New Era

January 1997

Volume 27, Number 1

Contents

• The Message: Spiritual Mountaintops
  Elder Jack H Goaslind
  Everything good in our lives should be anchored in a firm testimony of Jesus Christ.

• The Book in the Bag
  Marissa D. Thompson
  Here was a missionary opportunity she was almost too timid to take.

• Always Nice
  Anna K. Reynolds
  My little brother used a shocking word. He said, “Sometimes.”

• Everyday Heroes: Early-Morning Missionaries
  Janet Thomas
  Breakfast with seminary students leads to conversions in Monrovia, California.

• Q&A: Questions and Answers
  How can I play sports with “intensity” without becoming the kind of person I don’t like to be?

• Mormonad: Always Remember Him

• Friendship Rules
  Janet Thomas
  Jay Dee Bateman of Sandy, Utah, doesn’t just know these rules. He lives them.

• Chasing Snakes
  Mark Sampson
  They chased that little rattler until it caught one of them.

• Mormonisms

• Smooth Transition to Relief Society
  Lisa M. Grover
  Making the change from Young Women to Relief Society? Here’s how to enjoy the move.

• FYI: For Your Info

• Fifty Years of Faith
  Honza Tomsa
  This Czech woman’s testimony withstood the test of time.

• Fiction: Time Balm
  Rolf Devries
  His sister had died, but when he tried to break a promise, she let him know it.

• With a Joyful Heart
  Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen
  The Lord wants us to be happy. Here are ten simple rules to achieve that.

• Feedback
  Letters to the editors

• Poem: Winter Montage
  Dixie Partridge

• Photo of the Month
  Calvin McDonald

Cover: Jay Dee Bateman of the Hidden Valley Second Ward, Sandy, Utah, exemplifies what it takes to be, and to have, a friend. See “Friendship Rules,” page 20.

Cover photography: Jed Clark (front), John Luke (back).