420
Reasons to Read Up: Readers Applaud Inside Information and
Inspiration
Edited and Compiled by Kathy Green
Four Word
Read
Article Here
It’s Four-Twenty. Do
We Know Where Our Youth Are? By Paul Bishop
This is another fascinating
article from Paul Bishop. We're going to read it tonight
at the dinner table. Because of Paul's profession, I think
I will always sit up and take notice when he authors an
article.
Frank Stevenson
Gilbert, Arizona
**
Very thought provoking. Thank
you,
Cheryl A. Macinanti
Bedford, MA
**
I have raised two sons and
am now employed full-time at a university and work closely
with college students. However, I have never heard of this.
I googled "420" and was amazed at what came up!
How did this get past so many of us?
Norma Dean
Orange City, Florida
**
I always enjoy your very informative
articles. Luckily France has not been contaminated by the
craze around 4:20--at least not yet! However, drugs are
making their way through our high-schools, including in
my Middle/Upper-Middle Class area, to the point that some
of our local members are very concerned about the influence
some of these pot-smoking kids play on their own kids.
I forgot to mention in my previous
E-mail that your previous article made a special impression
on me because I happen to be married to a non-member, who
has been investigating the Church for 14 years but has not
yet felt ready to commit and enter the waters of baptism.
She is a beautiful individual, both inside and out, and
I also have wonderful in-laws, who, despite our religious
and cultural differences (they are Finns), have totally
adopted me. My wife is attending Church on Sundays and she
does support the kids in their Church activities. We also
pray and hold family home evening. Your own example and
experience are comforting to me because I can see that your
conversion took time but turned out to be a deep one.
Charles Defranchi
Paris, France
**
Wonderful! Keep the information
coming. Each article is an eye-opening education to parents!
As parents and as youth leaders
my husband and I must have this information and are so grateful
that you share it. You are blessing lives you haven't even
met. You bring meaning to the phrase "the power of
one".
Dennis and Lori Watrous
Lyons, New York
**
Thank you, once again, for
an enlightening article. I don't know yet whether or not
my teenaged son knows anything about this, but you can bet
I'm going to find out! Without your article, I never would
have known to ask.
Lisa Armstrong
Lindon, Utah
**
Thank you so much to Paul Bishop
for his very informative articles on what is going on within
our society’s most vulnerable teen enclaves. As a retired
teacher in the secondary pubic school system, I am more
than aware that there are lots of secretive, little understood
trends, and often parents and grandparents do not have a
clue as to habits, jargon, and popular plans for these adolescents
to get themselves into trouble. Keep these articles coming
and keeping us informed!
Mary R. Squires
Salt Lake City, Utah
**
Thanks for the information
about 420. I'm the grandmother of 17 boys, 15 of them range
in age from 5 to 18 so I try to keep up to date about modern
slang and its meaning. II hate the secret codes etc that
have been designed to "keep parents in the dark."
Thanks for shedding some light on this dark subject.
Joyce K Goodrich
Farmington, Utah
**
Thank you for the timely article.
Unfortunately, I am all too familiar with the phrase 420.
I guess I should say that I'm fortunate that my sons have
enlightened me to what this means and that I know my sons
use this drug. There are too many parents that are unaware
of what their children are doing, good or bad. Just as frightening
is the number of parents who use with and provide this,
and other drugs, to their children. I would be interested
in hearing from other parents what they did that was successful,
and even unsuccessful, to keep their sanity and help their
children overcome their addictions.
Name withheld by request
******************************************************
Sharing the Blessings
Read
Article Here
The Power of Patriarchal
Blessings by Truman G. Madsen
AWESOME!!!
I e-mailed this article on
the power of patriarchal blessings to everyone I knew.
What an interesting, thought-
and spirit-provoking piece!
Julie Lowe
Kennett, Missouri
***********************************************
Blithe Spirits
Read
Article Here
Spiritual Questions
in Regard to Illness, by Darla Isackson
Excellent article and exactly
what I have been struggling with for many years. Going from
a high- energy person to a person with many limits is tough
and it is hard to figure how you can be more useful with
less to work with.
This article helped put in
perspective maybe it's I who need the work and although
I miss so much being able to go and do as much as before,
I have grown and slowed down to recognize many of the beauties
of life I was rushing on by. Taking care of yourself so
that your reserves will be there when you need them is hard
to do. This article was great to provide a spiritual perspective
on down time rather than just a medical one. Thanks for
a piece that will help so many of us with daily limits and
pain.
Kim Williamson
Flower Mound, Texas
**************************************************************
Gold Standard
Read
Article Here
Sacramento Temple Topped
With Golden Angel, by Lisa West, Sacramento California Area
Public Affairs Council, with photography by Debby Spicer-Rackham
Thank you for the story Sacramento
Temple Topped with Golden Angel. Please let Lisa West know
how much I appreciate her article.
To become more acquainted with
Moroni and more fully appreciate his influence, I have recently
begun to read “The Weight of an Angel” by Roy G. Lambert,
my dad's father, and published by Bookcraft in 1961.
Jeff Lambert
Elk Grove, California Stake
**
Thanks for your excellent article
about the angel Moroni on the Sacramento Temple. One of
the unmentioned artists who creates many of these angels
for temples is Karl Quilter, in Salt Lake City.
Dee R. Darling
Salt Lake City, Utah
**
Thanks for the excellent article
about the Sacramento Temple. It is wonderful to see the
blessings of the temple made more available to faithful
members everywhere.
Lamonte John
Burke, Virginia
**********************************************************
Lovely, of Good Report
and Praiseworthy
Read
Article Here
Oh How Lovely Was the
Morning: Sun 26 Mar, 1820? by John C. Lefgren
I think March 26 is a good
date for the first vision. For upstate New York that would
mean there was snow still on the ground and the trees were
not yet in bud, which is contrary to how the scene is typically
portrayed. In caution, weather 80 miles away in the Great
Lakes region may not be the same as weather locally in Palmyra.
Another fact to consider is that any balmy day after a drab
winter would seem or be analogous to a clear spring day.
Joseph Smith may not have been saying that the equinox had
occurred. In cold weather, a day that reaches 40 F could
seem like summer, let alone Spring.
Peter Bellville
Galt, CA
**************************************************************
Ann’s Fans
Read
Article Here
How Far am I from Who
I Really Wish to Be? by Ann Perry
I LOVE to read Anne Perry's
articles in the magazine. I've missed them very much! I
was so happy to see one again this morning.
Tammy Tarbet
Bennington, Idaho
****************************************************************
Persecution Perspective
Read
Article Here
Family Persecution:
When Those We Love Will Not Accept Our Conversion
It is so wonderful that we
have the opportunity to bear our testimonies to each other
and any one else who will open their heart to listen. I
am also a convert although it happened eight months after
losing my husband to cancer and being age 60. I also had
visits from two missionaries and it definitely was not an
accident.
My two sisters did not disown
me; however, they gave me no support. The middle sister
said, “Well, it's your choice. Just don't ask me to join."
My oldest sister thought the devil had taken over my soul
and knew I would burn in hell. She is another one who knew
nothing about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
She thought we believed Joseph Smith to be our
God and Jesus did not exist.
She drove from East Texas to Scottsdale, AZ to visit and
I asked her to go to church with me. If she felt too uncomfortable,
I would drive her back to the house. A little bit seemed
to sink in and she said she enjoyed the morning but also
thought three hours was too long. I also took her to a 4th
of July celebration at our Ward and she also had fun there.
God just wouldn't take no for
an answer and when she returned to Texas there just happened
to be two missionaries living in the same apartment complex
and she agreed to a visit. Then she saw President Hinckley
on Larry King's show and was impressed. Two female missionaries
took her to a nearby Stake center to see and hear the General
Conference. She is still steadfast in her own religion,
but has opened up enough to realize we are regular people
who believe in the same Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus
Christ that she does.
I keep praying that she will
be an investigator, but it is in God's hands.
Barbara Butler
Scottsdale, Arizona
**
I enjoyed this article and
feel sorry for the subject’s parents and others like them.
My daughter recently had trouble with someone in the church
and started attending the Baptist Church and it has hurt
her mother and I, but we keep trying to make the most of
things for the connection to our granddaughter.
Seth McPhie
Brigham City, Utah
**
I too experienced persecution
from my family when I joined the church 30 years ago.
I was in my first year of college
and had started dating my husband, who had been a former
high school classmate of mine. We had been acquaintances
in high school, but had never spoken much to each other.
He had been accepted to BYU,
but at the last minute, decided to remain at home to prepare
for his mission. He enrolled at our local university, and
ended up in four of my classes. It was comforting to see
a familiar face in the masses of students and we started
dating.
Within a month, I was taking
the missionary discussions in his home. It was critical
that I join the church because I had a testimony and not
just for my husband (boyfriend at the time). We dated for
six months and I continued to investigate the church, but
I could not be baptized before he left on his mission, because
I would have been doing it for him and not myself, at that
time.
When word got to my parents,
who lived about 15 miles away, that I was investigating
the Church, they were furious. I had a close relationship
with my family and I think most of their anger stemmed from
being hurt at my decisions. There was no way to reason with
them. They had strong feelings that I was throwing away
my salvation to join the LDS church. I did not fight with
them, and I spent many hours in tears.
Three months after my husband
left to serve his mission, I finally made the decision to
be baptized. My father was so upset with me, that he totally
cut me off from the family and told me to forget my name
and never come home again. It broke my mother's and the
rest of my family's hearts, but I was disowned and left
to fend for myself. I supported myself through college.
During these very sad times,
I never once felt anger toward my parents. They were doing
what they believed to be the right thing. There are people
who are physically blinded in this life, such that they
will never be able to see with their eyes and recognize
the world around them. There are also people who have been
so spiritually blinded, by the traditions of their fathers
and others, that they cannot see or recognize the Gospel,
even if it were handed to them.
My husband returned from his
mission, 21 months after my baptism, and 7 weeks after his
return, we were married in the Salt Lake Temple. It took
2 days to drive there from where we lived. My husband's
family provided a wonderful day for us, to help the disappointment
of not having a soul from my family in attendance. My family
chose not to be a part of that day. My mother-in-law acted
the part of the mother of the bride and made the day as
special as she could for me.
A year later, we were blessed
with a beautiful baby girl. She became my parents' first
grandchild. It was their love for this child that melted
the hostility of my parents toward us. Our relationship
isn't perfect: they never attended any church events as
the kids were growing up. But when my oldest daughter was
married in the temple, she asked her grandparents if they
would be waiting there for her, in the guest waiting area
of our temple, so we could have a family picture and they
replied, "Of course we will." Regardless of whatever
harsh words and behaviors may have been directed to my husband
and myself, in the past, my parents never once said a negative
remark against the LDS church to my children, nor did they
attempt to influence their religious beliefs in any way.
It is so critical that we do
not react in anger to those who persecute us, no matter
how much it hurts. Just as Brother Bishop stated so well,
our loved ones, who are reacting so harshly to us, are blinded
by the influence of the adversary and cannot see the truth
in front of them. We always believed that my parents are
very good people and have never thought otherwise. Most
of the values that I taught to my children, which I see
my daughter teaching to her children, were taught to me
by my mother and father. Even during the darkest days of
persecution, I continued to love my parents, and I know
that deep down inside, they still loved me. It took a lot
for them to overcome their hurt and angry feelings and reach
back out to us.
When my parents were ready
to accept us back, gradually, into the family fold, I left
the past hurt behind and moved forward.
Next month my son graduates
from BYU. Almost my entire nonmember family plans to be
in attendance and all have to fly in from different parts
of the west. The Lord does bless us when we are patient
and put our faith in Him. When I joined the Church, I had
resigned myself to the possibility that I would never be
welcomed in the home of my parents again. There are certainly
people, like Brother Bishop, who are still living with the
painful persecution and rejection from their family. I'm
just grateful for the opportunity to have a relationship
with my extended >> family again.
Laraine Clark
West Linn, Oregon
****************************************************
Mother Knows Best
Read
Article Here
The Revised and Enhanced
History of Joseph Smith by His Mother, edited by Scot Facer
Proctor and Maurine Jensen Proctor
I recently bought your book,
the Revised and Enhanced version. It is so understandable
and captivating I can hardly put it down. I read the first
printed book of Joseph's history by Lucy Mack, but did not
enjoy it. I put it away before I completed it.
Thank you for the excellent
work. You have helped me understand Joseph's life in ways
I had not understood before.
Marian Vance
Las Vegas, Nevada
*************************************************************
Raining Violets
Read
Article Here
Spiritual Storm Warning,
by Darla Isackson
Thank you for a beautiful lesson
beautifully presented!
Joanne Vasquez
Spokane, Washington
