9. Bringing Order Out of Chaos

A report on the clean-up effort following the June 5, 1976, Teton Dam disaster in eastern Idaho, as reported in the September 1976 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter.

A hand-scribbled sign on the wall of the Rexburg Idaho North Stake center reads: “Let’s bring order out of chaos the priesthood way.” And that’s what thousands of faithful, dedicated Rexburg Saints are trying to do, assisted by millions of man-hours of labor donated by thousands of other Saints from southern Idaho, western Wyoming, and northern Utah.

On Thursday, July 8, I took a day off work to go with some 260 others from our stake to help in the great clean-up effort. We left at 3:45 in the morning on six chartered buses and arrived back in Salt Lake at midnight, very tired, but very grateful to have been able to serve our Idaho brethren.

It was sobering to see the destruction, the utter dirty mess that was still around in the north and west parts of Rexburg, and to realize that a full month had passed since the flood.

I helped a man whose jewelry store still needed more cleaning. Mud was everywhere. He was one of the fortunate storekeepers. He had lost only his entire inventory and his home; he still had his family and his faith in the gospel and his shop. He was optimistic and grateful.

What we were helping do on that day was also being done on other days by volunteers from scores of other stakes—an excellent example of how the Saints can bring order out of chaos the priesthood way.

Elder Boyd K. Packer said that “it is not without probability that all of us will face challenges such as this in the generation ahead and that this is a suiting up and a preparing for all of us” (Ensign, Aug. 1976, 70).

8. Our Message for America

A thought in commemoration of the American bicentennial published on the cover of the March 1976 Cleverly Newsletter as adapted from a talk I gave on Sunday, February 29, 1976, in the sacrament meeting of the Rose Park Fourth Ward, Salt Lake Rose Park Stake.

Elder L. Tom Perry, of the Council of the Twelve, indicated in a recent address he gave that we as members of the Church have a positive three-fold message for America as we celebrate the bicentennial:

1. America’s earliest history is contained in the Book of Mormon and other scriptures.

2. The discovery of America and the founding of this nation were parts of God’s plan.

3. The future of America’s destiny depends on the righteousness of America’s families.

Let’s talk a little now of the founding of this nation. If you stop to think about it, the American revolution must be ranked as one of the significant miracles of all recorded history. Here were thirteen little, weak, struggling colonies who couldn’t even agree among themselves who were standing up against and defeating what was then the world’s mightiest, most powerful empire. In my mind, there is no way to account for it except to say that God had a hand in it. And, of course, He did.

Nephi, nearly 2,400 years before it happened, prophesied America’s struggle for independence: “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles who had gone forth out of captivity did humble themselves before the Lord; and the power of the Lord was with them.

“And I beheld that their mother Gentiles were gathered together upon the waters, and upon the land also, to battle against them.

“And I beheld that the power of God was with them, and also that the wrath of God was upon all those that were gathered together against them to battle.

“And I, Nephi, beheld that the Gentiles that had gone out of captivity were delivered by the power of God out of the hands of all other nations.

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld that they did prosper in the land” (1 Nephi 13:16–20).

The next great miracle was the framing of the Constitution. With independence finally won, thirteen impoverished little countries (who still couldn’t agree on anything) sat down and united themselves into a union unparalleled in human history. And the God of heaven endorsed the Constitution they drafted:

“According to the laws and constitution of the people, which I have suffered to be established, and should be maintained for the rights and protection of all flesh, according to just and holy principles;

“That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.

“Therefore, it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.

“And for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land, by the hands of wise men whom I raised up unto this very purpose, and redeemed the land by the shedding of blood” (D&C 101:77–80).

Of course, we today understand in context why all this had to take place. God Almighty needed an America in order to restore the everlasting gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. America has been, is, and will continue to be the Lord’s home base of operations in the latter days. From this place is the sound to go forth unto all the world, for out of Zion shall go forth the law.

And that’s a part of why I love America with all my heart.

7. Go Ye into All the World

A Christmas and missionary thought in the December 1975 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter, as well as a report on my brother Dale's return from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil.

- I -

Christmas is a giving time. And among the greatest gifts ever given was the birth and life and atoning sacrifice of the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.

Those of us who know the true meaning of Christmas have an obligation to give that same light and knowledge to a darkening, dying world. The Savior said to His ancient apostles: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15).

Our modern-day prophet-leader has made it clear that this same injunction applies to us today. What greater gift could we give this coming year than the gospel of Jesus Christ. How better could we spread the joy of the angels’ song: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

- II -

Bolivia has been described my many as the armpit of South America. From what I have heard that may be true. It is a poor and backward country even by South American standards. But to some Bolivia is a beloved land. For example, President Spencer W. Kimball gives us this descriptive look at Bolivia:

“I remember again going into Bolivia to a high plateau on which the airport is built in La Paz. Down the long, winding road that lead from the high plateau to the little valley below in which the rather large city of La Paz is located, there were lines of Indian women. They were all dressed substantially the same.

“On one of our visits we learned that the president of the nation was to appear in the small plaza in the heart of town. We found we were not the only interested people, for the little Indian women like ‘peas in a pod’ had assembled on the benches of the little public square. They sat in rows, each with a little brown derby hat, all the same. And medium short full dresses, all the same. And shawls over their shoulders, all the same. And from above they looked like that many hundreds of brown eggs in cartons, all the same. I see them now, small of stature, uniform in size and build and dress, curious. And I think they were unconsciously hungering and thirsting for something they did not know. . . . They needed the gospel, the enlightening and progressing gospel of Jesus Christ.

“In one of the magazines was a picture of one of these women and someone had put some words into her mouth, and she was saying to the missionary who was trying to explain to her Jesus Christ, the Lord:

“For me? You say it was for me
The Son of God came down to earth,
Born just as any Indian babe,
Then, bundled up, was laid upon the hay—
How could it be? How could it be?
Where is he now? Does he live far away?
Show the trail! Please tell me more of him.
How I should like to see him! Yet I’m old:
I cannot walk the trails as once I could;
And mountain paths are steep.

“So if I went, I’d have to travel slow.
Would you go with me, if I were to go?
‘Come unto me!’ Those words included me?
He calls for ME? You’re SURE he calls for me?
Would he receive ME, if I came to him?
He CARES for me? You say he cares for ME!
Ah, then, I’ll come—my heart cries out for him!
Oh, that I might have known him long ago,
When I was wee.
To think I almost missed him! And he came for ME!”
(Regional Representatives’ seminar, 3 Apr. 1975)

That’s an appropriate message at this Christmas time of year. Not only does He care for the Lamanite woman in Bolivia, but for each of us wherever we are or whatever we are doing. For we hear the voice of the Lord saying, “Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.

“For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated” (D&C 1:1–2).

And that’s why Dale spent two years laboring in Bolivia.

The final letter we received from Dale in Bolivia summed up his mission: “I really love Bolivia and its beautiful people! I’ve had a lot of choice experiences here and when I leave, part of my heart will stay. [But] I know that no matter where I’m at, the Lord’s work will roll on. I’m just thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to be a part of His great work! These have been the tryingest, hardest, most joyful two years thus far in my life.”

5. Our Savior: A Family Man

An Easter message published in a special family reunion issue of the Cleverly Newsletter in April 1974.

Somehow it is very important that we have chosen Easter weekend as the time for our family reunion this year—appropriate because Easter celebrates the most glorious event that has ever happened in the history of the earth, appropriate because families are the most important thing on the earth. The mission of the Savior and the glorious eternal destiny of the family are so much a part of each other that prophets can tell us to "seek first the kingdom of God," but at the same time tell us that "the greatest work we will ever do for the Church will be within the walls of our own homes" and also that "no success can compensate for failure in the home."

Every couple in our family group has now been sealed for time and all eternity; every child has been sealed to his parents or born in the covenant. What a glorious opportunity can be ours to live together eternally if we prove worthy of such a great blessing. But have you stopped to consider the role of the Savior has played in making all this possible? He is the one who in the councils before this life advanced the plan; He is the author of our salvation. He is the one who created this earth for us to come to live on. He is the one who gives us the commandments we need to know and obey to be able to return to our Father's presence. He is the one who is the source of the priesthood, the power and the authority to bind us on earth and in heaven, to seal us together as families. He is the one who suffered for our sins, gave His life that we might live, and was resurrected that death might have no ultimate victory over us. He is the very God who gives us our life, our breath, our very being. All that we are, and ever hope to be, we owe to Jesus Christ, our Savior and God and King.

Now Jesus Christ is a family man. His sole work is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of his Father's children. When we enter the celestial world, we will be perfectly organized into families. God the Father will be there. And if worthy of our exaltation, we will be there as joint-heirs of Jesus Christ, gods in our own right, able to people worlds of our own without end, becoming Heavenly Fathers and Mothers to our own spirit children. Such is the eternal destiny that awaits us—all because of our beloved Redeemer.

I am grateful that the Savior we worship is a living God. Not all people do worship Him that way. When I was in Brazil on my mission, for example, I noticed that there the big holiday is not Easter Sunday but Good Friday. And it is not celebrated as a happy day. They remember the crucified Christ, not the resurrected Christ. I'm sure Kay noticed the same thing on his mission in Peru, and Dale is probably seeing it now in Bolivia. The difference was graphically shown at the New York World's Fair, which I visited in 1964. The Catholic pavilion showed the dead Christ, the famous Pieta. The Mormon pavilion showed a representation of the living Christ, the Christus which now stands with out-stretched arms in the Salt Lake Visitors' Center.

The beautiful hymn sums up what I'm trying to say:

I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives, who once was dead.
He lives, my ever-living head.
He lives to bless me with his love.
He lives to plead for me above.
He lives my hungry soul to feed.
He lives to bless in time of need.

He lives, all glory to his name!
He lives, my Savior, still the same;
O sweet the joy this sentence gives:
"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Yes, I know that my Redeemer lives. And I'm grateful to share that witness with all of you, my beloved family members. May we share that knowledge and faith with all we know—our families, our neighbors, with all the world. And may our lives reflect the joy and happiness that comes from living the gospel of our Savior—a family name.

4. If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear

A thought on personal and family preparedness from the March 1974 issue of the Cleverly Newsletter.

A lot of family members have been talking about food storage. Some appear a little too zealous. Others don’t even know where to begin. So here are a few basic principles that will help all of us.

Our late prophet, President Harold B. Lee, said in the Church welfare conference on October 1, 1966: “We have never laid down an exact formula for what anybody should store, and let me just make this comment: Perhaps if we think not in terms of a year’s supply of what we ordinarily use, and think more in terms of what it would take to keep us alive in case we didn’t have anything else to eat, that last would be very easy to put in storage for a year . . . just enough to keep us alive if we didn’t have anything else to eat. We wouldn’t get fat on it, but we would live, and if you think in terms of that kind of annual storage rather than a whole year’s supply of everything that you are accustomed to eat, which, in most cases, is utterly impossible for the average family, I think we would come nearer to what President Clark advised us way back in 1937” (Ensign, Sept. 1973, 71).

Now what did President J. Reuben Clark say back in 1937? Listen to this: “Let every head of every household see to it that he has on hand enough food and clothing, and where possible, fuel also, for at least a year ahead” (Conference Report, Apr. 1937, 26).

So, the prophets teach (1) that preparedness is important and (2) that we should first store the basic items that will sustain life and after that, if we can, store foods we normally eat.

Storage must be approached wisely. The Church specifically counsels us not to go into debt to buy food, not to participate in panic buying, not to become storage faddists. Each family must carefully, calmly, and prayerfully assess their own resources and their own needs and plan accordingly.

Local government agencies, colleges, or universities can provide specific information regarding food storage. Elder Ezra Taft Benson gave an excellent talk on this subject in the last general conference. Read it. Among the things he said was this: “The revelation to store food may be as essential to our temporal salvation today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah” (Ensign, Jan. 1974, 68).

So this is very important. But let us keep calm. We are expected to be a positive light to the world. As President Joseph F. Smith said years ago (and it now seems so appropriate in the midst of Watergate and an energy crisis and rising prices and food shortages and wars and rumors of wars and the increasing wickedness of the world):

“Leaders of the Church . . . should be men [and women] not easily discouraged, not without hope, and not given to forebodings of all sorts of evils to come. . . . If men standing in high places sometimes feel the weight and anxiety of momentous times, they should be all the firmer and all the more resolute in those convictions which come from a God-fearing conscience and pure lives. Men in their private lives should feel the necessity of extending encouragement to the people by their own hopeful and cheerful intercourse with them. . . . It is a matter of the greatest importance that the people be educated to appreciate and cultivate the bright side of life rather than to permit its darkness and shadows to hover over them” (Gospel Doctrine, 155).

If we live righteously, pay our tithes, practice thrift, avoid debt, and have a willingness to work, we need never fear. The Lord Himself has promised, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear” (D&C 38:30). Such is our challenge and our blessing.

3. Lessons from Our Children

A final thought written by Claudia in the March 1974 Cleverly Newsletter. Michael at the time was five or six months old.

Elder Boyd K. Packer once said the only significant lessons he has learned in life have been taught by his children. I too find Michael Adam is one of my best teachers. I would like to share something I've learned from him just over the past two or three weeks.

A couple of weeks ago he learned how to roll over from his stomach to his back. To watch him struggle though just tore my heart out. He wasn't sure what he was doing—it was all so new to him—and sometimes he would get so frustrated at his struggles. I wanted so much to pick him up myself and turn him over—to save all that trouble and heartache—but I knew I couldn't. The struggles made him strong, and he couldn't learn if I did it for him.

It occurred to me one day while I was watching him try that our earth life is but a type and shadow of eternity, a testing ground, and that parents have a very similar relationship to their children as our Heavenly Father has to us. With all this in mind, it came to me that the Lord watches over us too and sees our struggles. But like parents here on earth He sometimes has to just let us struggle so we can learn more effectively through our experience and grow stronger.

"Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good" (D&C 122:7).

"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee over all thy foes" (D&C 121:7-8).

How well the Lord has said it. And realizing my own love for Michael Adam, I now have a deeper understanding of the Lord's love for us and of why He gives us trials and tribulations. I am very grateful for these things and for a loving Father who would care to give us these learning experiences that we might grow.

2. A Christmas Greeting

A final word in the second issue of the Cleverly Newsletter, December 1973.

And now in conclusion, as we look forward to the Christmas season, Claudia and I express a few thoughts to all of you, our family. Christmas is a family time, which helps explain why it is such a special time of year. Christmas is also a holy time, commemorating the birth of our Savior, which helps explain why it is such a joyful time of year.

We express to you our love and our gratitude for all any of you have done to make our lives more pleasant and even possible. To our parents, Ivard and Dorothy, come special thanks and love. And thanks to all of you who have so well supported the efforts of this newsletter.

May the joys brought by the Prince of Peace fill your hearts this Christmas season and throughout the coming new year.

1. As for Me and My House

A closing thought from the first issue of the Cleverly Newsletter, September 1973. President Harold B. Lee passed away less than four months later.

And now a parting observation from Harold B. Lee's closing address in the April 1973 general conference:

"Go home now to your people, I pray you, and say as did Joshua of old: 'As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord' (Joshua 24:15). Teach your families in your family home evening, teach them to keep the commandments of God, for therein is our only safety in these days. If they will do that, the powers of the Almighty will descend upon them as the dews from heaven, and the Holy Ghost will be theirs."

That's quite a promise! And it comes from the prophet of God. I commend his counsel to you, with my hearty blessing and love.