Comment

President Harold B. Lee

While reading the Ensign issue in memoriam to President Harold B. Lee I was reminded of an incident that occurred while I was on my mission, and thought someone might be interested.

One of the elders was a neighbor to Elder Lee and the families knew each other well. The elder began to wonder if he were doing the right thing by fulfilling a mission, and wrote to his mother, expressing these doubts.

Before she had received the letter, she met Elder Lee on the street, and he said, “Tell your son he’s where the Lord wants him to be.” He was in the Swedish Mission, 1947.

Norene Winegar
Glenn Falls, New York

The February Ensign is without question the best issue of the Ensign that I can remember. Normally finding time to read everything in the Ensign that I want to is a problem, but this month it was hard not to find time because of the many excellent articles and features.

The stories, quotes, and memories of President Lee were wonderful reminders of what a truly superior man he was. President Lee was almost 50 years my senior, but it was very easy to relate to him not only because he was the President and prophet of the Church, but because of his genuine warmth and concern for all people. I will always remember him.

Ross Blackham
San Diego, California

President Spencer W. Kimball

The recent article “President Spencer W. Kimball: No Ordinary Man” by Boyd K. Packer has truly helped us to bear stronger testimony to the fact that there is a living prophet of God on the earth today. It has also helped us out here in the mission field to come to know the prophet that leads this great Church, as we could in no other way.

Elder Kim Powell
Elder Gregg Kay
Colorado Mission

We knew beforehand that these men are true servants of our Lord, but as one reads about President Spencer W. Kimball (and the others), one can’t help but feel the witness of the Holy Ghost that they truly are God’s prophets. Thank you for giving the Saints in every part of the world this opportunity to feel a personal closeness with our great leaders.

Mr. and Mrs. Brooks Moore
Mountain Brook, Alabama

The February issue of the Ensign was a great strength to me. Reading it started me thinking. It really was a strength to my testimony in that I know we have a true prophet of God at the head of this church. I never really thought about how important the prophet is until I read the Ensign. You can bet that tonight when I get down on my knees I am going to say, “I thank thee, O God, for a prophet.”

Amy Weber
Walnut Creek, California

First Things First

For some time I have wanted to express my appreciation to the editors of the Ensign and to Sisters Patricia Russell and Karen Jensen for the insightful article, “Put First Things First,” published in the February issue. So many of my colleagues have also expressed the thought that it is one of the most insightful and sensitive articles dealing with the problems that single women face in a family-oriented culture—which is the kind of society we want and where we, even though single, find our sense of security and belonging.

As a teacher at BYU and as a counselor in one of the stake Relief Societies, I counsel with so many wonderful young sisters who fear that life has passed them by because they are not yet married. The fears and despondence can take them away from the Church where they are reminded of their “inadequacy,” or they may settle for a marriage that is less than it should be, or they settle into a routine job that does not require special knowledge and skills that would “scare away” a man.

Can’t we do more to help these young girls—and maybe we older ones need some reinforcement, too—to realize that loving the Lord is not always equated with marriage; that perhaps love of self and real self-fulfillment may be closer to real love of the Lord. If these girls could see that making each day and each year outstanding is serving the Lord better than living in a state of abeyance until marriage happens, how much better they could serve the Lord, his children, themselves, and then, when the time comes, the family with which they will be blessed.

Let’s have more of these insights—instead of the cliche-type reiterating of the promise that we know—and, yes, believe, too—but fail to help us set priorities in perspective for daily living.

Betty J. Petersen
Provo, Utah

Provo, Not Salt Lake City

I noticed this evening that on page 74 of February’s Ensign, the picture showing what is described as Arizona Media Representatives on the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City is not the Church Office Building. It is the Wilkinson Center at Brigham Young University!

Bruce F. Levi
Provo, Utah

Biblical Leprosy

I was interested in the answer on leprosy (Ensign, November 1973), but I feel more needs to be said on this subject. In Facts You Should Know About Leprosy, published by the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Carville, Louisiana [the national center for Hansen’s Disease (Leprosy)], it says: “Leprosy is a chronic communicable disease of man. It is caused by the mycobacterium Leprae, a bacterium very much like the one that causes tuberculosis. The organism was first identified by Mr. Armaner Hansen in Norway in 1874.

“The term leprosy has been used throughout the ages to describe a group of skin diseases which included other disease besides leprosy (Hansen’s disease). The “Leprosy” described in Leviticus is not leprosy as it is known today; the traditional fear of leprosy comes from the mistaken belief that it is highly contagious, that it always results in crippling deformities, and that it is incurable. Many people do not know that most cases of leprosy when recognized and treated can be cured.”

I have worked with patients with Hansen’s Disease and know the social stigma which they suffer due to ignorance on the part of the average person. Most people are not aware of the difference between Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) today and the leprosy described in the Bible.

I might add that most Hansen’s Disease patients greatly resent being called “lepers.” They would prefer being called “Hansen’s Disease patients” or “leprosy patients.”

Robert Taylor
U.S. Public Health Service Hospital, Staten Island, New York

The Connection

We would like you to know how much we appreciate the Ensign. We have, to our knowledge, been the only members of the Church in Tunis since October, when one other family moved to Yemen. The Ensign has been our main connection with the Church. We anticipate the arrival of every issue with great enthusiasm. The articles are truly inspiring and motivate us to live the teachings of the Church even though we have no formal contact with other members.

Keith and Trisa Martin
Tunis, Tunisia

Turn the Thermostat Down …

The energy crisis article in the February Ensign says, “in some cases, it takes more fuel to bring the temperature up in the morning to the desired level than it does to keep it a lower constant level all of the time.”

I can’t think of any heating system where such would be the case. Loss of heat is directly related to the relative indoor/outdoor temperature differential, insulation, and length of time. Thus it is always more thrifty to turn the temperature down at night.

This is not my theory, but a basic thermodynamic law of physics which has been proven in controlled tests by The National Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C.

John Williams
Fredericksburg, Virginia