Comment

Update

Elder William H. Bennett should have been included on page 34 of the September 1988 issue as one of the Canadians called to be General Authorities or general officers of the Church. Born in Taber, Alberta, he was sustained 6 April 1970 as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve and 1 October 1976 as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.

The account of Alice Rockwell in “After the Children Leave” (June 1988) implies that Alice is widowed. Several years after the death of her first husband, she remarried and has been involved with her second husband in many of the activities the article describes. They both are very much “doers of things.”

Parents on Missions

Elder M. Russell Ballard’s article “Missionary Couples—Trading Something Good for Something Better” (June 1988) reminded me of my parents’ mission to the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Mission from January 1982 to July 1983.

When they discussed their plans with us, we could tell they had fears about what would happen to us while they were gone. They wondered about their grandchildren and the special occasions they would miss. Would the grandchildren still remember them and love them just as much when they returned home?

Of course, the grandchildren didn’t forget. Instead, the letters they received helped them draw closer to their grandparents. Still, my parents sacrificed much to serve their mission. The two oldest grandchildren were baptized; one daughter married; another daughter had major surgery. But the blessings my parents received as missionaries far outweigh the sacrifices they made.

We, too, were beneficiaries. While they served their mission, my family and I learned to rely on each other more, as well as on the power of the priesthood and on our home teachers and visiting teachers. The grandchildren learned that serving a mission is hard work—but that if Grandma and Grandpa could do it, so could they.

I am proud of my parents for having had the courage to serve a mission. I can’t say that we didn’t miss them and had no problems while they were gone. We did. But what a great legacy of obedience to the prophet they have left us!

Margaret Halls
Salt Lake City, Utah

Serving from a Wheelchair

I am a C-5 quadriplegic and have been a member of the Church for sixteen years. Your recent article about community service (“Making a Difference in Your Community,” September 1988) was inspirational. I, too, have had the thrill of helping those in need. I have in my own way helped influence nine people to join the Church. Some of these special people have helped me in my need, and not long ago I had the thrill of going to the temple with one of them when she received her endowment.

I am also a volunteer for the Telephone Reassurance Line sponsored by the Salvation Army and do some volunteer counseling for the Domestic Violence Agency. I do want to make a difference in my community. If I can bring some sunshine into someone’s life, I will feel that it was good to have lived.

Susan Louise Keller
Saline, Michigan

“Single but Not Alone”

“Single but Not Alone” in the June Ensign was concise and, most important, precise. It addressed the very issues that single adults struggle with every day. Several single friends have told me how appreciative they are of the article. It personally helped me to release much of the frustration I had been feeling about my role as a parent and to replace discouragement with comfort. Christ does help me bear my burdens; he does lighten my load.

Eva Laurent
Sacramento, California

Thoughts on “Thoughts of a Grasshopper”

Creative people are not exempt from the law of the harvest. (“Thoughts of a Grasshopper,” August 1988 Ensign.) The values of work, provident living, and self-reliance are for everyone. Yes, there is room in the Church for every talent and personality style—but the gospel standards are the same for all. Whoever said that a person couldn’t be organized, hard-working—and creative, too?

Susan Zmolek
Aurora, Colorado

Thank you for one of the most delightful articles I have read in years! We are often trying so hard to fit into the mold of “the perfect Mormon woman” that we forget we were all created “unequal”—as ants, grasshoppers, butterflies, beetles, and ladybugs. I felt so free to be me on the day I read the story and was a happier person for many days afterward.

Astrid Kramer
Kaysville, Utah

The Best Ever!

In the nineteen years I have been a member of the Church, I have never read a more spiritually moving issue than the August 1988 Ensign. I could not turn one page without feeling the Spirit.

I have also much enjoyed past issues. Sue Bergin’s article on community service (September 1988) was very motivating. I am helping with world and local service projects and find that volunteering is fun! What a wonderful feeling to know that you are helping someone in need!

President Benson’s counsel to read the Book of Mormon finally convinced me to read the Book of Mormon. I have just finished it for the first time. I cannot and will not live without it.

Helen Lou Dahl
Manteca, California

Ensign Missionary

We are missionaries in the Illinois Peoria Mission. Recently, a member of the ward we are serving in moved. Upon returning to her former home to leave the keys with the new owner, she found that her Ensign had been delivered there. The new owner was curious about the magazine because she had been looking for a church to attend, so she read the magazine. She found the articles interesting, and she agreed with their teachings. She did have one question, though—What was the Book of Mormon? The member gave her a brief explanation and told her of two friends who could tell her more. We are now teaching her because of the spirit she felt while reading the Ensign.

Sisters Kim Campbell and Jileen Mortensen
Peoria, Illinois

Iowa Legacy

Thank you for publishing “The LDS Legacy in Southwestern Iowa” (August 1988) by Bishop Gail George Holmes of our Omaha Second Ward. We have known Brother Holmes for many years and have appreciated his tireless efforts to research the histories of the LDS pioneers in the Winter Quarters area as well as helping both members and nonmembers learn of the Church’s great contribution to the settlement and development of southwestern Iowa and of Nebraska. Brother Holmes has almost single-handedly convinced the officials of the city of Council Bluffs of the city’s early Mormon beginnings.

On September 5, Bishop Holmes was honored by being asked to give the dedicatory prayer at an old Danish landmark in Iowa. This was well-deserved recognition for a fine historian and researcher.

Floyd T. Waterman
Omaha, Nebraska