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Just Leave It to Providence!

They were looking for an all-day party that was short on cost and long on fun—and they found one. The young people of the Providence [Utah] Ward headed for the nearby hills and skiing, tubing, tobogganing, snowmobiling, and lots of good times.

The group went to Beaver Mountain. For some skiers it meant perfecting stem christies, but for others it meant struggling with first-attempt snowplows.

Denise Burton recalled her first time on skis. “I was really frustrated. My boot kept slipping off my ski, and I finally got so mad that I took off my skis and walked down the hill. But it was fun.”

After hours on the slopes there were lots of huddled masses yearning to be warm as they filled themselves with hot chili in the lodge. Dessert was two ski movies.

Everyone in the Providence Aaronic Priesthood and Young Women groups will remember the show-offs, cold chair lifts, and helpfulness of friends that day. Many expressed feelings similar to Todd Hammond’s when he said, “As I was up in the mountains, I thought that there had to be a God to create this beautiful scenery.”

Elder David B. Haight Named to Council of the Twelve

Elder David B. Haight has been appointed a member of the Council of the Twelve, filling the vacancy created by the recent death of Elder Hugh B. Brown. Prior to this calling, Elder Haight served as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, directing the Church’s Melchizedek Priesthood Department.

“My concern in embarking on this new assignment is, how can I measure up. I’ve never been called to a position I felt I was adequately prepared for. But that’s part of the refiner’s process. You just get in harness and go.

“We all have a road to Damascus,” Elder Haight added. “That journey was not reserved for Paul.”

Elder Haight has spent his lifetime serving in civic and business positions as well as Church callings. His family coat of arms carries the motto Ora et Labora—Pray and Work. He is a former two-term mayor of Palo Alto, California; Stanford Area Boy Scout Council director; and governor of the San Francisco Bay Area Council of Mayors.

An Assistant to the Council of the Twelve since April 6, 1970, Elder Haight was responsible for priesthood quorum instruction and training, the Melchizedek Priesthood Mutual Interest Association, the leadership committee, teacher development, military relations, home teaching, the family home evening program, and the Lamanite committee. In addition, Elder Haight has served as area supervisor for the Central South Area of the United States, including the Arkansas Little Rock, Kentucky Louisville, Louisiana Shreveport, Missouri Independence, and Tennessee Nashville missions.

Before accepting his call as a General Authority, Elder Haight served as a Regional Representative of the Twelve, president of the Scottish Mission, member of the Priesthood Missionary Committee, president of the Palo Alto California Stake for 13 years, bishop’s counselor, and high councilman. He also assisted the president of Brigham Young University for three years.

A native of Oakley, Idaho, Elder Haight is a graduate of Utah State University. He has had extensive experience in retailing, having worked for the ZCMI department store in Salt Lake and Montgomery Ward in San Diego and Chicago. A reserve naval commander, Elder Haight served in the Pacific during World War II.

1975 Index—New Era from A to Z

So you really liked Bishop Vaughn J. Featherstone’s advice to Aaronic Priesthood holders regarding athletics, but you don’t know which issue of the New Era carried the article.

Your girl friend is a fan of Jack Weyland fiction but thinks she might have missed his latest.

Or your roommate’s getting married and is anxious to read President Kimball’s advice to newlyweds.

The New Era Index for 1975 is available with listings by subject, title, author, and department. It’s great to have for looking up references before a Sunday School talk or boning up for a seminary presentation. You can order individual indexes for the New Era from 1971 to 1975 at 25 cents for each year. Also available are $3.00 hard-cased binders to hold a year’s worth of New Eras. And if you’re missing any back issues, many of these are available for 40 cents. The indexes, binders, and past issues may be bought from Magazine Subscriptions, 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.

Conference in Malibu

The girls learned self-defense while the fellows considered career opportunities. Not your typical youth conference—but there’s nothing typical about Malibu, California, either.

The youth of the Los Angeles California East Stake spent their youth conference at a Malibu ranch. They began with get-acquainted games and films of the 1973 Southern California Dance Festival in which many of them had participated.

The three-day conference included a prebreakfast hike; instructions in macrame, soap carving, and decoupage; rowboat races; an obstacle course; football; volleyball; softball; self-defense for the girls; and a career workshop for the fellows. Even after all that they weren’t too tired to enjoy a session of ballroom dance instruction followed by a dance.

On the serious side the young people enjoyed guest speakers, a scripture chase, group discussions, and a testimony meeting.

Also included in the conference activities was a tug-of-war over the lake, and the losing team went for a swim. Later there was a panel discussion in which all the bishops in the stake fielded questions from the young people. It was a great success for the 150 youths who attended.

Monticello Youths Clean-up, Fix-up, Eat-up

More than 120 youths from the Monticello Utah Stake undertook clean-up operations at their stake farm that will one day include a recreation-park area for Scouts and a girls’ camp. A stake committee is working on a master plan for the campground, and the project will involve several years’ work.

Some of the day’s work included cleaning out the old spring, tearing off old roofs, cleaning out the solidly built root cellar, and hauling trash to the ravine for burial.

The farm, complete with log cabins still very much intact, will someday serve recreational needs for generations.

After the work was done the young people organized games, and a delicious Dutch-oven supper was served.

Australian Missionary Work: More Than a Fair Show

They started out with a block of wood, gold paint, Styrofoam, and lots of imagination. The results were numerous questions about Book of Mormon peoples and the gold plates.

The annual Bundaberg, Australia, show provides area citizens the opportunity to show talents, test skills, and renew old acquaintances. For Latter-day Saint members and missionaries it was a chance to share the gospel.

“Ancient America Speaks” displayed pictures of the Book of Mormon scenes as well as Joseph Smith translating. The missionaries even went so far as to reproduce an ancient calendar and replica of the golden plates.

The townspeople of Bundaberg were full of questions: “What was written on the plates?” “What language were they written in?” “Who were these ancient people, and where did they come from?” “Who translated the golden plates, and where are they today?” Many of the visitors to the show viewed the film “Ancient America Speaks,” which answered the majority of their questions.

The members and missionaries viewed the display as a big success. It had introduced the Church to many who had not been acquainted with Latter-day Saints, and it produced many referrals.

At the close of the show, the ancient calendar stone was given to a man who now explains its original purpose to everyone who sees the huge replica. He has also decided to find out more about the calendar so as to better tell others.

Canadian Sea Cadet Visits Japan

Doug Goreas, member of the Royal Canadian Sea Cadets, recently completed a cruise aboard the HMCS (Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship) Mackenzie to Japan. Doug, 16, was selected along with 29 other cadets for this privilege.

Doug’s voyage first took him to Pearl Harbor and then on to Japan. After reaching the port of Kagoshima, Doug relates, “I would have to say that Kagoshima was one of the highlights of my trip. While on leave there, I happened to glance into a bookstore and saw two well-dressed, clean-shaven young men. They looked like Mormon missionaries. When they came out, I approached them, and they were just that. It was great to talk to them and find out about the Church in that area.

“They invited me to the youth group meeting the next night, and as I had leave I attended. I sat in on an English class and afterward played in a Ping-Pong tournament. Teenagers are the same wherever you travel. It was a wonderful experience.”

Doug’s next port of call was Kure, where he took a train trip to Hiroshima to visit the Hiroshima Peace Park, built as a reminder of the destructive potential of the atom bomb. After visiting the ports of Kobe and Yokuska, the HMCS Mackenzie cruised back to Canada.

A student at Kelowna Senior Secondary School, Doug is an assistant to the president of the priests quorum of the Kelowna Branch, in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. During the past four years he has won numerous awards, including the Kelowna Citizenship and Achievement awards.

Doug plays nine instruments and presently plays the tuba with the Kelowna Senior Secondary Concert Band. He attributes his interest in music to “the fine example and inspiration of the members of the Church.” Doug is looking forward to serving a mission and completing a university degree in music.

How Carefully Have You Read?

Remembering what you’ve read is a skill. So take this short quiz and test your memory.

1. Who is the author of this month’s message? (p. 4)

2. Where do we read: “You shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” (p. 7)

3. (True or False) As in a ball game, there are definite “winners” and “losers” in clearing family problems. (p. 11)

4. Why did the Tahitian Saints want to travel to the Hawaii Temple instead of the New Zealand Temple? (p. 12)

5. In mime, what does the thumb and forefinger extended, palm facing front mean? (p. 16)

6. When did the planning for “Desert Camp” start? (p. 21)

7. Which events did Carla enter in the qualifying trials? (p. 32)

8. Which state is home to the Church members in the article on collecting maple syrup? (p. 38)

9. What is Merlene Featherstone’s home town? (p. 42)

10. What high school do the Christiansen brothers attend? (p. 47)

Superior Soloist

Rebecca Marler won a superior rating in the Indiana State Solo-Ensemble Association contest held recently at Butler University. A junior at Taylor High School in Kokomo, Indiana, Becky was the only one from her school who qualified to enter the competition. She sang “My Mother Bids Me Bind My Hair” by Joseph Haydn.

A member of the Indianapolis Indiana North Stake, Becky is president of her seminary class, Junior Sunday School and youth activity night pianist, and secretary of her Laurel class.

[Brothers Scoring Touchdowns]

Pizzas Mushroom Book of Mormon Study

After reading the Book of Mormon, seminary students in Sidney, Montana, went to pizzas. Twenty-one of them.

Brother Charles L. Duncan, seminary teacher, challenged the entire Sidney Branch to read the Book of Mormon before the night of seminary graduation. He promised a pizza party to everyone accepting and accomplishing his challenge.

Of those taking on the challenge, some were really speedy, finishing the book in a matter of weeks. Some procrastinators read the last 100 pages in the final two days. When the deadline passed, over 70 percent of those accepting the challenge had finished and were qualified to attend the pizza party. A total of 16,434 pages were read.

The youngest person to read the Book of Mormon during the challenge was nine-year-old Dean White. He finished it long before most of the older readers. A nonmember, David Pope, finished reading the Book of Mormon and was baptized soon after the pizza party. Brother Duncan’s children, too young to read themselves, had the Book of Mormon read to them during meals.

On the night of the party, the Book of Mormon scholars descended on the Duncan home armed with pepperoni, mozzarella, olives, and mushrooms. Soon 21 pizzas were made and eaten.

Honolulu Sharpshooter Aims High—Sometimes!

Randy Nako knows what it means to hit the spot. Randy has hit enough bull’s-eyes to pile up a list of awards. As captain of his varsity rifle team, he’s earned the American Legion Marksmanship Medal, National Rifle Association Junior Sectional Championship, and Expert Badge.

Randy, a member of the Honolulu Hawaii West Stake, has served as deacons and teachers quorum president and assistant to the president of his priests quorum in his ward. He’s an excellent student and has been named to Who’s Who Among American High School Students.

“Along with this honor comes a chance that I could receive one of many scholarships,” Randy told Church members in a stake conference address. “If I am selected to receive any scholarship, I will have to check to see if there is any chance that I can use part of the scholarship before I go on my mission and use the rest of it after I return from my mission. If it can’t possibly be arranged, I will turn down the scholarship, because I know that if I serve the Lord first, he will bless me and help me prepare a way so that I can continue my education.”

Getting in the Swim of Things

The Young Women of the La Canada (California) First Ward are planning to make waves—big ones. They intend to repeat their win of last year in the stake swim meet, which in itself isn’t surprising until you realize that because of failure to meet swimsuit standards only one girl from their ward qualified in 1974.

Two years ago most of the girls didn’t have or want a one-piece swimsuit. Last year in bishop’s youth committee, the bishop asked, “What are we going to do about winning the meet this year?” The subtle coaxing came across, and various suggestions were proposed. Availability and costs of buying appropriate suits for everyone were discussed and dismissed. Sewing was the best alternative to promote both unity and modesty.

Finding 47 yards of chlorine-proof, stylish, inexpensive, and two-way-stretch fabric proved as hard as mastering the butterfly stroke. Moving from yardage stores to sportswear factories to fabric distributors, everyone had just about given up when a distributor, who admitted he had a soft heart for Mormons, got an appointment with one of California’s largest swimsuit manufacturers. The girls were offered an orange-and-purple-patterned fabric and immediately took to it with scissors and sewing machines. Soon every girl in the ward had a new suit, as did eight nonmembers. Many of the girls had never owned a one-piece suit. The stake meet was more than a swimming test for the La Canada young women—it was a victory through obedience to and acceptance of gospel standards.

The Great Prologue
by Mark E. Petersen
Deseret Book Company
$4.95, pp. 136

“This great American nation the Almighty raised up by the power of his omnipotent hand, that it might be possible in the latter days for the kingdom of God to be established in the earth.”

With this quote from President Joseph F. Smith, Elder Mark E. Petersen begins his outline of the great prologue to the second coming of Jesus Christ.

Beginning in the days of Peter and Paul, Elder Petersen traces how the truth was lost, and outlines how the Lord prepared the way for a restoration of all things. History is not viewed as a series of coincidentally related events but as the necessary process for carrying out the Lord’s will.

“The restoration of the gospel should be viewed through a perspective of two thousand years.

“It was not a sudden thing. Neither was it ‘done in a corner,’ as the apostle Paul would have said.

“In its preparation it was a world movement requiring centuries of times. It involved the discovery of a new continent and its colonization by selected people.

“It encompassed wars between world powers of two centuries ago. …”

After dealing with the influences of the dark ages and the Reformation, Elder Petersen writes more particularly about the history of America and its significance to the Restoration.

“Few people think of the discovery of America, the Revolutionary War, and the establishment of a constitutional form of government here as being steps toward the fulfillment of the Lord’s ancient covenant with Abraham. But it is a fact that they were.”

Nephi saw in vision the events leading up to the restoration of the gospel 600 years before the Savior’s birth. Elder Petersen uses Nephi’s vision as an outline to discuss American history, and the fulfillment of the vision’s prophecies as evidence of the Book of Mormon’s divinity.

Briefly tracing the history of the Revolutionary War, Elder Petersen shows it was won, as Nephi had predicted, by the power of God. Quoting Washington’s first inaugural address, April 30, 1789:

“No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step, by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. …”

Nephi saw that this land would be delivered from the hands of all other nations, would not be ruled by a king, and would be blessed with prosperity. All of these conditions were necessary to provide fertile ground for the Restoration.

“For years the Church has held that the Constitution is an inspired document. But how many know why it was inspired and what the Almighty had in mind in giving such inspiration?

“May we never forget the underlying reasons for it all: to provide a proper place for the restoration of the gospel and to allow for the worldwide preaching of that sacred word.”

Brief sketches of great men involved in the Revolutionary War illustrate that they were indeed men raised up by the Lord to accomplish their task. Elder Petersen’s history of the first six presidents of the United States shows how God’s guiding hand did protect and foster the new nation.

The Lord prepared a place of freedom where government was based on principles of self-determination. Thousands of years of preparation lead finally to the restoration of the gospel, one of the final scenes of the great prologue.

“For 2,000 years the Lord has prepared for this day in which we live, and his preparation has been as extensive as it has been miraculous. We are the beneficiaries of this marvelous work and a wonder. …

“Zion is the pure in heart, as the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith. No matter where they live, the pure in heart are God’s Zion, and they will meet him and will reign with him through a thousand years of millennial peace. All that has gone before in preparation for that event constitutes the Great Prologue.”

The Faith of Our Pioneer Fathers
by Bryant S. Hinckley
Bookcraft Publishers
$4.95, pp. 268

“Those pioneers had in their hearts the love of God, a reverence for the Constitution of the United States, and a passion for freedom. … The faith of our fathers did more than subdue the wilderness and make it habitable. It established in this western land the ideals of democracy, upheld the majesty of law and planted here the love of peace, justice, and freedom.”

So says Bryant S. Hinckley in the preface of his compilation of inspiring vignettes from the lives of 22 pioneers. From Joseph Smith to David O. McKay, the book deals with the lives of well-known and not-so-well-known brethren.

Some of the stories recounted may be familiar to the readers, but the context and details will probably be new. Experiences from missions, family life, and community and national service are included in this compilation. Of special interest might be John Taylor and Willard Richard’s personal accounts of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith. The mission experience of Wilford Woodruff, Joseph F. Smith, and Parley P. Pratt should encourage modern-day missionaries, while the life of Reed Smoot, apostle and U.S. senator, stands as an example of total commitment to service. The faith and courage of these men challenge us to look beyond the moment and examine our own involvement in home, church, and country.

The author, Bryant S. Hinckley, knew personally most of the men he wrote about in this book. Because of his friendship with these men, the details of the stories are warm and personal.

The book has been republished after being out of print for several years.

Todd, 16, Joey, 15, and Phil Christiansen, 14, each scored a touchdown during an Aberdeen [Idaho] High School football game. The brothers have each served in their priesthood quorum presidencies in the Aberdeen First Ward, American Falls Idaho Stake