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The test of a civilization is in the way that it cares for its helpless members.

—Pearl Buck

General Women’s Meeting

The general women’s meeting will be held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square on Saturday, September 24, at 6:00 P.M. (mountain daylight time). The program will include talks by the general presidents of the Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary and a message from a General Authority. All Latter-day Saint women, and girls ten years of age and older, should either attend in the Tabernacle or at a location where the telecast is being received.

The meeting will be telecast by KSL-TV to Utah and portions of Nevada and southern Idaho. It will also be carried by satellite to Church units in the United States and Canada that have receiving equipment.

Unique Uniforms

The young men of the Canoga Park Third Ward had a problem before starting their basketball season. Their uniforms were old and ragged. Instead of buying new ones, they decided to custom-tailor their own. The team members did the shopping and selected the material. They organized the sewing crews and used an old pair of bermuda shorts and a jersey as patterns. Each uniform was altered to fit the range of sizes on the team.

With the fluorescent colors in the flowered print and matching jersey, the team had high visibility on the floor. The team also discovered that the more funny comments made about their uniforms by opposing teams, the harder they played. Several of the girls wanted to join in the fun, so a cheerleading squad was organized with the girls making their own uniforms. The ward was caught up in the spirit of camaraderie and showed up for the games to lend support.

The team made it through stake play undefeated and went on to regionals.

Youth Standout

Chosen as one of six outstanding youths in Casper, Wyoming, Ande Olsen accepted the honor with her customary shy smile. Ande was chosen by the Optimist Club for recognition. Ande was also the president of her junior high school student body and took part in a special choral group. She is also the pianist for her early-morning seminary class and serves in the presidency of her Mia Maid class.

Space Shuttle Scientist

Jason Lee found that you’re never too young to be a space scientist. An experiment designed by the 19-year-old from Las Vegas was selected to be aboard the 1984 space shuttle.

Jason says he has been interested in science for as long as he can remember and has been working on this experiment for the past four years. After he submitted his idea, it was selected to make the trip into space. The area aboard the shuttle was made available to the Boy Scouts of America by a private corporation. Jason’s experiment is one of 11 scheduled for the trip.

The purpose of Jason’s experiment is to determine if data can be safely stored in space on magnetic floppy disks. He also had to design a special box to carry the disks. The four disks he is sending into space may come back shattered, erased, or jumbled, or they may be intact. Jason will make that determination after the flight.

Jason is a member of the Las Vegas 35th Ward.

Australian Landmark

History was made in a small yet significant way in the town of Sale on the southeast coast of Australia. The first early-morning seminary class was held under the direction of Sister Rita Brown with five students in attendance.

All the students are accomplished in their school activities. Jamie Cockburn has not missed a single seminary class and serves as the teachers quorum president. Nicci Daymond was the class president and received a trophy for being the most determined player in football at his school. Lynda Brown has won swimming medals and placed in a math competition. She is active in drama as is her sister, Lee. Lee Brown serves as branch chorister and as a counselor in the Primary. She has won medals in sports and in drama.

Golden Is Star

Winding up his final year in high school, David Golden was named Star Student and was valedictorian of his graduating class. David served his final year as student body president. He was captain of the math team, co-captain of the college bowl team, and was on the varsity tennis and cross-country teams. He also graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

David is a member of the Albany 2nd Ward, Columbus Georgia Stake. In his ward he has served as a Primary librarian and as first assistant to the president of the priests quorum. He attended seminary for four years and served as seminary president.

Cheering On

The Sunset Seminary in Portland, Oregon, knows all about school spirit. Last year 13 cheerleaders (or rally leaders as they are called locally) were attending seminary classes. With LDS students in the minority in all the schools in the area, this number of cheerleaders was significant. The girls were able to use their influence to promote school spirit in a fun, healthy way.

A Hymn of Praise

Hymns are sermons in song, and one stake in Idaho wanted to emphasize the messages contained in our songs. The Idaho Falls Idaho West Stake, under the direction of the stake music chairman, Sarah Stolworthy, organized a Youth Hymn Festival with the hope that the words of some of our hymns might strengthen the youth in times of need.

Three hundred youth from eight wards of the stake with some of their nonmember friends sang hymns for a delighted audience. The musical numbers were interspersed with special speakers. Each ward prepared a hymn; then the combined ward choirs sang “Do What Is Right,” “O My Father,” and “Shall the Youth of Zion Falter?” All the hymns were memorized. Janet Cook conducted the combined choirs, and Rebecca Parkinson accompanied them. The young people enjoyed being part of such a large chorus and having brass and string ensembles accompany them. The youth are eager to make the festival an annual event.

Dancing Feet

College Park High School in Pleasant Hill, California, takes dancing very seriously. In fact, one of the favorite competitions during the year is an annual ballroom dance contest. This year Ezdan and Deulene Fluckiger, a brother-sister team, took top spots in three of the five categories.

Both Deulene and Ezdan also play the piano and violin. Ezdan is on the varsity diving team and is president of his seminary class. Deulene enjoys basketball and volleyball.

Both are good students and have served as presidents of their class and quorum in the Pleasant Hill 2nd Ward, Walnut Creek California Stake.

First Team

Krishna Carpenter was selected as a member of the NJCAA All-American volleyball team. Kris, who plays on the Ricks College team, was surprised and pleased by the selection. The Ricks volleyball team captured both the district and regional championships. They went on to place sixth in national competition. Kris received all-conference and all-regional honors, but the highlight was being named to the first team All-American squad. She was one of only eight to be so honored in the nation.

Kris, originally from Burley, Idaho, participated in both basketball and volleyball in high school. But when she started her freshman year at Ricks, she concentrated on volleyball and has been very successful.

Kris has been encouraged in athletics by her older brothers, and her younger sister may be following in her footsteps. Kris enjoys tutoring special education students and plans to make that her major in college.

Leadership Seminar

The class presidencies of the Young Men and Young Women of the Oakland First Ward, Oakland California Stake, discovered that good leadership skills are developed first through training and then through experience. In a day-long leadership seminar, they learned the basics of conducting an effective meeting, understanding and choosing a proper leadership style, setting goals, and outlining specific activities for the coming year.

The participants were told to meet at a designated train terminal before taking the train into San Francisco. After the BART ride, the group walked to one of the more prominent skyscrapers in the city, where they found a conference room ready for them. Seminars on various aspects of leadership were held all day.

As a surprise conclusion to the day, the group was taken on a ferryboat trip to Angel Island for dinner and an active game of baseball. They made their way back to the train for the trip home after a full and busy day.

Blessing in Disguise

Becoming one of England’s three and a half million unemployed proved to be a blessing in disguise for 20-year-old Simon Dewey. As a diversion from job hunting, he picked up his brushes and painted portraits. Soon he found a full-time job as a graphic designer, but his portraits proved so popular that he continued doing them, putting the money aside for his mission.

Simon received his call to serve in Vancouver, British Columbia, which fulfills a lifelong ambition. His mission area is the birthplace of his best friend, Tim Leavitt, currently serving a mission in Texas.

“I’ve wanted to see Canada since we became buddies after I stole his cowboy hat as a five-year-old kid at a church social,” Simon explained. “Living just around the corner from each other, we were constant companions and Tim would talk about Canada, showing me beautiful pictures, and reminiscing about the people and the lifestyle.” Simon will be leaving family, his work, and his paint brushes, but as he says, “Serving the Lord will be a wonderful way to spend the next 18 months.”

Quick-thinking Scout

Thanks to Scout training and quick thinking, a tragedy was averted in Charlotte, North Carolina. Todd Smith of the Charlotte Second Ward saved the life of a five-year-old after the youngster was hit by a car.

The child was riding a tricycle when a slow-moving car hit him and knocked him unconscious. Todd saw the accident and after telling his mother to call for help, he ran to the little boy. Todd found that the child’s tongue was blocking his throat. Todd cleared the child’s air passage and helped stop the bleeding from a head wound. Todd also prevented anyone from moving the child until the rescue squad arrived, in case there were any back or neck injuries.

Todd received a Medal of Merit and was honored for his quick action.

Jason Lee (right), BYU freshman, works with Ken Forster of the BYU research machine shop to mill out a pocket in a piece of Lexan plastic which will be used to hold Lee’s space experiment.

(left to right) Kelly Close, Becky Springer, Dianna Schutz, Renee Hyde, Tanya Springer, Vicki Hodges, Tiffany Tripple, Lynell Sutherland, Cindy Morris, Kim McCurdy, Kelli Dunahay; (kneeling) Stephanie McAllister; (teacher) Bryce Winkel