Feedback

The good news

I would like to express my deep gratitude for the New Era. Though I am 35 years old, it is my favorite reading each month and is a great asset to my teaching at Solano College. Last Christmas our family gave nine gift subscriptions to young nonmember friends and students. Now six of them have joined the Church. Brother Leavitt’s articles on the very special people and land of Chile have opened doors for missionary work with friends we have in Chile as well as with former Chileans living in California. What a joy to know the gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that the New Era has a part in publishing the good news.

Stephen Davidson
Vacaville, California

A place to learn

My colleagues and I congratulate you on an excellent article by Richard M. Romney in the September New Era, “Kaiserslautern: A Place to Learn.” This article and the feature “Going to School in Germany” provide interesting insight into the educational and cultural opportunities our young brothers and sisters in Germany enjoy. We feel that these articles contribute toward better understanding and appreciation for non-American cultures. Europeans take education very seriously, and the study of at least one foreign language (usually English) is an essential part of it. We might follow the European model and also learn a second language in our junior high and high schools, especially as members of the Church. In our rapidly shrinking world and expanding Church, knowledge of other cultures is becoming more and more necessary and a mark of superior education.

Hans W. Kelling, Chairman
Department of Germanic Languages
Brigham Young University

Well, if you say so

I really look forward to receiving the New Era each month. All the issues really have some great articles in them. I think the New Era is the most influential magazine ever published.

Clark Russon
Fairview, Utah

The last of the big-time ogres

I think that I have read almost every New Era that has been published, and I must say that Brother Weyland is a superior writer. I was especially impressed by his story “The Last of the Big-Time Spenders” in the September issue. I was deeply engrossed in the story, but when I turned the page and saw the drawings that accompanied the article, I nearly died! With all of the talent the New Era has at its disposal, couldn’t you have come by some better pictures than what were there? They made me feel like I was reading about the courtship of two ogres. Why not some pictures with a little more class?

DeMar M. Clegg
Salt Lake City, Utah

Uniting power

We didn’t realize how much the Feedback section could mean to us until we came on our missions. It is comforting to hear what other missionaries are experiencing. It’s strange how we can be on the other side of the world and yet realize that the feelings we experience are the same as those of many of our fellow missionaries in the world. The comments in Feedback have really lifted our spirits. Thanks for the uniting power of this section. The New Era is a terrific link with what the youth of the Church are up to.

Sisters Dee Ann Swinnery and Tamara Checketts
Australia Adelaide Mission

Your charge

Thank you so much for the article “Your Charge” by President Ezra Taft Benson in the September New Era. It brought light to many questions I have had concerning truth, knowledge, and progression. It also reassured me to know that my ideals and goals are not old-fashioned or out-of-date. Each article of every New Era is really terrific and has such an important message.

Barbara Rex
Brigham City, Utah

It speaks for itself

I would like to pay the New Era the highest compliment I can pay a magazine. It speaks for itself whenever I give it to an investigator, which is more than some of us who are members of the Church can do, myself included. There is not a man, woman, or child whom the New Era is afraid to approach about the gospel of Christ. It is one of the greatest missionaries in the world today.

Elder D. T. Golightly
England Bristol Mission

Forget

Because so many people constantly feel discouragement, bitterness, hatred, and grief, the happiness in their lives is slowly being destroyed. In the August New Era, Elder Boyd K. Packer wrote a hopeful message to all those who taste these feelings that come from the devil. In “The Balm of Gilead” he simply says to forget whatever caused your bad feelings, since it will only bring you sorrow, and to start anew. In the past I have felt bitterness, as many have, but I have tried to do as Elder Packer suggests, and happiness has come into my life once again. It all started with me changing my own attitude. Stay close to your Heavenly Father, and he will help you to overcome these bitter feelings.

Kellie Robertson
American Fork, Utah

Brand-new in a slippery world

When I read the article “The Joy Is in Becoming” by Babzanne Barker in the June New Era, I decided never to buy another immodest blouse. I have several times worn T-shirts with inappropriate messages on them, but I know it is not too late to reject them. This fantastic article changed my life. It makes me feel brand-new. I know the Lord loves me and wants me to walk in the paths of righteousness. May the good Lord bless and keep you, Sisters Elizabeth, Peggy, Marie, and Becki, for the work well done. If it had not been for this article, I might really have slipped in this slippery world. Keep up the good work, New Era. You’re my favorite magazine.

Manuela O. Icao
Dipolog City, Philippines