of the Retrenchment Association In this issue: YWMIA Centennial, featuring women and the Church
The
Improvement
May 1969
BYU comes to you
...with adventures in learning!
Right in your own stake, BYU faculty members are your tour guides for adventures in religion, music, art, speech, drama, family and human relations.
Moving the mountain of knowledge has become almost
This year BYU EDUCATION WEEKS will be held in 52 locations tor 288 stakes in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
habit for Brigham Young University, EDUCATION WEEKS have been bri learning to Latter-day Saints. Isn' adventure in learning?
Education Week Is Coming to Your Community
Since 1922, BYU nging the world of t it time for your
EASTERN
Washington, D.C., June 5, 6, 7 Cleveland, Ohio, June 9,10, 11 Pittsburgh, Pa., June 13, 14 Boston, Mass., June 16, 17
SOUTHERN
Gaffney, S.C., June 19, 20, 21 Atlanta, Ga„ June 23, 24, 25 Huntsville, Ala., June 27, 28
EASTERN WASHINGTON
Richland, June 9, 10, 11 Moses Lake, June 12, 13, 14 Spokane, June 16, 17, 18
WESTERN CANADIAN
Lethbridge, June 7, 9, 10 Edmonton, June 12, 13, 14 Calgary, June 16, 17, 18
NEVADA-ARIZONA
Las Vegas, June 7, 9, 10 Scottsdale, June 12, 13, 14 Mesa, June 16, 17, 18 Phoenix, June 19, 20, 21
PACIFIC NORTHWEST
Cascade, Wash. -
Vancouver, B.C., July 7, 8 Seattle, Wash., July 10. 11, 12 Tacoma, Wash., July 14, 15, 16
SINGLE PROGRAMS
BYU Campus, June 10, 11, 12, 13 Ogden, June 10, 11, 12 Salt Lake, Aug. 14, 15, 16 Logan, Sept. 2, 3, 4 Denver, Aug. 21, 22, 23 Albuquerque, Aug. 22,23 Colonia Juarez, Sept. 25, 26, 27
SOUTHWEST
Snowflake, Ariz., June 7, 9, 10 El Paso, Texas, June 13, 14, 15
TEXAS
San Antonio, Aug. 20, 21 Dallas, Aug. 23, 25, 26 Houston, Aug. 28, 29, 30
IDAHO PROGRAMS
Rexburg, June 5, 6, 7 Idaho Falls, June 9, 10, 11 Pocatello, June 12, 13, 14 Blackfoot, June 9, 10, 11 Preston, June 12, 13, 14 Boise, July 7, 8, 9 Ontario-Weiser, July 10, 11, 12 Twin Falls, July 14, 15, 16 Burley, July 17, 18, 19
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Sacramento, July 7, 8, 9 Oakland, July 10,11, 12 Palo Alto, July 14, 15, 16 San Jose, July 17, 18, 19
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Covina, July 21, 22,23 Anaheim, July 24, 25, 26 East Long Beach, July 28, 29, 30 Santa Monica, July 31 , Aug. 1 , 2 Glendale, Aug. 4, 5, 6 San Fernando, Aug. 7, 8, 9 Pomona, Aug. 11, 12, 13
BYU EDUCATION WEEKS
The World Is Our Campus
On the Cover:
The time: Sunday evening, November 28, 1869.
The Scene: The parlor of the Lion House.
The event: The organization by Presi- dent Brigham Young of his daughters into a retrenchment association, later to become the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association.
In the beautiful painting on the cover, Artist Dale Kilbourn has cap- tured the scene as President Young admonished his daughters to "re- trench in your dress, in your tables, in your speech. . . . Retrench in every- thing that is bad and worthless, and improve in everything that is good and beautiful."
To capture the facial features of ten of President Young's daughters (who fondly called themselves "The Big Ten"), the artist referred to the photo- graph pictured below, which is now in the collection of the Utah State Historical Society. Pictured are: back row, Zina Young Card, Eva Young Davis, Nett Young Easton, Maime Young Croxall, and Maria Young Dougall; back row, Marinda Young Conrad, Carlie Young Cannon, Ella Young Empey (first president of the Retrenchment Association), Emily Young Clawson, and Fannie Young Thatcher.
The painting will be presented to the YWMIA during June Conference, June 26-29, when the centennial year will officially begin. In honor of the centennial, this issue of the Era fea- tures articles about the YWMIA as well as stories, articles, and poetry about women and the Church.
The "Big Ten" — daughters of Brigham Young
May 1969
The Voice of the Church • May 1969 • Volume 72, Number 5
Special Features
2 Editor's Page: These Two Together, President David 0. McKay
4 A Salute to YWMIA
6 The First Hundred Years of YWMIA, Eleanor Knowles
12 Mothers of the Bible, Elder Sterling W. Sill
16 MIA Confrontation, Florence S. Jacobsen
25 The Place of Women in the Church Today, Belle S. Spafford
28 Louisa Lulu Greene Richards: Woman Journalist of the Early West, Dr. Leonard J. Arrington
34 The Pioneer Woman, Dr. Kenneth and Audrey Ann Godfrey
39 A Woman's Career, Lorraine Roberts
66 Retrench! And Be It Hereby Resolved . . .
68 The Centennial Festivities — Churchwide and Yearlong, Mabel Jones Gabbott
76 The Most Interviewed Witness (Part 8), Dr. Richard Lloyd Anderson
84 A Plea for Judicious Use of Drug Medications, Dr. J. Louis Schricker, Jr.
87 A New Look at the Pearl of Great Price: Part 8, The Unknown Abra- ham (continued), Dr. Hugh Nibley
Regular Features
42 Teaching: How to Teach About Womanhood, Albert L. Payne
71 Melchizedek Priesthood Page: How to Delegate Wisely (Part 2),
Elder Ezra Taft Benson
74 The LDS Scene
92 Today's Family: It Will Never Be 1869 — or 1969 — Again, Florence B. Pinnock
98 The Presiding Bishop's Page: The Presiding Bishop Talks to Youth About What's in a Name, Bishop John H. Vandenberg
100 Buffs and Rebuffs
102 The Church Moves On
104 Lest We Forget: The Pioneer Woman's Crowning Glory, Albert L. Zobell, Jr.
107 These Times: Student Unrest, Dr. G. Homer Durham
112 End of an Era
75, 78, 101, 103 The Spoken Word, Richard L Evans
Era of Youth
49-65 Marion D. Hanks and Elaine Cannon, Editors
Fiction, Poetry
46 A Happy Misunderstanding, Georgia Shiner 5, 11, 15, 32, 67, 100, 103 Poetry
David 0. McKay and Richard L. Evans, Editors; Doyle L. Green, Managing Editor; Albert L, Zobell, Jr., Research Editor; Mabel Jones Gabbott, Jay M. Todd, Eleanor Knowles, William T. Sykes, Editorial Associates; Florence B. Pinnack, Today's Family Editor; Marion D. Hanks, Era of Youth Editor; Elaine Cannon, Era of Youth Associate Editor; Ralph Reynolds, Art Director; Norman F. Price, Staff Artist.
G. Homer Durham, Franklin S. Harris, Jr., Hugh Nibley, Sidney B. Sperry, Albert L. Payne, Contributing Editors.
G. Carlos Smith, Jr., General Manager; Florence S. Jacobsen, Associate General Manager; Verl F. Scott, Business Manager; A. Glen Snarr, Acting Business
Manager and Subscription Director; Thayer Evans, S. Glenn Smith, Advertising Representatives.
©General Superintendent, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1969, and published by the
Mutual Improvement Associations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ail rights reserved. Subscription price, $3.00 a year, in advance;
multiple subscriptions, 2 years, $5.75; 3 years. $8.25; each succeeding year, $2.50 a year added to the three-year price; 35S single copy, except for
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act of October 1917, authorized July 2, 1918.
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Official organ of the Priesthood Quorums, Mutual Improvement Associations, Home Teaching Committee, Music Committee, Church School System, and other agencies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Improvement Era, 79 South State, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
The Editor's Page
TheseTwoTogether
By President David O. McKay
• According to the scriptures, ". . . neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord." (1 Cor. 11:11.)
Men and women seldom rise above the goals that they set for each other. Though woman's life is filled with almost everything that is good and lovely, it is inaccurate to speak of a woman's world and a man's world, because the two are inseparably one. In gen- eral, men and women have the same interests, the same hopes and aspirations; the success or the failure of one is the success or the failure of the other. They share each other's joys, bear each other's burdens, and work together to achieve success. I repeat, there is no such thing as woman's realm and man's realm. There is only one realm in which each contributes his or her efforts toward the attainment of a desired destiny. Woman's realm is as unlimited as man's.
However, when the divine Creator created man and woman, he established as distinct a difference between them in temperament, in natural tendencies, and in the field of activity, as he did in sex; the most sublime beauty and the greatest harmony in life are attained when the man devotes his life to that for which nature has endowed him, and the woman puts forth her best efforts along the lines for which she is best fitted. It is a matter of deep concern that social and economic conditions today are enticing, if not forcing, woman out of the sphere in which she herself can find the most happiness and can render the great- est good to mankind.
Womanhood should be intelligent and pure, be- cause it is the living life-fountain from which flows the stream of humanity. She who would pollute that stream by tobacco, poisonous drugs, or germs that would shackle the unborn is untrue to her sex and an enemy to the strength and perpetuity of the race.
I recall these words from Alfred, Lord Tennyson : "For woman is not undevelopt man, But diverse. Could we make her as the man, Sweet love were slain; this dearest bond is this, Not like to like, but like in indifference. Yet in the long years liker must they grow; The man be more of woman, she of man; He gain in sweetness and in moral height, Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care, Nor lose the childlike in the larger mind; Till at the last she set herself to man, Like perfect music unto noble words; And so these twain, upon the skirts of Time, Sit side by side, full-summ'd in all their powers, Dispensing harvest, sowing the to-be, Self -reverent each and reverencing each, Distinct in individualities, But like each other even as those who love. Then comes the statelier Eden back to men; Then reign the world's great bridals, chaste and calm; Then springs the crowning race of humankind, May these things be!"
("The Princess," Part VII, lines 259-80.)
■
Improvement Era
One of the greatest needs in the world today is intelligent, conscientious motherhood. It is to the home that we must look for the inculcation of the fundamental virtues which contribute to human wel- fare and happiness.
Motherhood is the greatest potential influence for either good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world. True, there comes a time when the father takes his place as exemplar and hero of the growing boy; and in the latter's budding ambition to develop manly traits, he outwardly seems to turn from the more gentle and tender virtues engendered by his mother. Yet, that ever-directing and restraining influence im- planted during the first years of his childhood lingers with him and permeates his thoughts and memory as distinctively as perfume clings to each particular flower.
Some lines I often quote are these:
"The builder who first bridged Niagara's Gorge, Before he swung his cable, shore to shore, Sent out across the gulf his venturing kite, Bearing a slender cord for unseen hands To grasp upon the further cliff and draw A great cord, and then a greater yet!
Till at last across the chasm swung The cable— then the mighty bridge in air. So we may send our little timid thought Across the void, out to God's reaching hands; Send out our love and faith to thread the deep- Thought after thought, until the little cord Has become a chain, a chain no chance can break, And we are anchored to the Infinite."
There are little cords of influence that are binding and shaping the little babe's life and the little child's life, until youth begins to be bound by the cable, and later in life by the chain— the chain of habit. Forces that are throwing out these little cords into the chil- dren's lives are the home, the playground, the school, the peer group, and society.
The laws of life and the revealed word of God combine in placing upon motherhood and fatherhood the responsibility of giving to children not only a pure, unshackled birth, but also a training in faith and uprightness. They are to be taught "to under- stand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, when eight years old." To those who neglect this in precept and example, "the sin be upon the heads of the parents." (D&C 68:25.)
Ideally, life is indeed a partnership between man and woman, each striving to keep the commandments and do the will of the Lord. °
May 1969
A Salute
Tributes by the First Presidency and the
• On an eventful Sabbath evening, November 28, 1869, after other meetings of the day were concluded, President Brigham Young called the women members of his family together at his Lion House residence and there organized the Retrenchment Society. It became the forerunner of the Young Women's Mutual Im- provement Association.
Now, as we prepare to celebrate the centennial of that humble beginning, we find that the YWMIA has grown from one meeting of one family to thousands of associations, on six continents and many islands of the sea, involving literally every family in the Church. The inspired purpose of that organization was en- visioned in that first meeting; it was to extend the spirit and influence of the home and to develop, strengthen, and maintain individual testimonies.
Church members are sometimes awed by statistics and the strength they indicate. Such statistics disclose the united efforts of the group, but it is the individual who is most important. No individual is of more importance than any other, and the final number re- ported in the statistics results from the combined efforts of the individuals whose work arid devotion have been so freely given.
To the leaders and the teachers of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association we say— as we would to the members called in other auxiliaries of the Church. Yours is a full-time assignment; it does not stop each week as you complete the presentation of your lesson. It continues seven days a week each year, as you meet your members and their families in other meetings of the Church, in the marketplace, or wherever your paths may cross.
And to you young women, your MIA work is not a one-evening-a-week 'class period. To you, MIA is pointing to a way of life as you incorporate into your lives the thrilling concepts unfolded to you there. It is not difficult to identify the young women who main- tain these ideals; they are indeed a radiant beacon in any gathering.
The Church was organized (as was the YWMIA) to develop the complete individual— spiritually, physi- cally, mentally, and aesthetically— constantly preparing for life's opportunities and tests. We thank the Lord for the inspiration given to President Brigham Young a century ago. The Lord has strengthened and in- spired its leadership and its membership for ten full decades.
To you young women in the MIA— some barely in your teens, some older— we say, God is mindful of you and your hopes and aspirations. He desires you to succeed in all your righteous desires and endeavors. Earth life is a period of testing, of walking largely by faith within the great principle of free agency, according to a plan that each of us willingly accepted in the great premortal councils. The way is difficult at times, but the Lord is always near to listen to your prayers and to give you the answer he knows is best. In a very large view, your problems may not be very different from the problems which faced the first YWMIA members and all who have been members during the span of 100 years.
We congratulate all of you who are now affiliated as members, teachers, or leaders in the YWMIA in this, your centennial year. You are always remem- bered in our prayers, and we welcome you as partners and fellow workers in the building of his kingdom upon earth.
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IT FIRST PRESIDENCY
Improvement Era
toYWMIA
YMMIA General Superintendeney
• In the year 1869 President Brig- ham Young realized that the young ladies of the Church as well as the young men of the Aaronic Priest- hood needed counsel and guidance. Beginning with the daughters in his own family, he formed an asso- ciation which today encompasses the girls in the Church throughout the world. In 1969 there are many thousands of officers and teachers throughout the world giving dedi- cated leadership to the daughters of Zion.
In addition to their responsi- bility as the bishop's staff for the "girls of corresponding age" (a function parallel to that of the Aaronic Priesthood quorum ad- visers), the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association has ful- filled its charge to provide for the social, cultural, and recreational needs of the young ladies of the Church. Theirs is an effective part- nership with their counterpart, the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association. In this unique organi- zational role, they have provided balanced, gospel-focused instruc- tion that has qualified hundreds of thousands of wonderful young women as full partners in marriages in the temples of the Lord.
For your total dedication to your inspired calling— for your patient service beyond the call of duty— for your unswerving loyalty to the Savior and his teachings, we con- gratulate and reaffirm our total
THESE HUNDRED YEARS YWMIA . . . 1869-1969
By Mabel Jones Gabbott
Like the wind-blown blossoms of a hundred springs,
The century has gone since Brigham said,
"Retrench in ways unlovely, seek all things
To elevate, refine both heart and head."
In all lightmindedness of thought and silly Speeches, in vain deportment, in worldly fashion, Retrench! The time has come! No more such folly! Be neat and comely with beauty and compassion.
So up and down the valleys the Prophet's word,
Capping excitement like a tide-pulled wave,
A surging, singing, clarion call, ivas heard
As young girls gathered. And the movement gave An aura to all years before and after: Intense with young girls' talk, with young girls' faces, Gay with dance and song and modest laughter, And high accomplishment in world-flung places.
Between the earth's first sunrise and its crystal end Is this bright moment in eternity; These faith-filled glowing hundred years ivill lend A richer meaning to all time to be.
support to you of the Young Association as you begin your Women's Mutual Improvement second century of service. o
The YMMIA General Superintendeney ~~~JJ • 5^ ■ //^4sf~^
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General Superintendent
May 1969
Photo at left shows a YWMIA stake board in the 1930' s. Below, President Brigham Young's homes — Lion House, left, where the YWMIA was organized, and Bee Hive House — in a photo taken in 1860's; right, girls of about 1910 enjoy recreational activity.
The First Hundred Years
• Women of 1969 who follow fashion's extreme fads of dress, make-up, and hair styles might be surprised to learn that it was under just such conditions that what is now known as the Young Women's Mutual Improve- ment Association was organized.
In every generation it's the women— particularly those in their teens and twenties— who eagerly seize upon new trends in fashion, in the eternal quest of woman for beauty. During the first few years after the Saints arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, modesty in dress was the rule, as the more urgent needs of estab- lishing homes, planting crops, and building a com- munity were filled. But as these problems were conquered, the natural love of the women for beauti- ful clothes became evident, and they began to pay more attention to personal appearance.
The year 1869 was a momentous one for the Saints, for in May of that year the last link of the transconti- nental railroad was completed. In many respects this was a great blessing, for emigrants from distant shores could now travel in relative comfort across the hot,
dusty plains, and supplies for construction, farming, and merchandising could be shipped in more quickly and cheaply.
But with these great benefits came Dame Fashion! As the women of the community adopted the newest fashions of the bustle, ruffles, shingled hair, and other frills, President Brigham Young became alarmed. Something must be done— and his own family must lead the way!
Thus, on Sunday evening, November 28, 1869, Presi- dent Young stepped into the front parlor of the Lion House and rang the prayer bell, summoning the female members of his household. After the evening prayer had been offered, he addressed his family:
"All Israel are looking to my family and watching the example set by my wives and children. For this reason I desire to organize my own family first into a society for the promotion of habits of order, thrift, industry, and charity; and above all things I desire them to retrench from their extravagance in dress, in eating and even in speech. The time has come when
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In photo at left, Elmina S. Taylor, first YWMIA president (second row, fourth from left) poses with counselors and YWMIA workers, 1896. Above, four young women who in 1884 called themselves "The Big Four": Mrs. J. E. Caine, Mrs. J. H. Moyle, Mrs. Frank Jennings, Mrs. Ben R. El- dredge. Below, YWMIA members march down Salt Lake City's Main Street in colorful parade formation in 1925.
of YWMIA
By Eleanor Knowles
Editorial Associate
the sisters must agree to give up their follies of dress and cultivate a modest apparel, a meek deportment, and to set an example worthy of imitation before the people of the world. I am weary of the manner in which our women seek to outdo each other in all the foolish fashions of the world. . . .
"I have long had it in my mind to organize the young ladies of Zion into an association. ... I wish our girls to obtain a knowledge of the gospel for themselves. For this purpose I desire to establish this organization and want my family to lead out in the great work. . . .
"We are about to organize a retrenchment associa- tion, which I want you all to join, and I want you to vote to retrench in your dress, in your tables, in your speech, wherein you have been guilty of silly, ex- travagant speeches and lightmindedness of thought. Retrench in everything that is not good and beautiful, not to make yourselves unhappy, but to live so that you may be truly happy in this life and the life to come."
Among those present that evening was Eliza R. Snow, gifted poet and author, who was active in the Female Relief Society, first organization of women in the Church. President Young asked her to assist in organizing the new association, which was given the name "Young Ladies Department of the Cooperative Retrenchment Association" (soon shortened to Young Ladies Retrenchment Association). The officers were Ella Young Empey, president; Emily Young Clawson, Zina Young Williams, Maria Young Dougall, Caroline Young, Dora Young, and Phebe Young, counselors.
News of the new association spread rapidly, and similar groups sprang up throughout Salt Lake Valley, most of which were organized under the direction of Eliza R. Snow. Within a year there were also associa- tions in Ogden, Provo, Logan, Brigham City, Bounti- ful, and other towns and communities in the territory.
The first groups were virtually autonomous, as there was no written program or outline for them to follow. Each local association adopted its own list of resolutions, which usually included those Brigham
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Standing at attention at parade in 1925 (below): President B. H. Rob- erts, Clarissa Bees/ey, Ruth May Fox. Right, Susa Young Gates, editor of Young Woman's Journal.
Young had suggested to his daughters. Programs and policies, however, were in large part determined by the individual group.
In 1875 the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association was organized, and President Young sug- gested that the name of the Retrenchment Associa- tion be changed to a similar name: Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association. (This was officially changed again in 1934 to the name by which it is now known— Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association or YWMIA, the designation we will use in the rest of this article. )
With growth and expansion in the associations came the need for central governing boards to help set policies and coordinate the activities of the various units, In 1878 the first stake board was organized, in Salt Lake Stake, and soon similar boards were named in other stakes. On a general level, a "central board," composed of "aids," was established during the 1890's, and in 1921 this became the general board.
Much of the credit for accomplishment in an orga- nization goes to those who direct it, and this is cer- tainly true of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association. Six women have served as general presi- dents during the past 100 years, and all have been dynamic leaders of great ability.
The first general presidency, called in June 1880, consisted of Elmina Shepherd Taylor, president, and Margaret Y. Taylor (wife of President John Taylor) and Martha Home Tingey, counselors. Maria Young Dougall, one of Brigham Young's daughters who was present at the organization of the first Retrenchment Association, later replaced Margaret Taylor as counselor.
These women traveled many thousands of miles by horse and buggy, establishing young women's groups
and overseeing the work of the association. Sister Taylor died in 1904, and in April 1905 Martha Home Tingey, her counselor, became general president, with Ruth May Fox and Mae Taylor Nystrom (a daughter of Elmina Taylor) as counselors.
Sister Tingey, who had been called at the age of 22 to serve in the first general presidency, completed 49 years in the YWMIA presidency— 25 as counselor and 24 as president— before her release in 1929. On March 28 of that year, Ruth May Fox was sustained as gen- eral president, with Lucy Grant Cannon and Clarissa A. Beesley as counselors. Sister Cannon was the next general president, named in October 1937. In the 11 years she headed the YWMIA, she served with three able counselors: Helen Spencer Williams, Verna Wright Goddard, and Lucy Taylor Anderson.
In April 1948 Bertha S. Reeder became general president, with Emily H. Bennett and LaRue C. Long- den as her counselors. They were released on Septem- ber 30, 1961, when Florence S. Jacobsen, Margaret R. Jackson, and Dorothy P. Holt were sustained as the new presidency.
One characteristic of the MIA that has contributed to its continued growth and appeal to youth has been the fact that the programs are not static. They have been developed as need and interest have arisen, and often changed to meet changes in the times.
The first Retrenchment Association was composed of girls and women of many ages, but it soon became evident that a division was desirable, and the junior and senior departments were organized. Age and de- partment alignments have changed several times since then. For example, the Beehive class, organized in 1913 to provide summer activities for teen-age girls, became a program for girls 14 through 18 years of age. However, by the late 1920's the program was modified
Improvement Era
Six women have guided the YVVM/A as general president during the past one hundred years, from left: Elmina S. Taylor, Martha Home Tingey, Ruth May Fox (top), Lucy Grant Cannon (bottom), Bertha S. Reeder, and Florence S. Jacobsen.
and girls of 12 and 13 were eligible to join. In the meantime, the older Beehive girls (those 16 and 17) were organized into the Junior department, and girls 18 through 25 became Gleaners.
Other refinements of these classes took place through the years, and today there are four classes for the young women: Beehive class for those 12 and 13 years of age; Mia Maids, 14 and 15; Laurels, 16 and 17; and Gleaners, 18 and over. In addition, adults may choose to attend either Young Marrieds groups or Mutual Study classes, where the courses of study are selected by each individual group to meet the interests of its members.
While the general board is composed of activity specialists, writers, and others selected for their abil- ity to create and refine the programs, many ideas for MIA have come from the field. One such program is the Girls Program, now an integral part of the YWMIA for girls 12 through 25. In his charge to his daughters at the organization of the Retrenchment Association, Brigham Young stated: "There is a need for the young daughters of Israel to get a living testimony of the truth. I wish our girls to obtain a knowledge of the gos- pel for themselves." Most girls in the wards and stakes throughout the Church became affiliated with the Retrenchment Association and later the MIA as it. was organized in their areas. However, many girls, particularly those who had left their home towns to seek employment elsewhere, were not involved in MIA groups.
Several stakes recognized this problem and initiated programs designed to keep track of their girls and hold them close to the Church. Such a stake was Granite Stake in Salt Lake City, whose program was later adopted by the entire Church. Sister Pearl Green, first chairman of Granite Stake's girls' program,
described her stake's involvement and concern:
"The girls' program originated in Granite Stake in 1940 when one of the women asked President P. Drew Clarke, first counselor in the stake presidency, why so much attention was given to the boys in the Church, and why no mention was made of the girls. President Clarke thought over the matter carefully. He had a survey made of Granite Stake to learn whether there were more boys attending church than girls. To his amazement it was found that the number of boys greatly exceeded that of the girls."
Auxiliary leaders were called in, and a program was developed to help increase attendance of the girls at Sunday School, Mutual Improvement Association, and sacrament meetings, and to encourage tithe paying, clean living, and the keeping of the Word of Wisdom, with awards given to those youth who met minimum requirements in these areas. The results of the pro- gram were revealing: between June 1941 and Decem- ber 1943 attendance of girls at Sunday School increased from 47% to 65%; sacrament meeting, 20% to 41%; tithe paying, 32% to 72%; and observance of the Word of Wisdom, 86% to 91%.
The success of the girls' program in Granite Stake and in other stakes led to its being adopted for the entire Church in 1946, under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric. At April conference in 1950, it was officially transferred to the YWMIA. In 18 years of its administration of the program, the YWMIA notes these areas of overall growth: 50,425 girls en- rolled in 1950, and 138,787 enrolled in 1968; 180 stakes participating in 1950, 488 in 1968; 47% attendance of girls at sacrament meeting in 1950, 56% in 1968; and 59% attendance at MIA in 1950, 64% in 1968.
In the early days of MIA, communication between general officers and local groups presented problems,
May 1969
Activities sponsored by the YWMIA: Youth chorus of 1969 rehearses in the Salt Lake Tabernacle; Idaho Falls
girls of 1950's present gold and green ball floorshow; three Gleaners from Parley's Ward spoof the 1920' s.
and a means for disseminating instructions as well as lesson materials was badly needed. Almost simul- taneously General President Elmira Taylor and Susa Young Gates, a daughter of Brigham Young and gifted Church writer, became impressed with the advisability of establishing a magazine for the young women of the Church.
Sister Gates, who was in Hawaii on a mission with her husband, wrote to President Joseph F. Smith, out- lining her ideas for a magazine for the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association. Lengthy corre- spondence between her, Sister Taylor, and members of the First Presidency led to her appointment to begin publication of The Young Woman s Journal. From the first issue, published in October 1889, the magazine featured articles, stories, and poetry by and for Latter- day Saint women, as well as instructions to MIA officers and teachers.
Lesson suggestions were initially offered in pamph- let form, but with the success of the Journal assured, lessons were included in each issue, beginning in November 1899. As each department of the MIA matured, however, separate courses of study were pre- pared and manuals published. Eventually, The Young Woman's Journal printed only MIA information of general interest, with brief reports or instructions for each department.
In 1929, the Journal was "wedded" to The Improve- ment Era, monthly magazine of the Young Men's MIA, Jwith a special ceremony in the Salt Lake Tabernacle during June Conference. The first issue of the com- bined 'magazines was published in November 1929.
Many outstanding women were associated with the Journal during its 40-year history, including such tal- ented writers and editors as Leah D. Widtsoe, daughter of Journal founder Susa Young Gates; May Booth
Talmage (wife of Elder James E. Talmage) and her daughter, Elsie Talmage Brandley; Ann M. Cannon, Mary E. Connelly (who later became editor of the Relief Society Magazine), Kate Thomas, Ruth May Fox, Marba C. Josephson, and others.
Dancing, music, drama, and other cultural activi- ties have been .an integral part of the Latter-day Saint culture since earliest pioneer days, and the MIA has taken a leading role in promoting these activities. Music was one of the first activities to come under the aegis of the YWMIA, and one of the first two com- mittees appointed to the general board in 1892 was the music committee. Dance, drama, speech, sports, and camp committees were established as interest de- veloped in these areas.
Activities held in conjunction with the YMMIA date back to the 1890's, when joint general conferences began, and gradually the two programs were fused until today YWMIA and YMMIA members meet jointly on general, stake, and ward levels for general activities, many class activities, and even some of their lessons.
Many of the activities developed by the MIA have received praise and recognition internationally. Typi- cal of these programs is the roadshow, which was started as a pilot program in Granite Stake in 1924 and is now a part of the MIA everywhere. This con- cept of short, breezy, entertaining skits presented by several wards, with the casts traveling to audiences in two or more locations, has been as popular in Australia and the South Pacific as in the United States. Where distances between wards and stakes are too great for the show troupes to travel, the acts are often prepared for presentation at youth conferences or stake outings.
Massive all-Church dance festivals are also unique
10
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Music and dance combine in act from Parley's Stake spring sing (far left); YWMIA campers learn how to build fires (left); MIA girls in Europe wear colorful native costume for music activity (below, left); and Japanese youth enjoy dancing, in activity program of worldwide MIA!
with the MIA. The first festivals were held at Saltair, a resort some 20 miles west of Salt Lake City on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. When that facility could no longer hold the crowds, the festivals were moved to the University of Utah Stadium, where they now feature more than 6,000 dancers in a two-night stand for upwards of 40,000 people each night.
Yes, the YWMIA has grown and developed to meet the times and needs of modern youth. But the basic concepts voiced by Brigham Young remain in force. Even retrenchment in dress has continued to concern the young women of the Church. In 1903, when the organization was 34 years old, the wife of Assistant Church Historian Andrew Jenson reported on a trip to Europe: ". . . in all six countries which I visited I never saw the extravagance in dress that I have wit- nessed among the young women on the streets of Salt Lake City. Nor did I ever while in Europe see a lady on the street or in a place of worship, wearing a low- neck dress and short sleeves. Extravagance of dress, I think, is a growing evil among our young people."
Times are not so different in 1969 as they were in 1869 or even 1903 in this regard, for the leaders and members of YWMIA are still concerned about the styles of the day. True, long skirts are no longer in vogue, and the bustles that Brigham Young decried would look silly on today's teenagers. But modesty in dress is still being taught to the young girls, and the MIA continues to stress the importance of helping the "young daughters of Israel to get a living testimony of the truth."
What will the next 100 years hold in store for YWMIA? No one can really answer this question, but if lessons are to be learned from the past 100 years, the programs will continue to change and grow with the Church and the times. Programs that are now part of the total YWMIA program may be replaced, new and different emphasis may be placed on activi- ties and lessons, and certain pilot programs that have proved successful in stakes will probably be adopted into the program as a whole.
But the gospel principles are eternal, and the advice and admonition of President Brigham Young given 100 years ago to his daughters will still provide the base from which MIA will grow. In 1930, the centennial of the Church, Ruth May Fox, president of the YWMIA, wrote a song that has become a favorite anthem of the MIA, "Carry On." Perhaps some words from that song best illustrate the direction YWMIA has taken during the past 100 years and will continue to take in the next 100:
"We'll build on the rock they planted
A palace to the King.
Into its shining corridors,
Our songs of praise we'll bring,
For the heritage they left us,
Not of gold or worldly wealth,
But a blessing everlasting
Of love and joy and health. . . .
O youth of the noble birthright,
Carry on, carry on, carry on!" o
Where Mothers Live By Enola Chamberlain
Some have said that mothers Live at the kitchen sink, Where the china rattles And the tall milk glasses clink.
But that's just part, the smallest: They live in a world of delight, Waiting for the coming Of their loved ones home at night.
May 1969
11
The father and mother of Sam- son as painted by Rembrandt
Mothers of the Bible
By Elder Sterling W. Sill
Assistant to the Council of the Twelve
• On Mother's Day we honor that important person who stands next to God in benefiting our lives. She served as the mold in which our physical form was cast; she also shapes our mental, spiritual, and moral lives.
The word mother also has symbolic and metaphorical meanings. Cicero once pointed out that gratitude was the mother of virtues. A genuine gratitude is a kind of matrix from which godliness, faith, and ambition may be born. It is helpful for us to understand that char- acter traits, ideals, and abilities also have mothers, and it is a good idea to go behind the result occa- sionally to get acquainted with the power that gave it its life.
It is an interesting fact that even the Son of God needed a mother. Once each year, we recount the story of that long ago night in Bethlehem when Mary started Jesus toward his earthly destiny. The New Testament refers to 89 occasions when Jesus quoted from the Old Testament; we might wonder how many times he quoted from his mother.
The Bible is usually thought of as our greatest earthly possession. It contains the directions by which our lives may become eternal and glorious. How greatly the Bible itself must have been enriched by those wonderful women who mothered the prophets and helped to form the culture in which we live.
I suppose that a good place to begin a study of Bible mothers is where God himself began. All of our lives started out in heaven. Paul said, ". . . we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Heb. 12:9.)
Certainly no one has ever had a father in heaven or anywhere else without also having a mother. Heaven would not be heaven without women. In his wisdom God created a mortal body to house man's magnificent immortal spirit.
Then God said of Adam, "It is not good that the man should be alone." (Gen. 2:18.) So a female
tabernacle was prepared for the great woman who had been chosen to be the wife of Adam. It is interesting that women were created with more physical beauty than men. They also have gentler dispositions. They are more loving and spiritual in their natures. They were prepared to be the mothers of that great con- course of spirits who are awaiting the privileges of mortality. In the antemortal existence Adam was known as Michael the archangel, and undoubtedly Eve was a good match for her great husband. It was their antemortal excellence that won for them the privilege of being the progenitors of the human family.
After he opened their eyes, the Lord explained to Adam the need to work and to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow. The divine record points out "that Eve his wife did labor with him." The sacred record says that the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, and Adam and Eve were given many revelations from God; and Adam blessed God, saying, "because of my transgres- sion my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God." And the record says that "Eve . . . heard all of these things, and [she] was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgres- sion we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemp- tion, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient." And Adam and Eve made known to their sons and daughters the great truths of God. ( See Moses 5:1, 9-12.) They must also have taken great delight in teaching their children. When Cain was born, Eve was delighted, and she said, "I have gotten a man from the Lord." (Gen. 4:1.)
Later Abel was born, and for over nine hundred years it was the responsibility of our first parents to effectively establish the human race upon the earth. They also knew the tragedy of having some of their children go wrong. What a shock they must have received when Cain killed his brother and brought a dreadful curse upon himself. But the prophet Daniel tells of the time when Adam, whom he called the "ancient of days," or the oldest man, will sit to judge
12
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his people. Then Daniel says a thousand thousands will minister unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand will stand before him. (Dan. 7:9-14.) Cer- tainly when that day arrives, our faithful mother, Eve, will be there by his side.
There is another Bible woman who in some ways resembles Eve. Sarah was the wife of Abraham, and the Lord also called her the "mother of nations," and said that many kings would be among her posterity. She and her husband were selected to leave the sinful society of their homeland to help God establish a great new nation of righteous people. Sarah was very- beautiful; her personality qualities and great character traits still shine out brightly from the pages of sacred history. She was intelligent, patient, and charming. Apparently she was happy and at home in the nomadic tent life that she and Abraham shared.
Sarah brought forth Isaac, her firstborn son, after she was 90 years old. She helped to pass on to Isaac the love that she and Abraham had always had for Jehovah. Following her death, Isaac paid his mother the supreme compliment of those days in leaving her tent unoccupied until Rebekah entered it as his wife.
Another of the great women of the Bible was Rachel (meaning serene and meek). She was the wife acquired by Jacob after 14 years of toil. But Rachel was also barren. God's first command had been to "multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 1:28), and this natural instinct had been securely planted in Rachel's heart. Eventually, on the verge of despair, Rachel gave out an anguished cry: "Give me children, or else I die." (Gen. 30:1.) Finally Rachel gave birth to Joseph, a son who was well worth waiting for. But the mortal life of this wonderful woman came to an end while she was giving birth to her second son, Benjamin.
Rachel must have been beautiful in countenance, soft-spoken in manner, and loving in disposition. And we feel that Jacob's love for her will live throughout eternity. The stone pillar that still marks her burial place outside Bethlehem also recalls to our minds one of history's most delightful love stories.
Jochebed was the mother of three famous children- Miriam, Moses, and Aaron. She was a woman of towering faith and resourcefulness. When she was faced with a government edict to destroy her newborn son Moses, she made him a boat of reeds, lined it with pitch, and hid him among the bulrushes of the river, where Pharaoh's daughter found him when she came to bathe. Then Moses' faithful sister, Miriam, ran to the princess and volunteered the services of his mother as the nursemaid and teacher of her future great son.
14
Ruth is another inspiring woman of the Bible. She is celebrated primarily for her loyalty to her mother- in-law, Naomi. Naomi's husband and two sons had died. When Naomi was left alone, she decided to return to her old home in Bethlehem. However, she reasoned with her widowed daughters-in-law that their best interests would be served by finding new hus- bands and remaining among their own people in Moab. But Ruth loved her mother-in-law and wanted to be with her. She shows us, at its best, this beautiful attachment that sometimes exists between an older and a younger woman.
Ruth said to her mother-in-law, "Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:
"Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." ( Ruth 1: 16-17. )
So Ruth also returned to Bethlehem, where she gleaned in the wheat fields of Boaz. Then, under the expert coaching of Naomi, a tender romance developed between Ruth and Boaz, who later became the great- grandparents of King David.
Another of the noble women of the Bible was Han- nah, the mother of the great Hebrew prophet Samuel. Hannah is an example of dedication to God that has seldom, if ever, been exceeded. Much of Hannah's time was spent in weeping and bitterness of spirit because she had no children. She offered a prayer in the temple at Shiloh, in which she vowed that if God would give her a son, she would dedicate his life to divine service. God granted Hannah's prayer, and Hannah kept her promise to God. When her little boy was only three years old, the courageous Hannah took him to the temple and obediently handed him over to the Lord. He began his priestly duties under the direction of Eli, and eventually Samuel himself became the temple priest and then the Lord's prophet. One of Samuel's great privileges was to anoint David king of Israel.
Then we have Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is inter- esting to contemplate the kind of woman Mary must have been, to have been chosen by God to be the mother of this particular son. She was pure in heart and beautiful in character. She made a full commit- ment of her life to God, and she was given the great- est role that any woman has ever been called upon to play. She became a mother when she was very young according to our customs. But she possessed supreme humility, limitless devotion, and unquestion- ing obedience to God's will.
Improvement Era
In confiding to her cousin Elizabeth that she was to be the mother of the Son of God, Mary said, "My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God, my Saviour, 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." (Luke 1:46-49.)
Undoubtedly, Mary shed many tears of joy and gratitude when she first held the Christ Child to her breast in Bethlehem. She must have shed other tears as she watched him develop into splendid manhood. But then the hostility of the people turned upon him, and Mary was finally left to wait out those long, sad hours at the foot of the cross. But even in his death, she was highly blessed among women.
We sometimes see a positive idea more clearly by thinking about its negative side. A number of years ago a stimulating Mother's Day story was written by Lillieth Schell, titled "The Other Woman." It is a part of the story of the crucifixion. It pictures the agony and suffering that took place upon the cross. It tells of the thirst, the parched lips, and the vinegar. Then came the bitterness of that last outcry, followed by the earthquake, the darkness, and the dreadful fear. From the cross, Jesus indicated his beloved apostle and said to his mother, "Woman, behold thy son!" To John he said, "Behold thy mother!" (See John 19:26-27.)
After the end had come, John took Mary and Salome and the other woman to his home. Later that night, in the midst of their weeping, a knock came at the door. John opened it and saw a strange woman standing before him. He said to her, "Whom seekest thou?"
The strange woman hesitated and then replied, "The
mother of him who was crucified."
John said, "She is within, but I cannot suffer thee to disturb her now."
The woman said, "Thou must," and she pushed by John and made her way to the lighted doorway, be- yond which sat this little group of sorrowing women. She paused momentarily while her eyes became accus- tomed to the light. Then, after identifying the woman < she sought, she made her way to Mary and said to her, "I bring thee compassion."
Mary replied, "I give thee my gratitude, O woman; whoever thou art, I give thee my thanks."
Then the other woman said, "O thou happy one!"
Stirred by the strangeness of these words, Mary, the mother of Jesus, lifted her tear-filled eyes and looked sharply into the face of the stranger. What she saw there made her forget the bitterness of her own grief. "My sister," she said, "rather would I give thee com- passion. Thy loss, thy sorrow, how great it must be. Wilt thou tell me of it? Wilt thou tell me who thou art?"
"My name is Judith," answered the woman. "I am come out of Kerioth of Judea."
Mary said, "My friend canst thou not tell me of thy sorrow? Perchance I might help thee. I will gladly share it with thee."
"My sorrow," said Judith, "is such that thou canst never know." Her hand stole up to her forehead and brushed aside a lock of iron gray hair. Then, clutching her throat as if to relieve the terrible choking there, she said, in a shrill whisper, "I am the mother of Judas Iscariot."
I close with an honorable mention for just one other great woman, and that is our own mother. May God help us to be worthy of her. o
To My Daughter By Virginia Maughan Kammeyer
When you were just a little thing, I held you close and hoped eternal • spring might be your day. I prayed that on your way flowers might bloom, and birds sing.
You grew, and my greatest wish
for you was summer, friendship' s warmth,
and everything you yearned for bearing
blossom, and I prayed that your
young footsteps ahuays might be turned
to goodly paths and true.
Now you are seventeen — almost
a woman grown — and the green woods
of girlhood soon will lie behind.
In harvest time, my darling, may
you find your hands hold precious fruit
May little children cluster at
your knee, and sturdy arms about
you, like a tree, sustain you, branch
and root.
All this I wish for you and one thing more: when winter comes at last to touch your brow, may there be white content and peace in store. May you be lovely then as you are now.
May 1969
15
n . I!
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MIA Confrontation
By Florence S. Jacobsen
YWMIA General President
Illustrated by Don Young
• The buzzer on my desk signaled that a caller was waiting to speak to me by telephone.
My caller said he ivas and had been a bishop for 13 years in a ward many miles from Church headquarters; he ivas at the airport, just passing through Salt Lake City on business, and had only a feiv minutes before flight departure. Suddenly I was listening to his expressions of gratitude for a great youth program.
He wanted me to know how the youth of his ivard, over many years, had been kept close to the Church through the spiritualized recreational, social, and cultural lessons and activities, and how they had been helped to set and reach high educa- tional, vocational, and spiritual goals. His grati- tude was unbounded in his praise of his ivard MIA leaders, who made it a practice to go the extra mile for each individual boy and girl: "Nothing is too much work for those kids, and they respond as did their parents. It is a great program, and I just tvanted you to knoiv." I thought: I get the thanks and others do the ivork. How grateful I ivas for his call.
activities. I became a member of the MIA long before I joined the Church. I learned the gospel backwards — I learned the program standards and policies by example and through association long before I knew the doctrine and the why and the how part of the Church. Now I've been married in the temple." I added, "and working in MIA." "Yes," she said. "I want to work with the youth and help them as I was helped. To me, it is the most wonderful program in the whole world."
a
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They ivere a smiling, hand-holding young couple, who stopped and spoke to me in the hall on my way to a meeting. "Sister Jacobsen, ive met a year ago during an M Man-Gleaner exchange iveekend, and next month we are going to be married in the temple. Thank you for having such a program for us. We live hOO miles apart, so you see, with- out it ive likely would never have met!'
Yes, likely they would never have met in an atmosphere of safe, sane activities designed espe- cially for this marriage-eligible age group. I smiled as I hurried to my meeting, wondering if they knew it ivas planned that they and hundreds of others should meet tvithin the Church program and hopefully fall in love and marry in the temple.
She was a young, newly married counselor in the YWMIA presidency in a stake 4,000 miles from the headquarters of the Church. Her eyes sparkled with enthusiasm as she clasped my hand with both of hers and told me of her love for MIA. "Not so long ago, as a teenager, a friend brought me to my first MIA. It was fun, friendly, and exciting, as young people my own age made me feel welcome and I joined in their lessons and
It was a letter in the daily mail that held my attention as I read, "The Laurel program was my benefactor. The values and teachings I gained
Improvement Era
through the MIA programs helped me formulate my way of life. It helped me set high goals, and to date they have been attained — a college degree, a temple marriage, children, and continued activity in the Church. The Lord has certainly blessed me and my family. I'll always love the MIA program."
Hk A
Another letter was also awaiting my attention — with an MIA Laureate award clipped to the hand- ivritten letter. Surprised, I removed the award and read: "Dear Sister Jacobsen, Enclosed is a scrap of paper which is meaningless to me except for the fact that it can stand betiveen me and the eternal happiness which I so desire. I never should have accepted this aivard in the first place. I was wrong and very weak to take it when I knew I didn't deserve it. All the other aivards that are credited to me I earned justly, and they are pasted proudly in my treasures of truth book. I never could bring myself to paste this in, because I never felt I had achieved it.
"Please, if there is any record in the Church records of my having earned it, I woidd like it removed. This is my final and most difficidt step in repenting for my mistake. This may all seem small and unimportant to you, but since that time, I have become much stronger in my convictions. I have found the man whom I wish to marry. He is now serving on a mission in France. When he returns, ive hope to be married for time and all eternity in the temple of our Lord. The time is short, but I must be ready. Through my study of the scriptures and the teachings of our leaders, I have discovered that I must repent of all my sins to become worthy of the blessings I desire.
"This isn't a well-written letter, as it shoidd be. It is just a plea. Please help me repent . . . having accepted this aivard, and I can assure you that if
XA8
this girl three years prior to the date of her letter. I removed her record, destroyed it, and acknowl- edged her letter, commending her for the action she had taken. The laws of life of honesty and repentance are an integral part of the MIA les- sons and activities; every boy and girl has the opportunity to know and practice them — some just take longer than others to practice what they know.
i it : ii *&'*■
/ ever receive my Golden Gleaner aivard, it will be because I earned it. Sincerely. . . ."
I had my secretary bring me the Laureate award file and found that this award had been issued to
An article in a national magazine, written by a high school senior, held my attention as I read his rebuttal to a published premise that premarital sex experiences are the only natural way in life. Yes, it was a young Mormon, a high school senior, who took exception to the premise and wrote :
"To say that the sexual process is a mere fact or part of life is to insult it. It is the very means by which human beings may become co-creators with God. It is the law upon which all human life is predicated; for us there is no life without obedience to this law. . . .
"It amazes me that modern intellectuals seem to see no release from sexual tensions or channel for sexual energies outside of the bedroom. We need desperately to recapture the pioneer American's capacity for good, clean fun. . . .
"Again I must turn to the way of life which has meant so much to me in order to provide specific examples of what activity I mean. Our church has a program for young people we call the Mutual Improvement Association. A partial listing of MIA activities (in which I have participated at one time or another) includes the following: 1) athletics — basketball, softball, volleyball, and swimming; 2) music training — talent contests and shows, ample solo opportunities, choral and instru- mental ensemble groupings, and just recreational group singing; 3) speech and drama activities — road shows, plays, skits, extemporaneous speaking, public speaking, and debate; 4) wholesome recrea- tion— dancing, picnics, barbecues, swimming parties, outings, hikes, etc. ; and 5) preparation for adulthood, which for boys includes scouting and exploring, career investigations, discussion of contemporary problems (including the frank dis- cussion of sexual matters) , and myriad opportuni- ties for leadership; and which for girls includes
May 1969
17
studies of nutrition, cooking, sewing, housekeep- ing, child care, literature, and art. The program can create well-rounded individuals !
"Of course, the program cannot work perfectly without whole-hearted participation of young people or without dedicated, patient, talented adult leadership — and often neither prerequisite is com- pletely met. Nevertheless we try, and we have been rewarded with one of the lowest divorce rates (especially for temple marriages) and highest percentages of really happy marriage and family relationships. . . . The lasting friendships, social skills, and individual talents developed in MIA bless a teen-ager far more than could a life of mere 'fun' or self-indulgence. The energies and tensions of youth are as thoroughly dissipated through MIA activities and respectful, companion- able dating relationships as through premarital sexual relationships. MIA tends to place sex in perspective by providing a forum for and en- couraging less-than-flippant discussion of issues such as religious standards, personal etiquette, political leanings, family problems and awkward situations, personal finance — issues vital to mari- tal life which are too often clouded by the bedroom. So why should teen-agers voluntarily take the risks inherent in premarital sex, standing to gain so little and lose so much? Perhaps the world could consider our way before it plunges down the proverbial 'blind alley.' I certainly prefer it." (Gregory Spencer Hill, "Premarital Sex — Never!" Phi Delta Kappan, September 1968.)
Youth always say it better than adults. Thanks, Gregory, for your firsthand resume of MIA.
4i^
W ,
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A mother of five daughters ivas purchasing, for the fifth time, a Golden Gleaner pin. She wanted everyone to know that all of her daughters had now earned this award.
I looked up from my desk as I heard her timidly say, "Sister Jacobsen, are you too busy to hear about my daughters?" I'm never too busy to hear about girls.
She recounted the MIA experiences of each one, and 7ioiv the youngest had completed her Golden Gleaner requirements. When she finished speak- ing, I said, "What are your daughters doing now?" They were scattered noiv, but each one ivas mar-
ried, had children, and ivas busy in the Church. One was working in MIA, one in the Primary, one in Sunday School, two in the Relief Society. When she finished speaking, she suddenly realized that only one daughter ivas working in MIA, and she added in embarrassment, "The MIA sure does train them to do everything in the Church." I knew she had spoken the truth.
MIA is designed to help prepare the youth for their adult roles — in the Church, in the home, and in the community
A dear friend who had served in a bishopric with my husband for many years came to me un- solicited and confessed that he had never really understood the MIA girls' sports program until two of his seven daughters became involved in basketball competition in his ward, stake, and region. He was a member of a stake presidency when he said to me, "Florence, the girls' sports program is the greatest thing I've ever seen. My girls love it — and how they've developed. They're the stars. I wouldn't miss a game for anything." I asked him how the budget was for the girls' sports program in his stake, and he answered with a knowing smile, "Bigger than it has ever been before."
It was in Perth, Australia, that I saw four girl basketball teams, each dressed in lovely different colors but in identical modest tunic-type sports attire, made by the girls themselves. The teams played, fun and good sportsmanship prevailed, and the spectators laughed and cheered every basket, regardless of the achieving team. At the conclusion, each team formed a big arm-to-arm circle in the center of the floor for a united cheer. Their little director, no bigger than the girls, came over to speak to me. She wanted me to know how great the girls' sports and camping programs are and what they were doing. I could see into the future as she spoke — girls learning, playing, camping, and praying together, associating with boys in the Church who are doing the same kinds
Improvement Era
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May 1969
19
of things, marrying in the temple, becoming the leaders in the organizations of the Church, raising their families. The result: increased membership generation after generation as they live the scrip- ture, "Be thou an example."
Judy was the only Mormon girl in her school in her small community. Present at branch meetings on Sunday were her own family, several young married adults with young children, and several older couples with no children. When her family traveled many miles to district conference at Har- risburg, Pennsylvania, four times a year, she saw a few other girls her own age during the noon hour between meetings. It was at district con- ference that Judy and her family heard the announcement that a girls' camp would be held that summer for all of the girls in the New York Stake and the Eastern States and New England missions. Judy went, shy, unsure, and alone. I saw her at camp, playing, swimming, boating, making handicrafts, helping serve meals, listen- ing to the morning spiritual lesson, singing — arm in arm, going on hikes, on her knees blowing on the dry tinder to make it burn. I heard her bear her testimony of the divinity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I saw a new Judy — not alone, but tearfully bidding her newfound friends good-bye, all armed with addresses so they could correspond until time for camp next year.
At the next quarterly district conference, Judy was asked to speak. With confidence she related her camping experiences and then said, "I didn't know there were so many Mormon girls in the whole world (one hundred and thirty-five), and they are my friends. I'm not alone anymore. Now it will be easier to be the 'different' one in my school, knowing there are others just like me in other schools who are also 'different' and proud of it. Thank you for MIA — and thank you for camp."
dressed, as she entered my office and, at my re- quest, took the chair on the other side of my desk.
"Sister Jacobsen," she began, and suddenly emo- tions and tears were evident in that lovely, smiling face. In a moment she regained her composure and again spoke. "Sister Jacobsen, I just wanted to come and tell you how wonderful the MIA program is, and how much it has meant to us as a family. You see, we're Army, and have never been in one place long enough to have a real home. We've lived in many cities in many coun- tries of the world, but no matter where we have gone, MIA has gone with us as part of our home life for our four daughters. It has been their anchor of safety among constant change. Besides our clothing and furniture that moved with us from place to place, MIA has been the only other constancy in their lives as they have changed schools and made new friends time after time. Wherever we have been sent, we have always found at least one other family who needed and joined our MIA. Sometimes we have held MIA in our home, and sometimes we have lived in a small branch.
"Now, after many years of traveling in the service of our country, my husband is retiring, but what I want you to know is — that in spite of the nomadic life we've led, our four daughters have been greatly blessed because of the safety, spirituality, and the security of the lessons de- signed for the girls of the Church in the MIA program. Do you know how practical, how won- derfully appropriate these lessons are for girls as they develop from the adolescent 12-year-olds to mature young women, prepared to take upon themselves the role and responsibilities of wife, homemaker, and mother V
I noticed that she was a beautiful woman, immaculately groomed, modestly and smartly
I thought, without interrupting : we are success- ful. This is what generations of leaders have tried to do — to prepare girls through spiritual lessons, recreational, cultural, and social activities, to re- late the principles of the gospel to their daily experiences, bringing girls a full and happy life and preparing them for their roles as women, as wives, and as mothers, who share with their hus- bands the blessings of the priesthood of God. -►
Improvement Era
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My visitor continued: "Our eldest daughter ivas recently married in the temple and is working to become a Golden Gleaner. Our two middle daugh- ters are in college. They both have their feet on the ground. We are secure in the knowledge that they are prepared and capable of making their own decisions, having been taught proper values of right and wrong. We thank the MIA program for helping us, as parents, give them the necessary background to meet the problems of today's world in a safe, realistic yet spiritual manner. Our youngest is thrilled to be a member of a real class of Laurel girls and is excited about having girl and boy friends and dating. I just wanted you to know about us and the MIA, and thank you for this wonderful program that has helped us with our family."
It was my turn for tears. As I emotionally ac- cepted her thanks, I mentally thanked my Father in heaven for the Prophet, Brigham Young, who, 100 years ago, saw the need for the girls of the Church to be organized into a society. He started the organization with a group of sisters, his own daughters, on that November evening in 1869, when he spoke to them and said, "I have long had it in mind to organize the young ladies of Zion into an association so that they might assist the older members of the Church, their fathers and mothers, in propagating, teaching, and practicing the principles I have been so long teaching. There is need for the young daughters of Israel to get a living testimony of the truth. . . . For this pur- pose, I desire to establish this organization and want my family to lead out in the great work. We are about to organize a Retrenchment Asso- ciation, which I want you all to join, and I want you to vote to retrench in your dress, in your tables, in your speech. . . . Retrench in everything that is bad and worthless, and improve in every- thing that is good and beautiful."
As this grateful mother left my office, I thought
of the thousands of women who, as MIA leaders, have influenced hundreds of thousands of girls throughout a century of succeeding generations. Changes have taken place: the name, from the Young Women's Cooperative Retrenchment So- ciety, to Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association ; the motto, from "Improvement is our motto, perfection is our aim," to "The glory of God is intelligence" ; but the dedicated leadership and the program and its goals for girls have been constant.
In 1875 there was a question as to whether the waltz was a proper dance for the youth, and in 1965 there was a question as to whether the twist was a proper dance. The leaders of the youth in each generation have recognized that changes in such activities are normal, but regardless of change, good taste and modesty are constant.
It has been a century of vigilant leadership by great women who -have touched hearts and lives and homes with sentiment and love and goodness unmeasurable. It has been a century of sacrifice in terms of time and talent and loving concern — the hours of rehearsal, the special programs and favors, the letters of congratulation, the birthday cards, the painstaking preparation of scenery, and decorating the gym to look like a ballroom — the illustrations, the posters — the meetings, the phone calls, the traveling — but all this is not really sacrifice but service.
It has been a century of safety, as girls have been taught within the shelter of MIA the knowl- edge of right and wrong, and why and how to keep themselves clean and virtuous. Thousands and thousands of girls have learned and laughed and loved and been better able to realize to the fullest their potential here and in the eternities to come as daughters of God, because of their affiliation with the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association.
May the second century be even more glorious ! o
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Without the wonderful work of the women, realize that the Church would have been a failure. "--President Heber J. Grant
of Women in the Church Today
By Belle S. Spafford
Relief Society General President
• From the vantage point of the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association, those who guide its destinies today must look back with unshakable conviction that only through divine inspiration could such an organiza- tion for young women have been established.
There must be a deep sense of gratitude for the great women lead- ers who through the years have presided over this institution. There must be a thankful recognition for the inspired priesthood direction that has been continuously avail- able to the organization; there must be an almost overwhelming sense of joy and satisfaction in the accom- plishments.
Through the past century the YWMIA has touched the lives of hundreds of thousands of young women, holding before them the ideals of the Church, influencing for right their thinking, shaping their standards, and training them in a mastery of their conduct. It has developed their characters and provided opportunity for the en- largement and well-directed exer- cise of their talents. It has given them abundant and varied social
experiences. None need to have remained on the outside looking in because of lack of activities for which her talents .were suited. The YWMIA has been a potent influ- ence in bringing young women of the Church to maturity in thought and action and helping them acquire strong testimonies of the gospel that have created in them a desire to respond to the wishes and the needs of the Church, as defined by Church authorities.
President Heber J. Grant gave this impressive promise to the YWMIA: .
"As you shall inspire the young girls with the love of God, with the love of home, the love of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with a desire to seek to do that which will be pleas- ing to our Heavenly Father, you will grow in ability, strength, and in the power of God." (Gospel Standards, p. 151.)
This promise has truly been fulfilled.
Not only have the young women of the Church as individuals been fortunate beneficiaries of the work of the YWMIA, but immeasurable strength has accrued to the Church itself through the activities of this great organization.
Relief Society, designed for the mature women of the Church, recognizes its debt of gratitude to the YWMIA. As the young woman is brought by the natural processes of life to shift her interests and activities from those of her young womanhood to those of her mature years, she naturally seeks avenues whereby these changing interests and needs may be served. Count- less thousands of young women who have been trained by the YWMIA move naturally into the program of Relief Society with purpose and dedication. They bring with them stability of character, developed talents, leadership skills, and a devotion to the Church that become a bulwark of strength to Relief Society in meeting the re- sponsibilities assigned to it as a companion organization to the priesthood.
The Latter-day Saint woman has a significant role in the affairs of the Church. It is expected of her that she will lend her full strength, according to the nature of woman, and as directed by priesthood au- thority, to the building of God's kingdom on earth.
The Mormon woman actively participates in the work of the
May 1969
25
'Woman is part of a divinely ordained division of labor. . ."
Church. She serves as a proselyting missionary; she inspires sons and daughters to do likewise, and, in countless instances, she provides the necessary financial support. She serves in the auxiliaries of the Church. She renders untold hours of compassionate service in the name of the Church and loyally supports other types of Church wel- fare service. She devotes herself to genealogical research and vicarious work for the dead in the temples of the Church. Such services in- crease as the Church grows.
President Heber J. Grant gener- ously praised the women when he said: "Without the wonderful work of the women I realize that the Church would have been a failure." (Ibid., p. 150.)
From the beginning days of the Church, women have been given voice in the affairs of the Church. They have voted side by side with men on all questions submitted to the Church membership for vote. The will of the Lord in this matter was made clear in a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, and John Whit- mer at Harmony, Pennsylvania, July 1830, three months after the Church was organized, wherein the Lord said: "And all things shall be done by common consent in the church.. .." (D&C26:2.)
This recognition was an advanced \ conception in 1830, when no women had political franchise.
It was the desire to increase woman's usefulness to the Church that led the sisters of Nauvoo to approach the Prophet and seek to be organized. They had been
zealous in their service as indi- viduals, but they felt greatly limited in working as such. It must have been comforting to them when Eliza R. Snow, having represented them before the Prophet in their request for an organization, con- veyed to them these meaningful- words of the Prophet: "Tell the sisters their offering is accepted of the Lord. ... I will organize them under the priesthood after a pattern of the priesthood."
With the growth and expansion of the Church, the contribution of the women has been multiplied a thousandfold over that of the sisters of Nauvoo. As we contemplate the blessings enjoyed by Latter-day Saint women today— greater per- haps than those enjoyed by any other single body of women— may we not feel the contribution of the women of this day is accepted of the Lord?
The doctrines of the Church ac- cord to women a position of dig- nity, respect, and responsibility in God's eternal plan for his children. The gospel teaches that salvation and exaltation in the Father's king- dom are for all of the honest in heart in all the world, men and women alike, through individual obedience to the laws and ordi- nances instituted by the Lord upon which these blessings are predi- cated.
While the priesthood is given only to men in the Church, its benefits and blessings are shared by the wives and every member of the family. Elder John A. Widtsoe spoke of this as follows:
"In the ordinances of the Priest- hood man and woman share alike. The temple doors are open to every faithful member of the Church. And, it is to be noted that the high- est blessings therein available are only conferred upon a man and woman . . . jointly. Neither can receive them alone. In the Church
of Christ woman is not an adjunct to, but an equal partner with man." (Relief Society Magazine, June- July 1943, p. 373. )
Elder Bruce R. McConkie, in dis- cussing the doctrine recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4, makes this significant statement:
". . . he [man] cannot attain a fulness of joy here or of eternal reward hereafter alone. Woman stands at his side a joint-inheritor with him in the fulness of all things. Exaltation and eternal increase is her lot as well as his." (Mormon Doctrine [Salt Lake City: Book- craft, 1966], p. 844.)
Among the great doctrines of the Church, none is perhaps more sub- lime or more comforting to women than the doctrine of the eternity of the family unit. According to the late President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., the Latter-day Saint family, in a Latter-day Saint home, has three great functions to perform:
"First— it must bring to its mem- bers such lives as will enable them to return to the inner circles of that celestial home from which they came— a dwelling with the Heav- enly Father and Mother throughout eternities.
"Second— it must so carry out its duties, rights, and functions as to enable it, in turn, to found a celes- tial home that shall in some eternity hereafter be equal in power, oppor- tunity, and dignity with the celestial home from which we came and to which we shall return.
"Third— it must so live its life as to provide for the spirits yet wait- ing to come to this earth for their fleshly tabernacles, both bodies and minds that shall be healthy, for the spirits coming through them are the choice spirits, which have earned the right by their lives in their first estate, to come for their second estate, to the righteous homes— to the families of greatest worth, promise, and opportunity; and this
Improvement Era
family must provide for this spirit which it invites to come to its hearthstone, an environment that shall meet the strictest requirements of righteousness." (Relief Society Magazine, December 1940, p. 808. )
As we contemplate the Latter- day Saint family, we are impressed with the orderliness of its organiza- tion. President Grant has told us:
"The blessings and promises that come from beginning life together, for time and eternity, in a temple of the Lord cannot be obtained in any other way and worthy young Latter-day Saint men and women who so begin life together find that their eternal partnership under the everlasting covenant becomes the foundation upon which are built peace, happiness, virtue, love, and all of the other eternal verities of life, here and hereafter." (The Im- provement Era, April 1936, p. 199. )
The man is by divine decree the head or the presiding officer: he is the family provider. Woman is his companion and helpmate; she is the child bearer and child rearer. In this role, woman finds not only her divine mission, but also her greatest life-fulfillment. This di- vinely ordained division of labor for forming, maintaining, and protect- ing the family unit makes one parent no less important than the other; and -when respected in their individual roles, they lay the surest foundation for family well-being.
The place of woman in the Church, having been defined by divine decree, does not change from time to time. It remains con- stant. It is the same today as yes- terday; it will be the same tomor- row. As woman understands her place and functions as God intends, there come to her the richest pos- sible life fulfillment and the great- est eternal rewards. Blessed above all women of the world are the women of the Church who have this knowledge. o
May 1969
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Illustrated by David Thomas
Louisa Lulu Greene Richards: Woman Journalist of the Early West
By Dr. Leonard J. Arrington
• A hundred years ago, in Smithfield, Cache County, Utah, a young lady of 20 was busy preparing her editorial and feature articles for the weekly ward Sunday School Gazette. Sunday School newspapers were common in Latter-day Saint communities in the 1860's and 1870's, and several examples of them are in the Church Historian's Library- Archives in Salt Lake City. They were handwritten, two-column papers, usu- ally on four to eight sheets of legal-size writing paper. They went under such names as The Young La- dies Enterprize (Honeyville, Utah), The Young Ladies Companion (Bountiful, Utah), and The Knowl- edge Seeker (Hyrum, Utah). Each paper carried a
Dr. Leonard J. Arrington, a high councilor in the Utah State University Stake, is a professor of economics at Utah State University and a well-known author-historian on Mormon history.
motto. Examples of these were: "We seek the truth," "Knowledge is power," and "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth."
The actual preparation of the manuscript paper was often a project of the local Young Ladies' Cooperative Retrenchment Association, founded by Brigham Young and Eliza R. Snow in 1869, which eventually grew into what is now the Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association.
Most of the writers were teenagers, although the ward bishop was often called upon to contribute a word of advice, and a mother occasionally was asked to prepare a homiletic story of the triumph of good over evil. The girls' editorials were on such topics as improvement, fashion, faith in God, and tale-bearing.
Copies were distributed every Sunday (or every other Sunday ) at the close of the service to those who had paid the subscription price ( usual terms : "Attend Sabbath School and pay attention"). There was an
Improvement Era
m&
Portrait of Sister Richards is by her son, Levi Greene Richards, one of the Church's first painters of note.
"An epic of woman! Not in all the ages has there been like unto it. Fuller of romance than works of fiction are the lives of the Mormon women. So strange and thrilling is their story— so rare in its elements of experience— that neither history nor fable affords a perfect example. . . ." So wrote Edward W. Tullidge
in 1877 in his book The Women of Mormondom. One of the many extraordinary women of the empire - founding period was Louisa Lulu Greene Richards, who, incidentally, had much to do with the early development of the YWMIA, the organization this issue of the Era honors.
attempt at artistic design in the sketch of the mast- head and in the illustrations for some of the stories. Poetry and puzzles were sometimes included, as were occasional jokes, wise sayings, and the music of the newly composed songs.
The "editress" of the Smithfield Gazette, Louisa Lulu Greene, was the daughter of the city recorder, and the girls of the Retrenchment Association often met after school at her father's office to prepare their papers for the next Sunday. With a good sense of timing, Editor Louisa often came out with a special issue to celebrate the wedding anniversary of the oldest couple in the ward, or with a poem of praise to a young man who had just accepted a call to go on a mission. Sometimes the editorship was rotated among the girls so that all could share the responsi- bilities and joys of editorship.
Louisa Lulu Greene was the eighth of 13 children born to Evan M. and Susan Kent Greene. Her parents
were both natives of New York who had joined the Church in the 1830's and migrated to Kirtland, Ohio. There Evan taught an English grammar class; one of his students was the Prophet Joseph Smith. Evan served for a time as one of the Prophet's many clerks. After the expulsion from Nauvoo in 1846, Evan and Susan migrated to Winter Quarters on the Missouri River, where he served as postmaster of the town of Kanesville and as recorder and treasurer of Potta- wattomie County, Iowa. It was in Kanesville that Louisa was born, on April 8, 1849. The Greenes migrated to the Salt Lake Valley in 1852.
Evan Greene taught school in Provo, where he also served as mayor and represented Utah County in the territorial legislature. In 1859 the family moved to Grantsville, Utah, where the father was again elected to the legislature for two successive terms, represent- ing Tooele County. In 1864 Brother and Sister Greene took their now sizeable family to Smithfield.
May 1969
29
She founded the Woman's Exponent, today's Relief Society Magazine
Being a natural teacher, Brother Greene conducted the education of his own children, ably assisted by some of the older children. Louisa learned knitting and spinning, enjoyed dancing, sleighing, and theatri- cals, but took greatest delight in teaching her younger brothers and the children of the neighborhood. Her love of literature was evident at an early age as she made up stories to tell the children. As early as the age of 14 she was composing dramatic dialogues and poems. While studying in a private school in Salt Lake City in 1868-69, she contributed poems to the Salt Lake Herald and became noted for her literary abilities. She returned to Smithfield in time to assume the editorship of the Sunday Gazette in the fall of 1869.
When Louisa was released in 1870 to pursue further training at the University of Deseret in Salt Lake City, she occasionally sent articles by mail to the Gazette, but she felt impressed that the young girls in the Church should have their own magazine. She records that the idea was first implanted in her mind by Edward L. Sloan, editor of the Salt Lake Herald, who was impressed with her talent and competence, and who wrote her, promising his support. Louisa wrote Eliza R. Snow, president of the Relief Society of the Church and a relative, asking for counsel. Sister Snow, always eager to encourage young writers, thought the suggestion an excellent one. Indeed, she and other officers of the Relief Societies and Retrenchment Asso- ciations had discussed the feasibility of a woman's magazine for some months. She wrote to Louisa that she would broach the matter to President Brig- ham Young, and suggested a plan of finance. Presi- dent Young not only relayed his sanction, but, in Louisa's words, said "he would gladly appoint me the mission and bless me in it." Editor Sloan suggested the name of the magazine: Woman's Exponent.
Louisa had only one reservation. She was now ( 1871 ) 22 years old— shouldn't she be getting married? She wrote again to Sister Snow, this time from Smith- field, to which she had returned to assume the presi- dency of the Retrenchment Association there. Sister Snow replied:
"To be sure, while unmarried, one cannot be ful- filling the requisition of maternity, but let me ask 'Is it not as important that those already born should be
cultivated and prepared for use in the Kingdom of God as that others should be born?' If left to me to decide, I should say that of the two, the cultivation of the [mind] is the most consequence. How many mothers give birth to children who themselves are altogether unqualified to perform the duties of mothers? And yet, for Zion's sake, those children must be cultivated."
Encouraged by this advice and by- numerous prom- ises of support, Louisa moved to Salt Lake City, issued a prospectus, and began to sell subscriptions. The first issue came out on June 1, 1872. At the time, Louisa was only 23. That the Exponent first appeared on Brigham Young's birthday was apparently an acci- dent, but the President was almost certainly pleased, for he was a great-uncle of Louisa. One of the Presi- dent's daughters, "Susie" Young, was a frequent con- tributor.
The Woman's Exponent was published "for the benefit, education and development of thought of all the sisters in the Church." Its first and all subsequent issues were three-column quarto (10 by 13M inches), eight pages in length. Each number included poetry, fiction, editorials, sermons by Church officials, and news briefs from home and abroad.
Most of the literary selections were written by young Latter-day Saint girls and demonstrated the liveliness and spontaneity of pioneer Mormon culture. The Exponent was published semimonthly, and sold for $2.00 a year.
For the first year, at least, the magazine was printed at the Herald printing office and profited from the advice and experience of Edward Sloan. The Woman's Exponent was the first publication owned and edited by Latter-day Saint women. It was also the first magazine (with one fly-by-night exception) published by and for women west of the Mississippi River.
Although owned and published by active Church members, the Exponent was not an official publication of the Church, nor was it owned or controlled by the Relief Society. As an independent magazine, it could make mistakes without the Church's being held re- sponsible, and the reading matter was suited to the tastes and moral uplift of its feminine contributors and readers. The first issue stated the intentions of the founders :
"The aim of this journal will be to discuss every subject interesting and valuable to women. It will contain a brief and graphic summary of current news local and general, household hints, educational mat- ters, articles on health and dress, correspondence, editorials on leading topics of interest suitable to its columns and miscellaneous reading.
"It will aim to defend the right, inculcate sound
Improvement Era
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31
principles, and disseminate useful knowledge."
Thus, while it was an advocate of Mormonism, it was an independent advocate and was read with respect by the women of Europe and America who wished to know the opinions and attitudes of Latter-day Saint women. A motto carried on the masthead for many years was: "The Rights of the Women of Zion, and the Rights of the Women of all Nations." While inde- pendent, however, it was supported primarily by the Retrenchment Associations and by the members of the Relief Societies.
During her five years as editor ( 1872-77 ) , Louisa Greene had married Levi W. Richards (1873), had given birth to two daughters, and had directed some 123 issues of the Exponent. Thus, in 1877 she wrote to President Young asking him to release her. Ap- pointed to replace her was Emmeline B. Wells, who had been her assistant editor since December 1875. Sister Wells remained editor until the discontinuance of the magazine in 1914.
The interesting observation is that, as the young women who directed the Exponent grew older, their tastes and abilities also matured, and the Exponent became a woman's magazine in fact as well as in name. It was exhibited in the women's hall of a world's fair held at The Hague in 1898, and created considerable excitement as a defender of plural mar- riage. Above all, visitors to the booth were impressed, somewhat to their surprise, with the culture and re- finement of Mormon women.
As the Relief Society grew, and as many of its offi- cers had been or were on the staff of the Exponent, it seemed logical for the journal to be converted into an official organ of the Relief Society. This was done in 1913, when the Exponent began to carry the cap- tion, "The Organ of the Latter-day Saint Women's Relief Society." The next step was to change the name and format. The last issue of the Exponent, dated February 1914, was number 14 of the forty-first vol- ume. Beginning in 1914, it was the Relief Society Bulletin, which was followed in 1915 by the Relief Society Magazine. The latter has continued to this day. The first editor of the Relief Society Magazine was
Susa Young Gates (who had been the founder and first editor of the Young Woman's Journal).
Louisa, who had often published under the nom de plume "Lula," came to be known as Lulu Greene Richards. Continuing to write as she reared her family, she published in the Exponent, Relief Society Maga- zine, Children's Friend, Era, and Young Woman's Jour- nal, and conducted a department of the Juvenile Instructor under the heading "Our Little Folks." In 1904 she published a book of verse entitled Branches That Run Over the Wall. The following year, in honor of the hundredth anniversary of the birth of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Deseret Sunday School Union of- fered three prizes for the three best poems on the Prophet. Sister Richards won all three of the prizes! She also contributed to the hymnbook and to the Sunday School and Primary song books.
In addition to her literary activities, Sister Richards bore seven children, of whom three daughters died in childhood and four sons grew to manhood. The eldest, Levi ("Lee") Greene Richards, became one of the West's most creative painters. Another, Willard, partici- pated in the colonization and development of southern Alberta. A third, Evan, was a dentist, while Heber became a professor of English at the University of Utah.
While rearing her family and writing, Sister Rich- ards also served as president of the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association of the 20th Ward in Salt Lake City; as an officer of the Relief Society of that ward; as a member of the general board of the Primary Association of the Church; and as member of the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union. She was an officiator in the Salt Lake Temple from the time of its dedication in 1893 until 1934. She repre- sented Utah and the Church in various women's con- ventions, and traveled extensively as a representative of the Church to meetings of women, young and old, from Canada to Mexico, to organize and inspire the women's auxiliaries. She died in Salt Lake City in 1944, at 95 years of age.
Few Latter-day Saints have excelled Lulu Greene Richards in influence and versatility. o
Tall Story By Maureen Cannon
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Improvement Era
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33
The PioneerWoman
By Dr. Kenneth and
• Uprooted from their homes with hardly time for a proper good-bye, and leaving behind much that was dear to them, the pioneer women did what they could to make their rugged wagons home to their wandering families.
Most of their conveniences had been left in New York, Ohio, Mis- souri, or Illinois. Thus, they were faced with putting to full use all the talents and skills at their com- mand to make life bearable. They must have thought of the women
Audrey Ann Godfrey
of ancient Israel who followed Moses, and those who went with Lehi into the wilderness. This would give them strength and re- new their hope that with the help of God, they too would find their "promised land," a home to call their own.
"With almost their entire culinary material limited to the milk of their cows, some store of meal or flour, and a very few condiments," as one writer wrote, they learned to fash- ion a meal that was both appetizing
Improvement Era
7
Before leaving camp each morning,
Mary mixed her bread and placed it in the wagon to rise.
and healthful. They found if they hung the leftover milk and cream on the side of the wagon, it would turn to butter as the wagon jogged along. They acquired the skill of working with yeast. When camp was made and a fire laid in an iron stove or an oven dug in the side of the hill, the well-kneaded loaf was ready for baking. Often they would find an oven ready for their use, left by those who had gone before. Mary M. Voght Garn crossed the plains with seven children. She made regular yeast and thickened it with cornmeal into a heavy dough. She would shape the dough into small squares and place these in a sjiaded corner of the wagon, knowing that the sun would kill her carefully guarded yeast plants. When new yeast was needed, a new start would be made from the last
square. Before leaving camp each morning, Mary mixed her bread and placed it in the wagon to rise. As she traveled, the yeast would do its work, and evening would find the family taking its meal with freshly baked bread.
But food was not always plenti- ful. Hosea Stout recorded in his diary on June 20, 1846, just two short months away from Nauvoo, that "hunger began to grind hard upon us." Stout wrote: ". . . my wife went to preparing our dinner which might properly be called our 'ultimatum.' It consisted of a small portion of seed beans and a little bacon boiled and made into soup. We had flour enough to set it out and in fact we this last time . . . seemed [to have] a more luxurious and sumptuous table than usual which made to a stranger an ap- pearance of plenty."
That night two men took their meal with the Stouts, never dream- ing it was the last of the family's provisions. Later the family was reduced to eating boiled corn.
As the wagons came into buffalo country, families busily engaged themselves in making jerk from the freshly killed meat. They cut the meat into long strips that they dipped in a boiling solution of brine. It was then hung on a heavy cord over a smudge fire for the night. The next morning the strings of meat were looped under the wagon bows to be dried in the sun.
As the days grew into weeks, the women of the wagon trains knew a companionship with each other that was very close, brought on by the common hardships they suffered. They nursed each other through cholera, mountain fever, and childbirth. Eliza R. Snow re-
Brother and Sister Godfrey are members of the Tempe Sixth Ward, Tempe (Arizona) Stake, where Brother Godfrey is district coordinator of Arizona and New Mexico seminaries and institutes, and where Sister Godfrey is mother, teacher, and part-time writer.
corded that the first night out from Nauvoo, nine children were born.
As time went on, women gave birth to babies under every circum- stance imaginable. Sister Snow wrote: ". . . some in tents, others in wagons, in rainstorms, and in snow- storms. I heard of one birth which occurred under the rude shelter of a hut, the sides of which were formed by blankets fastened to poles stuck in the ground, with a bark roof through which the rain was dripping. Kind sisters stood holding dishes to catch the water as it fell, thus protecting the new- comer and its mother from a showerbath."
In many cases the women orga- nized, just as the men did, in order to accomplish the goals they had set for themselves. In one organiza- tion resolutions were drawn up. such as those noted by Louisa Barnes Pratt in her diary: "Re- solved: that when the brethren call on us to attend prayers, get engaged in conversation and forget what they called us for, that the sisters retire to some convenient place, pray by themselves and go about their business." Then Louisa adds, "If the men wish to hold control over women, let them be on the alert. We believe in equal rights."
Often, after children were tucked into bed, the women would gather in small groups and enjoy the cool- ness and quiet of the evening. Louisa wrote that "the Platte River country was beautiful." The women could be seen strolling along the river banks in the moonlight or enjoying a refreshing bath in its waters. "Our hearts, at the same time, glowed with wonder and ad- miration at the beauty and sublim- ity of the scenery, alone in a great wilderness."
Though the days were often dull, there were other times when the excitement was . almost more than these prairie women needed, as
May 1969
35
Whether they made soap
from ashes or paint
from skim milk,
ingenuity
was their key
Rachel Lee found out near the end of her journey. As she walked be- side her wagon, delighting in the wind that cooled her a little as she trudged along, an unexpected gust whipped her skirts into the wagon wheel. Historical writer Juanita Brooks wrote that before Rachel knew it, her skirts were being "wrapped around and around the hub. She screamed for help as she tried to extricate them, but in an instant they were drawn so tight that she could only grasp two spokes in her hands, her feet be- tween two others, and make a com- plete revolution with the wheel."
The wagon was finally stopped, and Rachel found herself almost right side up but still tightly bound to the wheel. Everyone gathered around, trying to decide how to get her loose. There was no question of cutting her clothing, as that would mean one less item for wear that she needed badly.
It was decided they would un- hook her skirt and unbutton the petticoat, and by carefully slitting the placket, she could be pulled free. Her shoes were unlaced. Then as one woman held a blanket to protect her from curious eyes, she was plucked from skirt, petticoats, and shoes "as clean as though they were skinning the legs of a chicken." Later the clothing was easily removed from the wheel, and in the privacy of her wagon Rachel shook them free of wrinkles and put them on again. As she took up her walk again, she kept a wary distance from the wheels.
After being spread out in various
places during the day's travel, the families especially enjoyed their evenings together. By then all the out-workers— scouts, ferrymen or bridgemen, roadmakers, herdsmen or haymakers— were finished and could come to the camp to rest. As the smoke of the campfires was silhouetted against the pink clouds of sunset, the bells of the cattle heralded the arrival of the tired laborers. Many of the women would go out to meet them. Later, with the children in their laps or seated about them, they would talk over the events of the day.
"But every day closed as every day began, with an invocation of the Divine favour; without which, indeed, no Mormon seemed to dare to lay him down to rest. With the first shining of the stars, laughter and loud talking hushed, the neigh- bor went his way, you heard the last hymn sung, and then the thousand-voiced murmur of prayer was heard, like babbling water fall- ing down the hills," wrote Thomas L. Kane.
With their destination reached, the women found there were still mountains to be climbed in the form of establishing households in the wilds of the Great Basin. M. Isabella Home, who arrived in the valley on October 6, 1847, told of the difficulties she and other women faced.
"Mr. Home succeeded in build- ing two small log rooms that season for our family, which consisted of my husband, myself, four children, and Brother and Sister Robert Holmes, whom we brought with us, and when we moved into the house there were neither doors, windows, nor floors."
She tells how they made their furniture, as they had brought with them only one chair. Holes were made in the logs of the house; in these were inserted poles that stretched horizontally and were
held up at the other end by posts set in the floor. Rope or rawhide was stretched across the poles to form a bed. The cupboards were made by again inserting two smaller poles in the log wall and laying a packing box on top of them. Calico curtains were hung across the front to keep out the dirt. Stools were made for seats, and boxes were used for tables until lumber to build them could be found.
In March 1848 a severe storm, which lasted ten days, saturated their sod roof, and the rain came inside. Brother Home tacked wagon covers to the roof and the foot of the bed to let the water run off so they could sleep. Oilcloth was stretched over the table. As they cooked or did housework, they wore wraps and carried umbrellas. After the rain had stopped, it still con- tinued to rain inside for quite some time.
Then came the snakes and mice. The snakes were soon frightened away or killed. But the mice were more evasive. They turned up in trunks, beds, and even coat sleeves. A trap was invented that consisted of a whittled, round piece of wood laid over a pail with water in it. .The middle of the stick was flat, and grease was put on the edges. When the mouse ran out to get the grease, the wood turned, tip- ping the mouse into the water. After Sister Haight supplied her neighbors with kittens, the supply of mice was greatly diminished.
Since their cattle had been worked down, their meat was very poor, so tough it had to be boiled all day. There were no vegetables except for a few sego lilies and parsnips that the children dug. Isabella says that the segoes were quite good when freshly cooked, but became thick and ropy as they cooled.
Sister Leonora Taylor owned the only sieve in the valley. She had
Improvement Era
brought a piece of bolting cloth with her that she attached to a frame made for her by one of the men. It was borrowed when any of the sisters wanted to make white biscuits.
The women helped each other in additional ways. Isabella heard of a neighbor who had put some red lead and lamp black into skim milk and painted her home. She bor- rowed the remaining "paint," and using a rag, covered her doors and frames.
Setting a precedent for their modern counterparts, the pioneer women used their ingenuity to fashion the tools they needed. Cot- ton yarn became fish nets. Floured and larded rags were twisted into crude candles to light the homes. Ashes became soap. Squash and pumpkin thickened cornstalk mo- lasses.
The first year was a busy time, with few amusements. But the pioneers felt free and happy, be- cause they had no fear of mobs. They planted gardens that grew well and flowers that brightened their rustic surroundings. The first fruit trees took root. And by the second year, work had slowed enough to allow time for socials, dancing parties, and other activities.
It had been a long, hard journey from Nauvoo, but now the rewards outweighed the labors. Homes were firmly established and gardens had been harvested, with the produce put away for winter consumption. There were free hours for visiting beloved friends. The pioneer women once more settled into com- fortable routines of keeping a home and making life beautiful and happy for those around them. The journey had helped them grow in service, in faith, in love, in strength. These attributes would continue to assist these female adventurers in helping to build the kingdom of God on earth. o
May 1969
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37
A Woman's
Career
By Lorraine Roberts
/l/ustrated by Dick Brown
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• For ten years I have been counseling teenage girls in their vocational in- quiries as part of the guidance program for ninth grade students. Year after year, when the girls are asked what type of career they plan to prepare for, the answer received is usually, "Oh! I'm not going to prepare for a vocation. I'm going to be a housewife."
Many teenagers do not realize how many women spend time working out- side the home. In addition, almost a third of all mothers with children of school age are now employed, and the percentage of women workers is increas- ing each year. According to the U.S. De- partment of Labor, the single woman works for about 40 years. This includes about one-tenth of all women.
"Even married women, on the aver- age, can count on rather lengthy work life expectancies — about 30 years for those with children, and about 25 years for those without children," the depart- ment has reported.
While mothers are not encouraged to work outside the home, it is still im- portant for them to be prepared to earn a living if it should ever become necessary for them to do so. It is esti- mated that in the United States high
school girls of today will spend an average of 25 years working. Married women who do not have children usually spend a greater part of their time work- ing than do women with children, while women who remain single can expect to spend as many years earning a liveli- hood as men do — approximately 45 years.
Most young women work for a few years before they marry. Later, for various reasons, they may return to the labor force. The death of a husband is one reason some women return to work. Others seek employment* be- cause their husbands become disabled due to accidents or illnesses. Some- times, when her family has grown to young adulthood, a mother will be happy if she can work for a while to help support Johnny on a mission or to help Dick with his college expenses. Occasionally a broken home necessi- tates a woman's return to the vocational fields.
These are a few of the reasons why every girl should prepare herself for some kind of work outside the home.
A majority of the girls I interview state preference for professional occu- pations, such as medicine, law, or social
•4 s3ft?yt~.«r .. * = ■ *i_/V~
work. These vocational objectives sound good, but they are unrealistic for about 97 percent of these girls. because only about three percent of the population will be engaged in pro- fessional fields.
Some girls note that they would like to be airline stewardesses, stenog- raphers or typists, or beauticians. Of these three vocations, the stenographic position is probably the most realistic choice from the standpoint of supply and demand.
Few girls express an interest in the semiprofessional or technical occupa- tions, such as those of X-ray techni- cians, medical technicians, laboratory assistants. This area certainly needs to be stressed as one that will offer fine opportunities to those who obtain necessary training.
In the next decade the following trends are expected:
The clerical field will probably re- main the area offering the greatest number of positions for women. Women hold two-thirds of all clerical jobs, ac- cording to one government survey.
There will likely be an increased demand for women in data process- ing— as key punch operators, console
operators, and programmers.
The professional and technical posi- tions are expected to be the most rapidly growing occupational groups. "Between 1965 and 1975, employment in the professional and technical group is expected to rise by nearly 40 percent — almost twice the rate for total em- ployment," according to the Labor Department report.
"Job opportunities generally will in- crease fastest in occupations requiring the most education and training," the report concludes. These are the pro- fessional, technical, and kindred work- ers. Likewise, the less schooling a person has, the higher the rate of un- employment, since jobs for unskilled workers will decline.
Teachers at all levels of education will be in demand. There will be an increased need for women workers in medical and health services.
Full-time and part-time job oppor- tunities will be available for women in sales work, practical nursing, and as counter and fountain workers, char- women, and cleaners.
However, girls should actually plan for two careers: a vocation and the career of homemaker. The career of
"Every girl should prepare herself for some kind of work.
"The career of homemaking demands special education and basic training. . ."
homemaking demands special educa- tion, basic training, and experience. Not only should the homemaker know the art of food preparation, how to sew, the techniques of child care, and basic first aid and home nursing, but she must also be a loving wife who can share her husband's ups and downs with understanding and affection. She must know how to kiss away the tears that invade the little tots' eyes, and she must know how to give them the right amount of discipline and freedom so they might be happy, secure children.
The homemaker must be able to transmit her feelings of reverence and her knowledge of the gospel to her children so they may possess high moral standards and be active partici- pants in the Church as they grow to adulthood. She must know how to help budget the family income in such a way that there will be money left each month for savings. She must know how to buy for greatest value, how to mend, repair, and redecorate. She must know how to manage her time so well that the household chores are consistently completed and there is still time left for a bit of visiting with neighbors.
The housewife must know where, when, how, and how much to help children with their schoolwork. She must be patient with their failures, and lend encouragement and an interested ear to them. She must also possess the ability to close her eyes to many of the daily problems that could cause her to be negative and to nag at her husband and family. She must be aware of the importance of putting on a freshly laundered house dress and applying lipstick to smiling lips before her husband arrives home from work.
When the time comes that she re- turns to employment outside the home, she will find that running the house properly and maintaining a warm home situation have been excellent job preparation. Teenagers need to know that they will only be as successful tomorrow as they are ambitious today in preparing for their future. o
Improvement Era
Proudly Celebrating
our 100th gear...
..A.-VuiV/
iiiillll
This is the big year — our centennial year - as it was on May 10, 1869 that the historic "Driving of the Golden Spike" joined the rails of Union Pacific with the Central Pacific and created America's first transcon- tinental railroad — uniting the East and
the West.
We're proud of the part we've played in the
"winning of the West." When the golden
spike finally had been driven, the U. P.
consisted of a single line from Omaha,
Nebraska westward just a little more than
1,000 miles. Today the U. P. operates
in thirteen western states, and every
minute of every day dozens of
freight trains are moving over
our nearly 10,000 mile system — hauling food for your table, furniture for your home, automobiles for your business and pleasure. You name it — we probably haul it!
Proud of the past? Yes! But more important, we're always looking to the future. More than just a railroad, Union Pacific is a 20th century space-age complex of electronics, communications, mechanical and scientific devices. A hundred years ago we united America by rail. But what have we done for tomorrow? We have developed a set of sharp new tools . . . people, plans, equipment and facilities ... to work on tomorrow's transportation problems today.
UNION
PACIFIC
RAILROAD
GOLDEN SPIKE
1869 M969
CENTENNIAL
UNION PACIFIC
Your good neighbor who is helping to build the West
May 1969
41
Teaching
Conducted by the Church School System
By Albert L. Payne
Illustrated by Virginia Sargent
How to Teach About
• The young man in the flower shop was tall, clean-cut, and defi- nitely masculine. As he waited, he shifted from one foot to the other; and when the flowers were shown for his approval, he hesitated as he considered what should be writ- ten on the card. The clerk, im- patient and anxious to have the matter settled, offered several sug- gestions: "With love," "Lovingly," or "Affectionately." The boy quietly declined each suggestion, and at last his decision was made. "Please write, 'Happy Valentine,' " he said. A capable young secretary told her employer she was going to re- sign her position in order to ac- company her husband to live on a ranch. Although her husband had
nearly completed his education for a professional life, he had decided to return to his boyhood dreams. When asked her feelings respecting this development, the young wife said that she and her husband had been considering this change for sometime, and she had decided that whatever would make her husband happy, wherever it would be, would also make her happy.
These two experiences are deep- ly revealing of the attitudes these young people had about other people, and one may well con- template the origin of such commendable attitudes. What kind of training or experience prompted the young man to send flowers to a girl friend? What caused the wife
to think her happiness depended on the happiness of her husband? And, more importantly, bow can adults influence the development of these attitudes?
The teachings of the gospel have helped us understand the eternal nature and worth of people, but as human beings we have not always been able to transfer this knowledge into meaningful attitudes and ac- tions. We have tried various methods of teaching, but we have learned that some of these methods are not effective.
Careless drivers, for example, usually do not become careful, con- siderate, and defensive even though they may see a movie depicting the dangers of improper driving. Chas-
Improvement Era
Womanhood
Albert L. Payne, an editor with the Seminaries and Institutes Department of the Church School System, is a member of the Youth Correlation Committee and a former member of the general board of the YMMIA.
tity is not necessarily the product of a lecture by a doctor nor even of a series of lessons in Sunday School, seminary, or MIA. Young people may not catch a vision of any ideal from an isolated lesson or lessons. Attitudes are so deep-seated and interrelated that teaching them be- comes a complicated and lengthy process.
A youth who thinks of giving flowers to a girl friend is likely to be considerate and thoughtful of women under other circumstances. One may also safely assume that he knows that women feel and think differently about some things than he does. One would suspect that he is the kind of driver who adheres to the rules of the road,
the kind of pedestrian who walks on sidewalks instead of lawns, the kind of friend who is courteous and inoffensive in his personal rela- tionships with people, and that he did not learn any of these things in single lessons or experiences.
One might also conclude that wives who are considerate of the desires and feelings of their hus- bands and have the courage and love necessary to yield their plans learned to be understanding and considerate of the feelings of other people long before they were married.
How can adults teach ideals and attitudes that will result in superior behavior by young men and young women with respect to the ideals of
womanhood? First, one must relate this ideal to many other things; and second, one must provide di- rect learning experiences.
Attitudes about womanhood be- gin with the first experiences of life. As a girl grows up, she finds it easier to think of herself as womanly if her experiences are feminine.
Girls who can knit, crochet, sew, arrange flowers and furniture, and who dress in dainty things; girls who know the refining influence of good music and literature; girls who see the art of motherhood ex- hibited in their homes—these are the girls who have, in all proba- bility, grown to feel feminine and therefore want to act and be
May 1969
43
"...both sexes want women to be the personification of the delicate, beautiful, gentle, loving, and spiritual elements of life"
treated as ladies. When girls have been made conscious of beauty, harmony, and propriety, and see the potential of incorporating these qualities in their own lives, they will, for example, dress in clothing that tends to be beautiful, modest, and appropriate rather than simply faddish. Such girls gradually be- gin to feel something of the glory of refined womanhood.
When young men are rough, thoughtless, and selfish— appar- ently thinking the world owes them something— one may be led to be- lieve they may also think that women arc created for their per- sonal pleasure. Such an attitude cannot be changed by a lesson on womanhood. A boy who thinks he is the center of a universe created to please and serve him usually has difficulty imagining that he should sacrifice and serve other people.
A boy who does not care if he hurts or offends others has diffi- culty accepting the rules of eti- quette. A boy who is insensitive to moral values has difficulty under- standing the place of ideals of any sort in life. If boys have not been taught to have pride— in themselves, in the appearance of their homes and yards, in the care of their clothing, and in the impression they make on others— they will be less likely to respond to lessons in- tended to change attitudes about womanhood. If, therefore, we are to teach them the ideals of woman- hood, we must begin by teaching many other things.
Teaching this ideal is not easy. It is helpful if boys have already learned to take pride in what they do— pride in such things as the
way they mow lawns, pass the sacrament, do schoolwork, and participate in hobbies. They should also have learned to be conscious of their appearance and the impres- sion they make, genuinely grateful for things they receive, and con- siderate of the needs and wishes of others. In other words, it is al- most impossible to teach young men about the ideals of womanhood if they are weak and selfish and have not already learned something of obedience to standards, con- sideration of others, and the place of cultural things in life.
Young men and women must ac- quire a sense of their own worth and the worth of others, and they must accept a high and noble purpose in life, if they are to be receptive to teachings about the ideals of womanhood. They must learn self -discipline by being re- quired to do things well, and to say no to temptation. They must learn something of the worth of people through giving service gra- ciously and effectively. They must learn about self-respect and the feeling of personal dignity and de- cency through practicing self-con- trol. These things together form a foundation upon which teachers may build concepts and feelings about womanhood that are appro- priate and meaningful to young •people.
The ideal of womanhood is based on self-respect. Since it is an ideal, we can find only imperfect examples; but it is believed that both sexes want women to be the personification of delicate, dainty, beautiful, feminine, gentle, loving, and spiritual elements of life.
Men who accept this kind of an ideal do not stop to ponder if the girl or woman approaching the door is worthy: they open the door for her because of their ideal. And women who accept this kind of ideal and try to live in harmony with it are disappointed when men treat them as if there were no dif- ferences between them and the roles each is meant to play.
The second part of the task of teaching the ideal of womanhood is to provide immediate learning experiences. These may be through observation or action, but if the experiences are to be effective, they must be directly applicable to the age of the students.
Young people need to have mod- els that they can see and hear. If they are fortunate, they have exam- ples at home and have already learned that womanhood is glorious and worthy of respect. If home models are not good, young people should have others pointed out in the ward or branch. In either case, the model is adult, and young people will need to learn how to adapt what they observe and hear to their own situation. They should also be given an opportunity to act out this ideal. This may be done at the time of teaching lessons on womanhood or on such social graces as courtesy, propriety, and etiquette. During and as a part of these les- sons, enough role playing should take place to give a feeling of doing things graciously and proper- ly. Following the lessons, there should be enough review to en- courage application in the students' lives.
Finally, young people should not only be taught the ideal of woman- hood by precept and example, but they should also be made" aware of its relationship to other important values in their lives. They should know the disadvantages to them, personally, if the ideal is lost. o
44
Improvement Era
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May 1969
45
A Happy
Misunder- standing
By Georgia Shiner
Illustrated by Virginia Sargent
■. ■'.'■ ■" ■■ -m ■". ■■ ". ■
• When he came in from looking after the sheep that morning, his wife was still in bed, as usual. And as usual he went to the bottom of the stairs and, with tired pain in his voice, aimed a single word at the bedroom above.
"Well?"
Wardle waited. There was a faint rustling above, but no answer and no thump of feet on the floor. If things were normal, Joan would at least give him a groan of reproach. So Wardle knew now that things were not normal. She was still enjoying the huff of last night's quarrel about whether her cat was going to be allowed to bring her kittens in by the stove or not.
He had won that quarrel. The cat was still under the porch. But he would have to get his own break- fast as one of the costs of that victory.
As Wardle lit the fire and tried to find the oatmeal, he began to wonder what great virtue in him made him so patient with this woman.
"Why don't I know when I've had enough?" he asked himself. "There's just so much a person can take."
Now what pleasure was there in store for this day?
Georgia Shiner, chorister in the Leadore Ward, Lost River (Idaho) Stake, reports she is a happy mother and grand- mother, and lives "on a ranch some distance from town."
He would work in the fields all morning and come in to a meal of potatoes with their skins on and cold boiled ham. He would work all afternoon in the fields and come to a supper of cold potatoes and cold meat loaf.
And all the time the house would look as if it were inhabited by seven children in spite of their having none at all to warm the cold silence of the place.
It had been going on like this far too long.
"I think it's time to do something about it," Wardle said to himself. "Yes, I think it's time."
That morning, after finally getting around his un- satisfactory breakfast, Wardle found the strange weed. He had turned the cows out to pasture and was hard at work repairing a fragile section of fence when he spotted a whole army of the weeds almost at his feet.
It was a weed he had never seen before. It seemed to grow in clumps, and at the top of each stalk was a wrinkled flower of a rather bright yellow.
He pulled out a clump and was surprised at the hold the plant had on the soil. Give it another year or two and it might be spread all over the place, he thought.
Weeds, like women, were something that Wardle could fret about for hours on end. It was this certi-
46
Improvement Era
fied seed that the government was advising them to use nowadays, he thought. Nothing ever passed through the government's hand without getting some sort of contamination.
He decided that he would look into the matter of this new weed, which was grabbing so vigorously at his cherished acres.
'Til take a clump of this to the men down at the agricultural office," he said to himself. "They're getting paid to tell me what to do about things like this— getting paid out of my taxes."
A few minutes later, when Wardle went back to the house to return the hammer and fencing staples to the shop in the woodshed5 he took the weed clump with him. In the house he wondered how he could keep it fresh until he had a chance to get into town.
Joan still was sleeping off her huff, so he went back to the fields again, grumbling at the work he had to do in order to keep such a woman in the luxury of her indolence.
At noon, when Wardle came up to the house, he was astounded at the most delightful cooking odors coming through the screen door.
On the table was the best meal he had seen since Christmas. And among other delicacies, the ham was steamed hot and laced with raisins, and the potatoes were mashed to the lightness of snow.
What was more, the house looked as though a maid had set it in order. There wasn't a thing out of place.
Wardle didn't know what to make of it. He looked at his wife and noticed for the first time that she was neat in fresh pink, and that she was wearing lipstick. "Are we expecting company?" Wardle asked. Joan smiled, and that was a shock too. She had laughed at him plenty of late, but a smile was some- thing he could hardly remember. "No," she said. "It's just for you."
Wardle sat down and took the first bite, and then decided to wait for his wife to sit down too. He smiled a little, but got control of himself quickly. There was just one reason why she could act like this, he reasoned. It was going to cost him money. That smile she had given him was a money smile. What else could it possibly be?
But Wardle forced himself to remain decent none- theless. There was no use spoiling so delightful a dinner, no matter what dark intrigue lay behind it.
There had been a time, many years ago, when they used to play the little game of making up after a quarrel, but Wardle could only vaguely recall the rules of that game, so distant it was now.
He waited for the next move, but the dinner ended
with a fat sigh of contentment, and Joan had nothing to say. No demands. Not even a suggestion. On the contrary, she seemed to be waiting for some comment to come from him.
"It was a good dinner," Wardle said. "Just shows what you can do if you try."
She smiled at him for the second time, and stood there in her pink dress and the lipstick as if there were some important thing left undone. It gave him a most uncomfortable feeling.
The feeling followed him out to the barnyard, and followed him and his tractor out to the field. What in the world was she up to? Had she been reading one of these new psychology books?
At 3:30 his tractor choked up with hay fever or some- thing, and Wardle decided to call it a day. This other thing was still bothering him, anyway. He didn't like something he couldn't solve.
He thought perhaps he'd leave the heat of the dusty field and go into town to see how the boys at the flour mill were doing. Oh, yes, and he could take that clump of weeds into the agricultural office. He stopped abruptly.
Joan was coming up the lane with a little pail in her hand. When she got close enough, he could see that the pail was sweating.
"I made some lemonade," she said. "You must be awfully hot."
Wardle found the shade of a cranberry bush and sat down. Such a surprise had a remarkable weaken- ing effect. He tried to grin, but his throat didn't function right. "Joan," he said at last, "what is this all about?" Joan sat down beside him.
"That was an awful sweet way to try to make up," she said, "putting those lovely flowers in a vase for me. Why, Wardle, you haven't done a thing like that for— well— for ages."
Wardle tried another drink of lemonade; it didn't go down any better than the first one. But it didn't mat- ter, because she suddenly began to hug him.
That was embarrassing too, because he was so out of practice, and besides, he was afraid some of the neighbors might see. But he got through it all right, and afterward the lemonade went down very well.
It was quite a while before they began walking through the fields together toward the home. And then, suddenly, as if it were rearing its sunny face in a smile, another of the weeds was there in front of him. Wardle guessed he never would know what strange name it bore or where it had come from. But he knew he had identified a far more threatening weed in him- self. And he had torn it out by the roots. o
May 1969
47
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48
Improvement Era
Yester
1869
■
These are the things A young girl loves . . .
1969
A hat, a purse,
/; - r,
Cfff^k.x
A pair of gloves,
A scarf, new shoes,
A dress,
A book, a doll,
An iron to press.
'***mnni ""'f •,
*J**-
>' /
-?-■■"-■■ ""7>;v
May 1969
|
etrao |
iTCTfiin |
||
|
Marion D. Hani Elaine Cannon, As |
<s, Editor sociate Editor |
•*vr\4
sn tr%
Step Right Up to Happiness!
Be a Special Kind of Girl
By Elaine Cannon
There is a special kind of girl who goes where the action is, but
only if the action is the right kind. . .
who centers the happy storm about her, but doesn't stir up one.
who makes a mere event a happening.
who isn't content with contentment.
who doesn't fight the inevitable nor ignore opportunities.
— but who joins forces with time and fate and rises to every occasion.
This special kind of girl
knows that the way she moves, the way she speaks, the fragrance
about her, and the good things she does
mark the difference between herself and the girl who just
doesn't really care enough about being a girl.
This special kind of girl
makes up her own mind after careful, prayerful thought.
She sets her own image.
She's tasteful, individual, exciting. She's WOW! She has "pizazz."
She's worthwhile and a breath of sweet life.
Step right up to happiness. Take the first step now to
becoming that special kind of girl.
May 1969
51
Life's Best
• It is the crowning accomplishment and the noblest fulfillment of a beauti- ful woman to be the wife, mother, home- maker, heart of the home for which, in her happiest and highest dreams, she longs. If in the course of experience this doesn't happen, or if it be delayed, will you, while you wait for it to happen, be bravely on the way, content to make the best of life? Will you yet make of life a sweet and wholesome and mean- ingful and giving thing? Will you be preparing not only for what you hope might happen some day but also for what happens every day?
How will you be preparing for the highest fulfillment of your dreams? How will you be preparing for a life that can be all that a good life ought to be, if it isn't all you would like it to be? How will you be becoming that which will most graciously and appropriately ful- fill the happiest hope of your life?
The outline is simple:
Loyalty to self, whether life brings us all that we would hope or less than we might dream. Stretch your mind. Give it a daily task beyond its present strength.
Loyalty to others — those near us and beloved of us and those beyond the near circle of our immediate family and friends.
Loyalty to life, for by our lives we can qualify for the love and respect of those about us.
Loyalty to God: responding to the highest and noblest wishes and com- mands of God will measure consider- able of our enjoyment and our contri- bution, o
(Excerpts from a talk given by Elder Marion D.
Hanks in the Salt Lake Tabernacle during a tribute
to Sister Emma Rae Riggs McKay)
To the Girls Not Yet Married
By Jeane Woolfenden
• It is good to be a part of life. And the ones with the most energy, time, daring, ways, and means are the young — especially young women — when they discover partying with peers, folk singing by guitar, philosophizing over Milton, cook- ing for the fellows, playing tennis in the sun, reading Heming- way with an apple, being at a fireside, or listening to Scheherazade near a fireplace.
But there is a certain set of young ladies who suffer attacks of "fright-itus," or "insecure-nemia," or "last-chance panicia," each of which seriously hampers their active, creative lives. It occurs mainly in girls between the ages of 20 and 30. It can be seen in its most concentrated form in college seniors in the spring. That is why it is called Senior Panic. But it affects any girl who lowers her level of resistance and succumbs to social pressure (self-imposed or otherwise).
What is it that victimizes hundreds of bright, young, lively girls? It is the creeping, binding, stifling attitude that they are worthless because they are not married and have no imme- diate prospects. I know girls who on Friday night will not even take the garbage out for fear of having someone see them and know that they do not have a date that evening. These girls feel fingers pointing their way, naming them "Miss Social Reject of the Month."
This type of girl sees gray clouds of depression and foggy ditches of discouragement in her path. She will not participate in parties or outings, supposing that her prince or knight or whatever will come dashing to the door on a charger and whisk her away in her dowdy grubbies and rollers. She plans on "in the future," when she will sew a new summer dress, go hiking with friends, attend a symphony concert, or write a short story. She cannot do it now, because she dreams that at any moment the phone will ring and at the other end will be a masculine voice saying, "Are you too busy to go with me to the temple Friday?"
Marriage is for eternity. Now is as much eternity as marriage will be in the future. If you are not finding happi- ness now, can you expect to find happiness when you are married? Now is the time to create happiness. o
52
Era of Youth
;■-::;
p-'.f- • _
The World of Women
By Nancy Twitty
Senior at Brigham Young University
• Is it a woman's world?
That age-old question has been the subject of many good-natured debates throughout the world.
Since the courageous struggles of American pio- neer women and crusading marches of temperance leaders, more and more eyes have focused on the power of womanhood. Great women of past decades from countries abroad have long been lauded, such as Polish Nobel prize winner Marie Curie, and Victorian English writers Emily and Charlotte Bronte.
But today, on the eve of a new decade, the ''woman's world" is producing some greats in everything from creative housework to aero- nautics.
Renowned in music circles is Alicia de Larrocha, hailed as the greatest Spanish pianist in our gen- eration. Veronica Tyler, celebrated American soprano, has won numerous successes, including second prize in the Tchaikovsky International Music Competition in Moscow in 1966 and first
place in the vocal division of the Munich Inter- national Competition in 1963.
Also winning national plaudits, Sister Belle Spafford, general president of the Relief Society, has been named president of National Council of Women.
According to a recent study completed by jour- nalist Marilyn Mercer, one-third of the Ameri- can labor force are women. Seven percent of American doctors are women, and ten percent of women college teachers are full professors.
More than ever before, young' people are con- tributing valuable ideas and talents to the world. New on the political front and active in com- munity affairs are the daughters of President Richard M. Nixon, Tricia, 22, a June graduate of Finch College in New York, and her sister Julia, 20, a student at Smith College in Massachusetts.
Also newcomers in national news are Pamela Agnew, 25, and Susan Agnew, 20, daughters of Vice-President Spiro Agnew.
Many young Latter-day Saint women are standouts in leadership, creativity, grace, beauty, intellect.
These include the following :
Scientist Sharon Hintze, Provo, Utah, one of 24 United States college students chosen to receive the Marshall scholarship given by the British gov- ernment, is studying for a master of science degree at a university in Great Britain.
Actress Heather Young plays stewardess Betty Hamilton in the television series Land of the Giants.
Performer Sandi Griffiths is part of a singing duo with the Lawrence Welk Show.
Carol Lynn Pearson, Provo, Utah, is the author of popular poetry book Beginnings and nationally published magazine articles.
Champion speed skaters are Jean Ashworth, Olympic bronze medal winner, and Barbara Lock- hart, a U.S. Olympic representative.
Singers (and sisters) Kathie Olson and Cheryln Olson Hart recently won first place prize of $1,000 in the All-American College Show, aired on na- tional television.
Reigning Mrs. America, Joan Fisher, wife of M. Byron Fisher of Salt Lake City, and mother of three children, claims "most girls don't realize that housework can be fun — if they use a little creativity!"
54
Era of Youth
Campus coed Tracy Anderson from Las Vegas, Nevada, a junior zoology major at Arizona State University, was recently named "Miss National Cheerleader."
Patty McMaster is a leader in church as well as in school. In Columbia Falls, Montana, she has been named "the best friend a teen can have" — this, with a long list of impressive scholastic, campus, and church involvements and honors.
Zesty Jamie Conkling and Liza Rey, of the popu- lar King Cousins, appear on the King Family television shows regularly, college studies per- mitting.
Indian queen Rose McCabe from Leupp, Ari- zona, was named Miss Navajo 1969 and, as official royal representative of the Navajo tribe, will tour the United States and Europe this year.
Kristine Webb, reigning as a young beauty queen in Lavaca, Arkansas, and her young brother are the only LDS students in the school system there.
Kim Bradshaw is a ballerina with the New York Ballet Company and a cover girl for Seventeen magazine. Her friends insist she is lovely to know and a fine example of what an all-around girl ought to be. o
May 1969
55
Editors' Note: Patty Jackson is planning a spring wedding in the Salt Lake Temple with Michael Cannon, the missionary she waited for.
Are you waiting for a mis- sionary? Rather, are you writing to a missionary? (Some define waiting as
'Vegetating at home.") For our purposes, we will de- scribe a waiting girl as one who sends her mission- ary three or more letters a month, who considers him the special boy she has dated, who doesn't become too seri-
ous with another fellow, and who adheres to the principles of the gospel. Viewing the waiting experience in happy retrospect, I offer ten rea- sons why every girl given the opportunity should ac- cept the challenge of waiting :
M
I
S
I
O
N
A
R
issionaries need a reliable peer with whom to communicate and keep up on the happenings at home.
t is a good test of your feelings for one another.
tatistics say you won't wait. It's worth waiting just to throw them off!
piritual growth awaits you when you share his experiences in letters.
f you keep busy, the time literally flies.
ne reason why so few women are missionaries might be that our first calling is to stay home and write to them !
either of you will change unfavorably if you make use of open communication, thoughtfulness, and prayer.
ctivity in the Church becomes more meaningful as he opens exciting doors to the gospel for you.
omance slides to the background, and you see yourselves more clearly and become better friends.
ou can't lose (unless you lock yourself in a closet while he's gone).
Do You Qualify for the
Heavy- Wait Award?
By Patty Jackson
To elaborate on that last point, remember that life doesn't go away with your boyfriend. It may seem that way at first, but the busier you are while he's away, the happier you'll be. Joining clubs, cultivating talents, ac- cepting dates, and — most im- portant— growing in Church activity are surefire ways to stay happy during and after his mission. As your mission- ary develops and progresses, so must you.
When your sergeant-at- arms-length comes home with his well-worn dark suits, white shirts, and stan- dard works, you're in for a real adventure ! If your com- munication has been sincere and thoughtful, and if you've made the Lord a third party in your partnership, the outcome can only be bright. The worst you could find is renewal of a friendship. The best, of course, would be a glorious and eternal ex- pansion of what drew you together in the first place.
Reflections in the Wind By Karen Slater
Here I stand:
The girl I was, the person I am, and the ivoman I
will become, The three of us so dependent upon the other. The girl I was —
laughing, carefree, young (life was a game I'd
always won!) ,
Afraid of nothing, loving everything, trusting
all. The person I am —
still laughing, not quite as carefree, still young
and winning at the game of life, but playing
with grown-up rules. Afraid of self, loving
many, trusting few, but happy and contented
with all. Needing nothing but time to grow,
expand, mature, and discover the hows and
whys within myself. The ivoman I will become —
laughing, purposeful, young in heart, having
won the game of life playing with God's rules.
Afraid of evil, loving all that is good, trusting
in the Lord. Full of the joy which comes from
a marriage sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise,
and blessed with loving children sent from God. How can the three of us emerge as an innocent,
humble daughter of God? I am today what I did yesterday, ajid tomorrow
I'll be what I did today. How many days of procrastination can I produce
and still remain innocent? How many times can I ignore another's need and
still remain humble? Wake up! Tomorrow's silver lining can only be seen after
the tears have been shed and the cloud of sorrow
is turned inside out, The tears of the truly penitent soul — the broken
heart laid at the feet of Christ. Tomorrow's silver lining is only for the brave,
the strong, the submissive, the meek, the loving,
the humble, the innocent. The woman I will become is dependent upon the
person I am now. How unfair that her salvatioyi should rest upon
one so proud, so vain, so frightened, so weak. Why curse her for my mistakes? How careful, then, I must be, for mine is not the
only soul I must save from future grief. Hers too, and the girl I was — Three of us dependent upon a bending willow in
the wind. Here I stand: The girl I was, the person I am, and the ivoman
I will become.
57
|
No One L By Lois Kjar |
.ikeYou Brown |
|
Your skirts are too short, |
He's never been near when |
|
Your hair is too long, |
You've said family prayer; |
|
Your mascara's too heavy, |
I doubt that he really would |
|
Your lipstick's all wrong! |
Very much care |
|
Your room is a mess |
To hear your concern |
|
Of mysterious collections, |
As you seek the Lord's aid |
|
And you fiercely deny us |
For the neighbor who's ailing, |
|
The right of inspections. |
Or with plans we have made. |
|
The phone is your link |
I doubt he'd attach |
|
To the world you just left; |
A true valuation |
|
When you've been home one hour, |
To the growth of your soul |
|
You're completely bereft |
As you showed great elation |
|
If by then not one call |
Over seeing a friend |
|
Has come in on that thing, |
Win the prize you both sought, |
|
And your ears all but twitch |
With no tinge of envy |
|
Awaiting its ring. |
A part of your thought. |
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Your nerves are a- jitter, |
Would he know how we feel |
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Your young brother's a pest, |
When we get as our pay, |
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You're sure all you need |
For a dress that we've labored on |
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Is a solid week's rest; |
Day after day, |
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But there's pep club and chorus, |
A smile and a hug |
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Speech contests and such, |
And proud exclamation, |
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And there s no time to help me |
"Gee, thanks, Mom! You're great! |
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At least not too much. |
"My favorite relation!" |
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An efficiency expert |
Perfection's for heaven, |
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Should tear you apart, |
So while we're on earth |
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Refashion and streamline |
We're willing to settle |
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Head, hand, and heart! |
For just what it's worth, |
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Then again — I don't know — |
For the wonderful feeling |
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Could I trust him to see |
That's shared by us two |
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What there is about you |
When we say to each other, |
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That appeals so to me? |
^There's no one like you!" |
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Editor's Note: |
These |
: verses have |
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been excerpted from a tribute writ- ten to daughters by the wife of Bishop Victor L. Brown of the Pre- siding Bishopric. |
58
Era of Youth
Something Better?
By Jeanette B. Jarvis
What could be better than being a girl, All sugar and spice and maybe a curl, Or iron-straight hair and an eager look; A nibbler now— a potential cook; Buried in studies or draped on the phone, Surrounded by friends— or completely alone? What is more fun than being a girl, Prettying up for Joe, Dick, or Verl? I'll tell you what's better (And some of you know) — It's being that lovely girl's mom.
Editor's Note: And Mom ought
to know. She was a girl herself
once upon a time!
Eternity
By a Soldier
The reader — thee The poet — me The subject — we The critic — He.
A tennis-shoed thee A jungle-booted me A footloose we A guiding He.
BY U— thee China Sea — me A faraway we A closer He.
Apartment for thee A hooch for me A house for we ? Built unto He.
Then a glowing thee Beside a proud me One eternal we A caring He.
Now school for thee And war for me A year before we A watching He.
A problem for thee? No problem for me — In the end will be we And a helping He.
A prayer from thee A prayer from me A kneeling we
An answering He.
Editor's Note: This bit of verse was writ- ten by a soldier in Vietnam to his girl at home. It is printed anonymously be- cause he says she may yet marry some- one else!
May 1969
59
60
Era of Youth
The Boys Talk About Girls!
Editor's Note: Special bonus feature for springtime . . . five LDS boys sat around our staff table and talked in- formally about what they like and don't like about girls. It was taped. It was transcribed. It was edited, too! Here are some of the highlights. Panel members are Steve Jardine, college sophomore and world traveler; Bill Black, college junior and returned missionary; Paul Reynolds, high school senior and artist; Peter Soren- sen, high school junior and actor; Don Johnson, high school senior and skier.
Moderator: The question for discussion is "What About Today's Girls." All right, men, what about them? What do you like in a girl?
Bill: I like a girl who is fun to
be with but can still keep her cool.
Peter: I like a girl who talks. I
can't stand those who just sit and say nothing all night. A girl ought to be part of the scene — doing things. I'd rather have her talk all night than not talk at all.
Paul: I like a girl who is con-
stantly changing all the time . . . clothes, hairdo, personality, interests. One who's interesting!
Don: I like a girl who is authen-
tic, plays her own role, and doesn't put on a big show trying to be someone else.
Paul: Yes, that's what I like, too.
Moderator: Paul, it seems you are being
inconsistent. You said you
liked a changing girl. Bill:
Paul: You don't understand . . .
I like a girl who is crazy
and colorful, but real. No
act. This is how she is. This
changing of moods is her
thing. Moderator:
Steve: I like a girl who makes an All:
effort on a date to make it Peter:
a successful evening. This
kind of girl doesn't sit Bill:
around all night waiting
for the boy to entertain
her. Bill: When a fellow has dated a
lot, he sees a lot of cute,
fun, and nice girls. But he Don:
also sees that a lot of girls
today are all alike, as if Moderator:
they are following a pat- tern, copying some big star
or model or something. I Peter:
like a girl to be her own
type. Steve: Sincere! Boy, a fellow can
tell when she's playing the
role. Peter: Another thing ... a girl Don:
ought to learn how to fit
the situation. There is a
time to be mature and a
time to be immature — you
know, like being willing to
swing or teeter-totter in the
park. Then when you go to
a fancy restaurant, she Peter:
grows up again. Moderator: What should a girl do to
make the time together more fun?
She ought to be able to carry on an intelligent con- versation, to talk about something besides "what high school did you go to?" or "what are your hobbies?" Like the scriptures? No! No! Not on a date. Religion maybe, but not scriptures.
Yes, religion is good, or world events, or art, or anything like that, but she shouldn't play the lit- tle back-and-forth game of questions and answers. When I want to talk about myself, I'll tell her! So you all agree a girl needs to be a skillful conversa- tionalist. Anything else? Well, if she doesn't like what you have planned for the evening, she had better say so at first or else not let on about it by the way she acts.
I think a girl ought to be happy with your plans. Boys look forward to dates and try to plan something nice. A girl ought to be apprecia- tive and lively. She should go along with what you have in mind for her. Like walking two paces behind? (Laughter)
May 1969
61
Steve: Don:
Peter:
Moderator: What about a girl's appear- ance today? How do you like the fashions and hair Paul: styles and makeup?
Don: A girl shouldn't wear too
much makeup, especially eye goo lumped all over her lashes or smeared several colors under her eyebrows. I really like a girl to look natural, clean.
Peter: Yeah. If it gets a little
warm, the eye goo melts and her eyes turn 17 dif- ferent shades. Awful!
Steve: Some girls look half asleep
as their eyelids droop un- Paul, der the weight of ail that Steve: black stuff. Bill:
Paul: If she looks good — if the
total picture of makeup, clothes, hair is good, but you just can't pick out any one reason why she looks good — then it's right. Don:
Steve: If she feels self-conscious
about it, she shouldn't be wearing it.
Don: Natural. That's what I like. Paul:
Too-high fashion can make a boy embarrassed. People Peter: stare.
Bill: Understated clothes. Never
too extreme. Moderation in all things. Paul:
Moderator: Spoken like a true mission- ary! What about hair?
Bill: If she wears long hair, it
ought to be curled so she looks as if she cares.
Peter: I disagree! Long hair is bet-
ter straight. But it ought to be clean and worn only by girls who look good that Steve: way.
Don: I love a girl with long
blonde hair. Moderator:
Moderator: What's her name?
(Laughter) All:
All: Natural blonde. No dye
jobs. No complicated comb- outs. No hair spray. Natu- Moderator: ral.
Moderator: What about boys and girls
and the rules of etiquette? Bill:
Can a girl call you up?
I don't mind if a girl calls
me up. Just so she isn't
hinting for me to ask her Don:
out.
I don't like girls to call me.
I don't mind. She can make
a friendly call. No big deal, Steve:
though.
I raise another point — why
do girls expect boys to open
doors and all that always?
I don't think a boy has to
open doors all the time for Moderator:
a girl.
I disagree! Peter:
He should always have
enough respect to open a Steve:
door for a girl, even if
they've been married ten Don:
years and he's just taking
her to the drugstore.
I like her to be casual, like
one of the guys, when Paul:
the situation calls for it —
games, picnics.
No. A boy ought to open
the doors.
Why? That's acting. She's Bill:
not helpless. She can turn
the little handle as well as
you can.
I personally feel better
when I play things by the Moderator:
rules. It's the system, and
it needn't be awkward for Peter:
anyone. It's natural to do Bill:
it right. Then everyone
knows what's happening
when. It's really easier and Paul:
a lot nicer.
A girl ought to know the
rules and make it easy for Don:
the boy to follow them.
What kind of girl do you
look for in a wife? Steve:
A good conversationalist.
Someone I can talk to.
Someone who'll listen.
You boys go heavy on the
conversational thing. What
else?
I want her to inspire me to be better and yet able to accept me as I am. That takes heart.
She's got to have a good reputation — stable and know what she wants in life.
Honesty. I want her to be honest with me and I want to be able to speak hon- estly, frankly with her with- out worrying where it will be told in what social circle. Are Church standards and Church membership impor- tant?
For a wife, yes. For a date, maybe no.
That's how you find a wife — you date her first. If a girl doesn't meet Church standards, you can't go to the temple. A boy has to look ahead. I find that the girls I like best turn out to be Mor- mons anyway. We have more in common. That's important.
You shouldn't compromise your own standards when you date, because you have your own reputation to think of.
How about one last bit of advice to the girls? Be flexible.
Be concerned to be the best possible person; then you'll be liked for what you are. Don't talk about other boys and other dates when out with someone else. Natural. Be natural. Noth- ing phony — in makeup or personality.
Care about being with the boy, not about how much he has to spend on you or what you are going to do. Make an effort to make the time together exciting and fun.
62
Era of Youth
MIA Girls
MIA girls help the blind to see.
Winder Stake MIA girls are busy prepar- ing library materials for circulation at the Utah State Library Commission. The blind and physi- cally handicapped in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming are users of the materials prepared at the Salt Lake Regional Library. In addition, Latter-day Saint patrons throughout the world may obtain their religious books from the Division for the
and the Blind
Blind and Physically Handicapped of the Utah State Library in Salt Lake City.
The girls are seen processing materials for circulation. This includes recording books onto tape, making copies from master tapes, erasing tapes for reuse, binding large-print books, filing and shelving tapes, duplicating braille, circulating braille magazines, dusting braille books, and re- cording requests made by patrons for circulation.
Photos by Eldon Linschoten
I
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Retrench ! And Be It Hereby Resolved. . .
On ATa?/ 27, iS70, /Msit sm months after President Brigham Young admonished his daughters to retrench in their dress and conduct, resolutions for the new Ladies' Co-operative Retrenchment Associ- ation were adopted at a meeting in the Hth Ward in Salt Lake City. Recording secretary for that meeting was Isabella Eleanor Harden Pratt, whose copy of the resolutions is reprinted above in her own handwriting. Sister Pratt, a daughter of Elder Parley P. Pratt, was just 16 years of age when she held the secretarial position; she later moved to Fillmore, Utah, where she married Franklin Alonzo Robison. Their daughter, Mrs. Carrie Pratt Robison Des- pain of Salem, Oregon, recently presented this original copy of the resolutions to YWMIA President Florence S. Jacobsen.
RESOLUTIONS
Adopted by the first young La- dies' department of the Ladies' Co-operative Retrenchment As- sociation, Salt Lake City, orga- nized May 27, 1870.
Resolved. — That, realizing our- selves to be wives and daughters of Apostles, Prophets and Elders of Israel, and, as such, that high responsibilities rest upon us, and
66
Improvement Era
that we shall be held accountable to God, not only for the privi- leges we inherit from our fa- thers, but also for, the blessings we enjoy as Latter-day Saints, we feel to unite and co-operate with, and do mutually pledge ourselves that we will uphold and sustain each other in doing good.
Resolved. — That, inasmuch as the Saints have been command- ed to gather out from Babylon and "not partake of her sins, that they receive not of her plagues," we feel that we should not condescend to imitate the pride, folly and fashions of the world. And inasmuch as the Church of Jesus Christ is likened unto a city set on a hill to be a beacon of light to all nations, it is our duty to set examples for others, instead of seeking to pat- tern after them.
Resolved. — That we will respect ancient and modern apostolic in- structions. St. Paul exhorted Timothy to teach "the women to adorn themselves in modest apparel — not with braided hair, or gold or pearls, or costly ar- ray ; but which becometh women possessing godliness, with good works." Peter, also, in his first epistle, in speaking of women, says, "Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and wearing of gold, or of putting on apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of the meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God, of great price: for after this man- ner in olden time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves." In a reve- lation given to the Latter-day
Saints in 1831, the Lord said, "Thou shalt not be proud in thy heart; let all thy garments be plain, and their beauty, the beau- ty of the works of thine own hands." All of which we accept as true principle, and such as should be fully illustrated in our practice.
Resolved. — That with a firm and settled determination to honor the foregoing requirements, and being deeply sensible of the sin- ful ambition and vanity in dress among the daughters of Zion, which are calculated to foster the pride of the world, and shut out the spirit of God from the heart, we mutually agree to exert our influence, both by precept and by example, to sup- press, and to eventually eradi- cate these evils.
Resolved. — That, admitting vari- ety has its charms, we know that real beauty appears to greater advantage in a plain dress than when bedizened with finery, and while we disapprobate extrava- gance and waste, we would not, like the Quakers, recommend a uniform, but would have each one to choose a style best adapt- ed to her own taste and person : at the same time we shall avoid, and ignore as obsolete with us, all extremes which are opposed to good sense or repulsive to modesty.
Resolved.— That, inasmuch as cleanliness is a characteristic of a Saint, and an imperative duty, we shall discard the dragging skirts, and for decency's sake, those disgustingly short ones, extending no lower than the boot tops. We also regard paniers and whatever approximates in ap- pearance toward the "Grecian Bend," a burlesque on the natu-
ral beauty and dignity of the hu- man female form, and will not disgrace our persons by wearing them, and also, as fast as it shall be expedient we shall adopt the wearing of home-made articles, and exercise our united influence in rendering them fashionable.
Signed Mrs. Ella Y. Empy, Pres. Emily Y. Clawson Zina Y. Williams Maria Y. McDougal Caroline Y. Croxall Miss Dora Young Pkebe Young
Counselors
Fifteenth Anniversary . By Donnell Hunter
When you were just eighteen, I,
slightly older, {At love's kindling point) felt
myself ignite, Like incense. I made obeisance
at the sight Of long hair lightly falling past
your shoulder. Ablaze, I soared — freed from
orbits colder. Sweet influence fired my lonely
world with light. False friends laughed. "Hearts
make just one flight — With time," some scoffed, "your
meteor love will smolder."
But must time always dampen youthful fires?
Our tested bond of marriage re- assures me.
Emancipated, loneliness expires.
Unquestioning, your faithfulness secures me.
Though true, I may no longer glow the same,
But love can burn without an open flame.
May 1969
67
The Centennial resnvities--
Ghurchwide and Yearlong
By Mabel Jones Gabbott
Editorial Associate
• June Conference 1969 will initi- ate a Churchwide, yearlong celebra- tion of the organization of the Young Women's Mutual Improve- ment Association. Plans to com- memorate the first 100 years of YWMIA have been in the making for almost three years. Accomplish- ments of the YWMIA in the past century have been big, and so are the plans for remembering this century of sisterhood.
Setting a spiritual tone to all activities will be a sunrise service for all YWMIA leaders throughout the Church to be held in the Tab- ernacle on Friday, June 27. General YWMIA President Florence S. Jacobsen will review the past hun- dred years, and President N. Eldon Tanner of the First Presidency will give the keynote address, pointing the future for this beloved world- wide organization.
During the past year a contest for
a special centennial song has been held, and four new songs will be sung at the sunrise service by a chorus of 500 girls. Another 500 girls will march into the Taber- nacle, carrying banners and flags.
A 50-minute film, Pioneers and Petticoats, will be premiered at this sunrise session. The film, pro- duced by Brigham Young Univer- sity Studios and written by Joyce O. Evans, member of the YWMIA general board, teaches what MIA did for a girl in 1869 and what it can do for a girl in 1969 and 2069. It will be shown throughout the Church during the centennial year.
The opening activity of the fes- tivities will be a ball on Thursday, June 26, at Salt Lake City's new Salt Palace. Nine thousand stake leaders, who will receive engraved invitations, are expected to attend. The Utah Symphony will provide the music. Those attending will
wear modern semiformal attire, but a floor show will feature elegant ballroom costumes of 100 years ago. A talent show sponsored by the general board's drama department will be featured in the Little Thea- ter during the evening.
The celebration will continue in the department meetings of the conference on Saturday, June 28, with each group featuring the con- tributions of the girls or the history of its particular department. In the young women's executive meeting on Saturday morning, a delightful skit, entitled "Be Thou An Exam- ple," will feature the life and con- tribution of each of the seven presidents of the YWMIA. This will be a slide-projected presenta- tion that may later be used in the wards and stakes during the year.
In the joint executive department on Saturday, the "Family Fair" will be introduced as a possible centen-
68
Improvement Era
nial activity in which an entire ward family may participate. The delightful fair, with a new fair song and an 1869 flavor, will feature the MIA quilt, made from a pattern that has been designed for the centennial.
At the Lion House, where it all began in 1869, there will be an open house on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. for all MIA conference visi- tors. The hostesses will be in pio- neer costumes, and oil paintings of the general presidents of the YWMIA will be on display in the garden. Also on display will be mementos of the centennial, in- cluding the following: a centennial china plate, medallion, and linen towel, each of which depicts the girl of 1869 and her 1969 counter- part; a centennial quilt pattern, incorporating in the quilt block the symbols of the YWMIA; and a bro- chure, A Century of Sisterhood, with 100 pages of historical events, covering 100 years of YWMIA progress.
The dance festival at the Univer- sity of Utah stadium June 27 and 28 will feature the eras of each of the YWMIA general presidents in dance, costume, lighting, and stag- ing. The theme will be "There's Nothing Like a Girl," and a special all-girl dance will be presented.
It is hoped that activities from June Conference will be carried over into centennial celebrations in the wards and stakes; for instance, centennial balls for the coming MIA year will take the place of Gold and Green balls, and are to be scheduled as near as possible to the centennial date, November 28, 1969.
Thus members of the Church throughout the world may enjoy the festivities and remember the purposes of the YWMIA as they honor this auxiliary on its one- hundredth anniversary. O
May 1969
YWMIA MEMENTOS COMMEMORATING 100 YEARS OF SISTERHOOD
New and exclusive treasures created for your personal possession or to present as a token of appreciation to outstanding girls and women of the Church. Each item designed to mingle the culture of the days of the daughters of Brigham Young with the excitement of twentieth-century living. Order early — quantities limited.
Centennial plate de- picting multicolored picture of a girl of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in beautiful china. $5.00 if mailed $4.00 if picked up
B. The Centennial Me- dallion, depicting the girl of 1869 and her 1969 counterpart. Available in gold or silver. $3.00 (Sterling Silver $3.50)
C. Centennial Quilt Pat- tern incorporating the symbols of the YW- MIA. Makes up into many quilt designs.
$1.50
D. Centennial Linen Tow- el with the girl of yesteryear and today midst pictures of meaningful land- marks and motifs.
$1.00
"A Century of Sister- hood— a Chronologi- cal Collage of YW- MIA," one hundred pages covering 100 years. $2.00
F.
History of the YWMIA by Marba C. Joseph- son. $1.00
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PLEASE CLIP AND MAIL, OR SEND REQUEST ON PLAIN PAPER |
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General Church Distribution Center P. O. Box 11627 33 Richards Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84111 |
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Please list the number of each |
item |
that you desire to |
purchase. j |
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□ Centennial Plate-$4.00 each ($5.00 if mailed) L7J Centennial Medallion— $3.00 each (Sterling Silver— $3.50 each) |
□ D |
Centennial Linen Towel— $1.00 each j: Centennial Collage— $2.00 each 1 |
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□ Centennial Quilt Pattern— $1.50 each |
□ |
History of the YWMIA- |
$1.00 each S |
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1 enclose money order ( ) check ( ). |
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69
• Jesus, who was dele- gated by the Father to come to the earth, gives us the master example of good administration through proper delegat- ing. His leadership was perfect. Rugged, able men whom he called to be his apostles gave up prosperous business careers to follow him. Many of his delegated missionaries traveled without purse or scrip.
Guidelines on how to do a better job
in your position and enjoy it more
(Part 2)H0W tO
night after the last sup- per, he said to his apos- tles, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that be- lieveth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father." (John 14:12.)
Through delegating, Jesus desired to lift rather than to suppress the individual.
All through the Church
Men suffered great hardships in carrying out his in- today men and women are growing in stature' through
structions, but his delegated disciples went forth into positions delegated to them.
the world bold as lions through his charge. They Second, in delegating, Jesus did not make the as- accomplished things they had never dreamed possible, signment sound easy; rather, he made it sound excit- No leader ever motivated men and women as did he. ing and challenging.
Jesus has given those who are called to positions of Peter was a prosperous fisherman. When Jesus
leadership in his service today at least eight lessons called him to his service, he did not ask him to give
in wise and effective delegating: up his business and become a preacher or missionary.
First, the organization he established (the Church) He made the call much more interesting. Mark's
was structured in a framework of delegated authority.
This was true of the Church when he was on the
earth; it is true of his restored Church today. The
account describes the call this way:
"Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds sea: for they were fishers.
leaders by involving people delegated through "And Jesus said unto me, Come ye after me, and I
authority. When the Savior was on earth, he called will make you to become fishers of men.
twelve apostles to assist him in administering the "And straightway they forsook their nets, and fol-
Church. He also called the seventy. He delegated lowed him." (Mark 1:16-18.)
others. There were to be no spectators in his Church. Similarly, in delegating the seventy to go forth as
All were to be involved in helping to build the king- missionaries, Jesus made the assignment sound in-
dom, and as they built the kingdom, they built them- teresting:
selves. "Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is
Jesus aimed to exalt the individual. In that momen- great, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the
tous meeting with Moses on the Mount, the Lord Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers
declared: "For behold, this is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39.)
Jesus aimed to make of every man a king, to build him in leadership