Feedback

Overcoming

I was introduced to the Church last year, and the New Era has been a great help to me. The inspiring articles have helped me overcome many of my problems and have supplied answers to a lot of my questions. My parents are against my becoming involved with the Church, and the article “Yours Are Parents to Honor” in the May issue helped us all to get along better.

Kristy Porteous
Napier, New Zealand

Fiction friction

Thank you for the good fiction stories in the New Era. I especially enjoy the stories written by Anya Bateman and Jack Weyland. They are both excellent writers. What upsets me is when there is no fiction piece in an issue. Please keep the fiction coming!

Sheryl Brown
Littleton, Colorado

Thought thoughts

I read with a great deal of interest Brother Russell Osmond’s advice on controlling our language and the bad thoughts that come to a person’s mind unwelcomed (September Q and A). I would like to mention a few things that have helped me overcome the same situation. First, Brigham Young said, “If you first gain power to check your words, you will gain power to check your thoughts and reflections.” I’ve tried it, and it works. At first it’s painful to hold back hasty retorts or gossip, but it feels so good when one realizes she or he has done so. Second, memorize at least one of your favorite hymns, and when unclean thoughts enter your mind, either sing or repeat the words of the song. For instance, how can one say unkind words to another when he is thinking “Let us oft speak kind words”? I enjoy the New Era even though my family is all grown and I have 45 grandchildren. I’m thankful every day for inspiring Church books and magazines. I hope I never have to be without them.

Mrs. Gladys Williams
Glenns Ferry, Idaho

Something to sing about

I appreciate the help that my children and grandchildren have received from the New Era. My 18-year-old daughter and a friend sang “Children”—from the August inside back cover—as a duet for our last fast and testimony meeting. My daughter also sang it as a solo at our talent night at girls camp, and we sang it as a duet at a shower for my newest granddaughter. Thank you for all the good things.

Iris H. Blackwelder
Apopka, Florida

Hang in there!

I received my September issue of the New Era in today’s mail and just had to write and disagree with the young girl or boy who wrote a letter saying that everything doesn’t always work out. It is true that things don’t always turn out the way we want them to. The one thing that always kept me going when I was teased as a child for something that was not in my control was the fact that I knew my Heavenly Father loved me. I always kept in mind that I am a child of God and that he loves me very much. I am very thankful for what the Church teaches us about the Savior, because it helps us to understand how much he loves us. My parents are two of the main reasons I have this knowledge. Believe me, not everyone looks only at the outside of a person. Many can see the light shining through from the inside. God loves each of us in a great way, and that’s good enough for me. Let’s hang in there!

Susan Mikesell
Ogden, Utah

Sad and happy

Seeing the picture of the Magnolia chapel in the August New Era made me both sad and happy. Mrs. Olivia Tucker, who is mentioned in the article, is my mother. I am in the picture on page 20, along with my brothers and sisters. The ground around that chapel seems sacred to me. We love the chapel there. We loved Elders Joseph E. Ward and Arthur H. Sellers and others who helped to build it. My father, mother, and others are buried there. Those members went through a lot of persecutions.

Mrs. Bertha M. Moore
Sylacauga, Alabama

I was that girl

The article “Magnolia Heritage” in the August New Era mentions a little girl who was burned. I was that little girl. I am now 83 years old.

Mrs. Eunice Langston
Tallahassee, Florida

The persuader

Thank you for this terrific book. I’ve been a member all my life (13 years), but have just recently started reading the New Era. I really love it. It helps me spiritually, and it helps me love the Church more and more. I really like the Mormonisms and the true stories. I am going to persuade my 12-year-old brother to read the New Era too.

Lisa Tallot
Lewiston, Utah

A real member

I want to thank you for this beautiful magazine. The New Era has strengthened my testimony a lot. I love to read every word of it. This year and last year I received the New Era as a gift for Christmas, and I just want to tell the family who gave it to me that I love and appreciate them. I was glad to read the article “Our Family Motto” in the April issue. The family in it is really something, with a capital S. The Osmond family were my very first missionaries. Only the Lord knows how much I have received from them. Through their excellent examples I found the gospel of Jesus Christ, my greatest treasure. I’m happy, and my life is much richer now. It is fun being a Mormon, and I don’t need the things some people think they must have in order to have fun. My parents don’t approve of my faith, and I must wait until I’m 18 to be baptized. Soon that great day will come, and I’m praying that my parents will understand my decision. I have waited over three years, and now I will be able to act upon my desire. Still, it is difficult as I love my parents and want to honor them. But my heart burns inside me with the desire to be baptized—I so much want to be a real member of God’s Church. I’m looking forward to future issues of the New Era.

Rutta Rantamen
Tampere, Finland

It’s not too late

I have been going through all the old New Eras I could find and have found messages that have helped me very much. Through the article “If It Isn’t Too Late, Thanks” (November 1975), I found I was glad that I said thanks before it was too late. My mother and I are getting along much better now because I took Elder Robert L. Simpson’s advice. I also hope that everyone will remember to say “Thanks for what you’ve done for me” and “I love you” once in a while. It will make your parents and you both feel good.

Tamara Kirch
Mesa, Arizona

Youth conference—cha-cha

I have been a member of the Church for two years and have never before been so spiritually uplifted as I was this last weekend. Our Liverpool England Stake organized a youth conference. It was regional, and therefore youth from Preston and Manchester came. The activities were organized by the BYU dance team, that had just won the world formation dancing title. It was fantastic! There were about 200 youth present.

The New Era talked about youth conferences in the May FYI department and really captured what they are all about—good, clean, healthy fun, with an important spiritual message. During the conference the BYU group taught us some important gospel principles and some dance routines. I would especially like to thank a girl from Colorado named Martha, who displayed fantastic patience while teaching me to cha-cha.

I remember going to my first youth conference four weeks after being baptized. I was a shy and timid lad, but the fantastic youth of the Church soon changed that.

I would like to thank the New Era for the great articles that appear in it. I particularly enjoyed the article by Tom Osmond on his efforts to find his talents (April New Era). I know several nonmembers who are learning about the gospel through the New Era.

John Donavan
Skelmersdale, England

Briefly stated

The New Era has helped me to grow spiritually and has made me a better person.

Darla Cook
Conway, Arkansas

Tops in tapas

Thank you for the article on my tapa designs in the August New Era. The Prime Minister of our country asked our school if we could make 30 tapas for him to take to London as gifts for the Commonwealth conference. I’m honored that I could be one of the few who were chosen for the job. The Prime Minister was very pleased, and he praised the Church highly for always being ready to willingly fulfill government pleas. Thank you for publishing such a wonderful magazine.

Delsa Atoa
Apia, Western Samoa