Comment

Awareness of Members with Disabilities

“Helping and Being Helped by the Intellectually Impaired” (Oct. 1993) is one of the best articles I have read on the subject. It creates an awareness in all of us of the benefits gained by helping the intellectually impaired and allowing them to help us.

The author has not only a sensitivity to the needs of people who are disabled but the ability to make something happen with and for these people, who are some of God’s choice children.

Having a son with Down syndrome has given my wife, Pat, and me a deep appreciation for these people in our midst who need so much love and understanding. In our ward, our son is an usher and feels a great sense of responsibility to see that ward members, visitors, and investigators are greeted with sincerity and are given a copy of the weekly ward bulletin.

Thank you for publishing this outstanding article.

J. Larry Bradshaw
Salt Lake City, Utah

Moving Past Abuse

In February we discovered that our college-age daughter had been sexually abused at a very young age. As a result of the abuse, she had some serious mental health problems.

We were devastated. My husband remembered reading some articles in the Ensign about mental illness; he rummaged through the garage until he found them. We read “Mental Illness” (Feb. 1989) and “Keeping Mentally Well” (Sept. 1990) and recognized our daughter’s symptoms immediately. We have turned to those articles often for guidance and peace.

The challenge is not over. We continue to struggle, and the pain is sometimes unbearable. “I Just Need to Cry” (Sept. 1993) helped us continue to move forward.

Name Withheld

General Kearney Was the Man

In “Legacy” (July 1993), there is a statement on page 34: “Some of the men from the Mormon Battalion, on a special assignment to escort General William Tecumseh Sherman back to Kansas, meet up with the wagon train.”

Actually, the small contingent of Mormon Battalion men escorted General Kearney. The error is likely mine. I was in the middle of directing a ten-hour miniseries when an editor called for an interview. Legions of historical characters were marching about in my head. Let’s give General Kearney his due.

Kieth Merrill
Los Altos Hills, California

Update

In the September issue, two contest winners in the Hymn Division, both receiving an Award of Distinction, were not announced. Those winners are Arlene Hamblin and Peggy Moffitt, both of Syracuse, Utah, for “A Prayer for Peace.”

Bridging Information

I read with much interest the September 1993 Ensign. I have lived most of my life in Niagara Falls, New York, and was interested in reading about the Rainbow Bridge. There is one thing I wanted to point out, however. The Rainbow Bridge, which was built about fifty years ago to replace the former Honeymoon Bridge, is a steel arch bridge. A kite was used in the 1850s to build a suspension bridge some three miles east of the falls; that bridge has also been replaced by a steel arch bridge. Just thought you might want to know that the illustration didn’t quite match the existing bridge.

James M. Udy
Niagara Falls, New York