We were greeted by Doris and Kelly Mountford!
CONDUCTING: 2nd Counselor Earl Bleak Snow
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1) BOOK OF MORMON READING: Alma Chapters 8-12
2) WARD PICNIC-PINE VALLEY! Tues July 19th!!!!
3) With this beastly heat, be sure and check on your elderly neighbors!
INVOCATION: Katie Taylor
STAKE BUSINESS: Conducted by High Councilman, Dean Baxter.
Sharon Leggett of the South Gate 2nd ward was sustained as Assistant Humanitarian Specialist and Hal Anderson of the Bloomington 7th ward as Assistant Stake Clerk.
Pat Truitt
Our first speaker was Pat Truitt; she and her husband, Nathan, moved here a few months ago from Missouri. Her topic was - FATHERS! (It is Father's Day)
She quoted the first part of 1st Nephi 1:1 -
"I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father.."
and Enos 1:1
"Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—"
She also spoke of the great father, President Ezra Taft Benson had been. Though he was gone a great deal,(at one time when he was leaving for another trip, one of his little daughters said "Come visit us again sometime, Daddy!") when he was home he spent much time playing with and teaching his children. They all adored him.
Kimmie Clegg was our 2nd speaker, and Landon Clegg our concluding speaker. Since they are new to the Ward family she told us a little bit about their family.
Kimmie graduated from Dixie High School and Landon from Lone Peak High in Northern Utah. He served a mission in Hamburg, Germany and they met at Dixie College. They have been married for five years and have twin girls, Hayden and Oakland, who will be a year old next month.
Her topic was also 'Fathers'. She remembers that every time she left the house, her dad would say "remember who you are and act accordingly!" She also quoted the primary song 'I Am a Child of God,' and then read us a portion of a talk given by Elder Donald Halstrom last General Conference.
Five months ago, my wife, Diane, and I went to Africa with Elder and Sister David A. Bednar. The sixth and last country we visited was Liberia. Liberia is a great country with a noble people and a rich history, but things have not been easy there. Decades of political instability and civil wars have worsened the plague of poverty. On top of that, the dreaded Ebola disease killed nearly 5,000 people there during the latest outbreak. We were the first group of Church leaders from outside the area to visit Monrovia, the capital city, since the World Health Organization declared it safe to do so after the Ebola crisis.
On a very hot and humid Sunday morning, we traveled to a rented meeting facility in the center of the city. Every available chair was set up, totaling 3,500 seats. The final count of attendees was 4,100. Almost all who came had to travel by foot or some form of inconvenient public transportation; it was not easy for the Saints to gather. But they came. Most arrived several hours before the appointed meeting time. As we entered the hall, the spiritual atmosphere was electric! The Saints were prepared to be taught.
When a speaker quoted a scripture, the members would say the verse aloud. It did not matter—short scripture or long; the entire congregation responded in unison. Now, we do not necessarily recommend this, but it was certainly impressive that they could do it. And the choir—they were powerful. With an enthusiastic choir director and a 14-year-old young man at the keyboard, the members sang with vigor and strength.
Then Elder Bednar spoke. This, of course, was the anticipated highlight of the gathering—to hear an Apostle teach and testify. Clearly with spiritual direction, partway through his remarks, Elder Bednar stopped and said, “Do you know ‘How Firm a Foundation’?”
It seemed that 4,100 voices roared in response, “YES!”
He then asked, “Do you know verse 7?”
Again the entire group answered, “YES!”
The arrangement of the mighty hymn “How Firm a Foundation” sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the last 10 years has included verse 7, which was not sung much previously. Elder Bednar instructed, “Let’s sing verses 1, 2, 3, and 7.”
Without hesitation, the choir director jumped up and the Aaronic Priesthood–bearing accompanist immediately began to energetically play the introductory chords. With a level of conviction I have never felt before in a congregational hymn, we sang verses 1, 2, and 3. Then the volume and spiritual power was elevated when 4,100 voices sang the seventh verse and declared:
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!10
In one of the most remarkable spiritual events of my life, I was taught a profound lesson that day. We live in a world that can cause us to forget who we really are. The more distractions that surround us, the easier it is to treat casually, then ignore, and then forget our connection with God. The Saints in Liberia have little materially, and yet they seem to have everything spiritually. What we witnessed that day in Monrovia was a group of sons and daughters of God who knew it!
Landon just returned from a trip to Germany where he'd served his mission and he told us he had gone to Berlin to see the Berlin Wall and learn more about it. It was built in 1961 to keep the German people in East Berlin out of West Berlin and freedom. It was 96 miles long (actually there were 2 walls with guard towers in between the walls) and 2 feet thick and made almost entirely of concrete. It stood until 1989 after East Berliners started fighting for their freedom. Then he compared these walls to the walls we build between us and God and told us the story that Pres Uchtdorf talked about in his conference talk about the one of his haunting memories of howling air-raids and sirens that woke him at night. The city of Dresden was almost completely destroyed, including a beautiful church that had been built in the 1700's. It was rebuilt many years later, using some of the blackened bricks from the bombings. Now, if man can rebuild a church, how much more likely is it that God can rebuild our shattered lives! We can turn to Him; draw nearer to Him; Go to Him! We are worthy of divine rescue simply because God loves us! (Pres Uchtdorf) It doesn't matter How we became lost or broken! What matters is that we are his children and he loves us! (See his the excellent entire talk on page 101 of the last Conference Issue.)
BENEDICTION: Steve Taylor
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