David Whitmer was born January 7, 1805, near Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania. While he was young, his parents, Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman, moved to western New York. A reporter who met his father in 1885 wrote that Peter raised his family as “a hard-working, God-fearing man, a strict Presbyterian [who] brought his children up with rigid sectarian discipline” (Chicago Tribune, 17 Dec. 1885).

David Whitmer

The Whitmer family were active Church goers in the German Reformed Church. David’s mother was born in Germany. David’s three older brothers were confirmed members of that church. However, in 1829, the family began to hear of a young man named Joseph Smith, who was gaining attention for his teachings about a new book of religious scripture called the Book of Mormon. David, still living at home with his parents, met a man named Oliver Cowdery. Both men were curious about Joseph Smith and even more curious about the book. They learned that Joseph Smith was translating the book in Pennsylvania, and Oliver Cowdery decided to go there and find out about the book directly from its translator. He promised to keep David informed as to what he learned.

Oliver wrote three letters to David during this time. In his first letter, he told David he was not only convinced the book was true, but he had volunteered to act as Joseph Smith’s scribe, helping the work advance much more quickly. A second letter also emphasized Oliver’s belief that the book was authentic and quoted portions of it. The third letter changed the lives of the Whitmer family forever. Oliver asked if he and Joseph could come to David’s home to work on the translation. The work and even the life of Joseph Smith was in danger from people who were afraid to let the new book come to light.

Joseph Smith Moves to David Whitmer’s Home

David took the request to his family. His parents were concerned because David had a great deal of work to do and taking time to go for Joseph and Oliver would hamper the family’s efforts. They decided David shouldn’t go unless God required it of him. David accepted his parents’ request but then took the problem to God in prayer. He asked that God help him complete his work in record time. He was able to do two days’ work in one day. This convinced his father that God intended David to bring the men to their home. He told David he could go for them as soon as he’d finished the fertilizing.

Whitmer Home

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery moved into the Whitmer home and Emma, Joseph’s wife, joined them not long after. This created a great deal of work for Mary, David’s mother. One day, as she was going to milk the cows, an angel appeared and told her that because her contribution to the work was so great, she was entitled to receive a personal testimony that what they were doing was truly God’s work. She was shown the gold plates on which the book was written in ancient times. Although her sons would later serve as official witnesses to the reality of those plates, Mary actually saw them before any of the men in her family. She found that the work no longer seemed to be a burden to her.

David Whitmer Sees the Gold Plates

David Whitmer was later permitted to view the plates and other sacred objects as well, while an angel held them. He signed his name to a testimony of this vision. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ in 1829.

David’s home was the center of historically significant events—the work of translation, many visions and revelations, and the first conference of the Church. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which many continue to inadvertently refer to as the “Mormon Church,” was formally organized in the Whitmer home. David was listed as one of the first six members, helping to fill a legal requirement for the organization of churches.

David Whitmer took several missionary trips with Joseph Smith, but after a time, he was chastised by revelation for being too focused on worldly things. He was instructed to return to his father’s home for a time.

The Whitmer family faced some trials in their work with the Church. While Joseph was back in Pennsylvania translating, Oliver Cowdery decided a revelation which had been received needed to be changed. He did not, of course, have that authority, since revelations come from God to a prophet. However, he persisted and also convinced the Whitmers that he was right. Joseph returned to their home and helped them to understand that the revelations must be written as given by God and not according to the desires of men.

However, Hyrum Page, a church member, claimed to be receiving his own revelations through a seer stone. He convinced Cowdery and the Whitmers these were true revelations. They did not yet understand how God worked and that having multiple prophets would only lead to confusion, which is why there could only be one at a time. Page’s so-called revelations contradicted the New Testament and modern revelations. After a revelation came to Joseph Smith explaining how revelation works, Page and the Whitmers, as well as others who had believed them, renounced Page’s claims.

In 1831, David Whitmer married Julia Ann Jolly. Later that year he was called to serve a mission to Missouri. He and his missionary companion, Harvey Whitlock, were to preach as they journeyed to Missouri. Near the end of the year, David traveled to Ohio, where he became a high priest in the Church, and then he and his wife moved to Missouri.

David Whitmer Defends Mormonism at Gunpoint

The Mormons encountered intense persecutions in Missouri. David Whitmer, along with other men, was forced into the ironically named Independence Square with a bayonet at his back, where he had his clothing removed and he was tarred and feathered. He was ordered to denounce the Book of Mormon or face death. Other men clicked their guns to reinforce the order but David boldly testified of the Book of Mormon. The captors let him go.

The Whitmer family moved to Clay County. There, two of David’s brothers died as a result of persecution, one leaving a young wife and the other a wife and small children. A third died later of a leg infection. David’s mother was a faithful member all her life.

The remaining Whitmers began to have problems with their faith as a result of the many trials they had to bear and the new financial challenges arising in the young church. David was appointed to oversee the Church in Missouri and helped to select the first apostles, but when he began to challenge various aspects of Mormon doctrine, his membership was called into question. He was invited to meet with church leaders to work out the problems, but he refused. He was excommunicated for various reasons, including writing letters calling himself the president of the church, even though he’d been removed from his responsibilities in the church. He had become very vocal in his attacks on the church and its leaders.

The Whitmer Family Falters

When the Mormons were forced by mob activity to leave Missouri, the Whitmers stayed behind. David moved to Richmond, where he served as mayor for a year. He retained his testimony of the Book of Mormon, however. In 1878, two Mormon apostles visited him in Missouri. He was asked about his testimony and reiterated the vision in which he was shown the gold plates. Again, in 1882, a young Mormon missionary named Matthias Cowley visited him and also asked to hear his testimony. He gave it, but Cowley wrote that it was given as a duty. He felt that David Whitmer knew what was true but had lost sight of the joy the gospel can bring when it is fully lived.

In 1888, the American Cyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Britannica claimed that David and two other witnesses had denied ever having seen the plates. David was nearing death at that time, but publicly refuted those claims. He testified that none of the witnesses, including those who had left the church, had ever denied those sacred experiences.

It having been represented by one John Murphy, of Polo, Caldwell County, Mo., that I, in a conversation with him last summer, denied my testimony as one of the three witnesses to the ‘Book of Mormon.’

To the end, therefore, that he may understand me now, if he did not then; and that the world may know the truth, I wish now, standing as it were, in the very sunset of life, and in the fear of God, once for all to make this public statement:

That I have never at any time denied that testimony or any part thereof, which has so long since been published with that Book, as one of the three witnesses. Those who know me best, well know that I have always adhered to that testimony. And that no man may be misled or doubt my present views in regard to the same, I do again affirm the truth of all my statements, as then made and published.

‘He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear’; it was no delusion! What is written is written, and he that readeth let him understand. (See Keith W. Perkins, “True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers,” Ensign, February 1989.)

After the Mormons left Missouri, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, now known as the Community of Christ, attempted to convince David Whitmer to join with them. However, he felt they were not properly informed of what Joseph had really taught. David disliked centralized authority and felt Joseph had fallen as a prophet just before David left the church. William McClellan and some of his relatives convinced David to join them in forming a new church to continue where they felt Joseph had left off. David became president of this church, but in time, he and the others recognized they were operating without authority from God. The church had only a few members and dissolved after its last surviving member, Jacob Whitmer’s granddaughter, passed away.

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007.

Richard Lloyd Anderson, The Whitmers: A Family That Nourished the Church, Ensign, August 1979

Keith W. Perkins, True to the Book of Mormon—The Whitmers, Ensign, February 1989

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Romney became extremely ill while his father was away. A priesthood blessing of healing saved his life, and he grew up with a testimony of the power of the priesthood. There was little money in the family, even when his father returned, but Marion grew up learning how to work hard and how to sacrifice for the greater good–lessons which served him well. He helped his father produce everything the family ate, teaching him the value of being self-sufficient.

His primary textbook for school was the scriptures, since few schoolbooks were available to the children in Colonia Juarez. As a result, he became extremely knowledgeable about the scriptures from a young age, a skill that would serve him well throughout his life, but particularly in his later church work. Spencer W. Kimball, who would later become the Mormon prophet, said of him, “President Romney is able to reflect on an issue before us in the context of the scriptures which he knows so well and he relates problems to the scriptures in an especially keen way” (In Regional Representatives’ seminar, 5 Oct. 1979).

Life in Colonia, Mexico, was often frightening for the Mormons, who were largely persecuted for being Americans, rather than for their religion. In 1912, the revolution began and Marion could hear the shooting taking place only ten miles from home. Troops often raced through his neighborhood and stole from the Mormons. However, his mother would sing soothing hymns to her children to comfort them during the frightening hours.

When he was fourteen, Marion’s family was forced to escape to the United States, along with other colonists in danger due to their nationality. With almost no warning, they were able to pack only one suitcase for the entire family. As they fled, two soldiers stopped them, pointing their guns at the colonists. Their money was taken, but Marion prayed for protection and no one was killed.

His family first settled in California, where Marion skipped a year of school in order to learn carpentry so he could help the family earn a living. When they moved to Idaho, he would attend only a portion of the school year so he could help with the planting and harvesting on the family’s farm. In Utah, where his father worked to finish his college degree, Marion took another year off to work in order to help support the family while his father got his education.

Marion also took time off to serve a mission, despite the family’s financial situation. He used all his savings and had to borrow some, which he paid back when he returned and began to work.

His family moved to Rexburg, Idaho, so Marion’s father could serve as the president of Ricks Academy, which was in the process of becoming a two-year college. Marion attended the school as a student, serving as the captain of both the basketball and the football teams. He graduated in 1920 and then received his B.S. degree in 1926 and his LL.B. degree in 1932 at the University of Utah.

He married Ida Jensen on 12 September 1924. She had been hired as a teacher at the school after Marion’s father became president of Ricks Academy. They married six years later after he had served his mission and both had continued their educations.

Marion G. Romney worked in law, as the assistant county attorney, assistant district attorney, assistant city attorney, and state legislator.

Mormons serve as volunteers and so leaders, even at the highest level, come from secular fields of employment. They do not attend a formal seminary and train for religious leadership except through personal study and ordinary church service throughout their lives. And so, Marion found himself serving in high-level church leadership unexpectedly. He was first called to be the Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the first person to ever hold that position. Ten years later he became an apostle. This is a lifetime and full-time unpaid position, although those who have no other means of support receive a modest stipend that does not come from tithing funds (faithful Latter-day Saints pay ten percent of their income to the Church to help build the kingdom of God on the earth).

About twenty years later, Marion became the second counselor to the Mormon prophet. The Church is run by the prophet and two counselors (or occasionally three), known as the First Presidency. The second highest leadership body is the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Marion served as second counselor first to Harold B. Lee and then to Spencer W. Kimball. In 1982 he became the first counselor to President Kimball. Three years later, he also became the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a position which is based on seniority in order of the date called to the quorum.

As an apostle, he supervised Church work in Mexico, Europe, South Africa, and Asia and also organized the first Spanish-speaking stake (similar to a diocese) in Mexico. He also signed, as a member of the First Presidency, the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy male members of The Church of Jesus Christ.

Marion G. Romney died in 1988.

Sources:

This article is adapted from Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007 and Marvin K. Gardner, President Marion G. Romney, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Ensign, April 1986

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Joseph married Lucy Mack in 1796. They eventually had nine children, several of whom died at young ages and two that were murdered. Joseph Sr. and Lucy settled on a large farm. However, in 1796, Joseph decided to rent out the farm and open a mercantile business. He chose to export ginseng, which grew wild in Vermont, to China, where it was used as a medicine. Unfortunately, he was swindled by a shipmaster and agent, losing everything on the sale. He had to sell his farm to pay the debts he incurred from this event. This began a challenging series of years for him financially.

He and Lucy moved to Palmyra, New York, and purchased a farm. He lost it when he was unable to make the final payment. He moved first to Manchester, Ontario County, New York, and then to Kirtland, Ohio.

In 1823, his son Joseph Smith, Jr. was in bed when an angel appeared to him. Throughout the night the angel reappeared, teaching him the same information each time, with a little extra at the end each time. This was Joseph’s second encounter with spiritual manifestations, having seen a vision of God and Jesus when he was just fourteen. The next morning, Joseph was exhausted, but headed out to the fields to work. His older brother noticed he didn’t seem to feel well and Joseph’s father told him to return to the house.

As Joseph attempted to go over a fence, he fell to the ground. The angel who had visited him the night before, named Moroni, appeared to Joseph again. Joseph was instructed to tell his father about the visitations, which Joseph did. Joseph Smith, Sr. told his son to follow the instructions of the angel exactly. The visions Joseph Smith, Sr. had received prepared him to believe his son.

In time, Joseph Jr. would be led to records made by an ancient group of people who came to the Americas from Jerusalem. After Joseph Jr. translated this record through the power of God, it was published as the Book of Mormon. The Church, restored to its original New Testament form, would be established and named The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Although some people refer to it as the “Mormon Church,” that is just a nickname and the church should be called by its proper name.

Prior to the organization of the Church, Joseph Smith, Jr., now a prophet, received a revelation concerning his father which outlined the qualifications for serving in the Church. Joseph Smith, Sr. was told that he was called to serve in the Church if he desired to accept the call.

God allowed Joseph Smith, Jr. to show the plates on which the Book of Mormon was originally written to two small groups of people. Joseph Smith Sr. was in the group of eight. They were allowed to feel the plates and to see the engravings. They wrote their testimony of this and it can be found in the Book of Mormon today. Read the Testimony of Eight Witnesses.

The Church of Jesus Christ was officially organized in 1830. The law required six official people to attend the organizational meeting. Joseph Smith, Sr. was not one of the six who signed the paperwork for the organization of the new church, but he did attend the meeting. Following the service there was a baptism and Joseph Smith, Sr. was baptized. He was given the priesthood at the first church conference, held June 9 in Fayette, New York. He would become known throughout the Church as Father Smith.

Joseph Sr. and his son Don Carlos left on a mission to Pottsdam, New York. While on this journey, they left a Book of Mormon at the home of George A. Smith, a cousin, and then went on to the home of Asael Smith, Joseph Smith, Sr.’s father. Both men became members of the church.

In 1831, Joseph Smith, Sr. was advanced to the office of a high priest, one of the first to receive that position. In 1833, he became a church patriarch and also became an assistant counselor to his son Joseph in the presidency. He was instrumental in the conversion of Lorenzo Snow, a future Mormon prophet. The following year he became a member of the first high council. The high council assists the presidency of a geographical region (similar to a diocese) in running the affairs of the region, which is known in The Church of Jesus Christ as a stake.

Joseph Sr. served a mission in eastern states covering 2,400 miles, preaching the gospel with his brother, John.

In 1837, some people who had left the church and formed a violent mob had Joseph Sr. arrested on false charges, a technique often used to remove Mormon leaders of influence in hopes of destroying the church. He was released in 1838 and traveled to Far West, Missouri. This same year, Governor Boggs of Missouri issued an extermination order, making it legal to kill Mormons without trial or cause. Two of Joseph Smith, Sr.’s sons, Joseph Smith, Jr. and older brother Hyrum, were jailed under this order. Joseph Smith, Sr. fled in the middle of winter with inadequate preparation and settled in Quincy, Illinois.

He then moved to Commerce and helped to found Nauvoo, Illinois for the Mormons. These midwinter exoduses and the strains of the persecutions caused him to develop consumption. He died the following year.

Sources:

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants by Lynn F. Price, Cedar Fort, 2007

Richard Lloyd Anderson, Joseph Smith, Sr., New Era, December 1973

Smith, Joseph Sr., The Joseph Smith Papers

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

He was initially a reluctant missionary. His mother wanted him to serve, but he didn’t really want to go. In those days, it was easier to find yourself on a mission than it is today. His mother asked him to meet with the prophet about it and he showed up dirty and wearing visible guns and knives on his cowboy clothes. He was sure he’d get sent away, since he looked as unmissionary-like as he could manage. However, he discovered his mother had written ahead and the prophet said that he had known Golden’s father and was sure the son would be as skilled at missionary work as the father had been.

It turned out the prophet was right. Golden was sent deep into the south, where they still killed missionaries and anyone else they didn’t like. He opened his eyes after a prayer once to find himself surrounded by men with guns. Another time a mob tried to disrupt a baptism, but Golden quickly led the Mormons in a hymn that seemed to mesmerize the mob. One even asked him to return later to sing the song again and was eventually converted.

He once told an audience, “His testimony grew as he became more familiar with the workings of the Holy Ghost. “I often wonder when you do have the Spirit of God. I used to think I had it in the Southern States, when I became excited and sensational, and my face was red, and the cords of my neck were swollen—I thought then, in my ignorance, that it was the Holy Ghost. I have learned since that the Spirit of God gives you joy and peace and patience and long-suffering and gentleness, and you have the spirit of forgiveness and you love the souls of the children of men” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1918, p. 29).

Read about one of J. Golden Kimball’s more non-traditional ways of handling problems that arose in church:

Living History: Mormon ‘apostle’ shoots mouth off, gun carriers shut up

Terrie Lynn Bittner

The late Terrie Lynn Bittner—beloved wife, mother, grandmother, and friend—was the author of two homeschooling books and numerous articles, including several that appeared in Latter-day Saint magazines. She became a member of the Church at the age of 17 and began sharing her faith online in 1992.

Ezra T. Benson is the grandfather of Ezra Taft Benson, a past prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which church is frequently misnamed the Mormon Church) who was also Secretary of Agriculture in the 1950s. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are often referred to as Mormons.

Ezra T. Benson was born in 1811 in Massachusetts. When his grandfather died, his grandmother asked him to take over the farm, which he did until he married. In 1832, he left the farm and bought out his brother-in-law’s hotel. He was successful at this, as he had been as a farmer. He and his brother-in-law also invested in a cotton mill. Through circumstances beyond his control, the mill was not as successful as his other ventures had been, and in time, having lost money on the mill, he bought another hotel and also became the postmaster.

Ezra was restless and wanted to move west. After a number of moves, he found himself in Illinois, where he and another man laid out a new town they named Pike. He still felt restless and somehow knew these places were not meant to be his settling place. Next, he felt impressed to move to Quincy, Illinois, and there he met some Mormons. He was interested in their history of persecution. He listened to some of their sermons and talked to Mormons he met. He boarded with a Mormon family. In every case, he found them to be good people.

In 1840, he attended a debate held between the Mormons and an anti-Mormon speaker. Joseph Smith attended the debate and the Mormons came out victorious. Now convinced they were Christians who believed in the Bible, Ezra and his wife began attending Latter-day Saint church meetings, still largely just curious. His wife gained a testimony first, and the possibility that he might follow her lead worried his friends, who began pressuring him to join another religion quickly. However, a visit to the town by Orson Hyde and John Page convinced him the “Mormon Church” was true and he and his wife were soon baptized.

Benson moved to Nauvoo in 1841, where the Mormons were gathered, and began a lifetime of church leadership and service. He served as a counselor in the stake presidency prior to his move. (A stake is similar to a Catholic diocese and a counselor assists the president of the stake in leading it.) After moving to Nauvoo, he served two missions for the Church, ending the second when he learned of Joseph Smith’s murder. During another mission to Boston, where he led the Mormons there, Ezra was advised to bring as many converts as possible to Nauvoo, which he did. He then helped to build and guard the Nauvoo Temple.

When the Mormons began to leave Nauvoo, Ezra and his family left with the first group. At Mount Pisgah, he learned that John C. Page, who had been instrumental in his conversion, had been excommunicated and that he, Benson, was to replace him as an apostle. He then moved to Council Bluffs to receive that ordination, and followed up by serving one additional mission before heading toward Utah with the pioneers.

Ezra traveled to Utah with Brigham Young, but made several trips back and forth to check on other pioneers and to offer assistance as needed. He traveled east on missions, and on one, became so seriously ill those with him thought he would die. His life was saved by prayer from other members and by healing blessings from the Mormon priesthood.

In 1856, he was given the opportunity to travel to Europe, where he led the British mission for a time. He also served in the Sandwich Islands in 1864, where he and his traveling companions were saved from drowning after their boat capsized. After this time, his remaining missionary work was done in Utah. He died while caring for a horse in 1869.

Sources:

Ezra T. Benson, General Authority

Every Person in the Doctrine and Covenants, Lynn F. Price, published by Cedar Fort, 2007.

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Women Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, Bertha served as the fifth Young Women’s president with several LDS women leaders such as Emily H. Bennett (first counselor) and LaRue C. Longden (second counselor). Bertha succeeded Lucy Grant Cannon as president, and when her second husband died in 1961, Florence S. Jacobsen took her place as the subsequent young women’s president (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org).

During her presidency, she accomplished a lot and blessed the lives of many Mormon women. Bertha began individual awards, a series of posters titled “Be Honest with Yourself”, and an “Era of Youth” section in the Improvement Era. During the beginning of Bertha’s presidency, the young women groups were realigned as the Beehives (ages 12–13), Mia Maids (ages 14–15), Junior Gleaners (ages 16–17), and Gleaners (ages 18–24). Toward the end of her presidency, in 1959, the Gleaners class was renamed Laurels and young women classes are still known today as the Beehive class (ages 12-13), Mia Maid class (ages 14-15), and Laurel class (ages 16-17) (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org). Bertha was humble and credited her success to others:

I can’t say enough for the counselors who worked with me and the general boards… We worked together thirteen and a half years and we never had a cross word. Never [did] any of the workers ever [feel] like they were criticized; we never felt we had to get after anybody. They all seemed to want to do everything they could do and we just loved each other.

A president never works alone, and she’s only as good as her counselors and the workers she’s with. The general president isn’t good unless she gets the support of the wards and stakes. We felt we had the support of the wards and stakes because they were allowed to work on their own and a lot of them would come and ask to initiate a program (Janet Peterson, “Lessons from the Lives of the Auxiliary Leaders-The Priciple of Presidency,” Meridian Magazine, August 14, 2008).

Biography of Mormon Woman Bertha S. Reeder

Bertha Julia Stone was born on October 28, 1892, in Ogden, Utah. She attended Weber Academy. In 1912, she married Christopher Aadnesen and bore two children. In 1934 (four years after Aadnesen died in a hunting accident), she married William Henry Reeder, Jr., whose previous wife had left him with a son. She was a church missionary for seven years in Massachusetts and her husband the president of the New England States Mission. William died in 1961, and she married I. L. (Lee) Richards, who died in 1981. Because of her several marriages, her name is unusually long: Bertha Julia Stone Aadnesen Reeder Richards. She died at the age of 90, in Pocatello, Idaho, where her daughter lived (Bertha S. Reeder, Wikipedia.org).

Bertha had a love for nature and God’s creations. She said:

Nature does indeed renew those who keep close to her. . . . If I were in my teens, I would take time to come close to nature. . . . I would realize again more fully the infinite variety in God’s creation. I would learn to feel the difference in the seasons and to love each for what it gives to me. I would know that rain and sunshine are both important in God’s plan (“If I Were in My Teens,” Improvement Era, June 1954, 470) (“Presidents of the Young Women Organization through the Years,” Ensign, June 2008, 40–45).

Mormon Women Leading Today

As a Mormon youth, I attended Young Women’s camp and learned for myself about God, His majestic creations, and my identity as a child of God. I still love escaping busy life to witness the quiet and calming peace found outdoors. A modern apostle of Christ said, “Our Heavenly Father created the universe that we might reach our potential as His sons and daughters” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “You Matter to Him,” Ensign, October 2011).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xR0pd4DSTqw

Additional Resources:

Read another article about other LDS women leaders: LaRue Carr Longden

Visit the LDS website about “God’s Plan for You”

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Woman Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, Emily served as the Young Women’s first counselor with several LDS women leaders such as the LDS women leaders Bertha S. Reeder (fifth young women’s president) and Larue C. Longden (second counselor). They worked together to help the youth gain stronger testimonies of Christ. The YWMIA presidency, wrote LaVon Ried, another Mormon woman leader, concerning her local YWMIA programs:

Dear Sister Reid:

We have just learned of your appointment as Y.W.M.I.A. of the North Davis Stake…We want you to know that we are eager to do everything we can to assist you… Do not hesitate to call on us at any time that we may be of service to you.

You have ahead of you one of the most satisfying experiences of your life, for there is no work that we know of that gives the dividends of contentment and peace of mind that this great work does. The knowledge that you are actively engaged in the promotion of the work of the Lord, that you are working among the choicest of the children of our Father in Heaven, gives you a feeling of gratitude for this opportunity to serve Him. We pray that the Lord will bless and inspire you and help you in every way (Lavon Holt, George Samuel Reid Family Roots).

Sincerely your sisters,

Bertha S. Reeder, Emily H. Bennett, LaRue C. Longden

General Presidency Y.W.M.I.A.

Emily was a humble leader and Christ-like example to everyone surrounding her. For example, Emily helped supervise Elaine Cannon’s calling to start the Era of Youth section in The Improvement Era. Elaine served on the YWMIA general board and helped Emily with the June conferences and other projects:

I am indebted to people who have given and taught me so much, people like Emily Higgs Bennett.

…After she was released from the general YWMIA presidency, she and I were called to serve with others on the youth correlation committee of the Church. I was so impressed with her ability and the humble way in which she shared her knowledge and experience.

Instead of accepting the honor and glory of the position she had well earned, she pointed out to me that we were one—the same. She insisted that I call her by her first name, Emily.

…When I served with her, I was frequently touched by her beauty, though perhaps not in the world’s point of view. She had a kind of beauty that comes from living the Christ-like way that we read about in the fifth chapter of Alma—the beauty that comes from within.

She taught by example the precious relationship between a woman and the priesthood. She loved her husband; we all knew it. She talked of her husband with respect, she spoke of counseling with him. She would say, “Let me counsel with Harold about this,” or “Let me get Harold’s point of view.”

…She let us grow; she did not impose experience, age, clout, position or anything else upon us. She was refined and gentle. Her attitude toward people and her attitude toward the Lord were marked by humble commitment.

She was such a marvelous model and teacher in humility, in faith, in serenity, in choices of the better way of life that I wanted to pursue the “Emily kind of life.” (Elaine Cannon, “My Most Influential Teacher,” Deseret News, May 27, 1978, 2).

Mormon Woman: Short Biography of Emily Higgs Bennett

Emily Higgs was born on June 27, 1896, in Utah. She married Harold Harper Bennett, who outlived her (Emily Higgs Bennett, Find A Grave.com). Emily gave birth to several children and named them John, Michael, Peter, Stephen, Ellen, and Susan (“Death: Susan B. Winters”, Deseret News, February 3, 1992). Emily attended the University of Utah and received a merit of honor award in 1972 (Emeritus Alumni Board Merit of Honor Award Recipients 1971-2010). She died at the age of 88, on March 19, 1985.

Quotes by Emily H. Bennett include:

Success, happiness, and even salvation may be a simple matter of being prepared and in the right place at the right time (Provident Living Quotes, Homemaker’s Journal Blog).

Humor–the great balanced and adjustor is indispensable. It works beautifully–you know you can’t be perfect even though you long for perfection. So you go on imperfectly seeking perfection. You know your friends can’t be perfect–so you assume they are–nearly. Humor is tolerance, understanding, a light heart, a ready laugh, a quick joke, resiliency–faith everlasting (“Quotations on Sense of Humor,” Sentence Sermons (Christian Inspiration) #58 from Improvement Era, June 1944).

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Mormon Women Leading the Young Women’s Organization

From 1948-1961, LaRue C. Longden served as the Young Women’s second counselor to several LDS women leaders such as Bertha S. Reeder (fifth young women’s president) and Emily H. Bennett (first counselor). She helped begin individual awards, a series of posters titled “Be Honest with Yourself,” and an “Era of Youth” section in the Improvement Era (Young Women: Bertha Stone Reeder). Janet Peterson wrote:

Those who worked with Bertha Reeder responded to the love, the warmth, and the confidence she placed in them. LaRue C. Longden, who served as Bertha’s counselor during her entire thirteen-year administration, said, ‘She loved us and she knew our potential, but we didn’t until she called us to work with her. . . . She had the ability to know that God gave us talents but some of us might not have developed them if it were not for her” (“Lessons from the Lives of the Auxiliary Leaders-The Priciple of Presidency,” Meridian Magazine, August 14, 2008).

LaRue counseled the young Mormon women to live their Christian beliefs:

For almost too many years to count, it has been my beautiful privilege to tell our precious young folks and their leaders that “It is smart to be a Latter-day Saint.” As my parting shot, may I again reiterate, it is smart to be a Latter-day Saint, for to be one we are privileged to be baptized and confirmed by proper authority which brings us into our Father’s kingdom. Then, through our young men, we women share in our Father’s greatest gift to his children, his priesthood, through which our worthy men may act in his behalf. In a day of turmoil, false prophets, worry, supposed lack of security and decision, I want to say once more with a voice loud and clear, “I am humbly grateful to be a Latter-day Saint, for I know it is truly smart to be a Latter-day Saint!” (It’s Smart to Be a Latter-day Saint, [1967], p. 112) (Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “That’s Just the Way I Am,” The Measure of Our Hearts, [1991], 24-33).

Mormon Women: Biography of LaRue C. Longden

Frances LaRue Carr, was known by the name LaRue. She married John Longden and had three children. One of her daughters, Sharon, married Loren C. Dunn, a future general authority of the LDS Church. LaRue supported her husband in his own calling as a church general authority for 18 years as he served as an Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (1951) (“John Longden (Mormon),” Wikipedia.org).

LaRue was a Christ-like person who taught others to come unto Christ. She learned that partaking of the sacrament was a special time to renew the promises she made at baptism to remember her Savior Jesus Christ:

While very young (and I thought I knew so much) I recall telling a dear Sunday School teacher that I was not going to sacrament meeting any more because it was so boring and dry. … [The teacher] looked at me and said, “Don’t you ever let me hear you say that again! God has invited you to that meeting to partake the emblems of Jesus Christ’s suffering and of his gift to you. You are very privileged to be invited. If you take the right spirit with you to meeting, you will always bring something good away with you” (“God Has Invited You” in Leon R. Hartshorn, comp., Remarkable Stories from the Lives of Latter-day Saint Women [1973], 1:97–98) (“Lesson 17: Church Meetings,” The Latter-day Saint Woman: Basic Manual for Women, Part A, 122).

Mormon Women Leading Today

As an LDS youth, I learned Christian standards and values that have blessed my life. The gospel of Jesus Christ has brought me hope, peace, happiness, comfort and safety from the evils of the world. From a young age, I decided to not smoke, use addictive drugs, nor have premarital sex and I agree with LaRue that “it is truly smart to be a Latter-day Saint!” (It’s Smart to Be a Latter-day Saint, [1967], 112) (Elder Marvin J. Ashton, “That’s Just the Way I Am,” The Measure of Our Hearts, [1991], 24-33).

Keith L. Brown

Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

of-common-sense.site123.me/

Neil Linden Andersen

Brother Andersen was born in Logan, Utah, on 9 August 1951, and was raised in Pocatello, Idaho. As a young man, he served a mission in France. After his mission, he graduated from Brigham Young University and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Brother Andersen then moved to Tampa, Florida, with his family. He lived and worked in Tampa, Florida, where he was the vice president of the Mortan Plant Health System. As far as church service, Andersen was member of a high council, counselor in a stake presidency, and a stake president in Tampa.

Between 1989 and 1992, Anderson was president of the France Bordeaux Mission. In 1993, he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. As a general authority, he has been the executive director of the Church’s Audio-visual Department and assistant executive director of the Priesthood Department. He has also been in the presidencies of the Utah North, Utah South, North America Southwest, North America Northeast, and Europe West Areas of the Church. From 1997 to 2001, Andersen was a member of the general presidency of the church’s Sunday School.

In 2005, Andersen became a member of the seven-member Presidency of the Seventy. In this capacity, he has acted as president of the Idaho Area of the Church, where in 2006 he broke ground for the construction of the Twin Falls Idaho Temple. In 2007, Andersen was transferred to preside over the North America Southwest Area. In this capacity, he oversees the activities of the area seventies in this area.

Andersen married Kathy Sue Williams in 1975. The Andersens are the parents of four children.

Gale

Gale is a former fibro and CMP sufferer. She hopes this information will help other sufferers on their journey to good health.

When Elder Christofferson was thirteen years old, his mother developed cancer. Elder Christofferson gathered his brothers for a family prayer on her behalf. Because she was unable to continue many of her regular responsibilities, including making the family bread, he learned how to make bread and continued to make it until he went away to college.

When he was fifteen, his family moved from their small Utah town of Lindon to Somerset, New Jersey, a large and populated town that was very different from his Utah home. Suddenly he was the only member of the church in a school that was diverse in every way. This helped him develop an appreciation for those who were different from him, and also to begin to appreciate his own faith in a new way.

It was during this time he decided to gain a sure testimony of his faith. He was participating in a Mormon church pageant held in New York each year, which re-enacted the beginnings of the church in modern times. Because it was held right where Joseph Smith first saw God and later an angel, he felt this would be a good place to gain his own testimony. He went to the same grove where Joseph Smith had gone to ask God which church to join, and Elder Christofferson began to pray. However, he didn’t receive an answer to his prayers, which left him confused and discouraged. It was a month later that he received his answer, and he wasn’t even searching for it then. He was simply reading the Book of Mormon in his bedroom. He learned from this experience that you needn’t be in a special place to receive personal revelation—you can receive God’s word anywhere at all, and always on God’s own time.

Elder Christofferson was accepted into Brigham Young University, a Church-owned school, after his high school graduation. However, at the end of his first year, he took a leave of absence to serve a two-year volunteer mission for the church in Argentina. This began a life-long love for South America.

After his mission, he returned to Brigham Young University to study English. There he met his future wife, Cathy Jacob. Although he first saw her near the end of his first semester there, he didn’t meet her until the following fall. However, their relationship grew quickly, and they were married on May 28, 1968. After the two graduated in 1969, Elder Christofferson transferred to Duke University to obtain his law degree. When he graduated, he accepted a position clerking for federal judge John J. Sirica, which he planned to do for one year before moving to a new position. However, Judge Sirica was called on to preside over the Watergate Hearings, and asked Elder Christofferson to stay on through the course of the trials, because he felt Elder Christofferson was the only person he could talk to. Elder Christofferson was later asked to speak at Judge Sirica’s funeral mass.

When this position ended, Elder Christofferson met his military service requirements. Then he went to work for Dow Lohnes PLLC, followed by a position as associate general counsel of NationsBank Corp. He was an active participant in community and interfaith groups and also had a busy church life. The Mormon Church is a lay church, so members hold positions, even high-level ones, without pay while caring for families and managing careers. During this busy time in his life, he held several demanding church positions and raised five children. His work led him to live in several places: Tennessee,  Washington D.C., and North Carolina.

He was called to be an apostle of the Lord, the highest ranking body of the church, on April 5, 2008.