FYI:
For Your Information

I never spoke with God,

Nor visited in heaven;

Yet certain am I of the spot

As if the chart were given.

—Emily Dickinson

Missionary Fund Raising

During the past four years, an enthusiastic program for prospective missionaries in the Fruitland Ward, Weiser Idaho Stake, has been established. The fruits of the program: nine out of ten boys in each group have served or will soon serve missions for the Church.

One particularly rewarding aspect of the program has been the fund-raising projects the young men have participated in to earn money for their missions. They’ve completed all sorts of projects, like cutting down an old orchard, removing the stumps, and then cutting and hauling the wood, which they then sold for firewood. They’ve hauled hay for local farmers; have propped up heavy-laden apple trees during harvest time and have then stacked the props at the end of the season; and have ordered bedding plants in the spring and sold them door to door. For another project they traveled to Portland, Oregon, to cut trees for Christmas (after obtaining a permit) and then brought them home to sell.

Each year the priests quorum has sponsored a ward talent show, asking a small donation for admittance. This has grown into an evening that the entire ward looks forward to. It’s planned, publicized, and emceed entirely by the young men, using ward talent as well as special numbers from the young men themselves.

The projects have been fun—and have helped start quite a few missionaries on their way, too!

Future Homemakers Select a New Leader

Sixteen-year-old Amy Montierth of the Pasco Washington Stake is this year’s national president of the 400,000 Future Homemakers of America.

During her year as president, Amy will travel several times to Washington, D.C., to attend program planning sessions at the organization’s national headquarters. She will help set policies for FHA, develop future goals for the organization, and lead workshops throughout the nation. She’s also helping plan the 1981 leadership meeting to be held in San Francisco this summer.

Amy leads a busy life. She’s up at 5:30 A.M. to help on the family farm, attends seminary before school, and is active in various clubs at school.

Leading Their High School

Leslee Tolman and Martin Howell of the Corning Ward, Anderson California Stake, were chosen to represent Los Molinos High School at California Girls and Boys State respectively. There are only four Latter-day Saint students at the high school, so it is quite an honor. Both Leslee and Martin were also selected to attend the National Junior Science Symposium held in San Francisco. They are both active in school organizations, and Martin is the student-body vice-president.

Welcome to Japan

by Nancy Gunn

As the “Star Spangled Banner” was played at the Boy Scout Hokushinetsu-Taikai Jamboree in Toyama, Japan, Kenneth Gunn and Karl Guymon of the Salt Lake Hunter East Stake discovered a new feeling of pride in their country. The two Eagle Scouts were the only two American Scouts at the jamboree which 4,500 Japanese Scouts attended. Kenneth and Karl were guests of the Matsumoto Scout Troop.

The two Scouts prepared for the experience by taking English and Japanese versions of the Book of Mormon with them, along with Church pamphlets and Tabernacle Choir records. They wanted to make their trip a missionary experience as much as possible. Kenneth’s family even placed their photo in some of the books, and each family member who was old enough wrote down his or her testimony, placing it in one of the books.

Their first day in Matsumoto the two Scouts met the mayor and presented him with a plaque from Salt Lake City, which is Matsumoto’s sister city. During their 2 1/2-week visit, the boys stayed with various families. They were overwhelmed by the courtesy shown them by their host families.

The five-day jamboree was held near Toyama Bay in the Japanese alps. One of the requirements of the camp was that the Scouts all attend a worship service on Sunday. Kenneth and Karl held their own sacrament service.

The two Scouts felt that their short mission of sorts was very successful and that their polite refusal to drink tea, along with the gifts they gave of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, and records, helped them plant seeds for future missionary efforts in Japan. They learned to love the country and its gracious people on their once-in-a-life-time trip.

Spring into a New Project

Looking for a nice spring project? Why not help spruce up your family’s food storage program? You may wish to check on a few items with your parents, and then fix the items up if needed:

—Are the shelves on which your food storage rests secured so that bottled goods will not roll off in case of earthquake or other disaster?

—Are records being updated as to what’s been used, bought, and rotated?

—Are canned goods marked with the date they were bought or bottled?

—Does the water in your storage need changing?

—Does the area around your food storage need cleaning or straightening?

—Do you have a first-aid kit?

—Do you have nonfood items stored, such as toothpaste, hand soap, or toilet paper?

If you’ve helped with your family’s home food storage program somehow, we’d be interested in how you’ve helped. Do you have any good ideas you can pass on to FYI readers? Write to: FYI Editor, New Era, 50 East North Temple, Salt Lake City, Utah 84150.

More Than a Track Meet

It’s more than just a track meet when the Salt Lake Big Cottonwood Stake gathers for its annual competition—it’s a tradition! The meets have been held for 13 years in a row, and they seem to get better each year. Imagine, for example, competing to win the W. Creed Haymond Award, the prize given to the individual young man and woman scoring the most points during the day’s events. (The award is named for a former stake president who was a track star at the University of Pennsylvania and who once set Olympic records in the 220.) Imagine Brother Haymond personally presenting you and one or two of your friends with the trophy because you tied for the honor!

Each ward’s team is decked out in black, purple, red, green, orange, blue, or gold, using T-shirts, ball caps, or armbands to identify the group. At gathering stations, hot dogs, drinks, and snow cones refresh recuperating contestants and the 200 to 500 spectators. And the champions mount a victory stand similar to the ones used in Montreal and Tokyo and Moscow, and receive an instant photo of themselves in a handsome souvenir folder.

You compete in your age group in the 50-, 100-, 220-, 440-, or 880-yard dash, or race on a relay team composed of the bishop or one of his counselors the Young Women president one young man, and one young woman. (Points are given for the percentage of each ward’s youth participating in some event during the day, so everyone is encouraged to take part.)

Picture a Frisbee golf tournament during which competitors shoot at a bicycle tire suspended from a goalpost 30 feet away, throw for distance, see who can keep the Frisbee aloft for the longest time on a single throw, and try to land the whirling disc in a garbage can from distances of 50 and 100 feet. Or think of yourself grunting and straining in the same sort of stick-pulling contest Joseph Smith used to win. And in all of the contests, remember there may be nonmembers from the neighborhood right in there working with you, because when the Big Cottonwood Stake has a party, everybody in the community is welcome to attend.

Imagine all that, and you’ll have an idea of what goes on during an event so adaptable and easy-to-put-together that you’ll probably want to establish a similar tradition in your own area.

Irish Athlete Places Second Nationally

Stephen Smyth, a 16-year-old priest in the Londonderry Branch, Scotland Glasgow Mission, recently finished second in the “Superyouth” athletic competition open to all schools in Ireland. Stephen competed in six events—high jump, swimming, 100-meter race, 1,500-meter race, basketball, and overall fitness.

Preparing himself by an hour of intensive road work and general fitness training each morning before seminary (of which he’s president), Stephen was able to rank nationally over 100 other young men from across the country who competed in the section for 16- and 17-year-olds.

“My parents have been a great influence for good in my life,” said Stephen. “They’ve always set the standard and been the perfect example for me.”

Stephen is preparing to serve a mission and is looking forward to attending BYU eventually. He is currently assistant branch clerk, assistant to the president of the priests quorum, and branch music director.

To celebrate his success, the Young Men of his branch held a fireside at which he was the guest of honor. In addition, the members of the Londonderry Branch presented him with a copy of a one-volume history of the Church.

What’s Cooking

If you smell wonderful aromas coming from a house with a lion over the door in Salt Lake City, it’s not unusual. The Lion House, built by Brigham Young in 1855–56 for his family, has been serving mouthwatering food at lunch, banquets, and receptions for years.

If you can’t make it to Salt Lake City to sample the Lion House Pantry, though, you’ll be happy to know that you can now enjoy their specialties in your own home. Lion House Recipes (Deseret Book, $8.95) gives you many of the recipes the Lion House is famous for. You may want to try a little peppermint angel food dessert, or chicken cordon bleu, or sassy slush, or hot stuffed avocado, or apple ’n orange pork chops, or gazpacho, or brownie mint torte. And the luscious list goes on and on. The book would make a great Mother’s Day present.

Seminary Gives to the Temple

With a new gold-engraved and personally inscribed copy of the Book of Mormon in hand, the members of the Oakton-Vienna-Wakefield wards seminary class of the Oakton Virginia Stake presented 20 hardbound books to Washington Temple president Wendell G. Eames. The books were given to the temple to replace the soft-bound copies that had become noticeably “well-used” over the past five years.

The presentation was part of the seminary’s “Zion Temple Project.” That same evening, after meeting with President Eames, the class did baptisms for the dead, had dinner in the temple cafeteria, and then went to the visitors’ center for a special presentation and refreshments. “This was one of the most exciting activities we’ve ever had!” said class pianist Karen Dodson.

The goal of the class throughout the year was to establish a Zion seminary class, and then expand to include their homes, other Church classes, and their schools. Other Zion activities have included projects to improve the appearance of the stake center, living without contention for 24 hours, and reading the Old Testament. In reflecting on the Zion attitude, their teacher Charles Dahlquist said, “I’ve never seen a group of youth more committed to living the gospel and becoming a Zion people. They represent a grand generation of excellence, determination, and spiritual strength.”

Photos by David Conley

W. Creed Haymond

Art by Greg Olsen