Bughouse

A traveling man lately wandered into a remote hotel that doesn’t keep a dictionary, and on coming down in the morning was asked by the landlord how he rested.

“Oh,” replied the gentleman, “I suffered nearly all night from insomnia.”

The landlord was mad in a minute, and roared: “I’ll bet you two dollars there ain’t one in my house!”

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 9

Synopsis: Enid Drage, young, attractive widow of Tom Drage, is teaching in the small town where she and her daughter Sharon live in Miss Nobbit’s small apartment. Sharon complains of their lack of a home and Enid considers marrying the town banker who has tried to court her. Miss Nobbit dies suddenly and leaves her property to Enid.

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From his Epistle to the Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, October 1887:

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The Relief Societies.

The mission of the Relief Societies as organized among us, is truly grand and beneficent. There is no limit to their labors and usefulness while suffering and want exists in our midst. To aid the needy by feeding the hungry and clothing the destitute is distinctively and peculiarly their mission. in the energetic performance of their duty human sympathy and divine mercy are beautifully harmonized. In extending relief to the poor, the love of God and of our fellows is clearly manifest. it is more praiseworthy for a Relief Society to be able to say, “There are none in our Ward in need of food, raiment or shelter,” than to report thousands of dollars in hand, while the needs of the poor are unsupplied.

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Prayer

By Beatrice K. Ekman

Father, I thank thee for my sight
That sees the beauty of the night,
That sees the changing seasons pass,
The green of sedge, of meadow grass,
The trees that fling their branches high,
The drift of clouds across the sky.
O, let me have the grace to see
My brother’s need of being free.

(1951)

It was a dark and stormy night (no, really – that’s what the 1894 newspaper report says!) and a woman in Brigham City was hesitantly feeling her way along a water ditch, seeking a way to cross. “Hello!” came a voice from the darkness, calling her by name, “what are you doing here this time of night?” “I have been to the entertainment,” she said, “and I am trying to find my way home, but I am quite lost.” “Well, you will never get home this way. You are going away from home. Come with me, and I will show you the way.” And so he did.

On another night, after another entertainment, the man walked toward home, accompanied by his host’s son. After a while he sent the boy home. “You’d better go back; it must be very dark.” “But what about you?” asked the boy. “Oh, I can find my way without any trouble. Remember, the world looks the same to me whether it is night or day!”

Owen Pierce Jones was blind.

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 8

Synopsis: Enid Drage, young, attractive widow of Tom Drage, is teaching in the small town where she lives. She is trying to make a good life for her daughter, Sharon, and is deeply hurt when the girl complains that they have no place where she can entertain, and they probably never will have. Enid considers a solution.

As they came out of the school building, Enid was surprised to see Mr. Fletcher’s long, black car waiting for them. Mr. Fletcher was standing beside it. He motioned to them.

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Joseph Fielding formulated these questions for answer by Parley P. Pratt, in the Millennial Star –

Question Was the kingdom of God organized on the earth before the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh? and was the Melchizedeck priesthood on the earth and in operation without the kingdom; for instance, had the Nephites this priesthood without the kingdom, before and after the coming of Christ?

Answer: The kingdom of God is his government – wherever his government existed, there his kingdom existed, whether under the Patriarchal, Mosaic, or Christian dispensations, (as they are called) and wherever the kingdom of God existed, there the offices and ordinances existed. The priesthood of Melchizedeck was never in operation on the earth without the kingdom of God also: for the priesthood is the government, or rather the source and fountain from which springs all things pertaining to his government on the earth.

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An Ephemeral Thing

By Daisy Constant Drexel

But yesterday I was a living thing;
Bedecked with tinsel and with baubles hung,
I glowed with lights that shimmered, string on string;
From carolers, I heard my praises sung.
A shining star, a halo for my hair,
A symbol of the lowly Jesus’ birth
Shed radiance all about me, standing there;
A peace and blessed stillness filled the earth.

Today, I have been stripped and cast aside;
I lie among the shadows in the gloom;
I feel the thrust of needles in my side;
The passing of the Yuletide sealed my doom.
If I but knew they would my spirit keep
Through all the year to come, then I could sleep.

(1940)

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From the Children’s Friend,
January 1926

John W. Taylor (1858-1916) was a son of Church President John Taylor, and an apostle. Two years after writing the following essay, Elder Taylor resigned (he would have been expelled against his will, had he not resigned) from the Quorum of the Twelve, and excommunicated in 1911, because of his continued performance of plural marriages and entering into such marriages himself in direct opposition to instructions of the First Presidency and his own Quorum. Not that those details are relevant to this post, but it’s what he is unfortunately best remembered for.

“There is no place like home” applies to none more appropriately than to the young ladies of Zion. And there seems to be no class among the Latter-day Saints who have a greater temptation to leave home, and home influences, than the daughters. The causes for the desire to leave home are varied, but the most common is the wish on the part of the ambitious young lady to become self-supporting and help father and mother, who are experiencing great difficulty in providing for their family, and in some instances are sacrificing what they need for their personal comfort to provide, in an ordinary way, for their family. The thoughtful, intelligent young woman takes in the situation at a glance. She looks with sorrow and unbounded sympathy upon the care-worn faces of her beloved parents,. A longing desire arises to do something to take the load from dear mother and father. Knowing as she does the humble circumstances of her parents, she hesitates to ask for a much needed dress, a pair of shoes, a hat or even a less expensive article, necessary to make up an ordinary outfit, that she may appear as others of her young friends.

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 7

Synopsis: Enid Drage, young, attractive wife of tom Drage, finds herself a widow following his death in a factory accident. She finished normal school and teaches in the small town, renting from Miss Nobbit. Rearing her daughter, Sharon, presents problems. She has been to a party with the wealthy young people of the town, and complains that she will never be able to entertain them in their own two-room apartment.

Enid had deliberately delayed coming home from school on several days when Mr. Fletcher, the portly and distinguished looking banker, had suggested that he might meet her on Main Street after school. That was his alternative when she had refused to go with him riding or to the movies. At times, when she had started home and had seen him in the distance standing in the bank doorway, she had changed her course, pretending to herself or whoever might be with her that she needed to go to the library.

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See here for overview.

II.

The Present Reflects the Past

As you read through the first chapter and you thought about some of your own personal problems, you might have wondered why you are the kind of person you are. What makes you different from everyone else? Were you born with the personality you have or might it have been different if you had grown up under different circumstances? Can you do anything to change it now, even if you want to, and if so, how?

In this chapter we are going to consider some of the factors that have been responsible for making you the girl you are today.

Students of human behavior tell us that we are not born with our personalities. Although some limitations are undoubtedly set up by our inheritance, even identical twins who are separated and grow up under different circumstances develop some differences. Everything that ever happens to us contributes something. No two people (except identical twins) ever have exactly the same heredity, and no two have exactly the same set of experiences. So it is easy to see why no two are alike.
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(Painting by Charles Nickerson)

From the Improvement Era, December 1939 –

It’s Christmas Everywhere

By Estelle Webb Thomas

From her station by the sleet-covered window, Marcia reported, “It’s turning to snow, now!” Then the panic she was trying so hard not to show, getting into her voice, she cried, desperately, “Oh, what can be the matter? Why in the world don’t they come?”

Her blue eyes, accustomed to the endless stretches of desert and far blue mountain peaks, strained to penetrate the grayish white wall of dust and sleet that swirled about the solitary building from apparently all sides at once. All morning the bitter wind had swept across the desert, beating impotently against the stout stone walls of the Navajo Day School; for the school building, long, low, and sprawling, had been made to withstand just such vicious storms as this. For the dozenth time in the last half hour, Marcia glanced nervously at her watch.

“Merciful heavens, Hannah! It’s nearly eleven o’clock! How can you sit there as calm as a stone Buddha, and George so late?”

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It’s Christmas Eve

By Harrison R. Merrill

It’s Christmas Eve – the north Star shines
Jest like the Star of Beth-le-hem
Above them pines.

But Him who notes the sparrow’s fall
Kin heard a cowboy – er his cayuse call.

A hawse ain’t Christian, some wud say,
But, Pal, I’d never talk that way.

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That Binding at the Waist

While the diagnosis of the patient, who had eaten rather generously, was proceeding, the sick man said, “Doctor, do you think the trouble is in the appendix?”

“Oh, no,” said the doctor. “Not at all. The trouble is with your table of contents.”

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From the Improvement Era, December 1936 –

“I Heard the Bells of Christmas Ring”

By Maryhale Woolsey

Half-way up the third flight of stairs, Tony felt a dizzy weakness sweeping over her. She sank down in the near-darkness, resting her bag of groceries on the step beside her. How heavy they seemed! — but of course, it was only because she was so tired; the load really was small. To Mart, it would have been nothing at all. If only he had been there to carry it for her!

She lifted the broken bit of evergreen which she had picked up from the sidewalk near the store, and sniffed its fragrance wistfully. Back on the mountain farm where she had grown up, there was a little grove of spruce from which had come, each year, a tree for Tony. She’d always had a Christmas tree! Tears came into her eyes, but she blinked them away determinedly. She mustn’t be such a baby — she, a grown woman, a married woman who would have a baby of her own before another Christmas-time! Why — her baby would be old enough to notice its own little tree, by then; next Christmas would be a real Christmas again! For surely Mart would be “located” long before another year passed. All he needed was a chance, Tony told herself loyally.

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 6

Synopsis: Enid Drage, widow of Tom Drage, killed in a factory accident, feels a little strange in the small town where she is going to teach. She takes her small daughter to school the first day and feels a certain resentment on the part of the teacher. She is sure, later, that the teacher is not being fair with her child. She writes her a letter, then decides to pray about the matter.

The next morning, Enid opened her eyes to see the beautiful September sunlight streaming through the small east window. She yawned and stretched herself, feeling that it was good to be alive. The heartache of the night before was like dew that had disappeared in warmth and light. She slipped out of bed, picked up the envelope, and tore it into small pieces, letting them fall into the wastepaper basket.

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It’s one of the loveliest sites in Salt Lake City today, with the Joseph Smith Memorial Building standing where the Deseret News building appears here, separated from the classical Church Administration Building beyond by rich gardens, with Temple Square just out of this picture to the left, and with the Brigham Young Monument moved back a few feet on the edge of the present Main Street Plaza … but this 1898 photo, taken a few months after the installation of the Monument, shows how far the city had yet to go in its beautification efforts.

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From the Improvement Era, December 1949 –

The Teakwood Chest

By Mary Ek Knowles

After the delivery man had wished them a Merry Christmas and driven away under the archway of glistening, snow-covered sycamore trees. Kathy, with Linda’s help, carried the teakwood chest into the living room and set it before the fireplace. The children cried, “Open it, Mommie!” And Kathy was conscious of the pounding of her heart.

She knelt before the chest. She inserted the key in the lock, and then hesitated, suddenly afraid to open Uncle Nickolas’ chest. For her whole future, and that of her children, depended on what the chest contained.

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Star of Gold Removed

By Helen Kimball Orgill

I saw my neighbor across the way
Take down her star of gold today,
That in her window shining through
Was superseded by the blue.
She smiled and tried to hide the pain
That long within her heart had lain.
Evading not his mentioned name,
Yet modest of her hero’s fame,
I saw beyond the courage won,
A pillow wet with day begun.
The star to her meant many boys:
The one who played with childish toys,
The lad who had with living seethed,
The twinkling eyes and teeth all wreathed
In smiles, who played at games with zest,
And danced and skated with the best.

O wise of earth, men high and low,
What recompense can you bestow?
The star of gold, O let it lead
Away from selfishness and greed,
To beckon on, like long ago,
The star of Bethlehem to glow!

(1946)

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Iona, Idaho
Ward Homecoming

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From the Improvement Era, December 1937 –

Party Dress

By Christie Lund

Christmas was a lovely time – oh a lovely, lovely time! The words sang themselves over in Lola Heath’s heart as she looked about the gaily decorated living room which seemed to take on new dignity and beauty from the red and green trimmings hung about and the large Christmas tree standing proudly in one corner.

True, she wasn’t a child this year. The thrilling mystery of Christmas was gone. No longer did she lie awake in feverish anticipation. Yet there was a thrill in feeling herself a young woman in sharing in the plans for her younger sisters and brother. There was a thrill in knowing that this year she would go to her first real Christmas party. And with whom!

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 5

Synopsis: Enid, wife of Tom Drage, who was killed in a factory accident, is faced with the problem of rearing her daughter Sharon. The factory makes a settlement, and Miss Nobbitt, the landlady, offers to take care of Sharon while Enid finishes the schooling required for a teacher’s certificate. In Salt Lake City, Enid registers at the University and begins her school work. She goes for a ride with Milo Ross, a fellow student.

She knew he was going to kiss her unless she acted swiftly. So, as his lips would have touched hers, she turned her head, at the same time pushing him from her with both hands.

He tried to take her hands into his free one, as he said, “Don’t tell me you’re going to be prudish. I like you.”

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For years we have wanted to buy a little farm. The purpose was more than self-sufficiency. We wanted to raise our children where the law of the harvest is a way of life, and provide a place for family gatherings for generations. My great-grandparents bought a “ranch” for that purpose and I wouldn’t know most of my cousins without that place. It’s so much fun! There is no stronger tradition and much of my testimony and yearning for Zion comes from the wholesome recreational activities there with my family.

During these last four years, we have been seriously saving and looking for our farm. We made list upon list of things that we wanted it to have. Sometimes I would wake up and be surprised that we didn’t have it yet because the picture was so detailed in my mind.

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From the Relief Society Magazine, December 1942 –

Christmas Is Just Another Day

By Beatrice Rordame Parsons

“Good grief!” Lonnie’s young voice was a little too loud. He looked at the grocery list in his mother’s hand and pushed his chair away from the breakfast table. His five-feet-ten unfolded with all the grace of an accordion, and there was a queer, impatient wrinkle at the corner of his nose. “Why all the fuss, Mom? Christmas is just another day. What’s the good of a tree? Or a big dinner? I won’t be home. I’ve got a date with the gang. We’re going skating in the morning and to a movie at night.”

“The exuberance of youth,” groaned his father from behind his newspaper. He laid it down, and the edges of his lips looked a little pale. Weariness crept into the usually broad line of his shoulders. He said abruptly: “The boy’s right, Nina. Why wear yourself out? I’ve got to go down to the office. I’ll catch a snack of lunch in the café downstairs.”

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Christmas Eve on the Desert

By Harrison R. Merrill

Tonight, not one alone am I but three –
The Lad I was the Man I am, an he
Who looks adown the coming future years
And wonders at my sloth. His hopes and fears
Should goad me to the manly game
Of adding to the honor of my name.
I’m Fate to him — that chap that’s I, grown old,
No matter how much stocks and lands and gold
I save for him, he can’t buy back a single day
On which I built a pattern for his way.

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Branching out a little from the letters addressed to Brigham Young, I find this gem written by Jacob Spori, missionary in the Turkish Mission, to European Mission President Daniel H. Wells:

Jaffa, Palestine, Dec. 13, 1886.

President D.H. Wells.

Dear Brother, –

The Gospel is gaining favor and some believers in different parts of this land. Many opportunities for preaching were offered during my last travels. In Asdod the Arabs listened with great attention, as they claim to see in the advent of Mormonism among them some of the prophecies of the Koran fulfilled. They treated me kindly, and I was unmolested, although I traveled alone and on foot, and some times in the night, from Jaffa to Gaza, then back to Asdod; thence to Jaffa and Jerusalem, and back to Jaffa. In some instances, Arabs offered me food on the road, and a ride on a camel’s back. In Sarona the opportunity was given by the German leaders to preach to a large number of men and women. In Jerusalem the leaders of the Temple Society treated me very gentlemanly; they spoke also with esteem of Geo. A. Smith, who was there in 1872.

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From the Relief Society Magazine, March 1944 –

The Pink Angel

By Mabel Harmer

As Nan walked along the busy street, crowded with Christmas shoppers, a slight feeling of guilt edged the exhilaration of her spirits. Nobody really had any right to be so outrageously happy in this troubled world. But, on the other hand, how could she help being so utterly gay in this or any other kind of a world? She was the new Mrs. Roger Maitland, she knew that she looked very smart in her three-piece tweed outfit and, for the first time in her life, she was doing Christmas shopping for her own family.

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FAITH IS A HERITAGE

Christie Lund Coles

Previous Chapter

Chapter 4

Synopsis: Enid Drage, wife of Tom Drage, who was killed in a factory accident, suddenly finds herself facing the future with a child and no means of support. She goes to her landlady, Miss Nobbitt, who tells her she need not worry about the rent. When Enid has almost decided to accept any type of work available, an attorney comes and tells her he wishes to speak to her.

Enid opened the door wider and invited the man to come in. As he did so, she hurriedly removed the clothes she had been mending from the rocker, and motioned him to sit in it.

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See here for overview.

I.

Hello, You

The fairy story “Cinderella” has been loved by grown-ups as well as children for several generations. One reason is that it appeals to our sense of justice to see people get what they deserve with goodness rewarded and wrong punished. Cinderella, according to the story, was “as good as she was beautiful.” She surely deserved recognition and happiness but was deprived of the fun, friends, pretty clothes, and romance young girls want, until her fairy godmother arranged an opportunity for her to have her true worth recognized.

Many modern stories and movies are woven around this same idea. Another reason this theme appeals to us is that at least occasionally most of us feel that we are Cinderellas ourselves and that some unkind fate is preventing us from realizing our cherished desires. Whether our own handicaps and limitations are physical, financial, social, or personal they are apt to seem as unfair and frustrating as the tyranny of the selfish stepmother and sisters.

We often like to do a little pleasant day-dreaming in which we see ourselves like Cinderella, overcoming all obstacles and achieving our fondest wishes. But at the same time we know there is no use crying in a chimney corner and expecting a good fairy to come to our rescue and work a charm for us.

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