38n - Review of Past Post #14 - Can Facing Adversity Ever Prepare us for Eventual Blessings?

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TODAY'S THEME


FACING ADVERSITY!



Alma and the Four Sons of King Mosiah Face Unexpected Adversity! -By Gary Kapp



Alma 36: 12 But I (Alma) was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.

17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (emphasis and clarification added)

Now, I hope that you are in agreement with me on that which Alma the Younger's experiences help us to more clearly see, that the adversities we face in life can very effectively prepare us for better things!

Neil Birch (Me, This Blog's Author) at age six in Front of the Primary Childrens' Hospital Located then just across North Temple Street from the North Gate of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah (U.S.A.) -Photo taken by Neil's mother, Virginia Jensen Birch sometime in either 1938 or 1939.

I will now share with you some of the adversity I had to face beginning at the tender age of five. Unlike Alma and the people he was teaching (in the scripture above) I had not yet reached the age of accountability before God (age eight). I was a good child, I just happened to drink (Tuberculosis "TB" infected) milk that my good parents obtained unknowingly from a dairy located not too far from our home in Roseville, California (U.S.A.)


Examine your own life! Has any adversity you may have faced actually turned out to have had a beneficial effect on you? While you are trying to answer my question to yourself, let me tell you more about the effects on me of that adversity that came to me in that early part of my life.

Not too many months ago, while doing my forty minute elliptical exercise six days a week routine (- an update on July 23, 2011 - 55 minutes a day now on a more heavy-duty elliptical. I never miss a day because of illness because I just don't get sick and I thank the Lord for that! Eating correctly helps much also) At the Murray, Utah Recreation Center, keeping my heart rate under 141 beats a minute as my doctor told me 77 (79) year-olds should do, and using two successfully medically implanted new knees - (one on December 13, 2001 and the other on February 6, 2008), I saw and heard a good sized group of pre-teen boys on the basketball court just behind me down on the first floor making all kinds of happy noises while working out in a basketball camp. They were really shouting for joy, the joy of using their bodies while developing skills needed in playing basketball.

I remembered right then, at their age I would have never been "shouting for joy" like they were doing because our very good and greatly respected (respected to this day by me and my parents who are now deceased) doctor, Lucas W. Empey M.D., had, on purpose, made my left knee stiff.

To achieve my having a stiff left knee, Doctor Empey put me in traction for most of the rest of my fifth year by attaching pulleys to the outside end of my crib with weights on the ends of ropes that ran over the pulleys and stretched my left knee straight during much of the daytime hours for about half a year. This was done because the medical opinion then was that only by so doing my leg would grow to a normal length. And it did, but it remained stiff for 65 years until a new knee was implanted (in  December 2001).

During part of my sixth and seventh years I had a Plaster of Paris caste on my left knee and spent 14 months away from my family as a patient at the LDS Primary Children's' Hospital shown in this photo:


The Primary Childrens' Hospital That Once Stood Across North Temple Street From the North Gate of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah (U.S.A.) It Was Replaced Sometime in 1952 by a New Hospital Which Was Built in the Avenues section of Salt Lake City.

The photo you viewed earlier in this post was taken by my mother in the front yard of the hospital shown just above.



The Present Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The very large and beautiful Conference Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (shown above) now stands in that same block where that hospital and several other smaller buildings once stood.

My parents felt that was the only thing that they could afford (financially) to have my knee treated by specialists and also for me to be able to begin attending the first grade (which was taught right there in the hospital). They didn't have the needed means (an auto) to transport me to school in Roseville, CA. My father was a clerk at the Roseville Roundhouse of the Southern Pacific Railroad. It was during the Great Depression and his salary was somewhat meager.

My Mother and Father and my brother who is twenty three months younger than me, lived 700 miles to the West from Salt Lake City, Utah (U.S.A.). Whenever my mother would kiss me goodbye after visiting me for several days at the Children's' Hospital most every month, I cried, at times, almost uncontrollably.

Here is a second photograph of me as a seven year old. It was taken by a Deseret News photographer for an article in their March 18, 1939 issue. The cake was given to the children at the Primary Children's' Hospital to eat. This cake memorialized the Salt Lake Exchange Club's sixteenth anniversary. I'm the second boy from the right. My mother drew an arrow above me on this newspaper photo. I guess we were all asked to have a happy look on our faces, but I don't think that is the kind of look I'm showing in that photo. Being away from home for fourteen months was very difficult for seven year old me.



I did exceptionally well in the first grade that was held at the hospital and there were many loving, caring nurses and I developed some good relationships with other children. Church meetings including Primary were held regularly. I learned to love our Savior, Jesus Christ, while there.

The adversity I went through during that time and to some extent all the time I was growing up because of that stiff knee, was actually something that helped shape my life in a positive direction.

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints there is a worthy man in every stake (an area organization) of the church whose responsibility it is, to give patriarchal blessings from the Lord to individuals in the Church who desire and are worthy to receive such. I received such a blessing when I was ten years old and living at our home in Roseville, California (U.S.A.) (which is about 14 miles North East of Sacramento, the Capitol City of the State of California.)

Let me quote a small portion of that blessing:

"...these things which have come unto you (my stiff knee and the challenges that came with that) will be for your good. For you shall develop patience and shall have a kindly spirit towards your fellow man, and love for your fellow man in his affliction shall be great in your heart." (I added that which is parenthesized.)

I shed some tears of gratitude as I typed those words just now. That Patriarchal Blessing was true prophecy!

I'm adding this paragraph later. Yesterday (at the time I first used this material in my blog post #14 in June 2008) at a family reunion, two female cousins of mine reminded me of a song my mother had sung to each of them as they were growing up, telling them each that it was what she used to sing to me when I was discouraged about my knee problem. This is it:

Happiness: (The title of a song which is found in a Primary (which is the LDS Church's Childrens' organization, in case you are not a member of the church or are new to the church and don't know what "Primary" is.) older Song Book: "The Children Sing."

I am happy today for the sunshine, for the skies of gray or blue. For within my heart is a song of life. I'll live, I'll work, I'll do.

No cloud can cast a shadow over courage such as mine. For I'll sing this song as I go along. I'll live, I'll work, I'll do.

By the way, what was the answer you gave to the question I asked you above, "Has any adversity you may have faced actually turned out to have had a beneficial effect in you?" If you would like, you could e-mail your answer to me at: jneilmelva@gmail.com I will keep your answer confidential and not share it on my blog unless you ask me to do so.

The Resurrected Jesus Christ -by Heinrich Hoffmann


* The Lord Jesus Christ admonishes us to have broken hearts and contrite spirits!

3Nephi 9:17 And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled.

18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.

19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.

20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.

21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.

22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. (emphasis added)

I repeat this painting and the scripture from above where they were shown as illustrating this post's Theme.

An Angel of the Lord Appears to Alma the Younger and His Four Friends (Sons of Their King, Mosiah). The Angel is Chastising them for Their Sinful Lives: -By Gary Kapp.

Alma 36: 12 But I (Alma) was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.

13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.

14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.

15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.

16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul. (clarification added)

Alma suffered great adversity because of his many sins. That great adversity brought about in him: Repentance and the Blessed Peace which follows that! Thus, Alma the Younger, suffering great adversity and tribulation, remembered the teachings of his father, Alma the Elder. Young Alma was humbled and with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, found peace he had never before experienced or even most likely, ever even anticipated. Now I add the next four verses as I did at the beginning of this post so as to emphasize their importance:

Alma 36:17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.

18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain! (emphasis added)

Now, it would seem that Alma would have ever afterwards demonstrated his deep appreciation for the great blessing his experience with adversity had brought him and that he would value the true principle consistently in his ministry among the wayward ones of his people, that facing adversity properly, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit*, is the sure means to gaining great blessings and peace.

Here is an example showing that indeed, Alma did demonstrate in his teachings of others his deep appreciation for that great blessing of adversity that had come upon him earlier in his life:

Alma 32: 6 And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.

7 Therefore he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent. . . [About 74 B.C.] (emphasis added)

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: Facing Adversity Can Prepare Us for Eventual Blessings. -Post 38n. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: It is translated from this English blog of mine.

Neil Birch

38m - Part 2 - Doris Clark "I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God."

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TODAY'S THEME

King Benjamin Preaches to His People (in about 124 B.C.) -by Gary Kapp

Mosiah 2: 41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

Those words of admonishment spoken by the great prophet-king, Benjamin, apply to each of us.

I feel that if she (Doris Clark), who is the subject of this particular post, were asked if the blessings that come to the righteous, have really come to her and her husband and their children, she would probably say, (in her own special humility) "Well, I really hope so, but we've got many imperfections we are still working on."

As you will learn in this post, there are many who have dearly loved Doris and would sing her praises for the progress she made in her younger years and are very pleased with the progress which Alfred, Doris and their children continue to make in this life.

Alfred and Doris Morris Clark

Winslow, Arizona Today

Doris Morris was also born in the Winslow, Arizona, Indian hospital. She was born there January 24, 1962, ( 105 days after her husband-to-be, Alfred Clark) the daughter of Lena Wilson and Herman Lister. Lena Wilson was a single mother, and Doris knew nothing about her father until the summer of her eighth-grade year when her mother informed her that her father had been killed in a vehicle accident.

Her parents had never married and Doris was born when her mother was very young. For an unknown reason, her father wanted his identity to remain a secret. He had a drinking problem and when he came home drunk he would often discuss his daughter with his mother and sisters, but the family didn't meet Doris until after her father’s death.

Doris’s mother was a hard-working, caring mother, and Doris remembers feeling loved and happy. “Mom always took good care of me. I remember her rubbing my legs at night when I had growing pains. Because my mother raised us primarily on her own and because I was the oldest, I took a lot of responsibility on myself.

(I had a step-father, but he was generally working away from home.) I don’t know if my mom assigned me that responsibility or if I just claimed it (my sisters tell me I was very bossy). I had five younger sisters: Marjorie, Marilyn, Sharon, Carol, and Sheila. My mother also had a still-born son, but we never were told much about him; our culture doesn’t talk about those things and as children we were not allowed to attend his burial.

“My sisters and I enjoyed playing together as children. On the reservation, children don’t have a lot of toys, so we made our own. We played school, house, and store, using trash from the dump as our groceries. We also liked to imitate the Navajo ceremonies we’d seen, with one of us being the medicine person.”

Doris attended preschool in Indian Wells, and then went to Dilkon boarding school for her first, second, and third grades. Her mother spoke only Navajo, so Doris had to learn English at the school. But in spite of the challenges of the language and the homesickness of dorm life, she enjoyed school and has happy memories of that time in her life. She recalls, “I’d like to think I was a good student and that I followed the rules. My favorite thing in school was learning how to write. My mother didn’t go to school, and I remember thinking that if I could learn how to write, I could go home and teach my mother. We never got very far, but she did learn how to write her name in cursive.

“Another school highlight was being in a play when I was in third grade: I was a tree and had only one or two lines but it increased my self-esteem. I also remember the year of the big snow when we weren’t able to go home for Christmas. We received gift bags that had been donated by a church and filled with coloring books, crayons, and paper dolls.”

As a child, Doris did not attend church with her family, but she remembers attending the Christmas programs at the Presbyterian Church. When the LDS missionaries started coming around, Doris and her sisters were instructed to run inside the house, close the curtains, and lock the doors. She remembers sitting quietly on the floor, not saying anything, until they could hear the missionaries leave. “I’m sure there were times the elders caught us unexpectedly, when we didn’t have time to run into the house. As children, we had no problem with the missionaries and actually enjoyed them. I’m really glad they didn’t give up on us. Eventually they were able to talk to my mom and grandmother about the Placement program. The Elders knew Navajo, so they were able to communicate with my mom. My mother was interested and asked that we be given the lessons, which she sat in on as well. My Aunt Dottie and I were the only children old enough to get baptized. I remember loading up in the elders’ missionary vehicle. They took us to a chapel in Joe City, where we were baptized in the font, along with a number of other children. When I was baptized, I didn’t understand what I was doing. I just figured it was a necessary procedure before I could go to the faraway school I had heard about. Little did I know what an important step I was taking that day at the age of nine. I don’t know who those missionaries were, but I have often thought how nice it would be to find them and thank them for not giving up. They probably didn’t realize that one baptism brought generations of children into the gospel. My mother and grandmother were baptized many years later by Brother and Sister Fisher, missionaries from Salt Lake City.”

Going on Placement was exciting for Doris, although she didn’t quite understand all that it meant at the time. “I remember getting on the bus and saying goodbye to my mom, not realizing exactly how far I was going or how long I was going to be gone. As we drove through the Hopi reservation, I would sit up at each little village we passed through, thinking, ‘Okay, this is Utah.’ As the night wore on I was too excited to sleep. I would see lights in the distance every time we neared a big city and I would think that we had reached our destination, but we always kept driving through. When I woke up the next morning and saw the sun coming up, I knew we were a long way from home. After we got to the church, I was called into a little room and introduced to the Harold Anderson family from Orem. They were nice to me and seemed like a nice family. We loaded up my suitcases and drove to my new home. Everything was exciting to me, a big home, sharing a room with Tammy, and having my own drawers. The excitement didn’t wear off for a while, even though there were still times I got homesick. I worried about my mom a lot and cried myself to sleep some nights when I was really missing my family. My mom wasn’t able to write, so my grandma would write for her. It was always exciting to get a letter from her and know that she was doing okay.

“I stayed with the Andersons for four years, through seventh grade. As I look back now, I feel the Andersons really laid the foundation of my testimony and what I know today; they taught me so much. Church authorities have said that if you teach your children the truth, they will never depart from it or they will always come back to it. I can bear witness of that: those teachings have always stayed with me. In addition to moral and religious instruction, I also learned how to ride a bike and swim. I learned how to make marshmallow treats all by myself, which I thought was pretty exciting. I took a pencil sketching class, a genealogy class, and several other classes with my younger sister.

“My foster dad expected a lot of us. One day I came home with a C on my report card. I remember him telling me he was not going to settle for any C’s because C’s were for average kids and I was not average. He knew I could do better than that, so I tried a lot harder. Every summer when I left for home, Brother Anderson would say, ‘Doris I want you to go to church over the summer. You’re not going on vacation.” The following school year, one of the first things he would ask me was how many times I went to church. As a result of his concern and involvement, I really concentrated on getting to church, even at a young age and without the support of family. I faithfully kept track of how many times I went to church just so I could go back and report to my foster dad.

“As a member of the family, I was assigned family chores. When Ryan (the youngest child) was born, I always wanted to hold him and was so glad that my foster mom trusted me to take care of him. One day I was tending him while she was at a Primary presidency meeting, and he got sick and threw up. I cleaned him up but wasn’t sure how to clean the throw-up off the carpet. I decided to vacuum it up and wipe the carpet with a soapy rag. When my foster mom got home, I told her what had happened and showed her the carpet. She was so proud of me and told me I did a good job. Days later when she turned on the vacuum to clean the floor, there was an awful odor—it didn’t take her long to realize how I’d cleaned up the mess.

“During those years, I was excited to become a Merrie Miss and then a Beehive. We did little crafts and activities at the church. I was introduced to service in the Church with my first church calling as a member of the Beehive class presidency in the Orem 21st ward. I attended Geneva Elementary School, then the new Orem Elementary, and finally Orem Junior High.

A Navajo Medicine Man

Toward the end of Doris’s seventh-grade year (1976), there was a small earthquake on the Utah/Idaho border. Some Medicine men on the reservation predicted that there was going to be a huge earthquake that would wipe out Utah; they advised anyone with children in Utah to bring them home immediately. Doris was shocked one morning to receive a phone call from her aunt who said she (along with her mother, stepfather, and uncle) were in Nephi and on the way to pick her up. With the help of her foster mother, Doris was able to arrange a meeting with her Placement case worker, Brother Errol Whitlock, who tried to talk Doris’s parents out of the idea. Placement program policy stated that anyone who went home early wouldn’t be able to come back the following school year. With only two or three weeks left of school, he counseled the adults to allow Doris to remain. But when Doris translated that to her mom, her mother replied, "No, we came all the way up here to pick you up, and we’re going to take you home. You can go to one of the schools down there next year.” Doris attended Dilkon boarding school for eighth grade.

“Although she enjoyed the opportunity to go to a school on the reservation and make many new friends, she was ready to return to Utah by the end of the school year. For her ninth-grade year, Doris was placed with Walter and Ada Busch in Vernal, an older couple with only one child still at home. Doris had a great year with the Busches and became close to their daughter Merilee, who was just one year older than she was. “I really grew to love Merilee. She was a happy person with a bubbly personality. She was everybody’s friend, so it was easy for me to fit in with her and she helped me make a lot of new friends.” Doris attended Vernal Junior High and began to attend seminary. “Brother John was my seminary teacher for the next four years, and I really enjoyed him. I became best friends that year with Loretta Smith and Janice Hildred, Placement students from the Steamboat area. I learned a lot from my foster parents. My foster mom would coach me on writing essays and giving talks. Whenever there was a youth conference, I was sure to enter the essay and speech contests, and she was so thrilled when I came home with a certificate. I was sad to learn the following year that the Busches were unable to have me in their home due to health problems.”

Doris was placed with her third family, the Junior and Marge Housekeeper family, for her sophomore year. She was fortunate to again have a positive experience and a good foster family. “Each of the families I stayed with had a special spirit, and the Housekeepers were no exception. My foster dad was a real spiritual giant. I would swear he could look at you and look right through you. I grew to love the Housekeeper family. My foster dad often told me of their decision to bring a Placement student into their home. He would say, ‘Doris we prayed about it and decided to get a foster child. When we went in for our interview, we were read a list of names of all the children that needed homes. When your name, Doris Morris, was read, we knew you were the one.’ He always got emotional when he told me about it, and I always thought it special. I never understood why they chose to take on another child because they were not financially well off. My foster mother was a homemaker and my foster dad was a car salesman. They lived in humble circumstances and didn’t have a lot. I became the oldest child in the family. They had Teri (a year younger than me), Greg, Randy, Tonya, and Dustin (the cutest little baby boy—I really enjoyed helping to take care of him). My mom sewed most of our clothes. We had a milk cow, and she would make her own butter. At Christmas time, she made caramels and dipped chocolates. Because of financial circumstances, Teri and I peeled buckets of potatoes at the corner hamburger stand to earn a little extra money. I became one of the best potato peelers. After we finished our buckets for the day, we were allowed to come in and make a shake or sundae with all the nuts and syrup we wanted, which was pretty exciting for us.

“I returned to the Housekeeper home the following year for my junior year. During the first half of year, the Housekeepers decided to move to Bountiful and asked me to move with them. It was really a hard decision for me because I had a lot of friends at Uintah High School and my younger sisters were in Vernal. For some reason I felt like I needed to be with Teri, so I decided to move with them. Bountiful was very different than Vernal. We went to Woods Cross High School, a huge school with hundreds of students compared to little Uintah High School. I liked my teachers and did make a few friends, but I felt I didn’t really fit in. The Housekeepers continued to struggle financially because my foster dad had health problems that at times prevented him from working. We had several health scares with him when he had to go to the hospital. To help out, Teri and I started working at Wendy’s. Now that I have my own family, I am better able to understand the sacrifices the Housekeepers made to have an extra person in their family.

“During that year, I communicated with my friend Loretta Smith, who had returned to Steamboat but was planning to come back on Placement in Bountiful the following year. We planned to take all our classes together. I was so happy that Loretta would be joining me at Woods Cross High School because I was struggling in the big school and missing my friends. I knew if Loretta was with me that I would be fine. Early that summer, Loretta was killed in a vehicle accident. Her death was really difficult for me; I’d never dealt with death so personally. I was an emotional wreck at her burial. As they lowered her into the ground, I wondered if I would really see her again. Would she really live again? I had always known that the gospel principles of resurrection and life after death were true, but Loretta’s death took such a toll on me that it shook my faith. I didn’t know if I wanted to go back on Placement, but my mom encouraged me to finish the program and graduate from high school in Utah.

“If there was any time during my Placement experience that I was homesick, it was then at the beginning of my senior year. I remember crying all the time and thinking that life wasn’t fair. I wanted to go home, but my case worker, Brother Claire De Long, said I would need permission from my mother before he could put me on the bus. I wrote home and told my mom I couldn’t stay; I wanted to come home and finish school in Holbrook. I asked her to please write me a letter of consent. I checked the mailbox everyday. Finally a letter came, and I thought I was going home. (I was already nearly packed and ready to go.) I was shocked to read the letter and find that my mother said no. I begged Brother De Long to at least send me to Vernal, which he agreed to. The Housekeepers supported me throughout that time and were sad to see me go; I was sad to leave them but glad to be returning to Vernal.

“I finished my senior year with the Jean and Sylvia Jones family, who lived just down the street from where the Housekeepers had lived in Vernal. Sister Jones had been my Young Women teacher, and I had already come to know and love her. I was so grateful that they were able to take me in for the rest of that school year. A big burden was lifted from me when I found myself back on familiar ground with old friends. I was able to settle into my normal routine of school, friends, and Mutual activities. I learned a lot from the Joneses as well. Sister Jones did a lot of sewing and quilting. One year she made each girl in our class a beautiful nightgown. There were always quilting frames up in the family room, and I enjoyed quilting and visiting with her. For my graduation gift, I got a pretty pink quilt, which I kept until it wore out.

“One of the few regrets I have in life is that I didn’t go to college after I finished high school. I applied to Brigham Young University and was so excited when I received my acceptance letter. Brother Housekeeper invited me to stay with them for the summer while I prepared for BYU. He was worried that I would go home, get comfortable, and not return; and that’s exactly what happened. I came home and met Alfred. We were soon married and started having a family. I was never able to go back to school. I don’t regret my decision to get married and start a family, but I wish I would have been able to fit college in too.”

Doris met Alfred while working at the chapter house during the summer of her junior year, but their courtship began after graduation when Alfred’s brother James was courting Doris’s sister Marjorie; Doris and Alfred willingly served as chaperones. The relationship became serious when Doris moved in with Alfred’s family after his mother had an operation. She recalls the guilt and confusion she felt at the time. “Alfred’s mother asked me to stay with them to help with the cooking and cleaning while she recovered from her operation. (All of the Clark children were boys, so she had no daughter to care for her and help around the house.) Alfred had a lot of respect for me, and for the first while, Alfred and I slept separately. But it almost seemed as if our mothers were plotting against me and wanted our relationship to progress: my mother did not object to me staying with Alfred and his mother continually hinted and suggested that he and I should be together sharing a bedroom. For example, when the boys had gone off to bed, I’d lock the door and Mrs. Clark would come by and ask where Alfred was, and if he wasn’t coming to my room.

“We ended up living together seven months before we were married. I knew it was wrong and I felt guilty, but I felt so alone and far from the Church and its teachings. One day Brother Housekeeper paid us an unexpected visit. He’d told me he’d be in the area and would try to come by, but I didn’t think he would really find us way out on a dirt road in Indian Wells. I was shocked when I saw him, and my first thought was to hide Alfred, but I think my foster dad already knew. He sat us both down and talked to us, telling us that Heavenly Father really frowns on unmarried men and women living together and that if we really loved each other, we should get married. He lectured me that I knew better, and then he explained to Alfred, ‘This is what she was taught. We love her, and this is what we expect of you.’ We were married May 16, 1981. It was a nice wedding, and I was excited to marry Alfred.

“The Housekeepers came and were excited about a traditional Navajo wedding. Prior to coming, they asked me what they should wear, and I jokingly told them they needed to wear feathers in their hair. I didn’t think of it again until the day of the wedding when they pulled me aside and said, ‘Doris, when do we put our feathers on?’ They had collected a big bag of multi-colored feathers. After our wedding, we spent time in Utah and stayed with the Housekeepers.”

In September of the following year, the Clarks were blessed with their first child, a son they named Ryan. They experienced the typical challenges of young newlyweds. “When we got married, we didn’t have a whole lot—not even a home. We lived with various family members, primarily with my Grandma Eulah Bitoney. Finally we got a small home of our own. There was no electricity or running water, but it was exciting to call it our home and not have to live with somebody. Alfred worked odd jobs, often walking to the highway and hitchhiking to wherever he was working that day.”

After Alfred’s baptism, the Clarks stayed active in the Indian Wells branch. Doris has had the opportunity to serve in leadership positions in the Church, including Primary president and Young Women president. She is currently serving as Relief Society president. There was a short period when Alfred fell away and Doris recalls how unpleasant Sunday mornings were during that time. Then one day he surprised her by going to church with the family, and he has attended faithfully since that day. “Alfred explained that period of his life to me years later. He said the first time he joined the Church, he did it for me; the second time he had to do it for himself.”

Shortly after the birth of their second child, Tiah, the Clarks went to the St.George Temple. They were sealed as a family on April 16, 1983. “The Fishers, an elderly missionary couple, helped us prepare for the temple and encouraged us to feel that we truly were ready to go. The Housekeepers met us at the temple. Brother Housekeeper was one of the witnesses and Brother Fisher was the other. It was a special and exciting experience. We were really grateful that the Fishers were willing to take the time to take us up to St. George to attend the temple. We didn’t return to the temple for a long time, and it has only been recently that we’ve started going back. I don’t think we realized what we were missing by not going to the temple. I can now say that I know you’re blessed when you attend the temple.

“I also had the special experience of going through the temple with my mom as her escort and interpreter for her endowment. What an emotional experience that was for me. The temple prayers have always been powerful for me, but it was overwhelming to say them to my mother in Navajo, my own language. My mother and I felt the Spirit so strongly that we both had tears running down our faces. It wasn’t long after that I sat down and wrote to the Andersons about that experience, thanking them for all that they taught me that allowed me to be where I am today. Brother Anderson replied that my letter was the best Christmas gift he had ever received. He shared the letter with his children. That meant a lot to me.

“Alfred and I have been blessed with special spirits in our family. Our third child is Kaycee Nicole, born September 23, 1986. When Kaycee was three years old, we had the opportunity to bring Ashley, Alfred’s niece, into our home. Ashley was often sick and colicky, and her parents were struggling under the weight of their family responsibilities. Without asking for Alfred’s approval, I volunteered to take Ashley for a couple months so they could rest and work through their problems. In spite of his initial resistance, Alfred soon found himself asking his brother if we could raise the child as our own. Her parents agreed and Ashley came to stay with us. For three years we lived in fear that Ashley’s father would come over one day when he’d been drinking and demand her back, but we finally were able to legally adopt her. When Ashley was six, she was sealed to our family in the temple. On that occasion our children were able to be in the temple with us, and they remember that special experience.

“We’ve had our struggles as parents, but the gospel has helped us stick together through those hard times; I think families are more easily dissolved when they go through challenges without the light and strength the gospel brings. The teachings of the gospel are our backbone, especially since we started attending the temple regularly. Because of our own experiences, we have tried to teach our children about what is appropriate in relationships: how to treat a member of the opposite sex, how to dress, how to date appropriately. Traditional Navajo instruction doesn’t teach children anything about intimacy; they are merely told not to have anything to do with the opposite sex. Dating is frowned upon in the Navajo culture. I was fortunate to be taught about morality and dating on Placement. I was taught that you should never go into a home alone with a member of the opposite sex and that you should always be home by midnight because after that time Satan has more power over you. We applied all those rules to our kids.

I am so grateful that all of our children have been faithful and are all active in the Church. They all attended four years of LDS Seminary. Our new daughter-in-law, Terrilyn, was just baptized last December, and now she and Ryan are preparing to go to the temple.

“I’ve stayed in touch with all my foster families, and my experiences with them have been incorporated into my own family. Many of our Christmas traditions were born of my experiences in Utah: we exchange a simple gift with each family member, we go Christmas caroling and take cookies to homes where it is likely there is little else for Christmas, we read the Christmas story in the Book of Luke every Christmas Eve. My whole Placement experience was one big spiritual experience for me. That’s where I learned I was a child of God. I am grateful for all the lessons I received from my foster families, Primary teachers, Young Women teachers, and Sunday School teachers. All those teachings are the basis for the joyful and fulfilling life our family enjoys today.”

Alfred and Doris Clark's Children:

Ryan, 9/23/1981: Married Terrilyn Thompson. They will celebrate their first anniversary in October 2007. They attend the Indian Wells branch and both are employed by Navajo County. Ryan works as court security and bailiff. Terrilyn works in the county school superintendent’s office. They have plans to be sealed in the temple.

Tiah, born February 26, 1983: She is the Young Women’s president at the Indian Wells branch. She is in the nursing program at Northland Pioneer College and is looking for a returned missionary.

Kaycee, 9/23/1986: She is the Primary president at the Indian Wells branch. She is employed with Winslow Campus of Care as a certified nurse assistant. She will continue her education at NPC.

Ashley, 8/20/1989: She graduated from Holbrook High School 2007. She will follow in her sister’s steps by attending the local community college. She will seek a degree in Criminal Justice and would like to work as a criminal investigator.

An excerpt from a life sketch Ashley wrote in the spring of 2007 is as follows: I, Neil Birch, publisher of this post, decided that the following LDS Church Video would be a very appropiate follow-up to such a marvelous example of how Doris Morris Clark, alongside of her dear husband, Alfred's leadership, found so much happiness and a sense of direction in their special eternal life together, from their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his Gospel and for their membership in His Church and from their love for their dear children.

We also give much credit to Doris' dear mother and to all of her loving LDS Indian Placement Program Foster Families for all they did for her.

My plans after high school are to attend college, go on a mission, get my dream job as a CSI, and raise a family. I love to play basketball, spend time with family, and eat. A couple of other things I like to do are run, draw, read, laugh, hang out with friends, and make new friends. For my spiritual side, I love attending seminary and church. I also hold a calling as a letter- coordinator (I send letters/packages to members that are away from church and to missionaries from our branch. I also enjoy going to firesides, reading the scriptures, and listening to General Conference talks. My testimony is growing stronger everyday from the examples that my family and other members set for me.

mormon.org/findinghappiness

I, Neil Birch, the Blogger of the Post you may have just read and who provided the video you may have just viewed, invite you to now click on the address that was shown you at the end of the video to help you learn more about the purpose of life. Here it is again: This life story you just read in the main part of this post, was used with permission of Dale and Margene Shumway, Authors of the book, Blossoming II. which is available on Amazon.com entitled The Blossoming II: Dramatic stories in the Lives of Native Americans. Also both Blossoming books are available by contacting the Shumways by email: dm06shumway@yahoo.com, by mail 486 W 40 N. Orem, UT 84057, or by telephone 801 235 0986. The retail cost is for book I $12.95 and for book II $14.95 plus postage. As for the Blossoming II books. They are available on Amazon.com titled The Blossoming II: Dramatic stories in the Lives of Native Americans. Also both Blossoming books are available by contacting us by email: dm06shumway@yahoo.com, by mail 486 W 40 N. Orem, UT 84057, or by telephone 801 235 0986. The retail cost is for book I $12.95 and for book II $14.95 plus postage.

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: Jesus Christ Gives Us Special Insights into His Divinity in What He Taught His Followers in Ancient America, -Post 38m - Part 2. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.

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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

38m - Part 1 -Alfred Clark "Yea, and surely shall he again bring a remnant of the seed of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their God."

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

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TODAY'S THEME



King Benjamin Preaches to His People (About 124 B.C.) -by Gary Kapp



Mosiah 3:19 For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (emphasis added)

Alfred and Doris Morris Clark: This is a couple who have, as you will discover in this and in the following post, yielded themselves to the enticements of the Holy Spirit just as King Benjamin admonished his people in the scripture above, to do.

Although the Clarks may not be counted as descendants of King Benjamin's people, the Clarks like the king and his people, can trace at least some of their ancestry to Father Lehi who brought his family with him from Jerusalem in 600 B.C. to what is most likely known as Central America in our day. According to the words of the prophet Mormon, given below, we can expect the Clarks, as descendants of Father Lehi and before him, Joseph Who was Sold Into Egypt, to be greatly blessed:

3Nephi 5:
22 And insomuch as the children of Lehi have kept his commandments he hath blessed them and prospered them according to his word.

23 Yea, and surely shall he again bring a remnant of the seed of Joseph to the knowledge of the Lord their God. (emphasis added)

Alfred Clark's Life is the main focus of this Post. In the following Post we will focus on Doris Clark's Life.

Most of this post is copied from Chapter 20 of Blossoming II by Dale and Margene Shumway (Published in 2007). Except for the couple and family photos all photos were added by blogger Neil Birch using Google Search to find them.

Twin Buttes, shown on this map and in the photo below is not very far from The Clark's Home Village of Indian Wells.

Alfred Clark began his venture in mortality on October 11, 1961, at the Indian hospital in Winslow, Arizona. He was the second of four boys born to Francis and Ellen John Clark of the small Navajo Reservation village of Indian Wells to the north.

A Navajo Hogan

At that time his family lived in a hogan on their sheep ranch, in a smaller Indian village named Bitahochee, about five miles north of the trading post. The Clarks kept a herd of between 100 and 200 sheep. They also had horses and at one time raised cattle as well. Alfred’s maternal grandparents were Charlie and Evelyn Spencer John with Grandpa Charlie John finding fame as a medicine man of note. Alfred remembers people coming to hire his grandfather to perform ceremonies.

“My grandfather told me he specialized in performing the ‘No-Good Way.’ Each ceremony was different, and at times they could span four days.”
Alfred remembers doing a lot of sheep herding as a young boy, either by himself or with his brothers. Sheep herding provided entertainment for the children, who did not have many toys. Alfred fondly recalls those simple days. “We didn’t have money to buy toys, so our toys were things we made ourselves either from branches or rocks. We enjoyed playing rough in the washes and ditches. We had to be careful because if we got too involved in our imagination, the next thing we found was that the sheep were no longer nearby. Then we would have to track the animals down, which was an exciting diversion. We knew we couldn’t go home without all of the sheep; I remember several occasions when I was sent back out late at night to look for a missing animal. During some of the best times my grandma would herd sheep with us. She would ride a horse with a big bundle behind her that contained her wool for carding and spinning and her grill so she could prepare our lunch.

In those boyhood days both parents worked so Grandmother Clah was our primary caretaker. My mom was a clerk at the trading post from Monday through Saturday and my dad was away working on the railroads. He worked with what is called a steel gang, replacing the steel on the rails. Both of my parents had some schooling and could speak English. My parents never joined the LDS Church but they have always been active in organized religion. When I was a child, we attended the Presbyterian Church in Indian Wells.

“There were some problems with alcohol in my family. At times my uncle would come home drinking. Being young, I didn’t know why the adults would turn off the lights when he came home. When it happened, I would sit in the dark and just listen and wonder until I eventually drifted off to sleep. In the morning, it was like nothing had happened. My father was also an alcoholic. He tended to have a short fuse of a temper when he was drinking. We children weren’t abused, although I remember getting a good whipping a time or two when he was having problems with alcohol. Happily, he was able to overcome his problem later in his life when serious health problems forced him to acknowledge his weakness, and he was able to quit this negative habit.”

Much to his dismay, Alfred began school at nearby Greasewood boarding school at the age of six or seven. At the school, he cried himself to sleep many nights due to his missing his home and family, and on a couple occasions he returned home only to be taken right back to the BIA dorm. Alfred’s brothers also attended the same school. In general they were able to see their family once a month. The family didn’t have a car, so the boys could go home for the weekend only if they were able to get a ride. Life improved when Alfred’s uncle gave his parents a truck and the family had their own transportation.

Alfred remembers one serious attempt to run away from school: “In the fifth grade, three of us decided to attempt our escape, but before anybody could miss us, we came back. We were gone a total of three or four hours before our hunger and thirst persuaded us to give up the attempt.” Life at the boarding school was different than at home in many ways. “There were a ton of kids my age, and we were all scared. The food was okay but different than what I was used to. Learning how to use eating utensils was new for me. At home, my family sat down in a circle on a tarp on the floor of the hogan for mealtimes. Each of us had our piece of tortilla and we ate out of one skillet in the middle of the tarp.

“At school, we were advised that we had to change our ways. We were not allowed to mop up our gravy with bread. We were not supposed to talk in Navajo. I didn’t know any English when I started school, and it was difficult to learn, just like any new language.

“I was in the dorm in 1967, the year of the big snowstorm. We weren’t allowed outside for a long time, and when we were finally allowed out to go to the cafeteria, I remember walking through a tunnel of snow and looking up to see snow on both sides above my head. I stayed at Greasewood through the eighth grade and did fairly well. I was a good student, at least a B average student. English was my best subject by the time of my promotion. Socially, I was on the shy side. I was a good kid and never got in trouble.”

At Holbrook High School Alfred’s new found freedom led him to make some good and bad choices. Socially he started to blossom with many Anglo, Hispanic, black, and Native American friends. Unfortunately, he was exposed to drugs and alcohol, and Alfred found them an almost overwhelming temptation. Finding himself in their negative grip, his grades declined until he was asked to leave Holbrook High School.

For his junior year, Alfred transferred to Many Farms High School but his experimentation with drugs continued to drag him down. He remembers, "I found drugs changed my personality in many sad ways. School was no longer as important to me. I lost all sense of responsibility to the point that I regrettably involved my younger brothers with these same abusive substances. I later became sorry that I led them astray. At that time we rode the bus to school. Both of my parents worked, so we were able to get a little lunch money. Every day when we got into town, we’d combine our money to buy the drugs and alcohol we felt we needed to get through the day.

“A great change was wrought in my life when I met Doris Morris while we were both working at the chapter house the summer between my junior and senior year. We were involved in a summer youth program sponsored by the tribe. At the time I had shoulder-length hair, and Doris says I caught her eye riding up to the chapter house on my horse. Doris was an active Latter-day Saint, and didn’t approve of my gentile habits. Getting to know Doris helped me find new motivation to change and a more serious perspective in my life. I began to make positive changes, for myself as well as for her. When the summer ended Doris returned to Utah as a Placement student, in spite of my efforts to persuade her to stay and attend Holbrook with me. I completed my senior year and graduated from Holbrook High School.”

After graduation, Alfred began to consider continuing his education. He was interested in computers and looked into attending DeVry Institute, a technical school in the valley. But the plans never developed because Doris returned home, and the two began seeing each other regularly. Alfred and his brother, who married Doris’s younger sister Marjorie, spent a good deal of time visiting the two young ladies and Alfred and Doris became more serious.

In May 1981, a year after his graduation, Alfred and Doris took the big step into the unknown and were married. Alfred remembers the struggles of those newlywed years. “We didn’t have a lot of money and had to depend on living with my family for some time. Doris was working at Charlie McGee’s clothing store in Holbrook. I got involved with the local Navajo chapter projects and worked for two years, building homes and working as a carpenter in the Indian Wells, White Cone, and Dilkon areas. The job was full-time and fair pay.

“When Doris was pregnant with our first child, I found a better paying job off the reservation as a maintenance person at Cholla Lake near Joseph City, Az. We camped out at the lake during the time I was employed there. We were fortunate to have some good friends who helped us out along the way, especially Nelson and Karen Miller of Joe City. Personally I was doing better in my life, but I had a tendency to fall back into my old ways every now and then, especially with alcohol.

“When I first learned Doris was Mormon, I had mostly positive thoughts about her religion. During the time we dated, Doris would occasionally talk to me about the Church, and eventually the missionaries came to visit with us and teach me. I initially insisted that they teach me only from the Bible. They presented a lot of new doctrine to learn and understand. Having been raised in the Presbyterian Church, I finally agreed to attend Church with Doris. I admit that I was curious as a new born coyote and all eyes and ears at my first sacrament meeting, trying to comprehend everything that was going on.

“At this point in our courtship, Doris and I were living together although we weren’t yet married. We had been through several sets of elders, but I will never forget Elder Gardner, who really tightened the screws on me. We had come to the point of discussing baptism, and he told me I would have to change my ways in order to be worthy to be baptized; he admonished me that I couldn’t be baptized without being married to Doris. We were married on May 16, 1981, and I was baptized the following month on June 10.

“My decision to join the Church was not well received by my family, which was difficult for me. After I committed to baptism, I went to tell my mother and grandmother of my decision. Still an active member of her Presbyterian congregation, my mom was pretty upset with my decision. Mom told me I was already baptized in the Presbyterian Church and I shouldn’t be baptized into another church, and she refused to accept my decision. I told her that baptism was what I wanted to do and nothing could change my mind, but I would still love her in spite of her feelings about my baptism. When I attempted to give her a hug, she held out her hand to keep me away. Their reactions really hurt me, but I still went ahead with my baptism.”

Just months after his baptism, Alfred was called to be the branch president at Indian Wells. The calling helped to keep him active as a new convert and provided him an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of the gospel and strengthen his testimony. He is currently serving (for the third time) as branch president. He has also served as elders quorum president and first counselor in the bishopric.

Through his father, Alfred was able to get a job with the Santa Fe railroad. The job paid very well (the best pay he had ever received), but the work kept him away from his family and Church responsibilities. After a year and a half with the railroad, Alfred and Doris decided that being at home as a family was more important than the money, so Alfred quit his job, much to his parents’ disapproval. In retrospect, Alfred feels the decision to be at home with his family brought blessings into his life. “I know I’ve truly been blessed to be able to provide for my family. I’ve worked many odd jobs trying to make a buck when we were struggling to get by, but I have never been unemployed.”

Alfred was hired to work at Bitahochee trading post, owned by Church members Robert and Geraldine Walker. He and Doris eventually managed the trading post together. After several years, the Walkers had to sell the business because of health problems and Alfred found work first delivering mail and then driving a bus for the Holbrook school district. He has also served as a Navajo chapter president for eight years at Indian Wells.

Alfred ended his employment search with his current position working for the county probation department, which he has enjoyed. “I have about thirteen years with Navajo County, and there has never been a dull moment. The work is challenging, but fulfilling. I have worked with juvenile detention for eight years, before transferring to juvenile probation for several years. I recently transferred to the adult intensive probation.

“I have had a number of interesting experiences while on the job, and my first encounter with violence stands out in my memory. I was working with juvenile detention at the time. Back in the old days, there were always two people, a male and a female, working on twelve-hour rotating shifts. We had in our custody a seventeen-year old boy who had been caught and detained in our county until he could be sent to face charges against him on the east coast. On this particular night, my partner was busy with problems in the girls unit; I was monitoring the central control console, which has display monitors for each unit. One of the rowdier units was playing with toilet paper. The boys were unrolling all the toilet paper and flushing it down the toilet, so I took it away from them. Late at night, this particular boy called from that unit claiming he needed to use the bathroom. I entered the unit and unlocked the door. As the youth started to walk down the hall, I turned back toward the entrance. I then distinctly heard a loud, clear voice instruct me to not turn my back on him. I turned to look back at him and watched him walk into the bathroom. When the youth finished in the bathroom, he came to the door and informed me that he was done, and then he turned and started to walk toward his cell. I returned to his unit with the intention of re-locking his cell door. When I reached the steel door of the unit, I looked through the window and could still see him walking away from me. I inserted my key and as I opened the door, I looked up and saw him running straight at me. I tried to close the door, but before I could shut it, he hit it and we both came out into the main console area. The boy started throwing punches at me.

 My first thought was to hang on to my keys and keep him from going toward the girls unit, where my partner was. The next thing I remember was being filled with a strong spiritual feeling that is hard to describe. I felt enclosed with warmth, and I felt a strong presence behind my back, supporting me. It was clear that the young man also immediately felt this presence because he suddenly backed up--and then said to me, ‘I give up!” I was able to restrain him and wait for backup from the sheriff’s office to assist in placing the juvenile back into his cell. This was the first time that I realized how much my Heavenly Father loves me. I was also amazed at the power of the Holy Ghost. As I was driving home the next morning, I reflected on the incident with tears and many prayers of thanksgiving.”



The St. George, Utah Temple



Two years after their marriage, Alfred and Doris were sealed in the St. George Temple on April 6, 1983. Alfred recognized the significance of the step he was taking at the time. “We had some great missionaries at that time in Indian Wells, Elder and Sister Fisher from Salt Lake, who took us to St. George to go to the temple. (We were still without our own transportation at that time.) Doris’s foster family came down from Bountiful. I knew it was a very special time for our family and that it would open lots of spiritual doors for us. We still go to the temple, and we learn every time we go.”

The Clarks feel their membership in the Church and faith in the Lord have brought many blessings into their lives. “We’ve had many special experiences and have had miracles performed in our lives. Our oldest daughter, Tiah, is one example. At one point she had an infection in her eye, similar to herpes or cold sores, which resulted in major scarring. The doctor told us she would eventually lose sight in that eye. After various tests, it was determined that surgery was necessary. Tiah was only four or five years old at the time, and the news was difficult for us. As we were coming back from visiting with the doctor, we stopped at Brother Gayle Perkins’ house and asked for a Priesthood blessing. In several days we returned to Winslow for the final testing before the surgery. The doctors were mystified by the test results and were certain there was some mistake because although they could still see the scarring, Tiah’s vision had improved tremendously. It was decided that she no longer needed the surgery.

“Our family was blessed when we responded to President Hinckley’s challenge to read the Book of Mormon. In all the years since my baptism, I’d never taken the opportunity to finish the Book of Mormon, although our family has read the first few books many, many times in efforts to have regular family scripture study. But when the prophet asked us to read the whole book by the end of the year, we had a great desire to follow his counsel. Each member of the family individually set and accomplished the goal to finish the Book of Mormon that year, and just as President Hinckley promised, our lives were enriched. That choice experience prompted me to read more Church material; right now I am going through the New Testament.
“The best thing about the Church is its focus on families.

We just had the happy experience of seeing our new daughter-in-law become a member of the Church. When our son Ryan first began dating her, we didn’t want to tell her that she needed to be baptized, but we tried to teach her and hoped that our example would be a witness to her of the truthfulness of the gospel. Accepting the gospel has brought about many wonderful changes in her. I was very fortunate to find such a special woman in my own life. She has a special influence on me and has changed my life by her example and love. I am so grateful for the Church’s teachings and my wife’s Placement experiences that have helped us raise our children in righteousness. We have learned so much from all our brothers and sisters in the Church. I cannot say enough about the goodness of the Church and the truthfulness of the gospel. I know that the Church is true and that we have a living prophet today, and I can never deny it.”

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The following link, when clicked upon, will allow you to view the latest Mormon Messages Video. You will find it very well done and hopefully will be applicable to you and to your particular needs.

Mormon Messages

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DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.



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TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire T0o Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: (Present Day) Lamanites, such as Alfred Clark Have Been Blessed By Devoted Later-day Saint Families Who Have Been Blessed For Their Loving Services. Post -38m Part1. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

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"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon?" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est.2008 Neil Birch Legal /Statement.


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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch