for free cookbooks and recipes and menu suggestions. Tune in for complete details . . .
the standard
OF
HIGHEST QUALITY
Every Tuesday and Thursday Morning
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KSL — 9:00 a.m. |
KUTA— 11:15 a.m. |
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KSUB — 9:00 a.m. |
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KRBM — 10:30 a.m. |
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KFBB — 9:45 a.m. |
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KIDO — 10:30 a.m. |
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KSEI — 10:15 a.m. |
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Also— you'll enjoy "THE SATURDAY NIGHT SERENADE"
featuring Jessica Dragon otte
Every Saturday — 7:45 to 8:15 p.m.— KSL
Sego Milk Products Company
Originator of Evaporated Milk in the Intermountain West Plants in Richmond, Utah; Preston and Buhl, Idaho
Jke Uc
ouer
This study in wheels is by Jeano Or- lando. Wheels suggest many things. Inactive wheels suggest the dormancy of winter. The turn of the wheel suggests the turn of the year. Wheels are basic to motion, basic to travel, basic to ma- terial progress.
Editors
Heber J. Grant John A. Widtsoe
Managing Editor
Richard L Evans
Associate Editors
Marba C. Josephson William Mulder
(on leave with the armed
forces)
General Manager
George Q. Morris
Associate Manager
Lucy G. Cannon
Business Manager John D. Giles
National Advertising Representatives
Francis M. Mayo,
Salt Lake City Edward S. Townsend,
San Francisco and
Los Angeles Dougan and Bolle,
Chicago and
New York .
Member, Audit Bureau of Circulations
QmpTOieiEFbra
JANUARY, 1945
VOLUME 48, NO. 1
"THE VOICE OF THE CHURCH"
Official Organ of the Priesthood Quorums, Mutual Improvement
Associations, Department of Education, Music Committee, Ward
Teachers, and Other Agencies of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
*
Jke (Lditor'd J^a
Greetings from the First Presidency...
9
e
10
L^kurck ^jreattArei
"Behold the Lamb of God, Which Taketh Away the Sin of
the World" J. Reuben Clark, Jr. 12
The Prophet Joseph Smith — on Doctrine and Organization....
David C\ McKay 14
A Mormon Wife — The Life Story of Augusta Winters Grant
— HI: Augusta Goes Away to School....Mary Grant Judd 16 Mr. Church Officer: Do You Talk Too Much?
Marvin O. Ashton 21
Mission Spirit Kept Alive Ann C* Larson 22
Evidences and Reconciliations: LXXXVD3 — Why Is Rein*
carnation a False Doctrine? John A. Widtsoe 29
The Church Moves On 25
Priesthood: The Seventy 18
Melchizedek 30
Aaronic 33
Ward Teaching 34
No-Liquor-Tobacco Column ....31
Genealogy 32
Music 35
special ^jreat
T
eatures
Man's Eternal Belief in Immortality Levi Edgar Young 18
Some Experiences with General Villa Leslie L* Sud weeks 23
The Spoken Word from Temple Square Richard L. Evans 26
Exploring the Universe, Frank- lin S. Harris, Jr 1
Early Indians of. the Four-Cor- ner Region, Charles E. Dib- ble 3
Telefacts - 4
Family Fun, Albert L. Zobell,
Jr 6
On the Bookrack 7
The Religious Attitudes of Noted Men, Leon M. Strong.. 8
Learning to Think, Mabel-Ruth
Jackson 32
Homing: Christmas Cards and Sugar Sacks, Gladys F.
Rasmussen 36
Here's How 36
Cook's Corner, Josephine B.
Nichols 36
Handy Hints 38
News from the Camps 39
Your Page and Ours 56
(Ldtforiaid
"And the Books Were Opened" Richard L« Evans 28
New Year's Wish , Marba C. Josephson 28
S^tories, j-^oet
The Hardscrabble Grizzlies Claude T. Barnes 20
The Lost Pathfinder— Part I Ann Woodbury Hafen 40
Thoughts in a Kitchen, Elaine Frontispiece: Winter, Eva W.
V. Emans ~ 2 Wangsgaard 9
Come, Holy Spirit, C. Frank Poetry Page _. 24
Steele 6
JkoiAqhfa
a
louatiid in ^J\itckt
len
By Elaine V. Emans
I made the cookies that you like today,
And, tucking them into their squatty jar,
I thought, why must he be too far away
To have them? Then I smiled, for though too far
For things I bake, I knew that you are near
Enough for safe re- ceiving of the store
Of courage I can send, and sunny cheer,
And dreams of future, faith; and, even more
Important probably, there is no ban
On love which one may send a service- man!
Change of Address:
Fifteen days' notice re- quired for change of ad- dress. When ordering a change, please include stencil impression from a recent issue of the maga- zine. Address changes cannot be made unless the old address as well as the new one is included.
Executive and Editorial Offices:
50 North Main Street, Salt Lake City 1, Utah.
Copyright 1944 by Mu- tual Funds, Inc., a Cor- poration of the Young Men's Mutual Improve- ment Association of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All rights reserved. Subscrip- tion price, $2.00 a year, in advance; 20c 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 1 1 03, Act of Oc- tober, 1917, authorized July 2, 1918.
The Improvement Era is not responsible for un- solicited manuscripts, but welcomes contributions.
All manuscripts must be accompanied by suffi- cient postage for delivery and return.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
oftL FOUR-CORNERS REGION
By DR. CHARLES E. DIBBLE
7TS we search for the beginnings of u\ Indian history in Utah, it is neces- •*• * sary to piece together the story from the sketchy existing evidence. The first people of which we find remains are a hunting and food-gathering people who wandered over most of Southwest- ern United States. They lived in caves; their tools were of flint; and their prin- cipal weapon was a spear.
About 300 A.D. an agricultural peo- ple appeared in the Four-corners area. At first this culture was limited to the area drained by the San Juan River. The culture has come to be known as the basketmaker culture, because the peo- ple made an excellent type of basketry. The first stage of their culture is Basket- maker LI.
The Basketmaker II people were long-headed; they lived in brush wind- breaks at the rear of open caves. They constructed a slab-lined pit (cist) in which they stored their surplus food. They made clothing of bark, rabbit- skins, and woven feathers. Their san- dals were made of yucca fiber. They buried their dead in a flexed position; almost invariably well-made baskets were placed over the head of the de- ceased. The only domesticated animal was the dog.
In addition to hunting, the chief source of food was corn and squash. The basic agricultural implement for digging and cultivating was a pointed or blade-like stick which was used for planting or loosening the soil.
At this point in the pre-history of the
Southwest the efforts of the people were
(Concluded on page 38)
OBJECTS FROM UTAH CAVES: a, hairbrush of pine needles; b, fragment of carrying band; c, dipper of mountain sheep horn; d, pottery paint cup; e, ball of cord.
—From the Bureau of American Ethnology Publication~bg Neil M. Judd -J
Tom loved his
Sunday morning sleep. Come time for
Breakfast, not a peep!
Till Sue served
pancakes of "straight wheat" Now Tom thinks
Breakfast can't be beat!
No one will miss breakfast time at your house, when it's time for tender, "straight wheat" pancakes I Remember Grandma's pancakes? . . . well, you get the same grand, old-fashioned flavor from Globe "Al" Pancake & Waffle Flour- made with "straight wheat" flour.
A special treat for the family ... but no special trouble for you. You make delicious pancakes in a jiffy. Just add water or milk to ready- mixed Globe "Al" Pancake & Waffle Flour, stir, and bake. And for super-tender A-l waffles follow the easy recipe on the box.
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A-l "straight wheat" flavor is an exclusive feature of Globe "Al" Pancake & Waffle Flour. It results from a blending of highest quality ingredients just like you'd use in your own kitchen . . . flour (straight wheat ... no other grains), buttermilk, and five other baking ingredients . . . already mixed for your convenience. Globe "Al" has that truly, old-fashioned and home- made flavor!
GLOBE Mf)
PANCAKE AND WAFFLE FLOUR
JANUARY, 1945
[THE ADVENTURES OF MRS. GIBSON]
II
the Case of the
Mr. Gibson wouldn't eat his breakfast. He didn't like this — he didn't have time for that. He'd race through the morning paper, swallow a glass of milk and make a dive for the 7:20 bus.
Then Mrs. G. discovered ZOOM. "I'd like that, my- self," she thought, "and since it cooks instantly it won't take long to prepare."
So she cooked some for her breakfast but when Mr. Gibson saw it he said: "That looks mighty good. I might try a little." And before he jumped for the bus, he'd eaten two bowlsful.
• • •
Have you a breakfast- slighter in your home? ZOOM, Fisher's instant-cook- ing whole wheat cereal will start the day right with a hot, nourishing meal that "lasts till lunch." Get ZOOM at your grocer's today.
INSTANT COOKING WHOLE WHEAT CEREAL
TEiEFACT
190
HOW SOME FOOD PRICES HAVE GONE UP SINCE 1939
100 -
FRUITS & VEGETABLES
EGGS
DAIRY PRODUCTS
MEATS
CEREAL,
BAKERY
PRODUCTS
WCTOGRAPH CORPORATION
EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE
( Concluded from page 1 ) VI 7ooden dry docks for ships arc built
*^ in polluted waters, rather than in clean waters, because bugs and destruc- tive worms cannot live in polluted waters. *
A new type pump has been invented which uses the beating of the waves against a ship's side for power. It is claimed that waves a foot and a half high will enable the pump to eject one ton of water a minute. ^
P\r. Paul H. Harmon has treated *-^ arthritis surgically by inserting plastic cups in the affected joints after the excess bone growth has been re- moved, permitting painless motion.
HPhe United States could support a population of about five hundred fifty million, Dr. William J. Berry has estimated, on the basis of resources and a comparison of geographical regions of the United States with more heavily populated regions of comparable soil and climate in other parts of the world.
\Tery promising experiments indicate ^ that the labor of sugar beet thinning may be eliminated. By separating the multiple sugar beet seed into single seeds, the seeds can be planted individu- ally the proper distance apart. +
[ aboratory work has found that sus- pensions of a mold, probably of the penicillium group, interfere with the growth of the tubercule bacilli.
4
A chicken that is nearly all light meat ■^ has been developed at the Belts- ville, Maryland, experiment station.
4
f"\NiON flavor occurs in cow's milk ^^ within about five minutes after the cow has eaten onions, and does not dis- appear until six hours after feeding. French weed flavor in the milk takes longer to disappear. To avoid weed flavors in the milk, cows must be kept off weedy pastures three to eight hours before milking. 4
/^\nly one third of the area of the ^-* United States is east of the Missis- sippi River.
TEUFACT
CANADA'S WHEAT PRODUCTION GOING UP AGAIN
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Utah In Her Western Setting $3.50
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Joseph Smith
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In language remarkable for clarity and beauty, a profound thinker shows the way to secure an abun- dant living.
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Here "appears the Mormon leader, full stature and four square, im- measurably superior to most of the eminent men of his time."
Joseph Smith, An American Prophet..$3.00
More than four score years of liv- ing Mormonism produced.
Gospel Standards ..$2.25
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"THE BOOK CENTER OF THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST" 44 East South Temple St., P. O. Box 958, Salt Lake City 10, Utah
Please send me
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JANUARY, 1945
OK, LADY!
MOTHER MACA SAYS . . .
Here's Succes Insurance for Your Baking!
Amazing
MACA YEAST
Use just like compressed yeast
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• Maca Yeast acts so fast — rises so quickly— you're all finished baking in a few hours. Maca saves extra trips to the store, too — because you can keep it fresh for weeks on your pantry shelf, always handy. It's dated for your complete pro- tection. And what a difference in results ! Maca gives bread and rolls that thrilling old-fashioned flavor . . . just like grand- ma's bread used to have.
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COPYRIGHT 1544. NORTHWESTERN YEAST CO.
3
Family Fun
By Albert L. Zobell, /r.
■\17ith the long winter evenings and * * the prospects that rationing will keep still more of us at home, one won- ders just what can be done in the way of family entertainment, when the group gathers around. How about an old time spelling bee? Way back there in school we learned a rule of spelling: "/ before e, except after c." Later on, they told us that "the exception proved the rule." There's either, neither, weird, seize, veil, their, height, leisure, reign, caf- feine . . . but how many can your group name in twenty seconds by the clock?
There are other rules that can be cited, and the exceptions called.
Every word must have a vowel. But how many words can you name with all six vowels? Here's a starter : facetious- ly, vexatiously, unquestionably, unaf- fectionately, instantaneously, disadvan- tageously, unintentionally, ambidex- trously, and unimpressionably.
Another very interesting field is the proverbs. Did you ever stop to think how many of them contradict each other? There's "Nothing ventured, nothing gained," and the equally good proverb, "He who hesitates is lost." Another set is "Birds of a feather flock together," which is cancelled by "Op- posites attract." Make it a game by adding to the list.
Instructors of typewriting often give students sentences containing every let- ter of the alphabet. It's surprising how easy it is to make a short sentence con- taining all the letters.
Did you ever try your hand at writing newspaper headlines? That's mental gymnastics that can be made into good fun. Take that front page story to- night. Count the space used in the head, allowing one and a half spaces for each m and w, one half space for each i, re- member to count the space between words, and now see if you can make a better headline than the editor did. It can't be too long for the width of the column, and a short line is about as bad, and what's more important, the head- line must say something.
COME, HOLY SPIRIT
A Prayer By C. Frank Steele
Come, Holy Spirit, light divine, Come, fill this suppliant heart of mine; Come with thy grace that I may see The power of God's felicity.
Come, Holy Spirit, witness still Of God's great love, his words fulfil That he shall never cease to bless, Nor leave his children comfortless.
Come, Holy Spirit, in thy care The peace of God all men may share; O, may the light of truth be shed Upon the living and the dead.
Come, Holy Spirit, power divine, Cleanse thou with fire this soul of mine; And may thy Saints anointed be To reign forever, Lord, with thee.
World's Grand Prize award- ed the makers of Mrs. J. G. McDonald's Chocolates at the London International ex- position . . . one of six world's grand prizes and 44 gold medals received for excellence.
TN this height of the holi- day season, you'll find Mrs. J. G. McDonald's Chocolates a world-fa- mous addition to every festive occasion. Choose them — as thousands of hostesses do — for their freshness and delicious goodness.
Serve them for your for- mal events — or with equal success, a thoughtful ges- ture to those friends and neighbors who drop in through the holidays.
Yes, Mrs. J. G. McDonald's Chocolates offer you a perfect way of saying "welcome" — and of offer- ing the best of good choc- olates for those you greet in your home.
Mrs.J.G.McDonald
Chocolate Company
Salt Lake City — Owned and Operated by Mrs. J. G. McDonald and R. Neal McDonald THE IMPROVEMENT FRA
0 vvc^e~Boo feracfe
THE SHAPE OF BOOKS TO COME (J. Donald Adams. Viking Press, New York. 1944. 202 pages. $2.50.)
IN this book the author has turned the clear light of his critical values on the writings and writers of the immediate past and pres- ent, with the result that the reader can him- self reach definite standards of criticism that will benefit him in all of his reading.
Divided into eleven chapters, with a fore- word and an epilogue, the book will find ready acceptance by all who are interested in reading. Two statements that he makes in his foreword deserve wide consideration by writers and genuine acceptance by read- ers: "We shall not wear blinders or rose- colored glasses in the years that lie ahead, but we shall look up as well as down," and ". . . literature, during the years immediately ahead, will seek above all else to restore the dignity of the human spirit." Another statement that should interest those who wish to keep the language clean is that concerning vulgarity and profanity, in which he states that we are convinced that when we are around those who use them, of the monotony of their conversation.
This is a book that deserves wide recogni- tion.— M. C. /.
LONE JOURNEY, THE LIFE
OF ROGER WILLIAMS
(Jeanette Eaton. Harcourt, Brace and Co.,
New York. 1944. 266 pages. $2.50.)
Throughout his life, Roger Williams had a passion for liberty and freedom of conscience. History relates how he estab- lished Rhode Island, the first state to include religious freedom in its constitution. But history only recently has come to recognize the other exceptional qualities that were Roger Williams': his insistence that there be a clear-cut division of church and state: his great concept of racial tolerance; his love of peace; his studiousness which began with learning a special kind of shorthand and ended with a translation of Indian words into English.
But even this does not satisfactorily ex- plain the absorption of this book, for the author, taking an unusual man for biogra- phy, has done an unusually good job of making him live for all who will read this well-written, exciting book. Although it is written for young readers, adults will be re- paid for reading it. — M. C. J.
THE UNIVERSE AROUND US
(Sir James Jeans. Macmillan Company, New York. Fourth Edition. 1944. 297 pages. $3.75.)
Because this book has so much to offer the lay member, who, not being scientist, will gain perspective and stature through reading it, I am taking the precarious liber- ty of recommending it to all people. Some things in the book, Latter-day Saints will not accept, but the other things which are conducive to growth and idealism so far outweigh the few things that cannot be ac- cepted that the book deserves wide reading. Latter-day Saints must learn to be dis- criminating readers. Where truth has been given them that the ordinary run of man does not have, Latter-day Saints must live by that truth, thus dismissing things which they know to be false and which in good time will be subject to revision by the authors themselves. Latter-day Saints have lived to see the change in attitude concerning the Word of Wisdom— and they will see other changes, too. To condemn the good from
JANUARY, 1945
a book is to be guilty of violation of one of our articles of faith: ". . . If there is any- thing virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."
Sir James Jeans is one of the thinkers of this era. Scientist of great ability, he is also philosopher, and from his book, readers will come away stimulated to try to make this earth what it should and could be. What Latter-day Saint can fail to be stirred by these words, ". . . the main message of astro- nomy is one of hope to the race and of re- sponsibility to the individual — of respon- sibility because we are drawing plans and laying foundations for a longer future than we can well imagine."
That the book has won deserved popu- larity can be gleaned from the fact that it has been translated into thirteen languages and has passed through four editions and innumerable reprints. — M. C, J.
BRAVE MEN
{Ernie Pyle. Henry Holt and Co., New
York. 1944. 474 pages. $3.00.)
The title for the book came from the re- mark of a British officer who, walking over the battlefield just as action finished, found the American boys still lying in their foxholes, their rifles grasped in firing posi- tion in their dead hands.
In the book, the author deals with the in- vasions of Sicily, Italy, and Normandy. And while the stories are grim in their reality, they are livened by the humor with which the American serviceman has punctuated his courageous exploits. A comforting fac- tor in the book is that careful preparation is made months before a major movement oc- curs, alKof which indicates that everything possible is being done to assure the greatest success to our armed forces with the least possible cost in life.
While the book strikes a high reporting note, it is much more than that, for Ernie Pyle is at once reporter and philosopher, and over and above all, a firm believer in the power of the common man to make destiny over in his own pattern — even though that pattern may cut short his life.
This book will make us more aware of the cost of freedom, and increase our deter- mination to make a lasting peace which can- not again be disrupted by the selfishness of a few falsely ambitious people. — M, C. J.
COPPER— THE RED METAL (June M. Metcalfe. Viking Press, New York. 1944. 104 pages. $2.00.)
Replete with pictures of copper mines and processes in mining copper from all over the world, this book is written in such a way that not only mining but also history come to life in its pages. No per- son picking up the book will be content until he has read it completely, and when he lays it aside, he will leave it with a feeling of genuine respect for this great industry and for the men who work in it.
This is an ideal family book, one that can be read aloud during cozy winter eve- nings, and from which each member of the family will obtain something of interest and worth in the reading. — M. C. J.
PRAYER FOR A CHILD
(Rachel Field. Illustrated by Elizabeth Orton Jones. Macmillan Company, New York. 1944. $1.50.)
Rachel Field has become a synonym for something good — to both adult and child. And through this combination of poet {Concluded on page 42)
Could You
Hefusea
Child?
npHIS MONTH America's chil- dren— crippled, healthy and those as yet unborn — are calling to you for help. The March oi Dimes is the country's answer to the urgent need of the workers who are doing so much to dim- inish the tragic effects of Infantile Paralysis. When you provide for the future of these children you are making a constructive con- tribution to America's future. Join the March of Dimes this month!
This Advertisement Is Gladly Contributed by
Ou
r
Number One" Lab.
The Fels-Naptha Plant maintains an imposing Research Laboratory, equipped with the usual testing paraphernalia - and the usual staff of 'experts'.
Here, every day, Fels-Naptha Soap goes on trial. When the experts, with their test tubes and charts, report "up to Fels-Naptha Standard', we know we haven't been bragging.
But our Number One 'Lab', is an ordinary home laundry. The 'staff' is the Lady of the House. Her equipment is a washtub or washing machine and a bundle of soiled clothes. When she puts Fels-Naptha Soap on trial, it has to be good — or else.
There are millions of these 'Home Laboratories* in the United States. According to voluntary reports, they use Fels-Naptha because, for practical daily purposes, they find it's the best laundry soap on the market.
We'd like to see Fels-Naptha Soap tested in your laundry. And we'd also like to have your 'Laboratory Report'.
FELS-NAPTHA SW-banishesTattleTale Gray"
8
THE •
l\euaiou5 ^rttltudes OF
NOTED MEN
s
By LEON M. STRONG
ir Isaac Newton, noted English scientist (1642-1727), is reported to have said :
I can take my telescope and look millions and millions of miles into space, but I can lay it aside and go into my room, shut the door, get down on my knees in earnest pray- er, and see more of heaven and get closer to God than I can assisted by all the tele- scopes and material agencies on earth. (From supplementary material for L.D.S. Seminaries.)
Lord Kelvin, famous English natural philosopher (1824-1907) , is reported to
have said:
Every discovery I have made that has contributed to the benefit of man, He (the Lord) has given me in answer to prayer. {ibid.)
Samuel F. B. Morse of telegraph fame once said, as it is written:
Many a time when I was making my ex- periments in my laboratory at the university I would come to a standstill, not knowing what to do next. An obstacle would present itself that seemed to be insurmountable. A mental fog would cloud my mind that would not clear away. But during such times I always locked my doors, knelt down, and prayed for light and help. And light and help invariably came, (ibid.)
The works of Henry W. Longfellow are replete with allusions to God and his works. Perhaps the following is one of his best:
In even savage bosoms There are longings, yearnings, strivings For the good they comprehend not; And their feeble hands and helpless Groping blindly in the darkness, Touch God's right hand in that darkness And are lifted up and strengthened.
(From "Song of Hiawatha.")
From Francis Bacon:
A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bring eth men's minds about to religion. {Bacon. Re- ported in Familiar Quotations, John Bart- lett.)
Thomas Carlyle, eminent English writer, has said :
Did I not believe that an intelligence is at the heart of things, my life on earth would be intolerable. (Thomas Carlyle, Science and the Scientific Mind, Laidlaw and Gibbs.)
And this from Plato, Greek philoso- pher:
To escape from evil we must be made, as far as possible, like God; and this re- semblance consists in becoming just, and holy, and wise, (ibid., p. 221.)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
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s the day nears, made holy by tradition as the anniversary of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, we again give to all the Saints in whatever land they are, our greetings, our blessings, and our love in the fellowship of the gospel of Christ. May the Lord be with you always.
In this terrible hour of earthwide woe, misery, and death, with their weight of sorrow and grief that pour in upon the households of the people, we turn to the Lord as the source of the only true solace to aching hearts and weary souls. For He said to men of all times, "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
This is an hour of prayer.
Obedient to the occasion we especially send to you mothers who have lost your sons, to you wives whose husbands have been killed, to you orphans born of the slaughter of war — in whatever land you live and on whatever side your departed loved ones fought — the sympathy and sorrow of our hearts, and we humbly pray our Heavenly Father to send you comfort and an early surcease of your grief. With deep feelings of compassion we utter a like prayer to Him that He will sustain and enhearten you who are crippled and maimed, that He will close and make whole the wounds of you who are hurt, that He will heal you who are sorely racked with pain and disease. We pray our Heav- enly Father to send to each and all of you, whoever and wherever you are, you who mourn and you who are plagued with affliction, the healing influ- ences of His Spirit, to bestow upon you richly of His love and His mercy, that you may be made every whit whole in mind and body and spirit, even
as in His wisdom shall seem best for the welfare of your souls.
We pray for the men and women now in the service of their country, in whatever land they serve, that they who are sinful may forsake their sins and that all may come to walk in paths of righteous- ness so that all may have claim upon the blessings and mercies of the Lord. We pray that all may so live that the comforting influence of His Spirit may be their constant companion even in their darkest hours of dread and awful experiences, to buoy them up, to help them to know as they suffer in the depths born of evil, that God is good and kind and loving, and that mankind bring, even upon them- selves, through their wickedness the cruel afflictions that are poured out upon them.
We ask our Heavenly Father to bless those of us who are at home, who have our work to do to carry on in this world cataclysm, and especially those of us, the fathers and mothers, whose sons still fight in the battle lines of the world, and the wives amongst us whose husbands fight alongside those sons in their danger and hardship and sacrifice, and the children over whom the threat of orphanage hangs so heavy, — we humbly pray Him to bless all and each of them that in the day-by-day dread that is always with them lest ill news shall come, they may feel near to riim, feel the tenderness of His mercy, and the warmth of His love.
So we pray our Heavenly Father to bind us His people, even as one, by the holy bonds of the gospel, that so united we may work for the establishment of righteousness in the earth. We ask Him to teach us the way quickly to spread the truth among the peoples of the world that the love of Christ may fill their hearts and rule their lives. We pray Him to
10
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
PRESIDENT J. REUBEN CLARK, JR.
PRESIDENT HEBER J. GRANT
PRESIDENT DAVID O. McKAY
make them to understand that to know Him and Jesus Christ whom He didst send is life eternal, to cause them to receive the word and blessing of His Son:
"Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."
We beseech Him to plant in the hearts of the nations and of the leaders of nations, those sanc- tifying truths uttered by the Master on the Mount :
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?
And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
We pray our Heavenly Father to send peace, that this wicked and vain slaughter of His children, one by the other, may cease; that hate may leave the hearts of men, and that greed and avarice and am- bition and lust for power and dominion by one over the other, may no longer abide amongst His chil- dren. We ask our Father in Heaven to bring all to understand the brotherhood of man and to seek to make it real, to fill all men with charity, forbear- ance, mercy, and love.
We pray Him to help us His people to spread the
restored gospel that all men may know and under- stand that He is our Father, that Jesus, His only Begotten, is the Redeemer of the World, the First Fruits of the Resurrection, that by his atonement every one born on earth is redeemed from the fall of Adam, and that every child of God "may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel."
We humbly pray Him to speed the accomplish- ment of His purposes, that this Satan-inspired slaughter of His children, innocent of the bringing on of this conflict, may cease, that the plans of the wicked shall come to naught, that Satan may soon be bound, and that "righteousness shall fill the earth, even as the waters cover the mighty deep."
Aware of the weaknesses of the flesh and the proneness to waywardness of His children, know- ing our helplessness as we stand before Him save He shall guard and protect us as held in the hollow of His hand, we ask all these blessings in deep humility and we petition for His mercy and His love, in the name of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we are taught always to pray.
jQa*n<W.7lVf<4>v
First Presidency
JANUARY, 1945
11
"Mold the Iamb of M Midi Taketh
Jesus Christ « the Redeemer of the world, and
that testimony must come to every child of
God, for it is written that "every knee shall bow
and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ."
Our friends of the air: Jesus, returning from his forty days in the wilderness, came into the midst of the multitude gathered to- gether at Bethabara to hear John and receive of his baptism, 'whereupon John proclaimed: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." The next day Jesus came again, and John bore further witness, this time regarding the manifestation of the Holy Ghost at the baptism of Jesus, saying: "And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."1
So solemnly testified John to the Jewish world and to all men born on earth in whatever time; and in this testi- mony is bound up the basic truths of Christian faith and knowledge, — the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the fall of Adam, and the atonement for
Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive."'
These testimonies all hold but one language, — that Jesus Christ is the Redeemer of the world, and that testi- mony must come to every child of God, for it is written that "every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ."8
HPomorrow is the anniversary of the day that Christian tradition has fixed as the day of the birth of Jesus, this Lamb of God, so foreordained be- fore the foundations of the world to atone for the Fall of Adam.
But the birth of the Atoning Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, had also been foretold by the ancient prophets of Israel. Isaiah declared: "... Behold, a virgin shall con- ceive, and bear a son, and shall call his
PRESIDENT J. REUBEN CLARK, JR.
Jn these days when antichrists are abroad, just as Jesus foretold nearly two thousand years ago, denying Jesus, his Sonship and Messiahship, belittling things of the Spirit and magnifying all the pleasures of the flesh, it is fitting that we who accept the gospel of Christ should declare our testimonies of the truth, for as he said: ff. . . ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free"
Adam's fall by Jesus the Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father.
But John was not alone in this exact testimony of Christ as the Lamb of God, the Redeemer — and I shall tell my story today mostly in the recorded language of God the Father, of Jesus the Christ, and of God's servants and prophets.
Years after the baptism, John, the Revelator, was to speak, under divine inspiration, of the ". . . Lamb slain from the foundation of the world"2; and Peter declared we are redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot : who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world."8 While Job cried out to his heckling friends in an ecstasy of joy and triumph: "... I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth : And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God."* Paul, addressing the Corinthians in that great sermon on the resurrection, declared: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in
ijohn 1 :29, 34 sRev. 13:8 *I Peter 1:19-20 *Job 19:25-26
12
name Immanuel . . ."7 which being inter- preted," says Matthew, "is, God with us."8 The Psalmist sang of him as be- gotten of the Father,* and spoke also of his goodness and mercy and right- eousness, of his care for the poor and the needy whose souls he would save10; the Psalmist boasted of the Messiah's strength and power, of his justice and judgment, and declared that through him the throne of David should endure for- he repeated a supplication of
ever
told in graphic detail of the agony on the cross even to Christ's almost des- pairing outcry, when all had forsaken him: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"1*
When the hour was near for Jesus to come to earth and take a mortal body, an angel told Mary she should bear a son1*; and to Joseph the husband of Mary he revealed that the son should save his people from their sins.1* The unborn John bore witness to the pres-
\Ve declare that man may in himself overcome the spiritual death by so living and observing the commandments of God that he may ultimate- ly again stand and live in the presence of God.
the Lord to the Father" and proclaimed the Lord a priest of Melchizedek who should judge among the heathen"; he
15:21-22 45:23; Rom.
BI Cor, 6Isaiah 27:31; D. & C. 88:104 TIsaiah 7:14 8Matt. 1:23 9Ps. 2
ioSee Ps. 72 uSee Ps. 89 ^See Ps. 102 13See Ps. 110
14:11; Phil. 2:10-11; Mosiah
ence of Deity when Mary visited Elizabeth.17 On this hemisphere Jesus himself foretold his birth as of the next day.M In Palestine, an angel announced the birth to the shepherds tending their flocks on the hills, while a multitude of heavenly voices caroled, "Glory to God
"See Ps. 22 *5See Luke 1:26-38 "See Matt. 1:18-25 "See Luke 1:39-56 ^See III Nephi 1:4-14
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
ikiau the Sin of the World"
"\A7e i/o //o/ */w;y £is resurrection; we proclaim it, in its most literal sense. We declare that Christ took up the very body he laid down.
By PRESIDENT J. REUBEN CLARK, JR.
Of the First Presidency
Delivered over KSL and the Columbia Church of the Air, from the Salt Lake Tabernacle, Sunday morning, December 24, 1944, at 11 a.m., M.W.T. '
in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."1* His star appeared in the heavens.20 Then was fulfilled the great prophecy of Isaiah: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."21
So was the birth of the Lamb of God foretold long before and chronicled and witnessed at the time.
Who this person is who came to earth thus heralded by the heavens, is told to us by St. John in the mighty pre- face to his gospel:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
given to Jesus, the carpenter of Naza- reth, by the scriptures; we accept it without cavil or reservation.
We cherish in our hearts the witness which God himself has borne of his Son.
We recall that when Jesus came up out of the water, after John had bap- tized him "to fulfil all righteousness," the Holy Ghost descended upon him, and God the Father's voice came from the heavens, declaring: "... This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."24 We acknowledge that the same voice and the same message came to Peter, James, and John, as Jesus com- muned with Moses and Elias at the time of the Transfiguration.23 We declare
XSJe do not deny the miraculous in Christ's life; we accept it as the most natural manifesta- tion of the power and authority of the Son of God, whether the miracles be of healings or those somethnes called "nature miracles" which to us testify directly of his creative power.
The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and with- out him was not any thing made that was made. . . .
He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. . . .
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.22
And in the prayer of the Great High Priest, Jesus himself besought the Fa- ther: "And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was."23
HThus Jesus is the Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father, the Creator of the World and all it contains, the Redeemer of its people, the children of God, all of them, the Word that is God. Nor do we who rejoice in these wit- nesses and their testimonies and who are blessed with a pure testimony of the truth of the gospel of Christ, give up one hairsbreadth of that full divine stature
«>Luke 2:8-20
2<>Matt. 2:1-12; III Nephi 1:21-22
aIsaiah 9:6-7
22John 1:1-3, 10, 14
aijohn 17:5
JANUARY, 1945
that the same voice and same message came, in our dispensation, to the boy Prophet Joseph praying in the woods.
With equal fervor we keep ever present in our minds the testimonies of Jesus himself about himself.
We remember that when in the tem- ple at twelve, he said to his mother and
out, saying: "... Take these things hence: make not my Father's house an house of merchandise."27
We rejoice in the contemplation of the words of Christ's great sermon to Nicodemus, a "ruler of the Jews" who came to him timidly by nightfall: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved"28; and likewise we have joy and see salvation in his great dec- laration to the woman of Samaria: ". . . I that speak unto thee am" the Christ.**
We do not forget that while at the Feast of the Tabernacle, he solemnly testified to those about him in the tem- ple: ". . . Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. ... I speak to the world those things which I have heard of him. . . . When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things"30; nor do we forget that later in Jerusalem as he taught the parable of the Good Shepherd, he again testified: "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I re-
'J'o the millions of the humble and honest in heart who are discouraged, weary, grief stricken, despairing, and who would see Jesus, and who, seeing him, would know him, we repeat the tvords spoken by Jesus to this generation.
Joseph, who had sought for him three days: "How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?"26
We do not forget that when he first cleansed the temple of the money changers and those selling therein oxen and sheep and doves, he drove them
2lMatt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22 ^Matt. 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35 26Luke 2:49
ceived of my Father."31 Likewise it is in our memories that at the time of his arrest, as he bade Peter, who would have used force, to put up his sword, Jesus said: "Thinkest thou that I can- not now pray to my Father, and he shall (Continued on page 52)
'"John 2:16
^John 3:16-17
""•John 4:26
"John 8:23, 26, 28
sijohn 10:17-18
13
The froplirt Joseph Smith
TTu's address was presented Sunday,
December 10, 1944, at the Logan
L.D.S. Institute at special services
commemorating the birth o/ the
Prophet Joseph Smith
December 23, 1944, will mark the one hundred thirty-ninth anniver- sary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I commend the faculty of the Logan Institute for having planned to hold a special annual com- memorative of this great man. It is high-
me to come to jail with you — and do you think I would forsake you now? But I will tell you what I will do; if you are con- demned to be hung for treason, I will be hung in your stead, and you shall go free. (Vol. 6, page 616, History of the Church.)
There is something great about a man who can so impress other able, sincere men that they are ready to die with him or for him. As with the Savior, so it will be with Joseph Smith, God's chosen servant — he will grow in greatness and honor as the centuries pass.
However, it is of Joseph Smith not only as a great man, but as an inspired
There is something great about a man who can so impress other able, sincere men that they are ready to die with him or for him.
ly fitting that they do this. In the ultimate analysis the Logan Institute itself, as other Church schools, owes its very existence to the revelations given to Joseph Smith. Furthermore, such a serv- ice is fitting, because all are profited by the contemplation of true greatness, especially when that greatness is the result of inspiration from the Lord. Carlyle has aptly said :
Great men taken up in any way are profit- able company. We cannot look however imperfectly upon a great man without gain- ing something by him. He is the living light-fountain which it is good and pleasant to be near. The light which enlightens, which has enlightened the darkness of the world; and this not as a kindled lamp only, but rather as a natural luminary shining by the gift of heaven; a flowing light-fountain as I say, of native, original insight, of man- hood and heroic nobleness; in whose radi- ance all souls feel that it is well with them.
Joseph Smith was just such a "light- fountain." Great men have ability to see into the heart of things. They dis- cern truth. "They change the currents of men's thoughts, and set a new fashion in the world. Men gather round them and criticize them, point out where they fall short, and show how the thing could have been better done in some other way; but the critics die and are forgot- ten, and the great man lives on forever."
There were those who hated Jesus when He walked as a man on the shores of Galilee, and there were others who felt as Thomas did when he said: "Let us go and die with him."
Likewise, there were those who scorned Joseph Smith and scoffed at his teachings when he declared that he had received a revelation from the Lord. There were others who loved him and felt as Willard Richards:
Brother Joseph, you did not ask me to cross the river with you — you did not ask me to come to Carthage — you did not ask
14
servant of the Lord that I desire to speak on this occasion. Indeed, Joseph Smith's greatness consists in divine in- spiration.
As Evidenced in Harmony of
Teachings With Those
of Jesus
(""'harles A. Ellwood, author of ^ Man's Social Destiny, printed in 1929, wrote that—
. . . the religion of the future cannot be based upon historical Christianity, but must, in order to avoid misunderstanding, go back to the teachings of Christ as recorded in the gospel.
Said the Prophet Joseph one hundred
years previously:
The Church of Jesus Christ was organized in accordance with the order of the Church as recorded in the New Testament.
Nobody can study critically and in- telligently the restored gospel of Jesus Christ without being deeply impressed with the harmony of the teachings with
By PRESIDENT DAVID O. McKAY
Of the First Presidency
PRESIDENT DAVID O. McKAY
tion. He asserts that this Power that makes for truth, for beauty and for goodness is not less personal than we. Continues Dr. Dinsmore:
This leap of faith is justified because God cannot be less than the greatest of his works, the Cause must be adequate to the Effect. When, therefore, we call God personal, we have interpreted him by the loftiest symbol we have. He may be infinitely more. He can- not be less. When we call God a Spirit, we use the clearest lens we have to look at the Infinite. As Herbert Spencer has well said: "The choice is not between a personal God and something lower, but between a person- al God and something higher."
On these three fundamentals of religion, there can be little or no doubt about the harmony of the teachings of the Restored Church with those of the Savior — the Doctrine of God; his Doctrine of Sin and Salvation; and the Doctrine of Immortality.
those given by the Lord and Savior Himself when He was on the earth with His disciples. Consider, for example, the Prophet's revelation concerning the Creator — God as an intelligent Being, one who is, as Jesus taught, "Our Fa- ther in heaven." Applying the words of a distinguished writer (Charles A. Dinsmore of Yale), Joseph Smith makes one bold and glorious affirma-
Joseph Smith's doctrine that Jesus Christ is the only Begotten of the Fa- ther, the Savior of the world, is identi- cal with the teachings of Jesus Himself and His apostles.
So also is his doctrine of the persist- ence of personality after death.
On these three fundamentals of re- ligion, there can be little or no doubt about the harmony of the teachings of
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
#n Doctrine and Organization
Joseph, the seer, grasping the eternal nature of love as the divinest attribute of the Jouman soul, as an everlasting attribute of the spirit, revealed the eternity of the marriage covenant, a doctrine so beautiful, so logical, so far-reaching in its sig- nificance that if it were adopted in its entirety, many of the present evils of society might be abolished.
the Restored Church with those of the Savior— the doctrine of God; His doc- trine of sin and salvation; and, the doc- trine of immortality.
The same harmony is found in the teachings of other principles of the gospel such as faith, repentance, bap- tism, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, ordination to the priesthood, his teachings on "knowl- edge, temperance, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity," etc.
Predestination
Tt is evidence of greatness when a man "chooses the right with invincible res- olution"; it is evidence of inspiration when he decides authoritatively ques- tions that have been misunderstood for ages by leading thinkers and theologians of the world. One such teaching was the problem of predestination. Said the Westminster Confession :
Election to eternal life is not founded on foresight of faith and obedience, but it is a sovereign act of God's mercy whereby ac- cording to the counsel of his own will some men and angels are predestinated to ever- lasting life and others foreordained to ever- lasting death.
These angels and men, thus predestinated and foreordained, are particularly and un- changeably designed; and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished.
Those of mankind that are predestinated unto life, God, before the foundation of the world was laid, according to his eternal and immutable purpose, and the secret counsel and good pleasure of his will, hath chosen Christ unto everlasting glory, out of his mere free grace and love, without any fore- sight of faith or good works, or persever- ance in either of them, or any other thing in the creature as conditions, or causes moving him thereunto; and all to the praise of his glorious grace.
This doctrine is satirized by Robert Burns in these words:
O Thou that in the Heavens doth dwell, Wha, as it pleases best thysel, Sends ane to Heaven an' ten to Hell A' for thy glory, And no' for onie guid or ill They've done before thee!
Prophet Joseph Smith emphatically de- nounced the doctrines as false and said :
To every man is given an inherent power to do right or to do wrong. In this he has his free agency. He may choose the right and obtain salvation, or he may choose evil and merit abomination, but one man is not predestined to do evil and another pre- destined to do good.
It is interesting to note that seventy years after Joseph Smith made that
Not so with the Prophet Joseph Smith! The advocates of infant bap- tism taught regarding little children :
Infants who come into the world are not only destitute of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, but have a natural inclination to evil and only evil.
The poet Burns, referring to people who are in Hades, mentions "Twa' span lang unchristened bairns," and even to this day six denominations baptize in- fants. Boldly and fearlessly, and speak- ing as one having assurance that he is right, the Prophet Joseph said: "Little children are holy and are sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ." In 1902, in that same Presbyterian As- sembly to which I before referred, the Creed was revised to read: "All who die in infancy are chosen of God and saved through his Spirit." And Henry Van Dyke, commenting upon that, said : "The Presbyterians today believe all
statement, the Presbyterians in general who die in infancy are saved by Jesus assembly on May 22, 1 902, by a vote of Christ.
six hundred to two, adopted the unani mous report of a revision committee which had been at work on the subject two years. This is what they say:
Following this broad statement are two overtures, the first disclaims any doctrine of predestination and asserts clearly that God loves all mankind and does not rejoice in the death of any sinner and that no man is condemned except on the basis of his own sin.
Henry Van Dyke said in 1902:
The Presbyterian Church today does not believe that some men are created to be
Universal Salvation ( Baptism for the Dead)
"The Prophet's penetrating insight into ■"■ eternal truth and justice is seen also in his teaching regarding universal sal- vation.
"Except a man be born of the water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." So spake Jesus to Nicodemus; and to His apostles He said :
... go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth
P^ careful analysis of the organization of the Church reveals the fact that it imposes all the strength of a strong central government, and every virtue and necessary safeguard of a democ- racy.
saved and others to be damned, and to guard against misapprehension on the subject, I wish to say unmistakably that God has not put any barrier between any human soul's salvation.
Infant Baptism
Cince the days of Luther, infant bap- *^ tism has been another moot ques- tion. Justification by faith only, as taught by the early reformers, would logically lead to a rejection of infant
and is baptized shall be saved; believeth not shall be damned. 15, 16.)
but he that (Mark 16:.
Luther, Melanchthon, Zwingli, John cepting the principle of infant baptism.
Knox, have all debated this question, His judgment led him to reject it, but the
and Protestant churches from their day "extravagances" of the people made
to this have wavered concerning it. The him yield and he accepted it.
JANUARY, 1945 '- '
Accepting these statements as true, as they are, zealous, but misguided Christians have condemned to eternal punishment all who have died without confessing belief in Christ, or having been buried with him in baptism.
To illustrate : A Chinese student, returning to his homeland, having gr ad- baptism. Zwingli himself at the begin- uated from one of our leading colleges, ning of his career as a reformer doubted was in conversation with a Christian the efficacy of infant baptism, but note minister, also en route to China. When this: "The extravagances of the Ana- this minister urged the truth that only baptists at Zurich confirmed him in ac- through acceptance of Christ's teach- ings can any man be saved, the intelli
gent Chinese said: "Then what about my ancestors who never had an oppor- {Continued on page 45)
15
A MORMON WIFE
^Jke oLiw J^>tom
AUGUSTA WINTERS GRANT AS SHE APPEARED AT ABOUT EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE
III
Augusta Goes Away to School
When Augusta had taken advan- tage of all the educational opportunities her home town afforded, her greatest ambition was to go away to school. "In this my parents encouraged me, although the townsfolk dubiously shook their heads and proph- esied that 'Oscar Winters was going to spoil that girl.' ' She went with her older sister, Delia, to Provo to attend what was then the Timpanogos Univer- sity— forerunner of Brigham Young University. Although her parents al- ways encouraged her in her ambition, they had no ready money to pay for her education, so Augusta would go to school one year and teach the next, sav- ing the greater part of the money earned to help pay her tuition.
It was at this time when she was six- teen that Augusta commenced writing her journal; and of the place in which they lived while in Provo, she records : "The room we sleep in is rather open — no fire in the room ever. We can see the stars shining through an open place in the roof. We take a bath with the tem- perature about down to zero. In the sit- ting room it is more cozy. We are very comfortable here, although we have to chop our own wood, but that is good exercise for us and keeps us from hav- ing dyspepsia — probably. We have one stick that we have chopped on nights and mornings for a week, but failing to make much impression on it concluded to bring it in and burn it off. It makes a cheerful fire." They rented the room from friends and paid for it in produce supplied by their father.
In order to get their own breakfast, do household tasks, and get off in time for school, it was necessary for the girls to arise at 5:30 a.m. It is doubtful if
16
they could have stood the grind had it not been for the frequent encourage- ment that traveled across "Provo Bench" in their father's wagon in the shape of good things to eat prepared by their loving mother. And week ends they often went home with their father, although it was terribly cold as they rode across the "bench."
"We always had to get out and walk up the sand hills and oh, the piercing cold winds from Provo Canyon as we traveled across this bleak ten miles. And Father — how many, many times he traveled this hard, cold way that winter, driving his team with hands nearly frozen to bring us supplies of rosy apples and Mother's home-cooked goodies — mince pies, doughnuts, bread, roasts, chickens, etc. How our par- ents had to sacrifice for their children to get an education!
"About Provo Bench Father used to say, 'You will see the day when the whole of this bench will be settled with houses, orchards, and gardens in one continuous stretch along the whole way.' He often prophesied in this way, and then at the seeming absurdity of it he would say with a laugh, 'Do you be- lieve it? I don't.' For we could hardly imagine such a transformation when there wasn't a single house along the way."
The day following her arrival at the Timpanogos University, Augusta re- corded in her journal: "I shall endeavor to improve every moment," and later, "I am getting along fine with my lessons and like to study." Still there were many times when all thought of lessons was thrown to the wind. This is amply proved by such entries as this: "We went to a party, danced till four a.m." (And this, by the way, is a story she didn't repeat to her granddaughters. )
In those days a girl was not thought popular unless she had numerous pro- posals. Mother received her first offer of marriage when she was only seven- teen (which was considered a marriage- able age in those days) but was too bashful to record it in her diary. The young man, not dreaming of a refusal, told her to take all the time she wanted to make up her mind. "But," she says, with spirit, "I didn't need any time to decide that question."
From others I have heard that as a young woman, my mother had the un- usual combination of an olive com- plexion, dark brown hair and blue-gray eyes with black lashes. These "Winters' eyes," noted for their loveliness, were shared by her sisters, and many a swain fell a prey to their fascination. Refused by one sister, a beau could easily trans- fer his affections to another, and this
&
MARY GRANT JUDD
DAUGHTER OF PRESIDENT
HEBER J. AND AUGUSTA WINTERS
GRANT
was the case with "Joe" who, rejected by Augusta, proffered his hand and heart to Delia.
The second proposal happened under the old apple tree at the garden gate, and while it was in progress the young- er sisters listened shamelessly in their little room under the eaves where they were preparing for bed. "When Delia said, 'This is so sudden,' or something to that effect, he asked, 'What do you think I've been coming up here so promptly for, every Sunday evening?* Poor Joe! Two refusals from one fami- ly were calculated to take away some of his conceit. Who was it said, 'Conceit — the greatest gift of God to little men'? Joe was little, and he was conceited."
There was one particular admirer of the sisters who planned his campaign by keeping them guessing. He must have understood feminine curiosity, for Augusta questioned her diary: "Which one does he come to see, Delia, Susie, or me?" Perhaps if he had been more intriguing, she might have tried to find the answer; but he seems to have been somewhat dull; so leaving him to the mercy of her sisters, she left him sitting stiffly in the parlor and went to bed.
In the spring, the sisters returned to Pleasant Grove, enthusiastic over at- tending school away from home and imbued with the idea of a second year at Timpanogos University.
But it was found to be out of the ques- tion. The eighth child that frail little Mary-Ann Winters brought into the world was about to make its appear- ance. In September a sweet baby girl, Helen-Mar, joined the household. Her brother, Arthur Ray, but two years older had come to fill the empty place in his mother's heart four years after little Nathan had been laid to rest under the apple tree in the "back lot."
Little Helen-Mar, being Delia's jun- ior by nineteen years and Augusta's by seventeen, came to hold in the hearts of the older girls a place more nearly re- sembling that of a daughter than that of a sister.
Mary-Ann depended more and more upon her capable daughter Delia, who,
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
of Augusta Winters Grant
with the able supervision of Grand- mother Pratt, now assumed many of the family duties. Delia developed into a splendid cook and, even at that early day, evinced those tendencies which, in later life, enabled her to carry through to complete success numerous projects of a business nature. She became an outstanding woman among her sex, and in many of her ideas was far ahead of her time. Her undertakings, because of the benefits they brought to numerous other women, were in the final result philanthropic.
But Augusta was not found wanting either. When the elder sister went to Salt Lake to conference, Augusta re- cords that she cooked and served to the threshers the first meal she had pre- pared all by herself. They praised her cake and biscuits which was highly elat- ing to the young cook.
And happiness supreme! When Delia returned from Salt Lake, she brought with her a new organ which she and Augusta paid for at the rate of ten dollars a month. This was the first or- gan in town and for a long time the only one. When "Uncle Moroni" came down at Christmas time, he taught Augusta how to play it, and with this slight preparation, and what she picked up herself, she soon became the music teacher of the town.
When my mother was eighteen years old, her father sold a yoke of oxen and gave each child ten dollars to invest in the new cooperative store in Pleasant Grove, and this when ready money was almost as scarce as the proverbial "hen's teeth." Thus the young people, besides being impressed by the generosity of their father, were inspired by his con- fidence in them and learned something of the handling of money. But let my mother tell the story:
"The stock advanced quite rapidly and with the new year, I begged to be allowed to take my share out, now amounting to $17.50, and go to school for one term at the Deseret University (as it was then called), in Salt Lake City. My parents made no objection though they could not afford to give me any more money at that time. There were six of us children in the family by then, and I was not the oldest. So I started off with my seventeen dollars and fifty cents. And this is how I spent it:
"For tuition, six dollars, my course including every subject I was advanced enough to take at that time; books, six fifty; I paid my tithing then and always thereafler, so I was left with not quite five dollars for incidentals.
"I had only one dress, a red and black plaid flannel that Delia had made for
JANUARY, 1945
me over a year before in Provo and I wore it the whole time, and when it be- gan to wear out in the front I bought some calico and made an apron to wear over it to finish out the ten weeks, and then I went home."
Perhaps her struggle to go to school has something to do with her apprecia- tion of it and is one reason why she re- membered so much that she learned. At any rate, whenever her family want to know the correct spelling of a word or its exact meaning, they don't look in the dictionary; they just "ask Mother." She, however, gives credit to the meth- ods of early days which, in her opinion, were more thorough and "seemed to produce better students than our present system that turns out college graduates who can't spell 'raisin' or 'separate'!"
Augusta was delighted beyond meas- ure with her new environment, and wrote: "I love to go to school." There were opportunities to be enjoyed in Salt Lake that Provo could not have af- forded her. Entries such as these were not uncommon in the diary: "Three seats for the theater every Monday night. Saw John McCullough Sawtelle, Miss A. Adams (mother of the famous Maude). Saw Romeo and Juliet; also The Gladiator and many other plays. The seats come to Mrs. Cannon through The Deseret News, her hus- band being the editor of it, and she be- ing unable to go out this winter, gives them to me."
When asked who went with her on these occasions, Mother replied, "I in-
vited my chum, Nina Farr, who lived on the other side of the block. But do you think I would ask my cousin, Thone, who lived just across the street, though he often took me to parties, and I am sure would have been delighted to es- cort us? I couldn't think of it; that would have been too forward; so the third ticket had to be wasted."
Having pioneered the way, and proved that it could be done, Augusta had little trouble the following winter in persuading her parents to allow her two sisters, Delia and Susie, to come to Salt Lake with her, where all three were soon happily ensconced in the George Q. Cannon home where Augusta had stayed the preceding winter. President Cannon's niece from St. George, Anna Maria Woodbury, was also there. "I fear," says my mother referring to that time, "that Aunt Martha's patience must have been tried many times, for we were lively girls."
There seemed to be nothing in reason
chat the girls weren't willing to do in
order to keep on with their schooling.
( Concluded on page 34 )
LEFT TO RIGHT, FRONT ROW: DELIA WIN- TERS, PAULINA ELIZA BROWN. HELEN ALEX- ANDER, AND LAURA LARSON, BACK ROW: EMMA LARSON, AUGUSTA WINTERS, SUSIE WINTERS, SUSAN BROWN; SEATED: ANNIE LARSON.
MAN'S ETERNAL
m
a
If men die, shall they cease to live?" Since the beginning of human his- tory this question has been asked and written about. As to the sources which treat of this question there is a vast reservoir of wisdom which took shape with the advent of man upon the earth. From the historical point of view, we have no documents whatever if we go back a greater distance than five or six thousand years, and no one can tell, says Maeterlinck, the Belgian historian, how the ancient religions were founded. "When we become aware of them, we find them already complete in their broad outlines and principles." Not only are they com- plete, but the farther back we go, the more perfect they are, the more un- adulterated, the more closely related to the loftiest speculations of our modern times. Rudolph Steiner, a German
~~L,-.1«~. „^„rn ^U»j. *~.Un£ ,-,.~ ...... J a-_ iL«
.luiuiai, sap tiiaL wuau we; icuu 111 liic
Vedas, the Hindu scriptures, gives us only a faint idea of the sublime doctrines of the ancient teachers, and even these are not in their original form. It seems that the more ancient the texts, the purer, and the more awe-inspiring are the doctrines which they reveal. The texts which we possess are the sacred books of India which corroborate in teachings those of Egypt and Persia. To the western world, these documents have become known only within the past century.
It is certain that no religion, whether it be of God or human theory has swayed the thought of mankind unless it has discussed the "immortality of the soul." All are agreed that the spirit survives after death. It is quite natural that life in the hereafter is differently interpreted as to conditions, yet death does not end our existence, for man lives eternally. The conviction of im- mortality is and always has been uni- versal. Death is the "entrance to a higher life."
Egyptian Conceptions of Immortality
4irT'o the Egyptian," says Sir Flinders Petrie of the University of Lon- don, "immortality was an axiom of life." In the earliest graves there is pro- vision for the future life. The Egyptian looked on death as the going forth "into a garden after illness, or returning to the house of God after captivity." He recognized the illumination or intelli- gence that enlightened him, and the many tombs found in the Nile valley are the burial places of the body for the preservation of which the tombs were built. In the long ages of the history of Egypt, it was natural that different in- terpretations of death and the hereafter were prevalent, just as they are today among peoples who inhabit a given counfety. There were rituals for the dead, and far back in their history, can
18
be traced the belief in "crossing the water of death to the next world." One of the earliest beliefs was that of the soul wandering about the cemetery seeking food, and "down to late times there are figures of the goddess in the syca- more trees giving food and drink to the souls of the departed. This was not only a symbol of spiritual sustenance, but actual offerings of food were made at the grave. ..." Egypt ris- ing to its height of civ- ilization, had what is known as the Osiris
J~„ — .-1 I
the "Book of the Dead." When the de- ceased appeared before the god Osiris, he was supposed to recite a "Negative" confession. This confession is found in thousands of tombs, for the confes- sion was deposited with the mummy for its guidance to the other world. All phrases be- gin with the negative "not."
Ml. SINAI
In the land where Moses toiled to save the Israelites. Assemblage from the summit of the Mount of the Law.
Plain of
—Photographs, Underwood 6 Underwood
a guide and inspiration of conduct." It was the divine standard which could give men foothold in this unstable world. Men were to find their relation- ship to their Creator, which was an eternal tie here and hereafter. Men who committed themselves to the divine standards of God became his instru- ments to give his prophetic messages to the world. The standards they maintained were not of their own crea- tion, but were divine, since they ex- pressed God's mind for the world, and were immutable. This was the message of Isaiah. The individual came to his own through prophetic thought. Com- munity of conviction grew up and this conviction b@und men into a brother- hood to serve the divine ends. To such communities, God would give the vic- tory. Many students of the Old Testa- ment tell us that faith in immortality made its way among the men only who were religiously inclined, and it is true that many of the parties that grew up in Jerusalem, long before Christ was he Hebrew concept of immortality born, were not interested in the question was based on its faith in God or at all. A new order was to appear in
the earth, because God brought the world, as well as man, into being to
I have not done injury to men.
I have not depressed those beneath me.
I have not known vanity.
I have not been a doer of mischief.
I have not done what the gods abominate.
I have not caused hunger.
I have not caused weeping.
I have not diminished the offerings to the gods.
I have not done injustice. I have not stolen. I have not been lazy. I have not been impure.
The dominant belief of the Egyptian, from the beginning was that of the im- mortality of the soul, and future happi- ness in company with the gods for all, except the positively wicked.
The Hebrew Conception of Immortality
Jehovah who had a purpose in all his creation, and who revealed his will to his children that they might live by it. It was the prophets who taught the Word of God, and from the earliest
manifest His will. "The fulness of the whole earth was God's glory. It, like man, had been turned aside from its
days they were the religious teachers, true end through the moral confusion "Devout men, who held firmly to a which reigned in it. But in the day, faith in God who revealed his will as when God revealed himself, it should
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
IMMORTALITY
£5u i^rediaent oLei/l (L*aaar l/lt
lotAfta
OF THE FIRST COUNCIL OF THE SEVENTY
all return to the order which was eter- nal, because it was that which was in God's mind when he created it."*
The sublime faith in God as shown in all the writings of the Old Testament indicate that this life on earth is but a period of preparation for the life here- after. From the Psalms we have "The Lord is my shepherd. . . ." and in the nineteenth chapter of the Book of Job, we have Job crying out in his great sorrow :
Oh that my words were now written! oh
that they were printed in a book! That they were graven with an iron pen
and lead in the rock for ever! For I know that my redeemer liveth, and
that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God. . . .
(Job 19:23-26.)
How safe are the righteous who trust in God!
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from
whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord, which made
heaven and earth. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy
shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the
moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:
he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and
thy coming in from this time forth, and
even for evermore.
(Psalms 121:1, 2,5-8.)
The Jews naturally came to believe in the resurrection of the body. Since the kingdom was to be on the earth, the dead must come back in bodily form in order that they might take part in the kingdom.
The Christian Idea of Immortality
Jesus was in Jerusalem winning the belief of many by his acts of kind- ness and his blessings to the poor, when at night a man of prominence and of wealth, a teacher and ruler, came to him to inquire about the kingdom of heaven. His name was Nicodemus, and he was a ruler of the Jews and a member of the Sanhedrin. Jesus had strangely at- tracted him. Some word of the Master had entered his heart and the impulse to go to him was irresistible, and he came to ask for light. He was in mental darkness and confusion, and he came to inquire about the kingdom of heaven.
*Adam C. Welch, Hebrew Conceptions of Immortal- ity
JANUARY, 1945
"Rabbi," he said, "we know that thou art a teacher come from God." (He called Jesus "Rabbi," a term of greatest respect.) "For no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." Jesus answered and said unto him: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And to the question: "How can a man be born when he is old?" Jesus answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." It must be entered by life, a new life. Three years afterward this Jewish ruler came again to Christ, who had been crucified, and brought spices and fine linen to wrap in them the body of his Lord and to anoint it for His burial. One day as Jesus was sitting on the well of Jacob resting, a woman of the country came to draw water. He asked her to give him drink, for she could draw from the deep well. Soon she heard such words as she had never heard before as she stood before the Master during the "quiet of a Syrian noon brooding over the plain. . . . Everyone that drinketh of this water shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become within him a well of living water springing up into eternal life." Soon the well and the water had passed from their thoughts. When she declared that she knew that the Messiah should come, Jesus calmly said: "I am he." She left her water jar be- side the well. Her er- rand was forgotten. She hastened back to the town and bade the men she met come and see him. They came and begged him to remain with them, and he did. He taught them in words of such great- ness and authority. "I am the Truth. ... I am the Life. ... I am the
PALESTINE
"The place where they laid Him," rock hewn tomb in hill- side north of Jerusalem held by divinity scholars to be the site > Vsit* of burial of Jesus Christ the Redeemer.
Resurrection. ... I give unto men eter- nal life. . . . Come unto me and I will give you rest. . . . Because I live, ye shall also live. . . . He that followeth me shall have the light of life." Thus he declared his mission to the world. It was to give life, and life eternal. Man is to have a new gift of life. He is to live forever more with his affections, his virtues, his accomplishments, his earnings, all that is good. In these words and in his prayer: "Thy king- dom come, Thy will be done," he gave us for all time teachings concerning immortality. The Christian immortality is based upon a conception of God, seeking to raise man to a higher stage of moral and spiritual life and to bring him back to heaven. The worth of man is revealed in God's will to save him to the high destiny to which he calls him. Nothing is clearer than that there came into the world with Jesus Christ a new, fresh, and incomparable power to recreate the lives of men and to open the hereafter to them for which they might work and live. In the words of St. Mark, the all-comforting message of immortality is given to us.
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: (Concluded on page 62)
^Jke
HARDSCRABBLE
I
, N the Wasatch Mountains of early days hardy mountaineers were accustomed to deeds of personal valor. Danger lurked in many an unfrequented glade; hazards coiled by the rocks of nearly every trail; for some wild animals had not yet lost their fearlessness of man. Yet of the daring pioneers whom it has been our pleasure to know, one of the bravest was John Burton*; and the incident herein related is still dis- cussed with awe by those who were aware of its occurrence in those early times.
Having heard the story from his own lips just prior to his death in 1920, we have the benefit of our notes made at the time and can thus vouch for the ac- curacy of the details. It was somewhere about the year 1892 that the tragic event happened in that wild and picturesque part of the Wasatch Mountains known as Hardscrabble Canyon, a canyon, by the way, which though only some twen- ty miles northeast of Salt Lake City, still harbors the sneaking cougar and the wily wolf. We ourselves have come upon black bears in its serviceberry patches; but perhaps no more does the finger-clawed grizzly tread its trails. From the ridge at its top one may look westerly to the flats below, where trains edge the Great Salt Lake on their way to California; or gaze easterly and per- ceive other trains puffing upward beside the Weber River on their journey to the East. Often, when the weather is favor- able, one may indeed hear the distant whistles of the locomotives, so clear and pure is the atmosphere of the Wasatch. Indeed, even today, Hardscrabble Can- yon retains much of its early beauty and wildness.
It was about 1892 when two sheepherders were encamped near a grove of balsams at the head of this thickly-timbered canyon, the name of which aptly portrays its labyrinthine growths of cottonwoods, quaking aspens, alders, pines, scrub oaks and willows. The older of the two— call him Leavitt, as their names were never given us — was a tall, bearded man of much physical strength and boldness; he was the herder whose duty it was night
*Mr. Burton possessed remarkable physical strength and fearlessness. The writer once saw him stretch out prone, face downward, feet together, arms ex- tended full length ahead with the hands touching, and with a fifty pound weight on his back, actually raise his body five inches from the floor with only the tips of his fingers and toes for support. Try it some time. It was his habit to walk to his sheep camps at the top of the mountains at night; and such was his untiring endurance that once, having a message for him, the author required three days on hoseback to reach him in the mountains above Richmond, Utah. For many years the writer's brother, R. W.. had part of the skeleton of the large grizzly herein described. This account >is but one of several that could be related about this remarkable man.
20
ill
nzzued
A TRUE STORY by CLAUDE T. BARNES
or day to have the band of over two thousand sheep constantly under his surveillance, to ramble after them over the hills during the day, and to sleep at the camp at night with one ear open, as it were, for the sound of any marauding coyote or murderous lion. His com- panion, whom we shall call Wilson, a youth of about twenty years, inexperi- enced but willing, was the camp tender; he did the cooking, moved the camp wagon from place to place, as the need of new grazing ground demanded; hobbled the three pack horses and made occasional trips down the mountain for supplies such as canned and dried fruits, flour, and rock salt.
It was the middle of September; and patches of crimson, maroon, and yellow were interspersed among the greens of the canyon sides. The leaves of the chokecherry were turning to vinaceous cinnamon; those of the dogwood, to dark maroon.
As the two men arrived at their camp, the sun was fast nearing the ridge above them, and an evening draft was begin- ning to whisper through the stately pines. The young camp tender repaired to the tent where hung the carcass of a fat young ewe, mutton being their only fresh meat; and he was in the act of slicing off sufficient for their supper
when an exclamation from Leavitt im- mediately recalled him.
The older man was gazing at a grizzly cub, which was playing by a clump of serviceberry bushes about forty yards up the canyon. It was apparently alone and wholly unmindful of the presence of the two men. The sheep were resting on a little flat about a hundred yards down the canyon.
"Get me my gun," said Leavitt quiet- ly, keeping his eyes all the while towards the bear. Wilson responded quickly, and then the herder, crouching low, sneaked quietly a few paces up the ravine and, resting beside a rock, took deliberate aim and fired. The cub rolled over, and had just begun to squall piteously, when a she-grizzly and her monstrous mate plunged through the berry patch out into the open, ready to wreak vengeance on the whole world! The she-bear ran to her cub, slapped it lightly with her paw, sniffed at it loudly and then turned, the picture of enmity and fiendish determination. Leavitt fired again, and then both brutes charged wildly at him.
Wilson fled down the canyon as fast
as he could run; but the herder stood
his ground. There was a terrifying
scream; and Wilson glanced back just
(Continued on page 55)
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
'. L^klAPck
icer:
DO YOU TALK TOO MUCH?
/NELSON
Mr. Church Officer, do you talk too much? You know, those over whom you preside have too much respect for you to tell you about it if you do talk too much. There is nothing that will kill your prestige more than for you to be lecturing eternally to them. If you express yourself very easily and if you have real ability as a public speaker, you should ever be on your guard lest you comment too much from the pulpit. Many times you will be prompted to give vent to your feelings in lecturing, but be wise. Don't eternally "spank" your members. They will love you if you are frank; and you will never lose your influence, if, when an issue arises, you let them know where you stand, and further, point their noses in the right direction. You are wise — that's why you were chosen for leadership. To give advice from the pulpit or otherwise is your prerogative and your duty, but your people will take your advice more willingly if you don't talk too much.
One of the saddest things to find as one visits a ward is a "talking bishop." No matter what is said or done, he just must comment. Probably there is no place in a ward function where this is more noticeable than at a funeral. When an appropriate service has been rendered and everyone feels that the spirit is complete, it is often spoiled by an oration at the end. The spirit of many a wholesome service has been spoiled through a bishop's ambition to put the finishing touches on the program. Measure your words and let them be few. Don't have it said of you that the members of your organization are al- ways using their faith and prayers to
JANUARY, 1945
^Jke people of your oracu%Lzatiovi have too muck respect for uou to tell uou of it, If uou talk too muck
iyou llSe the srudae :
!
By MARVIN O. ASHTON of the presiding bishopric
the end that you won't talk too much. Because your audience has its eye on you and has the attitude of being enter- tained, don't always suppose your mes- sage is sinking in. It won't sink in if you talk too much. Your listeners have too much respect for you to be dis- courteous. Their eyes may be riveted on you, but back of those eyes may be a prayer to heaven to bless you with more discretion than you are displaying in that moment of their boredom.
A story is told of a negro preacher who was being visited at his church by a fellow pastor. Out of courtesy, the visitor was given a few moments to ex- press himself from the stand. But I suppose the fellow pastor decided to take advantage of the invitation and talked an hour and a half. (He was like many people when called upon, and thought he would make good use of the opportunity, as it might be a long while before the opportunity would knock at his door again. ) Well, when he finished, there was only one thing to do, and that was to close the meet- ing. The prayer of the negro preacher
was about as follows: "Oh, Lord, we thank thee for our blessings and for the visit of our dear brother who has dis- coursed to us this day. Bless him, oh Lord, and especially that he might take a few feathers from the wings of his imagination and place them on the tail of his judgment."
Remember the greatest constructive forces in the universe are silent. The boisterous noises like lightning and thunder are those that do the damage. The sun comes up each morning to give the earth its eternal vitality — silently. The worlds in the heavens do their work silently.
Your greatest generalship will be shown in distributing authority. Your leadership is measured by the type and calibre of the men and women you draw about you. It is not measured by the noise you yourself make.
A visitor to a school was impressed with the discipline and the precision of the response of the pupils to their teach- er. It was marvelous. Without any outward commotion, the students arose (Concluded on page 34)
21
MISSION SPIRIT KEPT ALIVE
One of the unforgettable experi- ences of an Eastern States mis- sionary is to stand in the Sacred Grove at Palmyra, New York, and bear a farewell testimony to his com- panions at the Cumorah conference, before leaving for home. On this and other memorable occasions, lasting im- pressions are made which, no doubt, are typical of the great moments in the mis- sionary experience of everyone who has been privileged to serve as an L.D.S. missionary.
It was at just such a gathering, sever- al years ago, that a group of Eastern States missionaries made a solemn pledge that the spirit of Cumorah should be kept alive, even after mission days had ended. One of the strongest in- fluences binding them together was found in President and Sister Frank Evans, who, at that early date, extended an invitation for the first western Cumorah gathering to be held at their farm home in Coalville, Utah, as soon as they returned west.
On July 24, 1941, the beginning was made. This date (the official eastern conference date) found one hundred and twenty-five missionaries assembled, along with their sweethearts, wives, husbands, and children. What a re- union it was! There was an outdoor barbecue with all the trimmings, and for the barbecue the elders and their mis- sion father had prepared a pit the week before. Games and sports for every interest were in evidence, and a treasure hunt took the entire group over forty acres of farm land. Last of all, to crown the day's activities, came the spiritual touch — a meeting in a nearby grove, where everyone present had an oppor-
&
f
<=JLar5on
MEMBER, GENERAL BOARD, Y. W. M. I. A.
tunity to speak, sing, or otherwise par- ticipate as was customary in the mis- sion field. The Evans' family organ com- pleted the unique picture and added the religious warmth called for. A public address system had been secured, so that everything said or done was heard. The unanimous vote at the close of the evening was that the occasion should occur annually, and every July 24th since has found many of the same group, with newly returned mission- aries added, gathered at some conveni- ent spot, consistent with wartime travel restrictions, engaging in similar activi- ties.
Coon after this first Cumorah reunion, ^ the missionaries decided that even the July celebration and the conference reunions with the rest of the Eastern States Mission organization did not offer frequent enough contact for a spirited group of missionary compan-
GROUP OF RETURNED MISSIONARIES WHO MET AT THE HOME OF H. LeROY FRISBY.
ions, if they were actually to perpetuate the bonds they had known while in the mission field. In order to provide fur- ther study opportunities, social con- tacts, and a renewal of the spiritual atmosphere of the mission, there was organized a Sunday Evening Fireside group. Its meetings were held every two weeks in the homes of missionaries, following the regular sacrament meet- ings in ward chapels. Anyone returning from the mission was considered wel- come as a new member.
With the exception of a very short summer vacation, these biweekly meet- ings have continued and are now enjoy- ing a peak of success, both in attend- ance and enthusiasm. Soon after this group began its meetings, many mem- bers entered the armed services, but hardly a meeting is now held without the presence of a number of service- men who are home on furlough, or who are stationed near this area. They are thrilled to know that they may return to such an active circle of friends, and that when the war is over, they may take their places among their compan- ions as before. The group has made a special effort to keep in touch with the servicemen who are away, and keep informed as to their whereabouts and successes. A very small number have been called upon to make the supreme sacrifice, and they will be greatly missed by their former companions. Those re- maining will strive even more diligently to hold high the ideals and standards for which some have paid such a price.
There are many who have asked how
this fireside organization could have
(Concluded on page 59)
22
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
SOME EXPERIENCES
WITH
UjSu &Le5tie cJL. S^udvueehd
enera
I villa
One of the dramatic figures in re- cent Mexican history was Fran- cisco (Pancho) Villa [real name, Doroteo Arango] — peon, bandit, soldier, rebel, general— partisan of first one side and then another, during the turbulent decade of the Mexican Rev- olutions (1910-1920). But with all of his imperfections, Villa was a man of his word and one who had great regard for the Mormon colonists.
One day when General Villa was at Casas Grandes, several brethren, in- cluding Bishops Joseph C. Bentley of Colonia Juarez and Anson B. Call of Colonia Dublan went down to see him. The Mormon colonists endeavored at all times to exhibit no partisanship to- ward either rebels or federalists but to remain on friendly terms with both fac- tions, hoping by this neutrality to avoid molestation.
As soon as the rebel chieftain saw the brethren he flew into a rage, telling them to go back to the United States where all Americanos belonged and let "Aunty" Taft take care of them. The brethren then explained to him that they were Mexican citizens, that their homes and all their possessions were in Mexi- co, and that it was their adopted coun- try.
This unexpected answer seemed to please the rebel commander, who in- quired what he could do for them. He was told that the object of the visit was to secure a written order, directing any rebel soldiers, who might be foraging, to spare the work animals of the colon- ists and take only saddle horses. Villa obligingly wrote out the order and gave copies to Bishop Bentley and Bishop Call.
The general then said that he was badly in need of blankets and quilts for his men and that he would like to buy all the bedding in the store at Colonia Juarez. When informed that the Juarez store was only a grocery and did not carry bedding, he expressed consider- able disappointment, calling attention to the suffering of his men. Bishop Bent- ley then volunteered to take up a col- lection of surplus bedding from the col- onists for the relief of the suffering troops. Villa replied that he did not want to rob the Mormons, but that he would be glad to buy the bedding from them.
True to his word, Joseph Bentley re- turned to Colonia Juarez, collected about thirty quilts and blankets, hauled them to Casas Grandes in his wagon, and presented them to Villa.
A number of years later, in March ** 1919, Joseph C. Bentley, who by this time had been chosen president of
JANUARY, 1945
the Juarez Stake, in company with James R. Whetten and Albert Tietjen, set out to visit the missionaries who were laboring in some of the native vil- lages. They reached El Valle de San Buenaventura without mishap, finding the elders there in good health. After remaining for a few days, the visitors
PRESIDENT JOSEPH C. BENTLEY
set out for Namiquipa, driving a team of mules hitched to a light buggy. In the afternoon they came unexpectedly upon a band of armed men, which formed one of Villa's outposts.
Elder Whetten, being the most fluent of the trio in the use of the Spanish lan- guage, explained to the captain of the detachment the purpose of their journey and assured him that it was entirely peaceful. The captain was favorably disposed toward the brethren but in- formed them that he would have to hold them until nightfall, when he would con- duct them to Villa's camp. The gener- al, he advised them, was in an ugly mood, and it was likely to go hard with any Americanos who were so un- fortunate as to fall into his hands.1 The captain said that he dared not release them without the permission of his gen-
1ViIla's hard feelings toward the United States and toward Americans in general are easily explained. As a rebel he had been denied the right to purchase arms in the United States while at the same time war sup- plies were being exported to the Mexican government. Although strictly in accordance with international law and custom, such action, to Villa's untutored mind, was gross injustice. Also on one occasion Mexican Federalist forces opposing him were permitted trans- portation through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in order to attack Villa from the rear, the Mexican route from Sonora to Chihuahua being impassable for an army. The crowning insult to Villa's vanity was, of course, the expedition of General Pershing into Mexico in a vain attempt to capture the rebel leader, following the latter's revenge raid on Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916.
eral but agreed to ride ahead and see if that consent could not be obtained.
A few hours later the brethren were aroused from their slumbers by the sound of approaching horsemen. In a short time the captain of the guard rode up, saying that his general was furious because he had not brought the prison- ers into camp and had commanded him to return and fetch them immediately.
A bed was made in the back of the buggy for President Bentley, and as the night was cold, the captain of the guard accepted an invitation to ride in the seat between the two other brethren. When they reached Villa's camp, they found that the general had gone on to the town of Cruces with most of his men. All that night, the following day, and the next night, the travelers awaited their fate. On the second morning word came for the entire camp to move on to Cruces.
The three brethren were delivered in- to the hands of other officers and were imprisoned for a time in a dark room without windows. Eventually they were led out into the street where an officer of some importance was giving orders to his men. Elder Whetten soon struck up a conversation with a distinguished- appearing gentleman in civilian clothes who stood near by. The man inquired politely if the three brethren had been to breakfast. When he learned that they had not, he conducted them into the dining room and ordered a meal.
As they breakfasted, the conversa- tion continued. The three men soon learned that their benefactor was the noted General Felipe Angeles, who was on a confidential mission, more or less incognito, with a view to persuading Villa to lay down his arms and make peace. Angeles inquired politely regard- ing the religious views of the brethren and appeared very much interested in what they had to say.
President Bentley said in a low tone to Elder Whetten, "Give him all the gospel you can. We would rather talk with him than with Villa himself just now."
HPhe conversation continued unabated for several hours. During this time the officer whom they had noticed giv- ing orders earlier in the day kept enter- ing the room, listening nervously for a few minutes, and then going out. Presi- dent Bentley had recognized him as General Villa.
Several times when General Villa came into the room General Angeles said to him, "Come over here and hear some of this doctrine; it is the finest thing I have ever heard. These men are trying to do by talk- ing just the thing we are trying to do with our guns."
"Yes," replied General Villa, "I know all
about the Mormons and their doctrine. I
( Concluded on page 6 1 )
23
octxy
IF LOVE BE GUEST By Christie Lund Coles
IF love be guest within your heart Be courteous, be kind; To all the little faults of love, Be somewhat blind.
For love has walked unnumbered roads, Has passed unnumbered doors,
Ah, bolt your heart most carefully If love be guest in yours.
u
STAR IN THE WINDOW By Winifred Davis
nbuckle your heart and let him go free, Give him the earth and the sky and the sea —
Blessed be his land and blessed be his sea, Peace go and blessings there wherever he
be; Peaceful his path lie, shining and bright, Safe be his daylight and calm be his night. Boyhood stay gently upon his dark head — Blessed be his board and blessed be his bed; Blessed be the power that shelters from
harm — Son, lean thou on his bosom — trust thou in
his arm. Kept by his presence upon far-flung foam, Safe the high seas over, sailor, come home,
BRIGHT IS THE FAITH
A Tribute By Edith Hatoldsen Lovell
Dlow gently, winds, in that far-off land; ■*-' Hallow that grave in alien sand
For there an American flier sleeps. His was the courage to fly and fight; His was the honor to die for right;
O bright is the faith that a flier keeps.
Perhaps it is, that in the sky
The trivial things can pass them by,
And they can see into the years Which things are worthy of their tears; Which things are false, and which are just;
In which ideals to put their trust.
How else could fliers blithely go Into the fire of the foe
Knowing each flight might be farewell? Blow gently, winds, in that far-off land; His parents grieve, and that lonely sand
Holds part of their hearts as well.
And though at times we cannot see
Why hate and war and death should be —
Why flame and blood should smirch the sky, Why first the finest and best should die; Yet each of us answers, one by one
When our little span of work is done.
Blow gently, winds, in that far-off land; Hallow that plot of alien sand;
For there an American flier sleeps. His was the bitter and difficult road Yet his was the measure that overflowed.
O, bright is the faith that a flier keeps!
24
COME AND GROW OLD WITH ME (Inscribed to President Heber J. Grant
IN LOVE AND ADMIRATION AND WITH EVERY GOOD BIRTHDAY WISH)
By Bertha A. Kleinman
COME and grow old with me as trees grow old, Each season adding newer, finer wood, In timbered might defying storm and cold And nobler for adversity withstood.
God made a tree — he likewise fashioned me, To brave the rain, the thunder — shock and
blast — A weathered oak that sheds security From fruited boughs uplifted to the last.
Come and grow old with me — the evening
star Is spanned with rainbow promise after strife; There is no age, for at the gate ajar New wood still blossoms on THE TREE
OF LIFE!
♦ ■
WORDS WILL COME AFTER By Dott /. Sartori
Words will come after, with remembering, To hold our summer past the equinox; Words will come after, and remembering, Reviving columbine and box.
Words will come after, and a winter night Raise this canopy of leaf and bough Out of memory and sound again The syllables we utter now.
NEW YEAR'S EVE 1944 By Edna S. Dustin
As we watch the Old Year's candlewick waver And hear it sputtering in its tallow of yester- day, We see a freshly molded taper Raising its tiny palm in faith of tomorrow.
^Photograph, Salt Lake Tribune
A SOLUTION By Edward C. Dimatteo
Falls the snow upon the mountains, Descends the rain from hidden fountains, Leaps the wind from northern regions, Dark reflects the solar legions.
Awaken, beast of nature's garden, Forego the winter's urge to harden Creeping waters instilled with fear, Inflicted by this trampling year.
Arise and clash with the brutal morrow, Defend the chaste and good you borrow, Withhold all grace enwrapped in thought. Secure the goal for which you fought.
Deny all bloodless force to last The cruel incisions of your past, Uplift your heart unto the maker, Endowed with guidance for the taker.
Melts the ice from stretching crests, Drys the saturated lowland nests, Limps the crippled fleeing breeze, Shines the sun on dreams you seize.
NEW YEAR By Rena Stotenburgh Travais
Beyond my cabin window The snows lie cold and white; I shall not hear the ringing
Of New Year bells tonight. I shall not stand with Christians Who glad hosannahs sing, Shut in by drifts that deepen And isolation bring.
But in the midnight silence
Remembering, I shall hear
The dear familiar music
That welcomes in the year.
Beyond my cabin doorway
I cannot hope to go, But soon will come the New Year
For all the world to know. With promise and with blessing
With comfort for each heart In all its celebration
I cannot have a part;
But when my clock says midnight I shall not lack for cheer;
With memories all about me
I'll welcome the New Year.
ASSURANCE By Elaine V. Emans
Order has fled, they say, there is no room For her in this confusion — and we listen, Smiling, and know with work and cloth and
broom We have brought houses peace again, and
glisten, . We have brought order back. And this we
know, We who are order-lovers, that a mind Yearning indeed for lovely quiet ways, By reasoning and praying and by slow Determining can leave chaos behind. Think not that order would desert these
days.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
dired Moves On
President Grant Broadcast
HThe regular Sunday evening Church radio hour broadcast over KSL on November 26, featured a message from President Heber J. Grant — selected by him and presented by his own recorded voice from his previous recorded mes- sages.
The eight-minute recorded address touched upon the fundamental beliefs of the Church as set forth in the Ar- ticles of Faith and elsewhere.
During the week President Grant had marked, on November 22, his eighty- eighth birthday, and on November 23, the completion of his twenty-sixth year as president of the Church.
Y.W.M.I.A. Jubilee
HThe seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association was noted at appropriate Sunday services, November 26, and at Mutual meetings on Tuesday, November 28, in wards and branches throughout the Church.
A plaque commemorating the found- ing of the organization was dedicated at the Lion House, place of organiza- tion, on Tuesday November 28, by President George Albert Smith of the Council of the Twelve. Speakers here were Ruth May Fox, only living past president of the Y.W.M.I.A., and Jo- seph F. Smith, Patriarch to the Church, who read Brigham Young's words to his daughters. Mrs. Lucy Grant Cannon, present general president of the associa- tion, conducted the program, and traced the history of the organization from its beginning, November 28, 1869, by President Brigham Young.
"Era" Manager
John D. Giles began his duties as business manager of The Improve- ment Era in mid-November. He suc- ceeds John K. Orton, who has moved his home to Phoenix, Arizona. Elder Giles returned from the Hill Cumorah, Palmyra, New York, where he was di- rector of the Bureau of Information.
Medical School Gift
Asa tribute to President Heber J. "^ Grant on his eighty-eighth birthday, November 22, the Church presented an endowment of twenty-five thousand dollars to the University of Utah Medi- cal School, to be used to equip a labor- atory for the department of pharmacol- ogy and physiology. An appropriate plaque will be placed in the laboratory, and the endowment will be used entire- ly for the equipment and its installation. President LeRoy E. Cowles of the university and Dean A. C. Callister of the medicine school said:
... It is with a sense of deep gratitude that the University of Utah in behalf of its Medical School accepts this generous en-
.JANUARY, 1945
dowment from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . .
This gift is very significant ... in indi- cating the faith and confidence that the presidency of the Church has in the univer- sity in general and in the medical school in particular. We are inspired to put forth every effort to merit the confidence which the gift indicates. . . .
Cyrus E. Dallin Dies
C^yrus E. Dallin, native-born Utah ^ sculptor, died at his Arlington, Massachusetts, home, November 14. He was eighty-two. His works include the Brigham Young statue at South Temple and Main Streets, and the figure of the Angel Moroni atop the Salt Lake Tem- ple.
U.S.A.C. President
President Franklin S. Harris of the Brigham Young University, Provo, has been chosen president of the Utah State Agricultural College, Logan, by the latter school's board of regents to succeed Dr. E. G. Peterson. Dr. Harris will take over his new duties on July 1, 1945, the beginning of the fiscal year.
Dr. Harris, a world-known authority on agriculture and irrigation, has been president of B.Y.U. since 1921.
Stake Number 148
'T'he one hundred forty-eighth stake of the Church was brought into exist- ence November 12 when the Box Elder Stake was divided to form the North Box Elder Stake and the South Box Elder Stake.
John P. Lillywhite was named presi- dent of the North Box Elder Stake with Vernal Willie and Eberhart Zundel as counselors. The stake has a member- ship of 4,333, which includes the Brig- ham City Third and Fourth, Harper, Honeyville, Bear River City, and Cor- inne wards and the Evans Branch.
The South Box Elder Stake has a membership totaling 4,448 members residing in the Willard, Perry, Mantua, Brigham City First, Second, Fifth, and Sixth wards. President Abel S. Rich and counselors, Glen M. Bennion and J. Edwin Baird, were sustained as the stake presidency, having held the same positions in the Box Elder Stake.
Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Coun- cil of the Twelve directed the organiza- tion proceedings, assisted by Elder Samuel O. Bennion of the First Council of the Seventy.
Symphony
HPhe Rhapsody for piano and orches- tra, written by Professor LeRoy J. Robertson director of the Brigham Young University symphony orchestra was played November 28 and 29 in Kingsbury Hall at the University of Utah campus, Salt Lake City. It was
played by Andor Foldes, international- ly known pianist, to whom the rhapsody was dedicated. Mr. Foldes has appeared many times in Provo on concert tours.
Primary Secretary Released
f illian Jensen, secretary and treasur- er of the general board of the Pri- mary Association since August 1943, was released from her duties in mid- November, when she married and moved to California.
M'
Primary General Board Changes
[rs. Leone Poulton Cowley and Mrs. Mary Pratt Parrish have been appointed to the Primary general board. Mrs. Cowley, a member of the Salt Lake City Twenty-seventh Ward, has been a lifelong ward and stake Pri- mary Association worker. Mrs. Par- rish has labored in the Sunday School, Relief Society, and M.I.A. at Center- ville, Utah. She has served as a member of both the Bonneville and Highland Stake Primary boards.
Mrs. Edith Smith Patrick has also been named to the Primary board. She brings a wealth of experience gained in the Primary Association, M.I.A., and seminary of the Ensign Stake.
At the same time three general board members were honorably released: Mrs. Grace Wahlquist, state chairman of the Utah Minute Women affiliated with the War Production Board, and Jessie Schofield, recreational director at Pro- vo, Utah, both of whom have been on leave of absence since 1942; and Ruth B. Coon, who recently moved to Phoe- nix, Arizona.
Sunday School General Board
Appointment of James L. Barker, former president of the Argentine Mission, to the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union has been announced by General Superintendent Milton Bennion. Elder Barker was a member of the general board from 1 928 until the board was reorganized several years ago. At that time he was ap- pointed as president of the Argentine Mission.
Genealogical Society Head
P"lder Joseph Fielding Smith of the Council of the Twelve has been re- named president of the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as the name of the organization was changed from the Genealogical Society of Utah in late November. The following directors were reappointed: Elders Joseph Field- ing Smith, John A. Widtsoe, and Mark
E. Petersen of the Council of the Twelve, Joseph Christenson, Archibald
F. Bennett, A. William Lund, and James M. Kirkham.
(Continued on page 43) 25
,tfMgmm
By RICHARD L EVANS
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I
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HEARD FROM THE "CROSSROADS OF THE WEST" WITH THE SALT LAKE TaBER- nacle Choir and Organ over a nationwide radio network through KSL and the Columbia Broadcasting System every Sunday at 12:00 noon Eastern War Time, 11:00 a.m. Central War Time, 10:00 a.m. Mountain War Time, and 9:00 a.m. Pacific War Time.
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lure
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Men, it would seem, have in common an urgent desire to know more about the future — a desire which dem- onstrates itself in many ways, and for many reasons. And in some respects and to some extent the future may and should be known. For example, a science has grown up to help us forecast something as to the future of weather conditions, which is of much value to all of us. To know something concerning the future of private wants and needs helps the manufacturer and the merchant to avoid some of the hazards of chance — and to this end we have our business forecasts. The broad lines of the future, so far as the plan and purpose of life are concerned, as well as specific forthcoming events, have often been foretold by the prophets, when the purposes of God were served thereby. But the desire to know the future may become an inordinate desire — so much so that there are some who feel they cannot rest unless they can know the unknowable and see the unseeable, and who, to this end, place their con- fidence in those who profess, for a price, to tell what irrev- ocable events the fates have decreed, as revealed in the stars, the tea leaves, in the cutting of the cards, in the crystal, or by some other occult means. In our learned twentieth century we have sometimes given ourselves to believe that we have left witchcraft and mummery and superstition behind — and then we cling to much of it. In the wisdom of God it has not been given to us to pry the lid off the future at our indiscriminate discretion. It has been so ordered that in many things we shall live by faith, and meet the events of life as they come. If the stars were fixed and the pattern of our lives were fixed with them — if the future were already set in its mold — then the next logical conclusion would be that it doesn't matter how we live or what we do with our lives — the result would be the same anyway. But such philosophy is false and un- tenable. This is a world of causes and effects in which free will operates and in which men may expect with certainty to realize the effects of the causes they set in motion. And if there are things in our lives that ought to be changed, it's up to us to change them. If there are pitfalls that should be avoided, it's up to us to do our best to avoid them. A fatalistic attitude toward the future is a destroyer of initia- tive, a breeder of despondency, an enslaver of men, a false premise of life. There is a law irrevocably decreed in the heavens on which all blessings are predicated, and our future will be what we make it, according to our conduct and within the limits of law, and not because the stars are
fixed, or the cards fall black or red.
— November 5, 1944.
A
mong the frequent and persistent questions concerning the future are these: "Why can't we know the future?" and "Why shouldn't we know the future?" There are a number of possible answers, perhaps none of them fully satisfying— but all of them very much in point — and one possible answer would seem to be that oftentimes we can't know more about the future because oftentimes it doesn't exist. By this we mean that many things that will happen in the future will depend upon what we do and upon what others do, and since neither we nor they may yet have made decisions in these matters, the results that are to follow those decisions may not now be known. Yet another reason, and an all-sufficient one for many, is that he who directs the affairs of the universe, he who is the author of the plan of life, and the Eternal Father of men, has decreed in his wisdom that we should not in most instances know what the future shall bring, even as it is not now given to us to have remembrance of what preceded birth. For those who would like still other reasons, suppose we ask our- selves what kind of life it would be if we did know every- thing that was going to happen to us. Actually, a detailed foreknowledge of trials and tragedies to come might well be expected to destroy much of the happiness that is. Also, in knowing the future, there would be less of the joy of discovery and less of the growth that comes with faith and struggle. Imagine the monotony, the humdrum of a life in which each hour, each day, each year, everyone knows everything he is going to do, everything that is going to happen — nothing of the unexpected, nothing of the unforeseen, no pleasant surprises, no unlooked-for joys, no merciful concealing of the sorrows and heartaches to come — everything in a lump sum right now, and nothing in reserve. This, of course, is carrying speculation to an absurdity, but it does invite attention to the wisdom of things as they are. And if there were some clandestine means of acquiring a detailed knowledge of the events to come in our own lives, it still wouldn't bring us happiness. We had better learn to live by faith from day to day, and by good works coupled with our faith, ready to meet the future whatever it brings, confident that the mercy and the wisdom and the justice of God will give to each of us, all that we could ever hope for or expect, for our good and our eternal happiness. They who know what it were better not to know, are much less happy than they who think they would
like to know some things they don't.
—November 12, 1944.
26
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
tetrn IMbojOg
p&»
\Jn *JjL5 regarding the -jrvit
Jidreaardvviq
are
A ll of us at times deplore mistakes we have made in the past and ask why we couldn't have known the future and thereby have avoided our mistakes. Of all the reasons given by men for their desire to know the future, this one would seem to be the most valid — to help us avoid mistakes. But even this reason might readily be ruled out when we remind ourselves how often we ignore even those things we do know — both about the present and the future — and how often we ignore those things which the past has taught us about the future. We already know the future in prin- ciple. Causes which have once produced specific effects may again be expected to produce the same effects. This is the process of law. This is why man may, in some respects, plan for things to come. But the fact that the future may in some degree be judged by the past does not prevent our repeating the mistakes of the past, and dis- regarding its lessons. Even when the prophets have opened the future and forewarned their own generations of things to come, they have been rejected more often than not. Indeed, we often repeat our own mistakes, knowing full well that they are mistakes, and much of what we know with certainty, even about the present, we often ignore in practice. We know many of the rules of health, but often fail to observe them. We know many of the rules of hap- piness, which we often ignore. We know that if we dis- regard law, we shall pay the consequences — but still there are many who disregard the law. It would seem, then, that a certainty of knowledge of the past, the present, or the future does not keep us from our mistakes, because, in our conduct and in all the pattern of our lives, we disregard so much of what we do know. And this admission leads to the conclusion that greater knowledge of the future is not our most urgent need. It is more important to know correct principles and to observe tnem, than it is to know the future. Observing correct principles will save us ma- terially and spiritually, but merely knowing the future and then ignoring correct principles will never save anyone, materially or spiritually. To know how to live, and to live that way, is so much more fundamental than to know a few fragments of the future pertaining to ourselves or others. To know the commandments of God and to keep them, to know the rules of life and to live them, will lead to the certainty of a glorious future whether we know it in
detail or not.
—November 19, 1944.
is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world; and that is an idea whose time has arrived." We are so accustomed to think and to speak in terms of money and lands and goods that we may lose sight of the fact that behind all tangible forces is the greater force of intangibles —the thoughts of men, the forces beyond men, and the ideas and motives and principles that put tangibles to good or evil purposes. Behind any physical contest there is always inevitably a contest of wills. Behind tangible weapons, the impact of which we can readily see, there is always the force of ideas which is not so readily observable but which is more formidable, more persistent, than the effect of physical force. The most effective character who ever lived among men, Jesus the Christ, is seldom recorded to have dealt in tangibles or to rely upon the physical forces of this earth — and yet he transformed the humblest of men into mighty movers of the world; he modified the thoughts of men, and, therefore, modified the shape of tangible things for all time to come. It is thrilling to be able to reshape the face of mountains, to bridge rivers, to link oceans, to rear structures for the comfort and convenience of men. It is glorious to harvest abundantly, to fill the world's store- houses with the gifts of Providence; to feed and to clothe, to provide man's needs and comforts, and even luxuries. The physical forces of earth and the tangibles that we may see and touch all about us are a blessing to our lives, or may be so— but behind all this is, first, the thinking and planning of someone— of men or of God or of both— the ideas, the ideals, the creative gifts, the intangible forces which move and shape the world and shape the lives of men. There have been many characters of history who have come near to conquering the world in a physical sense, and many who have tried to force wrong ideas upon man- kind, and who have created much of disturbance in their attempts. But there have been none who could stop men from moving toward the knowledge of truth, none who could stop the emergence of an idea whose time had arrived. But the time for an idea never arrives, unless it is founded in truth, in justice, and in freedom. This much, and no less, we must ask of all the ideas that present themselves for our
acceptance.
—November 26, 1944.
Copyright. 1945.
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ime
A much-quoted thought, recorded
by the pen of Victor Hugo, has come down the years for our pondering : "There
JANUARY, 1945
27
Editorials
^Arnd the v->ook& Were \Jpened
""Dehold, there shall be a record kept among you. . . ."
** (D.SC.21:1.)
This revelation was received by the Prophet Joseph Smith on April 6, 1830. It is vitally significant that on the very day the Church was organized, the question of record-keeping was made a matter of commandment. There were many other matters of instruction for which the Church had to wait for a later time, but the in- structions to keep records was immediate, which would seem to give some indication of the importance which the Lord places upon records.
Also, from a revelation given November 27, 1 832, at Kirtland, Ohio, we read:
It is the duty of the Lord's clerk, whom he has appointed, to keep a history, and a general church record of all things that transpire in Zion. . . .
And also their manner of life, their faith, and works. . . .
And they who are of the high Priesthood, whose names are not found written in the book of the law, or that are found to have apostatized, or to have been cut off from the church, as well as the lesser priesthood, or the members, in that day shall not find an inheritance among the saints of the Most High. . . . (D. & C. 85:1, 2, 11.) (Italics ours.)
Later, in section 1 28 this appears :
Whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven. . . .
It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of — a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it? (D. & C. 128:8, 9.) (Italics ours.)
From the earliest of times our Father in heaven has commanded his children to keep records of all their doings, and especially of their official acts in relation to his works and ordinances, and of their lives as it may concern their obedience and faithfulness to the principles of the gospel. The statement that "whatso- ever shall be recorded on earth, shall be recorded in heaven," is one which no man may ignore. The testi- mony of witnesses and of records will assuredly play an important part in the judgments to come, both here and hereafter.
There are many other scriptural evidences available to the Latter-day Saints of the prime importance of records, both in the plans and purposes of God and in the lives of his children. It may be recalled that the Lord sent Nephi and his brothers back to Jerusalem to risk their lives for the purpose of obtaining a record of their fathers in order that a nation would not "dwindle and perish in unbelief."
It is by records that we are linked with the past. It is by the keeping of records by faithful and inspired men that we have our scripture of the eternal truths of life. It is by the keeping of records that we may pass on the experiences of all time from one generation to another, that we may know the mistakes of history, that we may know the errors into which other men have fallen and so avoid them ourselves — if the records have been faith- fully kept, and if we are wise enough to give heed to the records.
Every man faces his own record in life. Every posi- tion, every appointment, every decision made by others
and affecting us is based partly on what they know of us by first-hand knowledge, and partly on what the records show. Every man who enters the armed forces of his country carries with him wherever he goes a record of his military conduct in all its phases, which qualifies all decisions concerning him. Every student must carry with him a transcript of his record wherever he goes to pursue further academic activities.
The beginning of the new year is the traditional time for beginning new records. The priesthood quorums of the Church, in accordance with the recommendations of the Melchizedek Priesthood committee acting under the direction of the quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency, have been asked to begin a new system of record keeping and reporting for those holding the priesthood. The effectiveness and usefulness of these reports will depend upon the faithfulness and accuracy of those who keep the records. If the records are in- complete, conclusions and future actions based on those conclusions, may be necessarily incomplete. If the rec- ords are inaccurate, the findings of those who interpret the records, and the recommendations they may make for the future, may likewise be inaccurate.
Those who keep the records of this Church have a sacred trust, one which was imposed by the Lord him- self. And it is vitally important that everyone who is charged with record keeping be diligent and faithful, as to personal records, family records, class records, quorum records, and ward and stake and general rec- ords— whatever their private or official capacity and responsibilities, for it is written:
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. (Rev. 20:12.)
And again, let all the records be had in order, . . . to be held in remembrance from generation to generation, saith the Lord of Hosts. ( D.GC. 127:9.)
—R. L. E.
If few IJear'd lAJiik
Probably no season of the year has more of promise *" than the New Year, for it seems to exert a kind of magical influence that makes the wished-for, a reality, and the dreamed-of, a fact. Resolutions at this season of the year seem easy of accomplishment; and their mere statement seems to assure their realization. In many ways, this quality of being able to live in dreams is a virtue. Shakespeare said, 'We are such stuff as dreams are made on," and truly dreams shape life, in- dividually and collectively, for the dream of what is to be must always precede reality.
Today the world needs dreams; and the time has arrived when the dream of peace, which has persisted since the world began, should become a fact. This espe- cial dream is a peculiar one: it cannot be dreamed by one person alone; it must be dreamed by all people everywhere. It must be accepted as the best possible way of life by all folk regardless of race or color or creed, regardless of nationality.
A fitting New Year's wish for this and every year would be that mothers throughout the world accept this dream of peace, and labor to instill into their young folk the necessity of making this dream a reality in their lifetime. It is time that motners of the world, in addition to bearing children, should indoctrinate them with a love of their fellow men and a desire for peace that will make the connivings of selfish men impossible. Mothers of men can teach the ways of peace in their own homes, at their own firesides.
This New Year's wish is that throughout the years ahead the dream of peace may become a reality — a way of life, as the Savior taught so long ago.- — M. C. J,
28
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Evidences and reconciliations
IxxxuiiL l/l/hu U r^elncamation a
praise dJoctrine f
Reincarnation, often known as metapsychosis, is an A^ ancient doctrine. It dates from the earliest corrup- tion of truth, from the very dawn of human history, when mankind first departed from the simple principles of the gospel. In some form it has existed at all times in all lands. It is an excellent example of the distortion of beautiful, fundamental truths.
Reincarnation, as commonly taught, means that the spirit or "soul" of a human being, after the death of the person, and after intervals of varying duration, returns to earth in another body. This may occur fre- quently, indeed may be a continuous, unending process.
Usually it is taught that the spirit inhabits from time to time bodies of the same species. That is, the spirit of a man will reappear on earth as a man; a woman as a woman; a human being as a human being. This may not, however, always be the case. Many believers in reincarnation hold that a "soul" which is a man today, may be a woman tomorrow, or vice versa. It is also often taught that the spirit of a man may in the next earthly incarnation, inhabit the body of a lower animal, say a dog or a cat. There is not full agreement among reincarnationists on many of these matters.
Under this doctrine our next-door neighbor may be the reincarnation of a man or a woman who lived cen- turies ago; our bootblack may be the reincarnation of one of the great philosophers of the past; our school- teacher may have been an untutored savage a thousand years ago; our present dog, Sanko, may be nothing else than our dog, Fido, long since dead in a more recent incarnation. And what is worse, the animating essence, the "soul," of Sanko, may be the former "soul" of a Newton, or a Galileo, or a Plato! Or, the wife who cooks our meals for us, may have been in an earlier reincarnation, the Queen of Sheba. Or, still more to our confusion, a man's wife might have been his husband when he was a woman in an earlier reincarnation.
Three doctrines lie at the foundation of belief in re- incarnation. First, the pre-existence of the "soul" of man; second, the indestructibility of the "soul" of man after death; and, third, the possibility of constant de- velopment of the pre-existent, eternal "soul." These are all necessary doctrines to the thinking mind. They are supported by divine revelation. But in the explana- tions and applications of these truths, the proponents of reincarnation have failed dismally, and have shown how the semblance of truth, becoming untruth, may lead men into vast fields of deception.
The basic doctrine of pre-existence is always pre- sented in an incomplete form. Clearly, if the "soul" of man has occupied from time to time successive and distinct bodies, birth cannot be the beginning of his "soul." There must be existence before each successive embodiment.
But what about the first incarnation?
One group sidestep the question by saying that before the first appearance on earth, God created the "soul." That merely means that after all, the spirit is not really eternal. Since it began on earth, it may end with the earth.
Another group of believers in reincarnation, sensing
the inadequacy of this explanation, seek refuge in the doctrine that the "souls" of men began their existence as lower animals, and then they add that "in the lower kingdoms consciousness evolves in the mass, ... as these group souls slowly develop, . . . they continually divide and subdivide."1 Finally, by some mysterious process these animals, subdivisions of the mass, acquire a "soul" and become human beings. All of which is merely saying that there is an "ocean of consciousness," out of which God dips individuals.
Contrast these feeble, lame, and incomprehensible explanations with the true doctrine of pre-existence, as taught in the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit of man is co-eternal with God. In the eternities before he came on earth he has been a personality, possessing the power to think and learn, to accept or reject the means by which he could ascend or descend, progress or retrograde. He has been himself from the endless beginning through all the waiting eternities.
Reincarnation rests upon an unsound foundation; hence is dangerous, and should be avoided.
The conditions of reincarnation by which the im- mortal "soul" may progress are equally unacceptable. "Reincarnation ... is a plan whereby imperishable con- scious beings are supplied with physical bodies ap- propriate to their stage of growth and through which they can come in contact with the lessons of physical life."2 This supplying of bodies is repeated endlessly. By this doctrine, the body of man is of little conse- quence. We take it on, cast it off, and put on another one, much as we do with our old suits of clothing. The "soul" of man is then really confined to this earth as in a prison. Why this should be so, baffles the mind. His sojourn between incarnations can be of no value to him, since he must return to earth in a mortal body to gain further experience. He is of the earth, earthy. He cannot in reality go beyond the earth or physical experiences. Therefore, an infinity of experiences are beyond his reach. The universe is not his. Such an eternal "soul" demands a vaster area of understanding and action than the earthly life affords. There is no freedom in reincarnation.
Reincarnation fails utterly to comprehend the mean- ing of the human body.
The gospel of Jesus Christ declares that man, an eternal spirit, acquainted with the spiritual world, came upon the earth when he was fitted and permitted to become acquainted with the material world. To this end he was given a body of material elements. This body belongs to him eternally, to be used by him, in a purified form, in his endless progressive journey among spiritual and material realities. He does not need an- other. It is a sacred possession, the home of his eternal spirit. With it, composed of celestialized material ele- ments, he may forever explore the universe, in all its aspects, even to the limits of eternity. Without such a body, the immortal spirit would be handicapped in its victorious progress, in the midst of universal elements, towards the likeness of God. Reincarnation has gone far afield to explain that which the Lord has made clear to the human mind.
The doctrine of reincarnation really destroys person- ality as connected with earth life. The perpetual pas- sage of spirits from body to body on earth, implies that the Lord is using the earth as a playground for a few spirits. As one writer remarks, the soul of the ancient patriarch Seth was probably the spirit of the great prophet Moses. Thus, individuality on the earth is lost. Temporal identification is hopelessly confused. There is no end to the disorder, for the process of reincarna- tion is unending. That violates the innate desire, even
{Concluded on page 55)
hooper, Reincarnation, p. 48 •Ibid., p. 17
JANUARY. 1945
29
o\\e(c(ii3 ei eFPriest (wo A
CONDUCTED BY THE MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD COMMITTEE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE— JOSEPH FIELDING SMITH,
CHAIRMAN; CHARLES A. CALLIS, HAROLD B. LEE, EZRA TAFT BENSON, MARION G. ROMNEY, THOMAS E. MCKAY, CLIFFORD
E. YOUNG, ALMA SONNE, NICHOLAS G. SMITH, LEVI EDGAR YOUNG, ANTOINE R. IVINS, RUFUS K. HARDY
Confidential Annual Reports
(~\n December 15, 1944, a supply of the V' new confidential annual report forms were mailed to all stake presi- dencies in quantities sufficient for dis- tribution to all Melchizedek Priesthood
CORRECTION
Through an inadvertence, refer- ence to Alma (Book of Mormon) item 11, Part Two of the Confidential Annual Report should read Alma 34: 18-27.
quorums. Stake presidencies have been Urged to make distribution promptly, through stake Melchizedek Priesthood committees, to all quorum officers. I It will save time and result in more accurate reporting if quorum officers read carefully all instructions in the report forms before attempting to com- plete the report. These reports are to be completed and mailed to the Coun- cil of the Twelve, 47 East South Tem- ple Street, Salt Lake City, Utah, on or before January 15, 1945.
Stake Melchizedek Priesthood com- mittees are charged with the responsi- bility of directing the completion, as- sembling, and mailing of these reports. In order to expedite this work stake committees will no doubt wish to call quorum officers together promptly or visit them in order to give direction and impetus to this important work.
The instructions should be detached and kept in quorum files and the single page report mailed to Salt Lake City.
Distribution of the New Melchizedek Priesthood Supplies
All Melchizedek Priesthood group f^ and quorum supplies will be mailed to stake presidencies from the Mel- chizedek Priesthood Committee of the Council of Twelve for distribution through stake Melchizedek Priesthood committees, of which a member of the stake presidency is chairman. The new Confidential Annual Report forms were mailed to stake presidencies Decem- ber 15, 1944. The rolls, reports, min- ute books, etc., will follow as they come from the press.
Future orders for quorums within a stake should be pooled and placed through the stake committee. If in spe- cial cases stake committees desire a modification of this plan, they should state their request in placing the order. Generally speaking, however, all cor- respondence between the office of the
30
general Melchizedek Priesthood com- mittee of the Council of Twelve and Melchizedek Priesthood quorum of- ficers and group leaders in the stakes will be through the stake Melchizedek Priesthood committee which has gen- eral stake direction of Melchizedek Priesthood work.
May we again urge stake committees to study carefully the instructions with quorum and group officers before at- tempting the use of any of the new forms. Such preliminary study will save the time of priesthood officers and increase the accuracy and value of the reports.
Melchizedek Priesthood Outline of Study, February, 1945
Text: The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor
LESSONS 52-53
The Idea of the Kingdom of God
Text: pp. 205-216. Topics: A Theory of Government. A Christian Concept. Mor- mon Political Thought. Priesthood: The Government of the Kingdom of God. A Literal or Spiritual Kingdom. John Taylor's Belief. Relation of the Church and Priest- hood (major topic). The Role of the Peo- ple (major topic).
Suggestion: An article in the December 1944 Era, "The War, The Church, and the Future" brings together in fragmentary form a number of unusual source materials on the Latter-day Saint idea of the kingdom of God. This and other book materials (con- sult the indices of leading doctrinal works) will help provide background for this im- portant subject. The index to the Doctrine and Covenants should not be overlooked. It is a standing source-book for every teach- er.
Questions for discussion: What is the form of government for the kingdom of God? How would, how does it, compare with the patriarchal, monarchial, republican (repre- sentative ) , dicatorial forms? How does Mormon political thought "differ from the world"? (p. 206.) Does the form of govern- ment for the kingdom of God now exist on the earth? What is the relation of the king- dom of God to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? What is the role of "the people" in the kingdom of God? (Note: The questions of Church-state relationships, of the relation of the "kingdom of God" to American government and to the political systems of the modern world, will be treated in subsequent lessons. An important state- ment on this subject by President Wilford Woodruff in 1889, countersigned by the First Presidency and Twelve, is quoted briefly in the Era article, December 1944, referred to above, and in subsequent declara- tions by the Church-in-conference assem- bled.)
LESSON 54
Effects of Establishing the Kingdom of God
Text: pp. 216-220. Some Effects of Es- tablishing the Kingdom (major topic). The Kingdom of God and the Nation-State Sys- tem. The American Constitution and the Kingdom of God. Problems of Church and State. The Future.
One effect of the establishment of the kingdom of God on earth, always noted, is persecution. With persecution comes the
task of reconciling God's kingdom as a society of human believers on earth, with the social institutions of the age in which the kingdom is restored. These effects re- ceive larger treatment later. This chapter is concerned with presenting President Tay- lor's broad outlines of the meaning of the kingdom.
Discuss: What is the relation of "Zion" to the kingdom of God? What is the signifi- cance of the great council at Adam-ondi- Ahman? "How can we live under the dominion and laws of the United States and be subjects of the kingdom of God?" (p. 218.) How does President Taylor answer this question? What is the true meaning of the Constitution of the United States in view of this doctrine? (Instructors and class leaders are advised again to read carefully the footnotes on page 218 and remember that this chapter merely attempts _to "out- line" the major framework of the "meaning of the kingdom of God." Book Five contains the larger discussion of the details.)
LESSON 55
The Role and Purpose of the Church
Text: pp. 221-224. Topics: To Build the Zion of the Latter Days. The Lord's Work Temporal. To Establish the King- dom of God. Another Mission of the Church: To Perpetuate the Liberty and Rights of Man. The Work of God. Respect for Of- ficers. Calling of the Ministry.
Discuss: "A great amount of the work the Lord is going to accomplish is generally called temporal. . . . That is, the government, laws, and general direction of affairs among the nations that are not now fallen under the control of the Almighty, will have to be so changed and altered as to come under his entire control, government, and dicta- tion in every respect." (p. 221.) What does this mean? When does a nation come under the control of the Almighty? How? If the mission of the Church is "to perpetuate the liberty and rights of man" as well as to "establish the kingdom of God," why has the Mormon doctrine been unpopular in the past? Have we succeeded in convincing the world that we are working to perpetuate the liberty and rights of man? What have we done, what are we now doing, to fulfill this mission? In view of the foregoing les- sons, what reasons can be advanced for respecting Church officers? (See p. 223.) And, from the standpoint given, what of the "calling of the ministry" in the Church and kingdom of God?
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
NO FOURTH QUARTER REPORTS
HP he printing labor and materials ■ shortage continues acute. In order to relieve this situation somewhat and give quorum of- ficers added time to complete their surveys and Confidential Annual Reports there will be no quarterly group and quorum reports re- quired for the fourth quarter of 1944. This action will also hasten somewhat the completion of the printing of the new 1945 quorum rolls, reports, minutes books, etc., which have been in course of printing since mid-November.
NO-LIQUOR-TOBACCO COLUMN
Conducted by Dr. Joseph F. Mervill
Questions and Answers Regarding the New Melchizedek Roll and Report Books
Question 1 : Is it the intent to have the new Melchizedek Priesthood roll and report forms used in the missions of the Church?
Answer 1 : The new roll and report books are not intended for use in the missions, but only for Melchizedek Priesthood quo- rums in the stakes. It is not recommended that Melchizedek Priesthood quorums be organized in the missions.
Question 2: Should quorums continue to use the individual record card system or has it been discontinued?
Answer 2: The instructions which will accompany the Confidential Annual Report now being mailed will state, "No record, except for the confidential use of the quorum presidency, outside of this report, should be in evidence which will identify any mem- ber with the answers made." The use of the individual record cards is optional with quorum presidencies.
Question 3: The new quarterly group and quorum reports call for the number of members present (in person) at weekly meetings, and also the number excused from weekly meetings because of other Church work during the priesthood meet- ing hour, including members away on mis- sions. How should members of the bishopric and other Melchizedek Priesthood members, who are acting as Aaronic Priesthood ad- visors or teachers, be credited in case they attend the opening exercises of the priest- hood meeting, but do not attend the weekly Melchizedek group or quorum meetings?
Answer 3: Bishoprics and others working with the Aaronic Priesthood during the Melchizedek Priesthood meeting hour will be given credit for attendance in the Aaronic Priesthood roll books. The record of at- tendance of Melchizedek Priesthood mem- bers is recorded in the group and quorum meetings, and not in any general assembly of the ward priesthood. Only those should be given credit for attendance who attend the weekly group and quorum meetings. Questions 2, 4 and 5 on the quarterly group and quorum reports are totaled to obtain item 6 "Number of members active and ac- counted for." It is not the primary objective to show all members attending the weekly meetings. It is the primary objective to show all members active and accounted for.
Question 4: Question No. 9 on the quar- terly group and quorum reports asks for the number of members away from home cor- responded with by group officers during the quarter. Must a group or quorum officer write these letters personally, or can credit be taken for letters written by others upon
JANUARY, 1945
Shall We Have Military Conscription?
HThe radio and newspapers have an- nounced that the president has rec- ommended, at least suggested, that we have military conscription after the cur- rent war for all our boys and call them for one year into military training. Do you who have heard or read of this approve the recommendation? There is so much involved in this proposition that this column believes you should give the question careful study and make a decision concerning it.
Would this year of training contrib- ute to the social, moral, and spiritual good of the boy? If it should fail in any one of these respects, should we not oppose it? Let us make a few ob- servations.
The sentiment of the country is now overwhelmingly in favor of some kind of understanding and set-up that shall eliminate the likelihood of another world war during the lifetime of people now living. Then why go to the enor- mous expense of preparing for some- thing that will not happen? But if in the distant future, it does happen, the methods and equipment then used would render obsolete those now em- ployed. Hence the folly and the waste of continuing training in this generation.
But more important things than waste of money are involved for the boy — his moral and spiritual good. That's why we speak of the matter in this column. The practices of the army encourage rather than discourage smoking and drinking, especially of beer. What Latter-day Saint wants his boy to live in an environment devoid of influences of total abstinence — devoid of influ- ences that ban profanity and foul lan- guage— devoid of influences that do not uphold chastity and moral rectitude in sex matters? The military teach how to avoid social diseases, but not self- control and personal purity. Indulge if you will, but submit to treatment im- mediately afterwards is the military at- titude.
Again, we teach the highly spiritual second great commandment — love our neighbors (the human family) as we love ourselves. We believe, therefore, in the brotherhood of man — in living the golden rule in all our associations with our fellows. We hate war and all its evils. War is destructive of all our spiritual aspirations and ideals. Hence, why prepare our boys for war when no war is in sight? We will cross the bridge if and when we get to it. In the meantime, let us do everything we can
to train our boys to be clean, capable, lovable, and righteous. This can best be done by keeping them away from army environment when war no longer makes it necessary for the boys to be there.
Are We Alive and Energetic?
Cix years have passed since we began ^r a special campaign by direction of the First Presidency to teach our people total abstinence from the use of liquor and tobacco and to win users of these narcotics to total abstinence. Of course the Church had been teaching the Word of Wisdom to its members and the world for more than a hundred years and is still doing it. All Church mem- bers know, therefore, that indulgence in the use of alcoholic beverages, tobacco, as well as other narcotics, is contrary to the doctrines of the Church. But so prone are we to engage in worldly prac- tices that the First Presidency felt spe- cial efforts should be made among our people against the use of liquor and to- bacco.
In the revelation to the Prophet Jo- seph Smith, known as the Word of Wisdom, the Lord said liquor and to- bacco are not good for man. He did not tell us why. No general gives his men the reasons for his orders. It is enough for them to know the orders. They are expected to obey, or suffer the consequences of disobedience. But since the Word of Wisdom was given in February 1833, man has found out why liquor and tobacco are not good for man. Hence revelation and science agree on this matter.
So the Latter-day Saints have the joy of knowledge, divine and human, that makes it impossible for any of them, howsoever weak in the faith any mem- ber may be, to deny the bad effects of either liquor or tobacco. Among these effects is a deterioration of faith. So we say the cigar et is a faith killer, an effect that all workers should be willing to do anything in their power to pre- vent.
Hence the call is made to all priest- hood officers, Melchizedek and Aaronic, to push forward the work of winning addict members to total abstinence. The method, does someone ask? The an- swer is easy — the method used by all missionaries of the Church, that of per- sonal contact. But this method to be successful must be characterized byk wisdom, tact, swmpathy, persistence, and faith. The Lord helping (and the Lord will help all worthy of his help) the job can be done in the great major- ity of cases of quorum members. But usually it will be a delicate if not a hard job. Let no worker be discouraged. Let no officer fail in his duty to those who have been so unfortunate as to have acquired the smoking or drinking habit, regular or intermittent.
direct assignment from the group or quorum officer?
Answer 4: Quorums or groups may be given credit for letters written by members of the quorum to quorum members away from home if done under the direction of
group or quorum officers. Credit should not be taken for letters written to quorum mem- bers by persons outside the group or quorum. Question 5: Our stake is very scattered with branches and wards extending as far {Concluded on page 32)
31
Hjtneaiogy
Letter to Stake Chairmen
P\ear Stake Chairman: Ly On November 21, 1944, the Gen- ealogical Society of Utah was rein- corporated for one hundred years under the name of the Genealogical Society of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- day Saints. The First Presidency re- appointed Elder Joseph Fielding Smith as president, and the same board of directors was continued in office.
One amendment made at the time of change is of general interest. No more life or annual memberships are to be granted in the Society. Instead, all mem- bers of the Church of good moral stand- ing and others of good moral character may use, subject to the rules of the So- ciety, any book or other record belong- ing to the library.
The board of directors now recom- mends that the membership of your stake committee be increased to include a secretary and also a stake supervisor of baptisms ( a position which can usu- ally be filled most acceptably by a woman ) .
Superseding previous instructions, home teaching is now definitely as- signed to stake and ward committees as one of their major responsibilities, along with the organizing and fostering of temple work, research and record keeping and the formation of family or- ganizations. Please take steps to see that this helpful activity is initiated in every ward of your stake, with one member of each committee definitely as- signed jurisdiction over this work. All members of the ward committee should participate in these home teaching vis- its and give direct assistance to ward members in preparing their family group sheets and pedigree charts, and in providing them with guidance in the elementary phases of research.
Realizing the urgent need for closer contact between general, stake and ward workers, we are planning to hold a limited number of meetings with groups from stakes that are within con- venient travel distance from a chosen center. . . .
We are also preparing, for the guid- ance of all, circulars of instructions on the organization and duties of temple and genealogical committees, our rela- tionship to the Sunday School Genea- logical Training Class, and detailed suggestions on the preparation and sending in of family group sheets for temple work and problems involved.
Recently our library was given the opportunity to make copies of unprinted transcripts of marriages from about 350 English parishes. We have also been able to purchase and add to our library during the past year or two a considerable number of valuable family genealogies and place records. Our
32
library is rapidly becoming recognized as one of the principal sources for gen- ealogical research in America.
Our research department has been augmented and new researchers have been given a regular period of training. They are now equipped to give prompt and efficient service on research orders placed with the Society. It is our rec- ommendation that all research in the un- occupied European countries be sent through our Society.
Sincerely your brethren,
Joseph Fielding Smith,
President Archibald F. Bennett,
Secretary ■ ♦ ■
Melchizedek Priesthood
( Concluded from page 3 1 ) as one hundred thirty-five miles from stake headquarters. Many of these distant wards find it difficult to attend monthly priesthood quorum and priesthood leadership meetings. Will our new quarterly reports reflect such conditions?
Answer 5: A number of the stakes in the Church are scattered over a wide area. The reports are intended to reflect the actual con- ditions as to the attendance at the various meetings of the priesthood. In interpreting the reports consideration will be given to unusual conditions which may affect the showing in each of the respective stakes. It is not practical in the quarterly reports to attempt a reflection of the peculiar condi- tions in each stake.
Question 6: In stakes with quorums and groups widely scattered, the problem of a personal interview with each quorum mem- ber becomes somewhat burdensome. Do you have any suggestions to offer in this regard?
Answer 6: Beginning in 1945 quorum presidencies will have a much longer period to complete their annual survey. This year the time has been limited because the an- nouncement of the new program was not made until October conference. Many of the quorums, however, have their work prac- tically completed. Quorum officers in their visits to the wards and branches might well arrange to interview, individually, those in attendance at the quorum or group meet- ings. Quorum presidencies, particularly of the high priests quorums, may use, for this year only, tactful and wise group leaders to assist with the personal interviews.
Question 7: What should be done in case some quorum does not complete the inter- view of their members 100% by the first of 1945 when the annual confidential report is to be made? Must the quorum suffer in the percentage shown when one of the officers fails to complete the interviews?
Answer 7: Any quorum suffers when quorum officers fail to discharge their re- sponsibilities. The report should reflect ac- curately the number of quorum members actually interviewed personally to obtain the information called for in the report.
Question 8: Will distribution of quorum roll and report books be made directly to quorums and groups or through the stake Melchizedek Priesthood committee?
Answer 8: The December Improvement
LEARNING TO THINK
By Mabel-Ruth Jackson
"VT^aiting at a railway station, I be- *v came interested in watching a small girl and her father. The child asked many questions — about the steel tracks, the clouds, the distant mountains — passing -from one question to another so rapidly that I doubted if she were listening to the answers. Her father did not put her off but answered each ques- tion carefully.
"Oh, I'm tired standing!" she cried and darted off to sit down abruptly on the step of a closed side door of a build- ing used for freight. But she jumped up in a hurry.
"That hurt!" she exclaimed resent- fully and turned to look at the step. An oblong strip of iron studded with small blunt spikes had been screwed on the top, covering it completely.
"Why did they put that there, Dad- dy?" she demanded of her father, who hid an amused smile.
"Why do you think they did?" he counterquestioned.
She turned and looked again. "Well, I can't think why," she said. "You tell me, Daddy."
"That's one question you can answer yourself if you try hard enough, Anne," he said. "From now on, I'm not going to answer any questions you can find the answers to yourself."
I could see that she didn't know whether she liked that or not. It wasn't so easy to put her own brain to work as it was to let "Daddy" do it.
"Please tell me, Daddy," she teased.
"I'll help you a little," he offered. "Now when you sat down there, you stood up again quickly — "
"Oh," she broke in, her eyes shining, "they didn't want me to sit there!"
"That's it exactly,"' her father an- swered, smiling.
"But why don't they want people to sit there?" came the inevitable question.
"Why does Mother sometimes shoo you out of the kitchen when she's get- ting a big meal?"
"Because I get in her way," Anne said. "Oh, I — '
Just then the train came in and I didn't hear any more, but the incident set me to thinking.
We see that our children have exer- cise to make their muscles grow strong, but how much attention do we pay to the process of strengthening their mental growth? We read them instructive stories and try to answer their questions intelligently, but do we not sometimes forget that, primarily, education should be a whetstone to sharpen mental ac- tivities, to teach children to think for themselves?
Era, page 776, states, "All supplies will be mailed to the chairmen of the stake Mel- chizedek Priesthood committees." In order to obviate changes in stake chairmen through stake reorganizations and for other reasons, supplies will be mailed to the chairmen of the stake Melchizedek Priesthood commit- tees through the respective stake presidents.
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
Xaroviic H?riest(too6
CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE PRESIDING BISHOPRIC. EDITED BY LEE A. PALMER.
WARD BOY LEADERSHIP
COMMITTEE OUTLINE OF STUDY
FEBRUARY 1945
Text: HOW TO WIN BOYS Chapter XXVI : The Great Objective
Quotations [torn the Text:
1. So to you who are timid about person' at work with boys, here is sound ad- vice. It is the wisdom of the ages and merely is coming to you through a very human agency. Ask a boy what he thinks Jesus would want him to do. If he, in turn, is also timid, merely direct his thinking.
2. So here is that fine young person, an immature boy. Natively he is religious. But he fears to seem pious. He fears any suggestion of the "goody-goody." He is no faker. His young heart over- flows. His breath comes in short gasps at every invitation given in the church service. He knows what he wants to do and doesn't quite know how to start doing it.
Will he grow into manhood and be- come hardened by worldly forces and feel the urge of new and vicious de- sires— without Christl
Manhood will find him formed. Man- hood will see in his mental set-up much of the innocent faith gone. Friends will have proved untrue — some of them. He'll feel the selfish grasp of money-getting. He'll be the victim of a thousand and one forms of propa- ganda, both the good and the bad. Other lives will have touched his and left upon his soul their beauty or their stains.
3. Save another boy for Christ and his work! For after youth passes, every major decision in his life will be made with great difficulty.
-4. "/ can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
There is the answer. There is the heart's solution to any problem in any approach to boyhood!
5. You and I, as teachers, or would-be leaders, are rather powerless. But by the divine plan of the Creator, our small talent linked through prayer to the powerhouse of an Almighty can actually perform human miracles!
Helps for the Class Leader:
This chapter, "The Great Objective," has been treated in two lessons. There is much food for thought in this summary of the book we have been studying for over two years.
In addition to the quotations above, re- view this final chapter and give to your class a full picture of their responsibilities in the work of teaching boys. Why do we spend so much time with our young men? W^hy are we so much concerned about them? Why should we increase the measure of talent and time devoted to their interests?
Raise the spiritual sights of your class members. You have a glorious opportunity to make this an outstanding lesson.
JANUARY, 1945
yjoudtpL Spsmk&u
SHIRLEY MILES
PRIESTHOOD'S BLESSINGS TO WOMANHOOD
(Address delivered during the Carbon Stake quarterly confer- ence. )
VI Then the sun shines upon the earth,
" it casts its warming rays equally upon both men and women, brightening their days and giving them light and ■warmth and sustenance.
Thus it is with the priesthood. Like the sun, its blesskigs reach out to all members of the Church, men and wom- en alike. And like the sun, it brightens our days and gives us light and warmth and sustenance of a spiritual sort.
For as we walk through life, we find that we must have some standard, some guiding set of principles by which to govern the order of our lives. It is as if we started out in the early morning be- fore the sunrise, when the earth is darkest, searching for a path. With the rising of the sun, we are able to see the correct road upon which to set our feet.
So it is with those who are privileged to bear the priesthood, or with those who share in its blessings. We look to it for our guide in life; and there we find the standards for which we are searching, the light which shows us the way to go.
To young people who have had the opportunity to live in the light of the gospel and of the priesthood, life has a different meaning. An L.D.S. boy who holds the priesthood, or an L.D.S. girl who associates with members of the priesthood, and who knows what it is to have a clean spirit and to understand the teachings of the Lord, is set apart from youth who are denied these great blessings.
God has said, "Be ye clean that bear
STANDARD QUORUM AWARD FOR 1944
Application blanks for the Standard Quorum Award and for the Individual Certificate of Award will be sent to bishops and stake chairmen only on re~ quest.
A new application form is be- ing used for 1945. Any old forms on hand should be destroyed.
Stake and ward committees are urged to make every possible ef- fort to see that no deserving quo- rum, group, or boy, is overlooked in these award programs.
Note:
The succeeding lessons will be based upon a review of the chapters of this book. The lessons for future meetings of the ward boy leadership committee will be published each month as in the past.
the vessels of the Lord." To L.D.S. young people this is as the sun which lights our days. It is a thought that should greet us each morning with the rising of the sun, and stay with us throughout each day. A young person who guides his life in being clean enough in heart, soul, and mind, to be a servant of God has truly found the right path.
A Mormon boy knows that in order to hold the priesthood, he is expected to abide by the laws of the gospel and the Word of Wisdom. He accepts this as his responsibility to God and to him- self. With an L.D.S. girl, it is purely a matter of looking into her own heart, and finding there the reasons for which she keeps these same standards.
An L.D.S. girl has the opportunity each day to mingle socially, spiritually, and intellectually, with the kind of young men who will be worthy hus- bands and fathers. These young mem- bers of the priesthood are of the highest order of young men in the nation and in the world. When an L.D.S. girl as- sociates with them, she is standing full in the light of the sun. It is then that she may see and understand why she must be as clean and pure in heart as if she were a member of the priesthood herself.
The blessings of the priesthood to young womanhood then, are many: There is the blessing of associating with the highest type of manhood and of being guided by their principles. There is the blessing of knowing that she may always find understanding and helpful- ness in these young men, and of know- ing that she need look no further than her daily associations with them for happiness and fulfilment. There is the great blessing of being able to share the joys and the spiritual uplift of walking beside these servants of God through time and throughout all eternity in the sunlight of purity and righteousness.
33
^"^)orr5 ^Racking
CONDUCTED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF THE PRESIDING BISHOPRIC. EDITED BY LEE A. PALMER.
"The teacher s duty is to watch over the church always, and be with and strengthen them;
"And see that there is no iniquity in the church, neither hardness with each other, neither lying, backbiting, nor evil speaking;
"And see that the church meet together often, and also see that all the mem- bers do their duty." (D. & C. 20:53-55.)
"BE WITH AND STRENGTHEN THEM"
HpHE Lord was speaking when the in- A junction — "be with and strengthen them" — was included in the duties of the teacher. To whom was he referring? Whom is the teacher to "be with"? Whom is the teacher to "strengthen"?
"Them" refers to "the Church" as stipulated in a preceding injunction re- corded in the same verse of this revela- tion. (Doc. & Cov. 20:53.) "The Church" to a ward teacher, therefore, is "them" or the family or families for whom he is responsible to the bishop. Knowing whom the teacher is to "be with" and whom he is to "strengthen" is one thing, but knowing when he is to perform these duties is the purpose of these suggestions.
Having a perfect knowledge of hu- man nature our Lord knows that we are all subject to weaknesses. He rec- ognizes that sometimes we are strong and confident and that at other times we are weak and need support. Those moments when we are weak and have need of strength are his greatest con- cern for us.
He knows the deterrent influence of temptation, and of discouragement. He knows how the loneliness of bereave- ment frequently leaves the mind dis- armed against Lucifer's subtle sugges- tion of injustice. He knows how the pinch of poverty, the children's cry for bread or their plea for clothing, may distort men's notions of where right ends and wrong begins. He knows how a thoughtless act or the deadly tongue of gossip may destroy righteous ambi- tion in the hearts of men. Yes, he knows all the tricks in Satan's catalog. He knows full well how great is Lucifer's power to sell his devilish ideas to un- suspecting souls in moments of weak- ness.
Does any ward teacher suppose that these temptations and conditions hold back their weighted influence during the month and then burst upon a family just when he decides it is time to make his monthly visit? Does any ward teacher suppose that, if such things did happen, he could, by some magic sweep, cure the month's accumulation of ills in the few moments he spends with the family every thirty days?
Perhaps some may think that such questions are quite unnecessary. Well, 34
it is hoped they are, but it is believed they may stimulate some good thinking on the part of teachers who may enter- tain the notion that a visit once a month is ward teaching.
It requires only a little thought to know that the Lord expects ward teach- ers to "be with and strengthen them" whenever they need strength. It re- quires even less thought to know that weaknesses, sorrow, and unfortunate circumstances may overtake men at any time. Really to ' strengthen them," we must be "with them" when they need us. Belated assistance, when the need has passed, excuses not the slothful.
What greater assignment, what greater call, can come to man than to "be with and strengthen" the discour- aged, the bereaved, the sick, the maimed, the lonely, the inactive. What greater satisfaction than to give such strength and sustenance when it is needed?
In your visits have you so endeared yourself to the Saints that when they need comfort, assistance, or encourage- ment, they instinctively think of you and wish that somehow you could know they were needing you and that they would appreciate your call? If they de- sire that you speak at the funeral serv- ice of a member of the family, does the bishop have to bring you the word, or are you there in person to offer your condolence and to hear their request? If there is a "shut-in" among your mem- bers, doyou call frequently to cheer him along? Thirty days between "messages" from the ward teacher whom they love is a long time to wait. How long since you, with the approval of your bishop, administered the sacrament to members long detained at home through illness?
Think of all the times you could have helped "them" and then count the num- ber of times you really did assist. What is your score? Do you have room for improvement? The Lord will sustain and bless you in any additional effort you make to increase the quality of your teaching.
Only the ward teacher who is willing to "watch over the Church always" will be in a position to "be with and strengthen them" when they need strength.
WARD TEACHERS' MESSAGE
'T'he Ward Teachers' Message for January 1945 is "The New Year and Repentance," and was published in The Improve- ment Era for December 1944. The message for February will be published in the Era for the same month.
This change in publication time will bring the announcement of the message into the month dur- ing which it is to be discussed by the ward teachers.
The leaflets will be sent in the future as they have been in the past.
Mr. Church Officer
( Concluded from page 2 1 ) in unison and marched out as soldiers. In fact, the entire program was so or- derly, and each one fitted his place in the program so well that the visitor was astounded. How did that teacher do it? The visitor was going to find out. After dismissal he accosted one of the boys of this unusual group of children where he had been visiting. Asked he, "How did all you boys and girls know when to arise? How did you all know so well when to march?" Then came the answer, "Didn't you see the teacher's thumb signal us?"
■ — i ■
A Mormon Wife
(Concluded from page 17) Many and many a time they walked the three blocks from the Cannon home to the depot and came back, dragging between them a five gallon can of milk which their father had sent to help out with their board. Although the "big house," as they called it, boasted a pump in the yard, the water was somewhat brackish; so in order to get fresh water for drinking, it was necessary to scram- ble down the bank of City Creek, which flowed past the home. In winter, the sides of the stream were not only steep, but icy as well and sometimes our young ladies fell in. On such occasions Au- gusta wrote: "No damage done, except wet feet."
In reminiscent mood she tells that "we never had ready money enough to pay our board when we were going to school. We rented a room or went into the home of friends. Father furnished our food, and we all did the work. When we had graduated and were real professors, and got as much as fifty dol- lars a month salary, we could afford to pay for our board."
THE IMPROVEMENT ERA
n
Z2
n
The Ward Music Guild
Fourth Session ( January )
By Gerrit de Jong, Jr.,
Dean of the College of Fine Arts,
Brigham Young University,
and Member of the General
Music Committee
'"Pwo months ago we discussed to- ■*■ gether certain hymns which offered difficulties for the chorister. This month we are discussing certain problems which concern particularly the organist and his work. The assumption in this discussion on hymns is that the work done by both chorister and organist must of necessity rest on such close co- operation that each can profit from an occasional discussion of specific prob- lems of the other.
Why Use the Organ?
The question is often asked, why it is generally recommended that we use the organ rather than the piano in our worship meetings. The answer is sim- ple: the organ is more appropriate to a worship gathering. The organ was actually born in the church; that is, it developed out of the attempts made to improve the vocal music used in the church. The objection to the use of the organ because most of our Church mu- sicians are at present better pianists than organists, is removed by having our pianists deliberately set out to be- come good organists as well.
An Important Difference
Since the keyboards of the piano and the organ look somewhat similar, many people assume that these two instru- ments are the same. They are not even of the same general kind. The piano is a percussion instrument; that is, its tones are produced by hammers which strike strings. The organ, however, is a wind instrument, more akin to the human voice, and produces its tones by blow- ing.
o
n
u.
This fundamental difference in con- struction calls for a corresponding dif- ference in the techniques used in play- ing these instruments. Every pianist who has made an honest effort to ac- quire an "organ technique" knows that on the organ a tone is sustained no long- er than we actually hold the key respon- sible for it depressed. There is no sus- taining pedal to prolong tones after the finger has been lifted from the key. The most important, though not the only, item for the pianist who changes to the organ, therefore, is the acquisition of a good legato; that is, the ability and habit of holding each tone the exact length of time its relative value calls for.
It will be noted that most of the music the organist is called upon to play is really written for four-part sing- ing. When the four parts have note values of differing lengths, it becomes all the more difficult to play absolutely legato. But this proper sustaining of the notes should be practiced until the new organist has developed the habit of playing legato in each part.
Difficulties
Let us consider a few of the hymns that are often pointed out by young or- ganists as being particularly difficult. It will be observed that the difficulties of these hymns are typical of those of most of the other hymns frequently used.
In No. 167, in the Latter-day Saint Hymns, the well-known "Praise to the Man," we find many places where the tenor and bass parts are not within the reach of the left hand. In such a case we must al- ways make sure of the bass part first, for the bass part must never be omitted for any reason. The tenor part is then played by the right hand, together with the alto and soprano. (See, for instance, measures 5, 13, and 29.) In measure 3 (and 11 and 27) it is not possible to reach C sharp of the tenor and add it to the right-hand part below the alto. Under those circumstances it is better to transpose the tenor an octave higher, and
MARLBOROUGH WARD, GRANITE STAKE, CHOIR
put the C sharp of the tenor between the alto and the soprano.
In No. 191, "O Say, What is Truth," much of the tenor will have to be played by the right hand, as in the previous hymn. (See first full measure, tenor C-B-B; and next to the last full measure, where the tenor sings D on the word "Is.")
In No. 30, "Lord, Thou Wilt Hear Me," we must play the soprano and alto parts perfectly legato, to make them into a smoothly flowing duet. The bass and tenor parts should be played non-legato (but not staccato!) in order to give the piece move- ment and rhythmic beauty. Watch espe- cially the one measure where the left hand has come to the help of the right.
In No. 118, "For the Strength of the Hills," most organists get confused at the beginning of the second line. The scale passages in the soprano and bass parts probably frighten them. The fact that both alto and tenor parts sing the same middle C further adds to the confusion. It is, of course, sufficient to play this middle C with one hand only, with whichever hand it is most convenient to play it.
No. 127, "The Spirit of God Like a Fire,"
has only a few places where the tenor part
has to be worked into the right hand. It is,
however, one of the most difficult hymns to
(Concluded on page 45) ■ » «
Marlborough Ward Choir
''"Pwenty-eight singers comprised the * choir of Marlborough Ward, Gran- ite Stake, when the choir was organized in a new ward in September 1943. To- day there are fifty-five members. This shows splendid activity in the period of one year.
This choir has produced three canta- tas, the last being a Christmas one, "The Nativity Song." Choir members are called by telephone when they miss a reheasal or a sacrament meet- ing. A spirit of friendship and kind- liness characterizes all the choir activi- ties. A special fund is provided by the members for occasional social events.
Benjamin Bullough is director; Fred E. Curtis, choir president. Althea Fre- win Thomson, Irene Jacobson, and Em- ma Schreiner Stringham are accom- panists.— Alexander Schreiner.
JANUARY, 1945
Christmas Cards and Sugar Sacks
By Gladys Fuller Rasmussen
"\T7hat are you doing with your five- and ten-pound sugar sacks? And all those hundreds of lovely Christmas cards? You aren't putting them in the furnace, are you? Well, don't! Because out of the two you can make as clever a scrapbook as you could wish to see. And what children's hospital isn't cry- ing for more scrapbooks for little folk? It's an easy and pleasant job, too, making them.
First, of course, the sacks, must be ripped open and the printing removed.
Fold on dotted line:
Bring a to b (a little past) and c to b (a little past):
Then stitch up and down on b:
b
Fold as a book:
To do this, dampen each sack slightly, then make a paste of either bar soap or powdered soap and put it over the let- tering, thickly. Roll up and let lie for a day or even two days. Put into cool water, then rub by hand or on a tiny washboard until the letters come out or
36
owing
mostly out. Sometimes machine wash- ing is satisfactory, but usually hand washing gives better results. Next, put the sacks in a pan of cool water and bring to a boil. Boil a few minutes. Use a bleach if desired. Rinse well, starch stiffly with cold starch, dry partly, and iron.
Now you are ready to make your books. Take your sacks and sew them together with flat fell seams. Cut into strips twenty-four inches by forty- eight inches. Plan on at least twelve pages, more if you wish, to each book. Fold lengthwise through the middle, then through the center. Next, bring each edge a little past this center, so it laps. Stitch well, up and down the center. This makes two leaves for each strip of strong, double thickness leaves.
Choose from your box of old Christ- mas cards the largest and prettiest one for the cover, trimming it to suit. Fill the rest of the book, picking out the cards which you think would be most pleasing to a child, using only the pic- ture parts of them.
You will be amazed at how attractive this pick-up scrapbook can be. Pic- tures cut from magazines can be used in the same way, just as satisfactorily.
The Romance of Starch History
Here's a bit of the romantic history of the starch you use each week and take so much for granted.
A Mistress Dingham van der Plas- sen, a Fleming, was brought over to London in 1564 to teach publicly the art of starching as "professor of laundry work" — her reception was comparable to that now given to persons of highest rank! Soon after her visit, tubs and other starching utensils were seen in the most aristocratic residences, and wash- ing, drying, and ironing were performed in the presence of nobles, as are music and the other arts today! Then, starches of various colors were introduced, the yellow variety being esteemed best for ruffs and other articles, although a blue- colored starch was affected by the Puri- tans.
U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps
The U.S. Public Health Service an- nounces that 60,000 new student nurses must be recruited by June 30, 1945, if adequate nursing service is to be maintained. Enrollment for spring classes is starting now. The corps is the largest and youngest of all women's uniformed organizations, with an enroll- ment of over 100,000 first, second, and third-year students.
Coofe Corner
Josephine B. Nichols
In very child is entitled to a hot school *~* lunch. Does your child receive a hot noon lunch which meets one third of his daily food requirements?
Menus and recipes for a good hot lunch follow:
Fish Chowder
Carrot Strips Crackers
Apple Pudding
Milk
Baked Beans
Gelatin Vegetable Salad
Corn Meal Muffins Butter
Orange
Milk
Spaghetti Meat Casserole
Cooked Greens
Whole Wheat Bread Butter
Canned Fruit Oatmeal Cookies
Milk
Fish Chowder
2 pounds fish, salmon, halibut, or cod 1 quart hot fish stock or water 3-inch cube salt pork
1 onion, sliced 1 teaspoon salt
Y teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon flour
3 cups potatoes cut in %-inch cubes
1 cup hot milk
2 hard-cooked eggs
Cut pork into small pieces, and try out. Add onion and fry five minutes.
In bottom of stew pan arrange a layer of fish; sprinkle with salt, pepper, and flour. Arrange next a layer of potatoes; scatter over with onions and pork. Pour hot fish stock over this. Cook slowly for forty-five minutes. Add hot milk; slice hard-cooked eggs over top.
Apple Pudding
2 cups enriched flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
Yi teaspoon salt
J4 cup shortening
Ya cup milk
2 tablespoons butter softened
Yi cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 quart sliced apples Yi cup honey
2 tablespoons butter (for top)
Sift flour, measure; add baking powder and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add milk all at once; mix