The source of these questions and answers can be found in the first installment of this series. It bears repeating for newcomers that the person(s) answering these questions is/are not identified, and that the answers given here are not necessarily current teaching. The chief value of these columns today is in seeing what issues were on the minds of ordinary Church members 60 years ago, and in noting what has changed since then, or what issues we consider modern concerns were being discussed that long ago.

Q. What does it mean to seal one’s testimony with one’s blood? This expression is used in connection with the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Just what does it mean? – R.L.W., Heber City.

A. On pages 477 and 478 of “A New Witness for God” by B.H. Roberts we have the following which will help you:

“The highest evidence of sincerity which a man can give his fellow men – the highest proof that he has spoken the truth in any given case – is that he perseveres in it unto death and seals his testimony with his blood. … So important did such a testimony become in the mission of Paul that he said ‘Where a testimony is there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testimony is of force after men are dead; otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth’ (Hebrews 9:6-17.( In the light of this principle and when the importance of the great testimony which he bore to the world is taken into account, it is not to be wondered at that Joseph Smith was called upon to affix the broad seal of martyrdom to his work. Something of incompleteness in his work would likely have been complained of had this been lacking. But now, not so; his character of prophet was rounded out to complete fulness by his falling a martyr under the murderous fire of the mob at Carthage in the state of Illinois.”

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The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Previous episode

Chapter 6 – Plans for a Parade

School closed early in Springdale, for many of the parents needed their children to help with the early farm work. It was just a week after the May-Day party that the last day of school came. Girls and boys said good-bye to their teachers and marched out to their summer vacations, proud of the promotion cards in their hands.

The rest of May was a wonderful holiday for the Conways, for their father’s farm was mostly strawberries, raspberries and alter fruits and work would not begin until the strawberries were ripe. For nearly a month they all spent their days outside, except for the time they were needed in the home. The wise mother, knowing that a long school-year had just ended, and that a hard summer lay ahead, gave them all the freedom she could and did many extra household tasks herself rather than call them in from the bright sunshine which was bringing such gay roses into their cheeks and happy light into their book-tired eyes. They went on hikes down to the river-bed and climbs upon the hills. They played hide-and-seek, run-sheep-run, steal-sticks and blind-man’s buff down in the meadow, and had shows and a circus up in the barn loft. Marty thought she had never had a nicer time in all her life, but she found herself constantly wishing that Jessie could join in their merry-making.

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For links to other parts of this series, see this chart.

For a statement on the unofficial nature (i.e., personal interpretation for discussion purposes, not necessarily representative of church doctrine) of these lessons, see this notice.

PROBLEMS OF THE AGE

Dealing with Religious, Social and Economic Questions and Their Solution.
A Study for the Quorums and Classes of the Melchizedek Priesthood. 1917-1918.

By Dr. Joseph M. Tanner

XXVIII. – The Theater

License of the Stage. – The theater is both a symptom and a cause. It reveals social influences and the trend of modern life in a manner that is not depicted and would not be tolerated elsewhere. Characters upon the stage are permitted to say things and do things that society would not tolerate in any other place. The very fact that the revelations of immoral conduct are permitted on the stage accounts, in large part, for the vast numbers of its devotees. The stage is therefore symbolic – a symbolism of indulgence, freedom from restraint, that are rapidly increasing, if we are compelled to believe as authors assert, that the stage is taking on license beyond all belief. (more…)

Below is a lesson, marked “optional,” provided for discussion by the Young Ladies’ Mutual Improvement Association in 1912. I’ve never seen anything like it in printed materials for young men (unless Elder Packer’s “little factories” talk counts) — I’d inflict it on you to balance things out if I could find such a thing.

-oOo-

(This lesson … should be handled by some one who is interested in the betterment of physical man, one who has made some study of it, and can also interest others. It may not be that this woman is in your Mutual, but she is in the community and it will be wise to ask her to present [it] to the girls.)

My soul doth magnify the Lord,
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He hath regarded the low estate of His handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is His name.
And his mercy is on them that fear Him, from generation to generation.
He hath showed strength with His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and his seed forever. – Luke 1:46-56.

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The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Previous episode

Chapter 5 – The May-Day party

Claire and Dora, in their next letter to Marian in California, told her all about the event of the book and Marty’s part in making everything right again. They reminded her of the contest the year before, and Judith’s anger when the prize was given to Jessie. Everyone could remember how small it had shown Judith to be, for she had given a party and invited everyone at school except lonely little Jessie Sayre who had so little of sunshine in her life.

Marian gave the letter to her aunt and uncle to read. Dr. Lane read it aloud, and choked when he came to the part about Marty standing up for the right in spite of the fact that Judith had been her dear friend. Marty’s mother cried in reality, but they were tears of joy she shed. Knowing her little daughter as she did, she could imagine just what a struggle it had been for her, especially when it was for the sake of a big, bashful farmer boy. As soon as her husband had finished reading the letter, Mrs. Lane went to her desk and wrote to her little girl in Springdale.

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You may detect a theme in this morning’s posts.

In honor of the storm we’re expecting in Utah later today, here’s something from the Children’s Friend, December 1950 –

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From the Juvenile Instructor, 1913 –

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The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Previous episode

Chapter 4

Next day Aunt Nanna was better and the girls went back to school. Marty was resolved that she would not give Claire and Dora up for ten girls like Judith, and she could see that her cousins would never be really friendly with Judith grayley. She thought it would be an easy matter to speak nicely to Judith, and then spend all her time with Claire and Dora. She wanted to get Jessie Sayre to walk with them at recess, for she had been greatly touched by the story of the girl’s devotion to her invalid mother. There had been a great shame in her soul all during the night when she realized what a big difference there was in the characters of Jessie and herself. Jessie’s mother had been injured, and her daughter had lovingly and willingly given up every hour she could toward making her mother’s burden lighter. Marty’s mother had been injured, too, but what had her daughter done for her? Marty answered the question frankly to herself.

“I never once did a kind thing for mother except when Daddy reminded me of something to do. And not only that, but I made every day of her life harder by my grumbling and complaining if anything didn’t please me. I am ashamed of myself.” And she planned to do every little thing she could to make Jessie’s task a little easier.

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Part One of this series followed sister missionary Evelyn Taylor as she prepared for her mission to the Northern California Mission in 1946 and trained at the Missionary Home in Salt Lake City in November of that year. To that post I would add one more image just found in Evelyn’s papers, of a card I think probably allowed her access to the Lion House cafeteria during her days in the Missionary Home:

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If your ward or branch has a normal member turnover, it’s a routine part of your ward business to “read in” the memberships of new people: Eery few weeks the bishop or his counselor will read names from a stack of printed membership forms recently received by the ward, ask people to stand as their names are read, and then ask the congregation to welcome the new members by raising the right hand.

Printed membership records transferred by a central Church office from a member’s old ward to his new ward are so routine that we seldom give them a second thought (unless, that is, you’re the membership clerk who has to deal with all those bits of data). Such printed records date only to the mid-20th century, however; for more than a hundred years, it was up to individual members to provide their membership information to their new wards. This might be done by a certificate sought by the member in his old ward and presented by him to his new bishop, or, in the earliest decades, by a simple handwritten letter from a clerk or bishop or missionary confirming the member’s status.

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This lesson looks briefly at the mission of John the Baptist as foretold by events in the lives of John’s parents and at the mission of Jesus Christ as revealed by the angel to Mary. The lessons below, from 1935, cover the same ground. Because so little is known of the biographies of Zacharias, Elisabeth, Joseph and Mary, both lessons are more or less basic commentary and questions about those few known biographical facts. (New Testament Sunday School Lessons, First quarter 1935. Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union, 1935.)

The Angel Promised Zacharias a Son; The Birth of John the Baptist.

“But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias; for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

“And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

“For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Luke 1:13-15.

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For background, see here
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Brig Madsen, Western historian, professor of history and one-time vice president of the University of Utah, author of at least eight books and editor of several more, passed away on Christmas Eve, 2010.

His award-winning books include Glory Hunter: A Biography of Patrick Edward Connor, North to Montana! Jehus, Bullwhackers, and Mule Skinners on the Montana Trail, The Shoshoni Frontier and the Bear River Massacre, Studies of the Book of Mormon, and his autobiography, Against the Grain: Memoirs of a Western Historian.

Best known among Bloggernaclers as one of the so-called Swearing Elders, Madsen served a mission in the Eastern States in 1934-36, later becoming a religious skeptic if not an outright disbeliever, but retaining a lively interest in Mormon theology and practices. “Some people are able to compartmentalize logic and reason from supernatural and spiritual beliefs. I do not have that facility,” he wrote. “I do not criticize the compartmentalizers. Many of them are highly intelligent and, in other respects, have high criteria for truth; I, however, … cannot surrender my independence and rationality to such a process but must follow the road where reason and evidence take me. I have only my mind and its tools to reveal reality to me. … I cannot deny myself the opportunity of venturing into the unknown where there may be a God with ‘body, parts, and passions’ or, more likely, nothing but this temporal life where all of us should be helping each other in the ‘pursuit of happiness’ toward a good life in the present.”

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From the Children’s Friend,
December 1936

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Greetings, from the
Relief Society Magazine, 1928.

From the Children’s Friend, December 1938 –

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From the Children’s Friend,
December 1926

The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Previous episode

Chapter 3 – School Days

A month had gone by since Marty had come to live with the Conway cousins. Marian had left Springdale just two days after Marty’s arrival and the farewells had been very tearful ones indeed. None of the children had ever been away from the rest of the family for any length of time before, and they all seemed to think that Marian would be lost to them forever if she once got out of their sight. From Aunt Nanna and Uncle Ned down to the baby, they all followed her about wherever she went, and hindered her packing greatly by their frequent hugs and kisses.

Marty had been deeply touched by the devotion of all the younger Conways to their eldest sister. Each one had come to her and given her as a parting gift some cherished possession. First Dora had given her best bead purse.

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– From the Relief Society Magazine,
December 1933

from the Relief Society Magazine, January 1937

A Manger and a Barn

By Eva Willes Wangsgard

Mrs. Brown was singing as she took the cookies from the oven. It was a long time since she had felt so happy. For the first time in weeks she was free from worry over how her family would be sheltered during the winter. They had always lived from hand to mouth and now her husband had been out of work for some time. It had always taken every cent Mr. Brown could possibly make for the necessities of life, for the Browns had six children and the parents were now just twenty-eight years old. Responsibilities had descended upon these two young things with such weight that they were all but submerged.

When they had had just twenty dollars left to face the winter her husband had asked, “Shall we take this last twenty dollars and pay for one more month’s rent? maybe something will show up in a month.”

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Joseph Smith was born in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and five, on the twenty-third day of December, in the town of Sharon, Windsor County, State of Vermont.

Photo by George E. Anderson

There is scarcely a detail of this script that will be new (how’s that for drumming up interest in reading a post?). It is similar to every other Nativity pageant you have witnessed or participated in, in church or in the community, or seen in a movie, TV program, or commercial.

But in a way, that is its significance. As time passes, details – lining the manger with tin to prevent fire; assuming that all chapels have center rear doors and center aisles – do change. One day the people who make up your everyday life will be gone. The material artifacts around you will have changed. Familiar language will have adapted. Often the most ordinary, typical, routine things of life go unrecorded, because “everybody knows them.”

Well, here’s the pageant that everybody knows, exactly as it was outlined for LDS Sunday Schools in 1939.

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From the Children’s Friend, December 1926 –

Red Neck

By Irene McCullough

Elinor was as much delighted over the young turkeys as her father. Every morning she would get up early enough so she could help feed and water them. it was such fun to go from pen to pen and throw food to the hungry little orphans. One morning while they were feeding them, Elinor noticed that one of the little birds did not rush up to get his share of food, but sat back in the corner with his mouth open panting for breath.

“Father,” called she, “come quickly and see what is the matter with this one.”

Hurrying to the pen, Mr. Horne opened the door and gently carried the little turkey out.

“Its leg is hurt. Must have been stepped on in the night by the others,” he exclaimed. “they seldom get better, so I might as well put it out of its misery first as last.”

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The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Previous episode

Chapter 2 – The Journey

The trip to Springdale was the first one Marty had ever taken alone, and she felt quite grown-up and important. For the first hour or so she sat quietly watching the passing scenery, and enjoyed the sight of fences, trees and houses which passed in a blur. Growing tired of this, she reached into her bag and found a new story book, so she settled comfortably back into the seat for a pleasant hour of reading. She read a fairy-tale about a poor girl who lived in the woods and had no money to buy food or clothing. she was a very kind-hearted girl and loved to help any living thing. Once when a lamb got its foot caught in a trap, she loosed it and carefully tended the lamb’s foot until it was well. When the wool on the lamb’s back grew long and thick, the little animal remembered the girl’s kindness and came to offer her his wool for a warm winter dress.

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Catherine Hurst offers some wise and practical answers to the Girl Queries in the Young Woman’s Journal. I’m not so sure about some of her “way back in the olden days” explanations for the origins of things, though.

—oooOooo—

When a young bride first moves into town, should we call to see her, and when? – Ruth and Janet.

In a small town the best and most correct way is to be neighborly, and call within a week or two at the latest. The correct calling hour is sometime between three and six p.m.

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From the Children’s Friend, December 1936 –

The Christmas Treasure

By Ruth Ostegar

Early one brisk, bright, October morning, Mary Margaret, clad in overalls and a straw hat, and armed with a huge knife, ran out the gate to join a group of similarly dressed friends headed for old Peter Jensen’s beet field. Thus armed, and with adventure running high in her veins, she thought of herself as one of King Arthur’s knights, going forth for the first time to prove her skill at the tournament.

In a sugar beet region it usually takes all the available man, as well as girl and boy power, to top the beets and prepare them for the factory. In fact, the general exodus from the school. room to the beet field becomes so great in October, that in many places a vacation of a fortnight is held, when the sword, or at least the beet knife, becomes mightier than the pen. It was the first day of beet vacation, and although Mary Margaret was fifteen, this was the first time she had ever been allowed to top beets. In spite of the prediction of her two older brothers that she wouldn’t last three days, she felt confident that she would be able to “stick it out” for the entire two weeks, and earn the much needed $25 which was to make possible her first trip to Salt Lake City.

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The illustration on this subscription form would have been old fashioned even when it was printed in 1938, but for some reason it still delights me to see both the illustration itself and the fact that such a routine form was even decorated at all –

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The new Google Books Ngram Viewer is creating a corporal’s guard of amateur Ziffs in the Bloggernacle: This program allows users to choose any word or phrase, searches vast database of texts in Google Books, and plots a graph showing how often that word or phrase appears in texts across time (adjusted, apparently, for the number of books in that database published in each year). J. Max Wilson compares the occurrence of the name “Joseph Smith” to the occurrence for other prominent figures; Kent Larsen discovers an unexplained 1928 spike in the appearance of the term “Mormon fiction.”

Ever willing to jump on bandwagons and fads (unless they involve politics, cilantro, or Justin Bieber), here’s Keepa’s own foray into the wonders of statistics, computer programs, and other deep and dark mysteries:

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From the Children’s Friend, 1948 –

Top of the Tree

By Jane Renshaw

“Christopher Blake, how could you?” sobbed Joan. “What will we do without Mr. Claus on the top of our Christmas tree?”

Flinging her Christmas packages on the sofa, Joan dropped down on her knees and gathered tiny scraps of red cloth and bits of shredded cotton from the rug into her lap.

Christopher hung his head. His white dustmop of a puppy whimpered and ducked behind the sofa.

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From the Children’s Friend, 1924:

The Making of Marty

by Elsie Talmage Brandley

Chapter 1 – Marty’s Birthday

Marty Lane opened her eyes slowly. She had just finished having a beautiful dream and there was a happy warmth in her heart. She had dreamed that her year-old wish had been fulfilled and at last the little wicker pony-cart and the black Shetland pony were hers; Daddy had given them to her for a birthday present.

At this point she broke away from the recollection of her dream and jumped up quickly to peek out of her bedroom window. What if the dream were to come true? Today was Marty’s eleventh birthday and she did want the pony-cart and dear little pony for her very own.

“Wouldn’t it be lovely if Daddy should have the gift tied to the maple tree on the lawn outside?”

She asked the question half aloud although there was not a soul in the dainty pink room but herself.

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From the Children’s Friend, 1941 –

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