Arizona Television Program Aids Families, Missionary Work

Three Latter-day Saint women in Phoenix, Arizona, have had a “missionary’s dream come true.” They were invited to discuss the family home evening program on a popular local television program, and now they are regular guests on KPHO’s “Open House” talk show.

Mrs. Rita Davenport, hostess of Open House, at first invited them for only one appearance, but because of the tremendous audience response after the first show, she asked them to return for a series of eight more shows.

The 50,000 viewers of Open House continued to request more family home evening material, and now sisters Madeline Westover, Nevada Harward, and Karine Eliason have been asked to continue indefinitely as regular guests on the show.

Sister Westover reported that soon after their first appearance they produced a series of family home evening packets with ideas for Christmas, the Bicentennial, Easter, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and other special occasions. The packets have been very popular with members and nonmembers alike. More than two thousand orders were received for the Christmas packet, and many hundreds of the other packets have been requested. Sister Westover, who handles the mail, received 195 requests the first day after the television presentation of the Easter packet. She said that the Easter show was much more Church-oriented than any of the previous shows had been, “but that didn’t seem to hurt the show’s popularity.”

The sisters have received many letters from people of different denominations praising them for their work and their courage in presenting the home evening ideas on television, and telling of new interest in the Church. “Your cheerful attitude and smiles are a great example for your religion,” said one. Another said, “If only all families could practice this beautiful idea, there would be fewer problems on this earth today.”