John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. IRI Photo.

In recent years, the Syrian city of Aleppo has been a staging ground of death, violence and horror. Civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and legions have been forced to flee this ancient city — contributing to a global refugee crisis.

Like countless others, Richard Morley has viewed the Aleppo tragedy from afar, lamenting the suffering that has come to define a city built centuries before the birth of Christ.

A lifelong Church member from Price, Utah, Brother Morley has a family tie to Aleppo and its brief but meaningful Mormon history. The city was once home to a small but faithful group of Latter-day Saints and missionaries. In fact, the remains of at least two missionaries are buried there. Their graves were dedicated by a latter-day apostle and became lasting reminders of the sacrifice sometimes exacted in service to the Lord and His gospel.

Elder Jacob Spori from Logan, Utah, opened the Turkish Mission in 1884, signaling the beginning of missionary work in the Middle East. According to James A. Toronto’s publication “The Church in the Middle East,” branches of the Church — consisting primarily of Armenian and European converts — were eventually established in several cities in the vast region, including Aleppo.

Over the next several decades, dozens of elders and one sister missionary would serve in the nations of Turkey and Syria.

Counted among those missionaries was Brother Morley’s maternal grandfather, John T. Woodbury, who labored in Turkey and Syria from 1904 to 1909. At the conclusion of his mission, Elder Woodbury received permission from the First Presidency to marry and return to his Utah home with a Mormon Armenian woman (Brother Morley’s grandmother) named Nimzar Gagosian Woodbury.

Missionary work in the Middle East around the turn of the 20th century was difficult. Political and religious turmoil often undermined the work. Conversions were scarce, the members risked persecution and, sadly, several missionaries lost their lives while fulfilling their callings.

Five missionaries succumbed to natural ailments such as small pox and pneumonia, according to Brother Morley, who has spent years researching the experiences of his grandfather and his fellow missionaries in Turkey and Syria.

The mission, wrote Brother Morley, “was finally closed in 1928, when [mission president] Joseph Booth died from exhaustion and pneumonia. His remains were laid to rest in Aleppo, Syria, at a cemetery near mission headquarters and near the grave of young Elder Emil J. Huber, who died there on May 16, 1908.”

Five years later, on June 18, 1933, Elder John A. Widtsoe of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles visited Aleppo and dedicated the graves of President Booth and Elder Huber.

The apostle would record his recollections of that sacred day:

“[President Booth’s] grave is at the very upper edge of the cemetery. It is visible from all parts of the cemetery itself and from the highway below. We held two meetings with the Aleppo saints; one in the early forenoon and another in the late afternoon. At the close of the afternoon meeting, members and friends present walked to the cemetery to gather around the grave. There a brief outdoor meeting was held.”

In his writings, Elder Widtsoe noted that he addressed the small group before dedicating the graves and a monument that had been placed at the cemetery. The service closed with a prayer and singing of “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.”

“The exercises ended just as the sun set behind the western hills,” wrote Elder Widtsoe. “A few clouds floated in the blue sky and made slashes of color in the sunset. It was a peaceful happy hour.”

That placid Aleppo afternoon stands in stark contrast to the destruction of the day. Missionaries no longer serve in the city and Brother Morley hopes that the final resting places of President Booth and Elder Huber have not been disturbed.

In a recently published family history, he wrote: “I hope that the God of heaven has miraculously preserved the otherwise barely known good works of the Lord’s servants in the [Turkish] Mission.”

Original Source:  Article by John Swensen. Content link: DeseretNews.com. 

Megan Finley

In between writing short stories she’ll never finish and marathoning Marvel movies, Megan Finley is often found missing the loves of her life, her two cats Leia and Loki. Her passion for “geek culture” extends into her passion for academics, as she is an optimistic MA student with plans to be the next Professor X (with hair). Her life’s dream is a simple one—to drink a hot chocolate in every Disney park in the world.

Makes Preparations to Die

Pronounced Dead

Priesthood of God Steps In

A Call Heard Beyond the Veil

Unwilling to Come Back

 Ella’s Story

“I could see people from the other world and hear the most delightful music and singing that I ever heard. This singing lasted for six hours, during which time I was preparing to leave this earth, and I could hear it all through the house. At 10:00 my spirit left my body. It took me some time to make up my mind to go, as I could hear and see the folks crying and mourning over me. It was very hard for me to leave them, but as soon as I had a glimpse of the other world I was anxious to go and all care and worry left me. “I entered a large hall. It was so long that I could not see the end of it. It was filled with people. As I went through the throng, the first person I recognized was my grandpa, Hans Peter Jensen, who was sitting in one end of the room, writing. He looked up, seemed surprised to see me and said: ‘Why! There is my granddaughter, Ella.’ He was very much pleased, greeted me and, as he continued with his writing, I passed on through the room and met a great many of my relatives and friends.

 Hears the Command to Return

The Pain of Coming Back

 Converses with Friends and Relatives

 Meets a Little Friend

Guest Author

Image: Hans Ulrich Bryner holding onto the back of the last wagon in this picture. This painting is in the Daughter’s of the Utah Pioneer Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was painted by Lura Redd.

Hans Ulrich Bryner Jr., the son of Hans Ulrich Bryner and Verena Wintsch was born in Zurich, Switzerland on April 22, 1827. His father was a shoemaker and young Ulrich picked up and delivered the shoes for his father. His parents were good religious Lutherans and taught their children to pray, to be obedient, honest, prompt, industrious and thrifty. When Ulrich was ten years old, his father bought a large farm. Ulrich learned to do farming chores such as plowing, mowing and pruning. They attended school from age six to twelve and did very well in their studies. By the time Ulrich was grown, he could speak several languages. They were a happy united family and were fairly well off.

In January of 1843, when Ulrich was nearly 16, he became very sick. His best friend also got sick and died. This upset Ulrich and he worried about it, thinking that he too might die. With this on his mind he was unable to sleep very well. He had a dream, in which a man with a grey beard and peculiar eyes took him by the hand and led him, in darkness, half way around the world. He could see nothing at all until they came to the top of the world. Then the heavens opened above their heads and he saw a bright light come down.

He saw the City of Zion shining like gold, silver and glass —its loveliness was above description. He saw a big wall with three gates leading through it. Righteous and holy people were going through these gates into the city. He wanted to go in too, but the man said “You can’t go through now, but if you are faithful and true, the time will come when you will be allowed to go.” As he lay on his sick bed, he thought of this dream night and day.

He thought a dark night was coming, but never guessed that he was going to be blind. He told his family of the dream and they all wondered what it meant. When he recovered, he learned the butchering trade. He entered contests which were held to encourage the workers to excel. He was a good worker, quick and accurate. His specialty was killing hogs — he could kill, scald, scrape, hang and draw a hog faster than most anyone. He had won four cups as prizes. He received promotions until he became superintendent of the slaughter-house.

He was also a buyer for the establishment and went about the country buying animals. His languages came in handy in this assignment. He may have learned some of them on the job, although in Switzerland there are three official languages taught in the schools, French, German and Italian. There are also many dialects. He wanted eventually to get into government service. In 1849, at age 22, he married Anna Maria Dorothea Mathys, daughter of Johannes and Anna Mathys.

Their first child, Mary, was born June 23, 1851. They were happy and free from care for two years. Then one day at work, he was trying to beat his own record in preparing for another contest. He had the hog hanging up, and its foot slipped off the cross stick (gambrel) and struck him in the eye, splitting the pupil. The carcass fell and dragged him down with it. He gave a cry and his brother Casper, nearly seven years younger, who worked in the same shop, came to his rescue.

When Casper saw his eye was knocked out of its socket and hanging down on his cheek, Casper put his hand over it and led him down along the river bank to the doctor. Ulrich got infection in it, and with no antibiotics, he was sick for a long time, and of course had to give up his job. His parents took him to Germany to eye specialists, but they could do nothing. The infection spread to the other eye. He was blind now in both eyes. Friends came to his wife Maria saying “Give him up and let him go home to his parents, they are well enough off to take care of him. You don’t want to be saddled with a blind man all the rest of your life. What can he do for you now? You would be better off without him.” But her mother said “No, Maria will not desert him, he needs her now more than he ever did.” Of course Maria stayed with him, but nothing could comfort him. Their home was one of mourning. They could see no future, and felt that all their happiness was completely destroyed.

One day as Maria sat by his side, her mother came in and said, “You can do nothing but pray about it — perhaps the Lord will open a way for you. I believe the hand of the Lord is in it, for a whispering voice always says to me, “Don’t feel sorry that Bryner is blind, it’s good for you all but you don’t know it yet.” Ulrich’s family was kind to them, and all were willing to provide for them, but Ulrich could not be happy. He felt that the Lord had cast him aside.

Four long sorrowful months passed by, then one morning in the latter part of July, he called his mother and father to listen, for he had had another dream. His family gathered round and he said, “I found myself in a great dark room with no glimmer of light. Three fires appeared, each of a different size. A man with a grey beard and peculiar eyes stood at my side, the same man I had seen before. He had an open book in his hand. He crossed out my sins and they fell to the floor. A voice said to me “You will have to go through the middle fire.” I said, “I am able to stand that too.” The wall opened so wide that we could pass through it. The light came in as bright as noon-day and we were shown the road to Zion. We had to cross the sea with a great company and take a long journey across the great prairie into the mountains to reach the City of Zion.”

A few months later, in February 1854, a Mormon missionary by the name of George Meyer came to the Zurich from America. The Bryner family was anxious to see if he was the man Ulrich had seen in his dreams. Several members of the family walked for two hours to get to Bern, to hear Elder Meyer. As soon as they saw him they recognized him as the man in Ulrich’s dream. George Meyer was very cross-eyed and wore very thick lenses. They immediately invited him to come to their home. Two days later, late at night a knock came on the door, and when Maria answered, it was Elder Meyer. She asked her husband if he thought it safe to let them in at this time of night. “Oh, yes,” he said, “take them up to my old room.” She took them up to the fourth-floor bedroom, and from that time on, it was their headquarters in that part of Switzerland.

Some of the neighbors objected to the elders being there. They threw rocks and broke the window.  Needless to say, the message these brethren brought from over the sea was listened to eagerly and believed. There were so many beautiful things in this religion that were lacking in their Lutheran faith — new revelations, a modern prophet of God, angels visiting the earth again, a new golden Bible, a call for repentance, baptism as John practised it, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost and for ordinations, and many other beautiful principles.

Twelve of the Bryners and Mathys’s were baptized, with Ulrich being the first one. They were so happy they thanked the Lord and wept for joy. They knew now that He had answered their prayers.

He knew the gospel was true and bore testimony to his brothers and sisters. He knew from his vision of the fire that his life wasn’t going to be easy and that troubles lay ahead for him. They wanted to join the Saints in Utah, and began to make preparations for the long journey. They couldn’t all go at once, so Casper and Barbara Ann went first to lead the way and make preparations for the others to follow. All the rest of the family, five in all, came to the U. S. and crossed the plains to Utah. It was 1856 and they now had two children, Mary Magdalena and Gottfried Henry. They felt the little boy was too young to make the trip, so they left him with his grandparents, to come later on.

They travelled the same route Ulrich had seen in his dream. They were in the sailing vessel, the “Enoch Train,” for forty two days, and landed in Boston, and went on via New York to join the saints. His brother, Casper, had purchased a wagon and oxen, and hired a teamster, so everything was ready for them to go on to Utah. They left Florence about the first of September, 1856. Travel by ox team was difficult for the pioneers, especially for Ulrich who could not see. He held onto the back of the wagon, and if the going got tough for the animals, he would help push the wagon. There is a painting by Lura Redd, in the D.U.P. museum in Salt Lake City, of Ulrich clinging to the back of the wagon as he stumbled over the rocks, bumps, ruts, and gopher holes, and was sometimes dragged along when he lost his footing. The journey was slow and uneventful for the most part, but at times there was plenty of excitement.

The trip, about 1,000 miles, took nearly four months, and it got very cold when they were about half way. Ulrich and the driver both froze their feet and legs, so Maria then had to look after them, do the cooking and the driving. Ulrich was administered to for his frozen feet, and Maria treated them with poultices made of pulverized sage and snow, as advised by Brigham Young. His feet healed and he was later able to walk as straight as anyone. By the time they reached Devil’s Gate, many people and oxen had frozen to death, so they had to double up and leave some of the wagons behind. Since the remaining wagons were loaded so heavily, everyone who could possibly walk, did so. They caught up with the ill-fated Martin handcart company, and were asked to take another family in their wagon, so they had to leave more of their belongings beside the road. The bitterly cold weather made travel very slow, and provisions were scarce. Many died on this trek. (Best estimates put the death toll at 69 in the Willie Company, 150-170 in the Martin Company, 10 in the Hodgett Company and 19 in the Hunt Company.)

However help was on the way, and it came none too soon. Riders had taken word of their predicament into Salt Lake. Brigham Young sent rescue parties with wagons and supplies to meet them. The snow was nine feet deep. People had to go ahead and tramp the snow down so the animals could pull the wagons over it. How happy they were to finally reach Salt Lake! When Ulrich’s brother Casper had learned of the trouble this pioneer company was having, he started out to meet them.

He spoke so little broken English that it was hard for him to make them understand, so he’d ask, “Has anyone seen a blind man?” None had, so he went on to the next group and asked again. Kind people in the city had opened their hearts and homes to take in the cold and hungry ones, so now Casper went from door to door and asked, “Has anyone here seen a blind man?” Finally he came to the door of the house where Ulrich and his family were staying. Great was Ulrich’s delight when he recognized his brother’s voice! They fell on each other’s necks and wept tears of joy. This was December 24, 1856. The next summer, 1857, Ulrich’s parents and sister came from Switzerland, bringing his little son with them. What a happy reunion that was! The parents had also travelled by ox team, having several accidents along the way in which his father was badly injured and never completely recovered. While in Lehi, a daughter Pauline was born.

They were called to settle in St. George in 1861, and travelled three hundred miles through snowstorms and lived in a tent. Later they moved to New Harmony, not far from St. George, where Mary Verena and Frank were born. Of course, there were no homes, no stores, and no money in New Harmony. They had to provide everything themselves. They planted cotton, carded it, dyed it with roots and herbs, and Maria spun it into thread on a spinning wheel which Ulrich’s father built for them. Brigham Young pronounced it the best home-made thread he had ever seen. They wove material for their clothing, and sewed everything by hand with the tiniest stitches imaginable. Maria devoted herself to helping her husband. She was very small, but quick and efficient. She spent all day with Ulrich in the fields, guiding him as he did his work, and helping with the farm and orchard work herself, at the same time bearing six more children and training them well.

Ulrich could manage pretty well in the house if the furniture was always kept in exactly the same spot, and there was nothing littering the floor. He could still mend shoes, and butcher hogs as well as anyone. He could prune trees and grapevines expertly. He would pick willows and weave baskets — there were none better — fancy baskets as well as utilitarian measuring baskets. No one knew how he could judge, but he made accurate bushel, half-bushel and peck baskets. He trained his sons to do many things, among others, to drive a team by the age of eight.

In 1868 Ulrich took a second wife, Margaretha Kuhn Wintsch, who had been widowed twice. He settled her in Toquerville, about twenty miles south of New Harmony, which was a good place for growing fruit. Ulrich and Margaret had ten children. In 1884, he was called to go settle in Price, Utah. It took them three months to make the trip, as they had many cows with young calves and had to travel slowly. They would milk the cows in the morning, put the milk in the large churn tied to the side of the wagon. When they stopped at night, it would be churned to butter, and they would enjoy the buttermilk to drink. They arrived in Price on July 23rd, in time for the Pioneer Celebration on the 24th. Theirs was the first house finished in Price — it was a two-story log home.

They had brought fruit seeds from St. George, and had the first orchard and grape bowery in Price. Ulrich built 300 beehives and honey frames, and extracted the honey, which was white and mild. He also braided rope from cowhide that was a specialty, and raised and sold vegetables and large barrels of sauerkraut. Only once in his long life did he or any of his family depend on outside help of any kind, and that was when the house burned and they were left with practically nothing.

Ulrich retired at 70 from his strenuous activity. He hired research done in Switzerland and spent the last seven years of his life in St. George doing temple work for five thousand of his kindred dead. His line was traced back to 1495 and the Mathys line to 1555. He died 9 Feb. 1905 of a stroke, at age 78.  He left a large posterity, and had lived a long and useful life. He always said that he was glad that he became blind, otherwise he might have been too busy to listen to the missionaries. He loved the gospel so much, his joy in it far outweighed any trials or hardships he endured.

Guest Author

…or re-living the journey of my ancestors

I probably spend about an hour a day on Facebook: scanning the feed, commenting sarcastic quips (which I’m sure everyone appreciates), hitting the like button once too often, even doing those quizzes as to which Disney Princess I am most definitely NOT. I love the feeling of community: being linked to friends and family I haven’t seen in years and getting a [non-stalker and totally legal] peek into their day to day’s ups and downs.  I don’t mind the “Eeyore” posts about life’s realities or that bragging posts have now taken over the “my kid’s an honor student” bumper stickers. Bring on the selfies, baby pics, life lessons learned, the inspirational and the “aren’t you glad you aren’t this stupid” memes and yes, even the politics because it’s what makes us different that makes social media so interesting… and addicting.

Along with all the social media outlets a new-age journal concept has emerged.  Ready-to-order books of your Instagram photos, Facebook posts and every pic ever downloaded can be made and delivered to your doorstep with a touch of a button. These not only make for great keepsakes and coffee table fodder but the tangible books have the potential to outlast your life, your children’s lives and even their children’s lives. A whole new root has branched off the Genealogy Tree and I for one am embracing it.

One of my earliest examples of the importance of keeping a journal stems back 4 generations when in Christmas of 1993 my Grandparents gave each of their children and grandchildren a published autobiography of my Great, Great Grandfather: William A. Moody.

I admit I wasn’t so intrigued with the book “Years in the Sheaf” at the self centered phase of my 14 year old existence.  Of all the times I perused and  halfheartedly read I never did find out the meaning of the title but over the years I have found out the significance of the spirit of the book.

How sweet has it been for me to have this family treasure: a constant reminder of resilience and persistence that I can learn from and apply.  I have grown with him, laughed with him, metaphorically pee’d my pants in fear and cried when his struggles seemed too much.

He starts the adventure with a quick glimpse into his childhood and of his misadventures: one being when he was 20 yrs old and brazenly wrestled and eventually killed a four-prong buck with his bare hands: walking away a train wreck of scars and bruises and the biggest grin.  When I was twenty I killed my first and only mouse by means of an old school ACME mouse trap, laced with peanut butter: never again.

At age 24 he was called on his first mission to Samoa. Exotic jungle islands, language barriers and physical stresses were written with humility and gratitude. His wife, Adelia, was allowed to go with him and 3 days after the birth of their baby girl, Hazel, Adelia died from complications. There he was: far away from home, the loss of his first love and a baby to care for all the while being true to his missionary work. The kneeling, sobbing prayers of his grief gave way to personal growth and comforting faith that God heard him, that He knew him and that He would not abandon him.

Through-out his life he tenderly reflected on his loves and losses. He was married five times, widowed four times and had a total of seven children.  At the birth of his first son he wrote: “Although I am sure I showed no disappointment at the birth of my five fine girls, still I did yearn for a son, and was overwhelmed when little Rupert arrived.”

A year later he was called on his second mission to Samoa stemming for two and a half years (1908-1910). Without flourish and pomp he recorded his work and efforts all the while singing praises to his Savior for whom he owed everything too.

Years and chapters pass of his achievements, gains and losses of ordinary life. Once again, with the same humility and sweetness he had to account for yet another heart-ache:

“A distress that long scarred my heart was caused by the fact that my son pleaded and begged to be allowed to remain with us and not return to Thatcher with the girls. ‘Papa, don’t send me back. I want to stay with you.’ he sobbed, winding his arms about my neck. I was hard put to refuse him, but common sense dictated that I not indulge his whim. I pointed out that only two weeks of school remained in the term, and after he had completed his lessons and got his credit, he could come and spend the entire summer with us.

‘We’ll be waiting for you,’ I said

But as though he had some presentiment of fate to come, he would not go, and I finally had to force him gently to loosen his arms from around me, and I sent him away weeping.

He never returned.

The following Sunday he walked from Thatcher to the farm, a distance of six miles, and during the day, while leading a horse with a rope, he was somehow jerked and thrown on his head. The rope, broken and knotted, was still clutched in his hand when they found him. We rushed to his side, but he was dead upon our arrival.

The sorrow of our final parting of his life lingers vividly with me, though so many years have come and gone.

Rupert Moody, born January 12^th, 1907; died April 20^th, 1918.”

How wonderful it has been for me to read and share in my ancestor’s life. The closeness I felt, the connection of family and the influence he has had on my own testimony is something I want to pass on to my son. For Braden to have a written account of my testimony of our Savior and the life’s experiences that have built my faith is the mark I want to leave for my child, his children and their children.

Megan Ann Steyskal

Megan is a thirty-something single mom blogger who lives in Portland, OR. She has worked in Pharmacy for the past 15 years and spends her free time free-lance writing for parenting blogs and completing her novel. When in “time-out” (of her own accord) she reads and writes, then reads some more. You can find her blog at The Accidental Librarian.

theaccidentallibrarian.com

Excerpts taken from Susannah Washburn Bowles’ biography of her mother Tamer Washburn (1805–1886). Tamer joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often inadvertently called the “Mormon Church,” in 1838 and continued full of faith in the Church until the time of her death in 1886.

 

Tamer Washburn

Abraham and Tamer’s family consisted of Daniel born July 23, 1826 (died at age 9), Mary Ann born November 18, 1828, Emma Jane born July 28, 1830, Elizabeth Underhill born August 23, 1834 (died at age 3), Daniel Abraham born September 8, 1837, Sarah Elizabeth born August 16, 1839, John “E” born April 13, 1842, Susanna born June 23, 1843, Joseph Bates born July 20, 1845, Artmissa Minerva born June 17, 1847.

While living at Sing Sing, Tamer had the following dream: She went to heaven. Everything was beautiful and in perfect order. She visited many wonderful places. In beautiful parks, she saw many groups of happy children at play. They were in the charge of and their play was supervised by very fine, intelligent women. She came to one group where two of her own children were playing. She was surprised to see them there, and when she looked up inquiringly into the face of the lady who had them in charge, the lady said, “Sister Washburn, it is your privilege to see beforehand where your children will be, so that the parting will not be so hard.”

In a few weeks, the two children died. Tamer said that when they died, she could not shed a tear because the vision she had had was continually before her mind.

Delisa Hargrove

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have moved 64 times and have not tired of experiencing this beautiful earth! I love the people, languages, histories/anthropologies, & especially religious cultures of the world. My life long passion is the study & searching out of religious symbolism, specifically related to ancient & modern temples. My husband Anthony and I love our bulldog Stig, adventures, traveling, movies, motorcycling, and time with friends and family.

Torleif was baptized at the age of 21 in a river that was frozen and had to be cut with a saw. His love of the gospel and strong testimony caused him to turn down an art scholarship to Rome in order to immigrate to Utah in 1905. That was the beginning of Torleif’s lifelong association with church art projects. He worked on many, many temples and was even called to serve a mission in Paris just to study art. This time was a wonderful boon to him, especially since he had given up the chance to study in Rome.

Upon returning home, Torleif continued his work on temples and in the 1920s completed the original Handcart Pioneers statue. In 1947, he completed the larger replica of the same statue that is now displayed on Temple Square.

Torleif’s artistic works for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are found in many places around the United States. Perhaps none are so large and recognizable, however, as his monument of the angel Moroni which stands on the Hill Cumorah.

The Church acquired the land for the Hill Cumorah in 1928, and immediately Torleif recommended to the Brethren [church leaders] that a monument should stand there commemorating the important event of Moroni visiting Joseph Smith and giving him the brass plates.

While the Brethren had not commissioned Torleif to create this monument, Torleif felt so strongly about it that he created seven sketches on his own and went to the Lord in prayer for guidance about which sketch was the most accurate and if he should formally present his plan to the Brethren. One night in 1929 he climbed Ensign Peak in Salt Lake City and knelt in prayer, with his sketches spread out on the ground. In answer to his plea, an angel appeared to him and pointed to one of the sketches saying, “This is the one.” The angel also told Torleif to visit the Brethren in the church offices the next morning and that they would be waiting for him.

The next day, Torleif did as he had been instructed. The Brethren welcomed him and unanimously chose the picture the angel had singled out. Official permission to begin the project soon followed. Torleif was understandably very private about his encounter with the angel. He only shared his experience a couple of times, and when a friend asked him if the angel had been Moroni, Torleif said, “That’s my secret.” His second wife, Rebecca, though, said Torleif had told her it had been the angel Moroni.

The final statue of Moroni stands 9 feet tall and is gold plated. It rests on a granite pillar, which Torleif also created. He spent five years on the design and creation of the monument, which was more than double the time he spent on any other single work of art in his life.

Immediately after Torleif had been granted permission to work on the project, he looked for a model. He found the physique he wanted in Elwin Clark, a bricklayer, but he felt Elwin’s face was too young to accurately represent the mature Moroni. He fasted and prayed for a suitable model for the face. One day an older gentleman caught his eye in the city. After following him for some time, Torleif approached the man and asked if he would consider being a model for him. He persuaded the man, who had just moved to Utah from Wyoming, to come with him to his studio right then.

Elwin was already at the studio waiting for Torleif. To everyone’s surprise, Elwin recognized the older man as his father, Hyrum Don Carlos Clark. This “coincidence” confirmed to Torleif that these men were the appropriate models for him to use.

The monument was placed on the Hill Cumorah in 1935, which had been replenished during the previous year with 10,000 trees on its barren landscape. Each of the four sides of the base has a bronze plaque depicting a significant event which took place in the area: the west side shows Moroni delivering the plates to Joseph Smith; the south side shows Moroni revealing the plates to the three witnesses; the east side depicts Joseph Smith showing the plates to the eight witnesses; and on the north side is the text from Moroni 10:4–5, which reads, “And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

The statue of Moroni shows him holding the plates in his left arm while raising his right arm to call attention to the gospel message. Other religious symbols are explained to visitors on nearby plaques.

As for Torleif’s personal life, he married Emilia “Millie” Helena Christensen in 1909 in the Salt Lake Temple. However, she passed away in 1931, leaving six children, the youngest just 15 months old. He refused to split up the family, despite offers from friends to adopt the younger children, and did his best to be both father and mother to his children until he remarried eight years later, a woman named Rebecca Marie Knaphus.

A reporter asked Torleif in the late years of his life what he considered his greatest work. He said, gesturing to some family photos and a pedigree chart on his wall, “My family and this genealogical research have been my greatest work in life.” Historians have estimated that Torleif personally submitted 10,000 of his Norwegian ancestors’ names for temple work. Elder LeGrand Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said he knew of no other person who had done more genealogy work than Torleif. Torleif passed away June 14, 1965, at the age of 83.

It is easy to look back on Torleif’s life and see many turning points which led him to the gospel, but which could have gone another way. For example, what if his roommate had not invited him to attend that concert in the first place? God’s hand is truly guiding each of our lives. If we let Him, He will use us for His purposes and will make a masterpiece out of us. Torleif had such an impact for good in the lives of those around Him because He turned His life to God.

This article was written by Doris White, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In 1933, Hanna joined her husband for his tour of duty in Indonesia with their three-year-old daughter, Grace, and their new son, Heber. They stayed in Indonesia until his tour ended in 1938. While the children had been very happy in Indonesia, Pieter was severely persecuted in his career for his religious beliefs, and his superior officer made it impossible for Pieter to extend his stay in Indonesia, so they returned to the Netherlands.

Pieter and Hanna’s plan was always to move to the United States, as soon as it became possible, but this option did not arise for several years. On their way back to the Netherlands, however, the Vlam family was able to stop in Salt Lake City, Utah, and they were sealed together as an eternal family in the Salt Lake Mormon Temple. At this time, the Vlams had another child, Vera. On June 9, 1938, they were sealed together before returning to the Netherlands. In 1939, they had their last child, Alvin.

As World War II approached and the Nazi threat intensified, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recalled their missionaries from Europe. Vlam was still an officer in the Royal Dutch navy, and he was also called by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith to serve in the Dutch Mission presidency. These men became responsible for the church in their area during the war. In 1940, the Nazis invaded the Netherlands, and Vlam had to move to Voorburg, near The Hague, to find a new job to support his family. Most of Pieter’s neighbors in the area were also former military personnel, but they were standoffish towards their Mormon neighbor. However, after Vera was killed in a tragic train accident at the age of 4, the neighbors’ hearts were softened and they were more open with the Vlam family. The family was struck by the loss of Vera, but they were comforted by the blessings they had received in the temple to be an eternal family.

In May 1942, the former Dutch military were all taken prisoners, including Pieter. Grace was eleven at the time and heard the news at school. She rushed home to find her father gone. She was devastated, but remembers the Spirit telling her audibly that she would see her father again. Pieter was taken to the Nuremberg-Langwasser prison camp. He wrote home asking for a copy of the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. In his letter, his faith was apparent as he said to his wife: “God will bring us together again. . . . We trust in him. Live the gospel with the children. . . . Be courageous and continue a normal life.”

Three months after arriving at Nuremberg-Langwasser, Pieter was transferred to Stanislau, Poland (now Ivano Frankivsk, Ukraine), to Stalag 371, a prison camp in an 18th-century monastery now surrounded by barbed-wire fences. Faced with such a bleak outlook, many of the inmates (some of whom were Pieter’s fellow officers) began asking serious questions about life. Some turned to Pieter for answers.

Because meetings were forbidden in Stalag 371, Pieter would take a couple people with him and walk in circles for miles around the camp, discussing the gospel with them. He taught nearly 1,000 men about the Restoration and the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Pieter shared joy instead of misery, and many people joined the church.

The men who believed Pieter wanted to meet together, but at first had to do so in secret. They would gather, one by one, in an isolated room in the old monastery. The first to arrive swept the floor, the second covered the window. They would not sing, because it would draw too much attention, but they read and talked. They pondered the Sacrament prayers, but did not perform the ordinance of the Sacrament. They had not yet been baptized, and the Sacrament is a renewal of baptismal covenants.

A Dutch Reformed Church chaplain volunteered in Stalag 371 and became aware of Pieter’s efforts. He met with each person attending Vlam’s meeting and distributed anti-Mormon literature, telling them Vlam was misguided and deceived. While this had the desired effect on some, for others it enforced their belief in Vlam’s teachings because they compared the anti-Mormon literature with what they had been taught and recognized the obvious discrepancies.

After a while, the group was able to meet in the open. They fasted once a month and gave their food to weak or ill prisoners. Though things were difficult, Pieter warned the men who met with him that the true test of their faith would come outside the prison walls when old family, friends, and new enemies would challenge them and disown them for their beliefs. He certainly knew that from personal experience.

Pieter continued to be blessed. His former employer continued to pay his salary to Pieter’s family, even though he was not working. Still, his family had to travel to the country to make the money stretch far enough to survive on.

In January 1944, Stalag 371 was evacuated and the prisoners were moved to a camp in Neubrandenburg, north of Berlin. Finally the war ended, and on June 5, 1945, 14-year-old Grace was able to welcome her father home.

In 1949, Pieter was able to move his whole family to the United States, as he had longed to do for years. They lived in Salt Lake City. Pieter passed away on October 31, 1957, and Hanna passed away on June 17, 1982. Many men who believed Pieter’s words were baptized after the war ended and remained faithful members.

Pieter was truly an example of staying true to one’s faith and sharing the peace it brought him with others.

dwhite

Doris White is a native of Oregon and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in English and a minor in Editing. She loves to talk with others about the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Bluff, Utah

It took this group of Saints six months to cross an area now known as Hole-in-the-Rock; a place so called because they literally had to cut into the rock to make a trail for their wagons down the seemingly sheer cliff. After this part of the journey they had to cross the Colorado River. Then they were met with land that their scouts told them would be impossible to cross. These Saints were not faint of heart, however. They arrived at their destination of Bluff in April 1880.

The Saints did not take long before they built up a community of about 40 homes and a fort. They were then requested by President Taylor to build communications with the local Native American tribes of Ute and Navajo. By their faith and heeding of the prophet’s call, this group managed to fulfill the Lord’s will.

On Saturday this group’s descendants gathered to dedicate a memorial to President Taylor and to their ancestors who sacrificed so much for what they knew to be right. Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles attended the event to dedicate the memorial. Elder Perry spoke of President Taylor’s courage, of his ability to communicate, and

of his faith, reminding the group that these three characteristics had influenced their ancestors and could still influence us today.

When President Taylor became president of the Church, he was faced with the challenge of expanding and settling the state. He had to call people to make difficult journeys, to settle harsh areas, and to try and make peace and build strong relations with local Native American tribes. These challenges were just as hard for the people he called to face them as they were for President Taylor himself. The fort that this group of Saints’ descendants has built up will stand as a reminder of their courage.

As Elder Perry prepared to dedicate the statue of President Taylor at Bluff Fort, he said, “It is fitting today we place this statue of John Taylor here in this historic community. It will stand as a reminder to all who visit of the faith of those who sacrificed so much to bless us with a heritage to turn our thoughts to the past to give us the firm resolve to have the faith to face the future with a bright determination of hope and courage.”

Bluff Fort has been reconstructed by its inhabitants’ descendants. Eleven cabin replicas are now there for visitors to see what life was like when the settlers arrived.

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is full of stories of people like those who left their comfortable homes (after travelling across the United States) to settle an entirely new area. Members of this Church are still full of the same faith today as were their forbearers before them. As Elder Perry eloquently said, “We have been blessed to have our roots firmly grounded by the sacrifice of noble pioneer heritage. Through their extraordinary efforts and inspired leadership, an empire has emerged out of a desert. Their strong traits of courage, industry, faith, and determination have given us a legacy which we can look upon with great pride. It is proper we build monuments to remind our and future generations of our special pioneer heritage. It is a heritage of inspired leadership that is directed by the hand of God through his holy prophets.”

Source: “Faith conquers ‘impossible trek,'” Shaun D. Stahle, LDS Church News, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009.

President Kimball, who struggled with severe health problems during his life, urged Mormons and Mormon missionaries to rise to the challenge to take the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all people.  To do this, a new program of translation was undertaken to place the Book of Mormon and other Mormon books into the hands of all people.  From 1974, when President Kimball became Prophet and President of the Mormon Church, to 1990, when translation work began to slow down again, the Book of Mormon was translated into 57 new languages.  In 1981 alone, the Book of Mormon was published for the first time in Russian, Catalan, Icelandic, Niuean, Bolivian Quechua, Kuna, Romanian, and Polish.  In the 1980s, as part of this new growth, President Ezra Taft Benson, who became Prophet and President to the Mormon Church in 1985, issued a call to flood the earth with the Book of Mormon.  Members were encouraged to carry copies of the Book of Mormon with them and to increase their efforts to share its message about Jesus Christ with everyone they met.  By the late 1980s, Mormon missionaries were baptizing more than 300,000 people a year, and the number of fulltime missionaries was close to 50,000.

The Presidencies of Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson (covering 1974 to 1994) saw remarkable growth, as Mormon missionaries established permanent congregations for the first time in dozens of new countries, many of which people had expected would take decades more to see growth.  In 1978, President Kimball oversaw the growth of the Mormon Church and the missionaries’ success in the Caribbean, Brazil, and Africa, and prayed mightily about the traditional limitations on who could hold the priesthood and thus lead the Church.  In response, the Lord gave President Kimball a revelation in 1978 that the time had finally come when every worthy male member could be ordained to the Priesthood.  For some time, President Kimball and other leaders had been corresponding with people throughout Africa and South America who had been begging for missionaries to come to them.  That same year, Mormon Church leaders were able to get the leaders of various African nations to revoke their policies restricting foreign missionaries.  Immediately after this revelation, Mormon missionaries were sent to those people.  When the missionaries arrived in Ghana and Nigeria in West Africa, they found thousands of people organized into 60 congregations waiting to be baptized.  They had been converted for decades through the literature of the Mormon Church and waited faithfully for their chance to be baptized.  By the mid 1980s, 16,000 people in Nigeria and Ghana had joined the Mormon Church.  By 2000, the Mormon Church was established in 27 sub-Saharan African countries and registered to send missionaries into 21 more.  From 1978 to 2000, membership in sub-Saharan Africa grew from 7,700 to 140,000.  Today, there are three temples in Africa, one each in South Africa, Ghana, and Nigeria.

The 1980s also saw the explosive growth of the Mormon Church in South America, which had long been promised by the Prophets.  Soon, hundreds of thousands joined the Mormon Church each year throughout Central and South America.  As of the year 2000, there were more Mormons in Latin America than there were Mormons worldwide in 1974.  With this growth, more and more Latin American Mormons are becoming missionaries and general authorities of the Mormon Church.  Countries that once were too unstable for the Church to grow, have now calmed, and as the Church grows, the positive influence of the members grows.  In response to the difficulties faced by Mormons in Latin America, where poverty is difficult to escape, the Mormon Church began the Perpetual Education Fund in the late 1990s, providing scholarships and loans for Mormons to obtain job training and education.  By 2004, more than 18,000 in Latin America and the Pacific Islands had received educational aid.  The Mormon Church also began issuing micro-loans to aid in business start up and provide job training.  The aim of this was to improve the lives of Mormons and non-Mormons alike through education, self-reliance, and opportunity.  The Mormon Church has also become more involved in the humanitarian issues in Africa, as its membership has grown there.  The Mormon Church produces Atmit, a highly nutritional food, for distribution in humanitarian crises, and has also begun a multi-year immunization program in Africa, vaccinating at least 1,000,000 children per year.  Also, the Mormon Church has begun cooperating with Islamic Charities and developed the facilities to produce halal food, or food which complies with Islamic religious codes.

By 1990, the Mormon Church had grown to nearly 8,000,000, nearly doubling the number of members in 1980.  This growth was both a blessing and a trial as more and more chapels had to be built to accommodate membership and more and more lesson manuals needed to be distributed.  In the 1960s, President David O. McKay had begun the correlation program.  This inspired program eliminated duplication and waste throughout the worldwide Church by bringing many different programs together.  Historically, magazines in different languages were published by various groups, and chapels were built by the local membership, who raised the money to buy the land and then design and construct the building.  Correlation meant that the various magazines of the Mormon Church were rolled into one group and that the building programs were unified, so that each new building did not require the local members to start from the ground up.  Plans and construction costs were shared by the whole Church.  As the Mormon Church grew internationally, this program permitted the Mormon Church to build hundreds of new chapels per year in dozens of countries.  It also freed up money which could produce more copies of the Book of Mormon, free Bibles, videos, and later internet projects.

The 1990s saw another miracle as the Soviet Union collapsed.  Mormon missionaries were soon permitted in virtually every country of the former Soviet Union.  The first Mormon missionaries had arrived in Russia in 1903, though earlier attempts had been made.  Under the USSR no Mormon missionaries were permitted to enter Eastern Europe or Russia, though several thousand Mormons lived in places like East Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania.  The first permanent Mormon mission was established in 1990 in Leningrad, followed by congregations both in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) and Vyborg.  In the next decade, more than 11,000 would be baptized in Russia alone, with thousands more in Eastern Europe.  Ukraine likewise saw rapid growth after 1990. Even before its independence from Russia in 1991, Mormon missionaries began teaching in Kiev.  By 2000, there were nearly 7,000 Mormons with a temple being built in Kiev for all the Russian-speaking members of the Mormon Church.  Mormon congregations were likewise organized in Kazan in Tatarstan, Almaty in Kazakhstan, and in Mongolia.  Mongolia in particular has seen remarkable growth, and today there are over 2,000 Mormons in this mostly Buddhist country.  Mongolian Mormons are noted for their faith and sacrifice, and Mongolia has one the highest retention rates and the highest percentage of members who serve as Mormon missionaries.

On to Mormon Missionary Work Today

Anita Stansfield

Anita Stansfield began writing at the age of sixteen, and her first novel was published sixteen years later. For more than fifteen years she has been the number-one best-selling author of women’s fiction in the LDS market. Her novels range from historical to contemporary and cover a wide gamut of social and emotional issues that explore the human experience through memorable characters and unpredictable plots. She has received many awards, including a special award for pioneering new ground in LDS fiction, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Whitney Academy for LDS Literature, and also a Lifetime Achievement Award from her publisher, Covenant Communications. She has fifty-six published books. Anita is the mother of five, and has three grandchildren.