Church of Jesus ChristOak Grove Restoration Branch

Zion the beautiful beckons us on . . .

Volume 25 Number 1 Spring-Summer 2015

2 Zion's Call

Live Internet Streaming of Sunday Morning Services (except Communion Sunday)

Go to www.ogrb.org and click “Video.”

Zion’s Call is a newsletter published by theChurch of Jesus Christ, Oak Grove RestorationBranch. It is published with the intent ofglorifying God and helping to preserve HisRestoration Message. All correspondence shouldbe addressed to our editor:

Debbie Norman, 9664 Gillespie RdNapoleon, MO 64074

Or e-mail: denorman8165@gmail.com

The Church of Jesus Christ Oak Grove Restoration Branch is located approximately 3/4 mile

north of I-70 from the Oak Grove exit. We invite you to come and worship with us.

Sunday services are as follows:

Early Worship at 9:00 a.m. Classes begin at 9:15 a.m.

Worship Service at 10:30 a.m. Evening Service at 6:30 p.m.

Communion Sunday only: (the first Sunday of each month)

Combined Prayer Service and Communion Service at 10:00 a.m.

Wednesday Prayer Service at 7:00 p.m.

Branch Pastor: Elder Phillip FreezeAssociates:

Elders Don Cutshall, Jim Mulheron,and Mike Lidberg; Deacon Bill Green

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Volume 25 Number 1

Resolved: Love Thy Neighbor / Bill Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Our Family Testimony / Monique Hummel . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Told to Attend Church Three Times a Week /

David Strahan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

A Faithful Woman / Wilma (Clark) Rash . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

If Jesus Came to Your House / Lois Blanchard Eades . . . . 8

Is Your House Set in Order? / Anonymous . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The Power of Administration / Sarah Turner . . . . . . . . . . . 9

God Carried Us Through / Megan Norman . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Praise the Lord Always / Mike Stahlman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Youth for Jesus:

A Vison of the Future / Paul Colville . . . . . . . . . . 13

Bible Treasure / Edgar Pillsbury . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

The K-Love Cruise 2015 / Delores Champ . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Walking in Obedience / Rhonda Stahlman . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Our Australia Trip: The Tie That Binds / Pat Chadwick . . . 17

My Experience in Paradise /Betty Jean Richardson . . . . . 18

That Your Hearts Would Be Changed:

Faith and Repentance / Vincent Truba . . . . . . . . 19

He Gives Me Strength / Janet Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

To Love the Unlovable / Jill Gowan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Have You Found Christ? / Edgar Pillsbury . . . . . . . 21

I Was Nearly Eaten Up by a Corn-Picker / Jay W. Thrift . . . 22

Australian Reunion 2015: A Spiritual Feast /

Linda L. Kerswell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Direction for Protection / Tiffany Jones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

A Letter to the Editor / Lois Arndt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

A Testimony of Tithing / Corey Stark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Keeping the Word of Wisdom: The Truth About Commercial

Wheat Products / Debbie Norman . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

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Resolved: Love Thy Neighbor

-by Priest Bill Green, Associate Pastor

We recently had a theme in our branch of lovingyour neighbor as yourself. Jesus told us that this is thesecond great commandment after loving God withyour whole being.

What exactly did Jesus mean when he told us tolove our neighbor as we love ourselves? Think aboutthe ways we take care of ourselves. If we are hungry,we get something to eat. If we are cold, we search forsome clothes to warm us up. If we need shelter, wefind the place that makes us feel safe. In short, if wehave a need, we look for a solution to our need, andwe take care of it, if possible. Is that how we treat thepeople that come into our lives?

Everybody is our neighbor, not just the people wholive around us. Jesus told us that we are to treateveryone we come in contact with as we would treatourselves. When he gives us an opportunity to helpsomeone with a problem, and we have the means orability to do so, we are to show the love of Jesus thatexists in us and respond to that person like he would.The time to sit back and let someone else take care ofthe problems while we go on with our lives is longpast. God has given us multiple chances to show weare willing to follow his directions and he is probablytired of waiting for us.

I believe the Lord is ready to move in this world ina big way and if we are not willing to obey him, he willfind a people who have their hearts right and are readyto work. When he begins to establish his kingdom onthis earth, we could very well be on the outsidelooking in. I don’t know about you, but I wantdesperately for him to say to me, “Come, I have awork for you.”

We can begin by showing that we truly care for ourneighbors. Every one of us has skills and passionsbestowed upon us by God. We need to find our nichein building the kingdom.

We need to be aware of those in our midst that arelonely. If you know of those who are living alone andthink that no one cares, call them on the phone, govisit them, drop a card in the mail, or offer to drivethem to the store and run their errands. Show themthat God loves them and you love them, too. If thewidows and widowers among us need repairs to theirhomes, grass cut, or snow shoveled, we need to bevolunteering to go over and help.

Young mothers could always use someone to comeover and give them a hand. Maybe you could watchthe kids for a while so they could get some sleep orrun some errands. Whenever those among us sufferspersonal loss and are hurting, we need to let themknow we are there for them, offer comfort whenneeded, or just be a good listener so they can beassured they are not going through it alone. Be awareof the young among us, especially the fatherless. Bewilling to be a good influence in their lives and showthem you care about their problems.

All of us who have welcomed Christ into our liveshave his love deep inside us. We need to stop hidinghis light from the world and keeping it to ourselves.We must show the world that we love them as Godloves them. We need to express the joy that comeswith having Jesus Christ in our lives. Treat your fellowman the way Jesus would if he came in contact withthem. The scriptures are full of examples showing howGod expects us to treat our fellow man.

Go out and make the world a better place than youfound it!

And thou shalt love the Lord thy God

with all thy heart, and with all thy

soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. This is the first

commandment. And the second is

like this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor

as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Mark 12:35-36

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Our Family Testimony -by Monique Hummel, Australia

Though the following testimony focuses aroundour son Seth, I call it our “Family Testimony” becauseof the many wonderful things that also happened toour entire family.

Late one afternoon in November of last year, ourson Seth (who is twelve), and his brothers, Ethan andJacob (ages sixteen and fourteen), had been skate-boarding together when Seth “stacked” badly, hurtinghis right arm, head and chest. Initially, he was veryupset and hurt, but following rest and lots of icepacks, he seemed fine and continued to skate with histwo older brothers. The following day we took him toour local doctor to have him assessed, and althoughshe initially determined that nothing was broken, shesent Seth for x-rays as a precaution.

Seth did indeed have two fractures in his right handwhich were treated and then we were sent home. Thedoctor was very surprised by the x-ray results, as Sethhad not been upset or complaining of pain. Two dayslater, Seth began vomiting and was again assessed todetermine if he had suffered a concussion as a result ofhis initial skateboard crash. No problems wereidentified, but a few days later Seth presented with afew more problems which were suggested to besymptoms of a “gastro” infection.

After another week of check-ups, Seth’s conditionfailed to improve, so I decided to take him to our localhospital. By the time we reached the emergencydepartment, Seth was shutting down fast. He couldbarely walk and his body was trembling. Hecomplained of feeling cold, though he was sweatingprofusely.

After waiting three-and-one-half hours to be seen,the doctor proceeded with a series of tests, but itbecame obvious to me that she was unsure of what todo. My husband, Travis, had his appendix burst notlong after we were married, and having seen hisbehavior, I tried to explain to the doctor that Ibelieved Seth might have the same problem. I alsoknew of Travis’ family history. Many of his relativeshad also required emergency surgery for theirappendix. Despite my pushing them to check, I was

assured that “it does not run in families.” After muchfrustration (for myself), Seth was eventually tested byanother doctor, who appeared to have more of an ideaof what he was doing. Unfortunately, by this timeSeth’s condition had become life-threatening, and wewere rushed to another hospital by ambulance becausethe local hospital wasn’t equipped to treat children.

At this time, Travis was contacting family andfriends for help while I traveled with Seth. It wasabout this time that Seth and I began to calm downand even joke about all the crazy events leading up tothis. It was then that I believe many people had begunpraying for us. It was an AWESOME feeling! It waslike being completely surrounded by comfort. Wewere calm and everything seemed to have sloweddown for us while those around us were in fastforward.

We had to wait an hour for the ambulance, whichtook another hour to get us to the emergencydepartment of the Adelaide Women & Children’sHospital. After arriving, Seth was again assessed. Hehad to have more blood work and testing donebecause the first hospital had failed to pass on anyinformation.

From then on, everything just followed likestandard procedure. Seth was a little concerned aboutthe effects of drugs on his body. It took someexplaining from the doctors to assure him that it wasokay to use medication (drugs) in some situations.Once he understood, he finally requested some painrelief.

We met some surgeons, and (time being an issue)they quickly explained the procedure they wished toperform. I had to sign paperwork consenting for themto do so immediately. For hours, I wondered if I would come to regret making this decision. The surgery itself should have taken about an hour I was told, and after three-and-three-

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quarters hours, I was breaking down. Finally, Seth’ssurgeon appeared and explained the situation to me.

He explained that he performs surgery like Seth’sapproximately four hundred fifty times a year, but thatSeth was among the worst cases he had ever seen. Headded that on a scale of one to ten, with ten beingdead, Seth was about a nine-and-a-half. The surgeonsaid that though he did not want to frighten me, he didneed me to understand that Seth was and wouldcontinue to be in critical condition for the next fewdays.

I was totally calm and relaxed, which I think ledmany people to believe that I did not understand theseriousness of the situation. We were in the center ofa large crowd who all focused on us, and the intensityof the situation was removed. I don’t know if I wasawake or not, but I saw our hospital room from aboveand a large faceless crowd surrounding Seth’s bed,while hospital staff came and went as they attended toSeth’s needs.

Over the next eight days, Seth and I met teams ofsurgeons, doctors and medical people every day, allcoming to talk with us about Seth’s procedure. Hewas called “The Case of the Year,” which we werelater told was because he came so close to death andyet healed so quickly. They were baffled!

There were many ups and downs on the road torecovery. When Seth woke up after surgery, he washorrified to discover that he couldn’t get out of bedand that he had tubes coming out of him at everyangle. Each day the goal was to improve enough toremove a tube or machine. This also gave ussomething to focus on. Sleep was difficult at first,because Seth had so many nurses watching him andmonitoring his condition. As he improved, the numberof medical people assessing him slowed down, and wegot used to sleeping in a strange place with noise. Ascomplications arose, we sent out messages asking forprayers, and every prayer was answered.

We were horrified to learn that we were looking attwo-and-one-half to three weeks in hospital. We madethis another prayer request, and we were out in eightdays. Seth’s progress was off the top of the charts forhis condition, and this caused more interest around thehospital and more curious faces visiting “The Case ofthe Year.” Our next answered prayer came in the form

of a huge man named Greg who looked like a bikerthat you wouldn’t want to meet in an alley on a darknight.

He was Seth’s nurse, and he was awesome! Heimmediately confronted anyone who entered Seth’sroom and was very supportive of Seth’s desire forprivacy. He was so good that Seth slept right throughhaving his fingers pierced with a needle each night totest his blood sugar levels.

Meanwhile, Travis was trying to finish his studiesto begin work in a new role in an Adelaide prison.Ethan and Jacob, our other sons, managed to keep ourhouse running. They organized lifts to and from schooland kept up with the housework and groceryshopping. They were pretty awesome, also. Ourfriends rotated visits with our family so that we hadsomeone to see every day. Seth also managed tograduate from grade seven while in the hospital whentwo of his school teachers came to visit and performedan official graduation ceremony just for him. His classsent cards and gifts; this was another wonderful boostto his progress.

We were overwhelmed by the support of family,friends, and the Saints throughout the world, whocontinued to send messages of love and support. Ibelieve it was a combination of many little things thatreassured us that God was in control. Each daybrought new challenges and as we prayed and askedfor prayers, they were answered.

The most wonderful things happened to us duringthis time. Not only did God answer our prayers, butalso I felt as though more than we had asked for wasbeing done. We asked for a good surgeon and gotone, but he also showed up wearing Seth’s favoritebrand of clothing, which helped Seth trust him rightaway. The Children’s Ward that we should have goneto was full, so we ended up in the Adolescent Wardwhich turned out to be even better because it hadtelevisions, access to the Internet, a DVD library, anda play lady (paid to entertain the patients). We alsohad our own room. I got a bed to sleep in each nightinstead of just a chair. I was able to shower daily, andthe hospital gave me breakfast each morning.

A week after Seth was sent home, he had to bereadmitted with complications. We felt sure that wewere back in for another week. This both frightened

6 Zion's Call

and annoyed us. During this stay, we were placed inthe Children’s Ward where Seth should have beenoriginally. It was awful—lots of babies crying all ofthe time; lights on all night; rude staff who checkedSeth for only half of what they should have beendoing; and finally a doctor who suggested that as“country people” we were unaware of proper medicalcare and would not be leaving the hospital for severaldays. We also did not have the same support, sincefamily who had helped us to cope earlier weretraveling interstate, and many other friends wereworking at this time.

I was devastated and immediately called forprayers. I could not see how we would cope stuckhere for the next few days. And yet again, our prayerswere answered! Seth’s surgeon arrived within an hourand told Seth that he had heard we were back inhospital. He said Seth looked awesome and asked ifwe wanted to go home. He could not find what hadcaused Seth to start vomiting again, but said that it didnot matter, since Seth was clearly fine now, and hewas free to go. This man had more authority than thedoctor we had seen earlier and he immediatelyproceeded to discharge Seth. Our bags were packedwithin minutes.

With only $20 in my pocket, I wasn’t sure how togo about getting home, but we trusted that God wouldagain help us out. I called a taxi who arrived abouttwo minutes after my call. For $6.50, he dropped us atthe train station. The train heading for homeannounced its departure within eight minutes. We hadjust enough time to buy tickets for $10.20 and boardthe train. We made it home safe and sound in less thanan hour and for under $20. God is good!

To everyone who supported us, thank you! Yourprayers were and are greatly appreciated!

Told toAttendChurch ThreeTimes aWeek

-by David Strahan, Oak Grove, Missouri

Years ago I used to pray, “Lord, help me be arighteous man.” I was told to attend church threetimes a week. I didn’t see how that would help. I wasa Sunday morning worshiper. A few weeks later Istarted praying again, “O Lord, help me be a righteousman.” So I started attending Sunday night andWednesday evening. I was still a sinner. I still am asinner to this day. But when you’re obedient to thecommands, it’s counted unto you for righteousness.

The Scriptures tell us it was a commandment ofJesus Christ to gather with the Saints as often aspossible. It does help hearing the testimonies andexperiences of others. There are times I wanted toshare, but it isn’t easy getting up in front of others.There was one time I wanted to share. OneWednesday night I was going to be late, but I wantedto go to church. I knew I was going to be five or tenminutes late. But I wanted to go. I got to church andno one was there.

Sometimes when not many show up, they have aprayer and go home. I looked at my watch. It wasfifteen minutes to 7:00. I could not believe it. I wasthe first one there. Others started showing up. I stillcan’t believe I got there fifteen minutes till 7:00. Idon’t see how I got showered, dressed and drove tochurch in twenty minutes. I don’t move too fast. Iused to work in construction. One job, the boss toldmy buddy, “I never saw anybody move so slow.” Tothis day, I don’t see how I got to church in twentyminutes. I wanted to go, late or not.

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A Faithful Woman-by Wilma (Clark) Rash, Oak Grove, Missouri

Glyph Notes (What a marvelous work—validatingthe Book of Mormon.); Zion’s Call (beautifultestimonies of God’s love); Tidings of Zion (guidanceand testimonies)—We are so fortunate to have thesepublications. I say this because such a publication isthe reason my family is part of the Restoration.

My grandmother was born in 1875. Some timearound 1920, she got a hold of a Saints’ Heraldmagazine and requested that a subscription be mailedto her. Because of that publication of the RestoredGospel, she was quoted as saying, “If I ever get achance, I’m going to be baptized in that church.”

Some time in the early 1930s, a young man movedto Missouri from Bisbee, Arizona. He wrote toChurch headquarters in Independence, asking if therewere any members near him. They replied that therewere no members, but that a woman by the name ofFlaura Clark received the Saints’ Herald. This youngman, along with his wife and small baby, paid a visit tomy grandmother. They spent the night and made thebaby a bed in a dresser drawer. That night, some ofher boys and this young man went coon hunting. Asfar as I know, this was the only church member whoever paid her a visit. The family lived in the little townof Hermitage, Missouri with no RLDS church in thearea.

Grandmother’s chance to be baptized came in1944. That’s a long time to wait. Grandma was thensixty-nine. My father was twenty-seven and mymother was twenty. All three were baptized inOmaha, Nebraska. I assume they were in Omaha tovisit her daughter. I was three years old and was alsoblessed at that time. Because of grandma’s faith-fulness, one son and two daughters were baptized.

World War II was raging, and Dad was shippedoverseas. Grandma, Mom and I returned toHermitage, Missouri, where there was still no RLDSchurch. We never used this as an excuse to stay homefrom attending a church service. We didn’t have a carand had to walk across town to a church, but we were

in church every Sunday morning and evening. It wasthe Lord’s Day.

My grandmother was known as a woman of faithand prayer. She passed away in 1954 at the age ofseventy-nine. She was never able to attend an RLDSchurch, but professed her faith in the Restored Gospelto the end.

My family moved to Independence just prior to mygrandmother’s death. We were new to the neighbor-hood, and to our surprise, that young man who hadvisited my grandmother so many years ago was nowour neighbor! His name was Elder Dave Myers, andI’ll be forever grateful for his ministry.

I am so thankful for my heritage and for the loveand guidance my family gave me. And to the staff ofthe Restoration publications, I want to say, “Keep upthe good work. There might be a lonely pilgrim out there looking and searching for his way.”

Who can find a virtuous woman? for her

price is far above rubies. The heart of her

husband doth safely trust in her, so that he

shall have no need of spoil. She will do him

good and not evil all the days of her life.

Strength and honor are her clothing; and

she shall rejoice in time to come. She

openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in

her tongue is the law of kindness. She

looketh well to the ways of her household,

and eateth not the bread of idleness.

Her children arise up, and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praiseth her.

Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain; but a

woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be

praised.

(Proverbs 31: 10-12, 25-28, 30)

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If Jesus Came To Your House

If Jesus came to your house to spend a day or two— If He came unexpectedly, I wonder what you’d do.

Oh, I know you’d give your nicest room to such an honored Guest,

And all the food you’d serve to Him would be the very best,And you would keep assuring Him

you’re glad to have him there—That serving Him in your own home is joy beyond compare.

But when you saw Him coming, would you meet Him at the door

With arms outstretched in welcome to your heavenly Visitor? Or would you have to change your clothes

before you let Him in? Or hide some magazines and put the Bible where they’d been?

Would you turn off the radio and hope He hadn’t heard? And wish you hadn’t uttered that last, loud, hasty word?

Would you hide your worldly music and put some hymn books out?

Could you let Jesus walk right in, or would you rush about? And I wonder—if the Savior spent a day or two with you, Would you go right on doing the things you always do?

Would you go right on saying the things you always say? Would life for you continue as it does from day to day?

Would your family conversation keep up it’s usual pace? And would you find it hard each meal to say a table grace?

Would you sing the songs you always sing, and read the books you read,

And let Him know the things on which your mind and spirit feed?

Would you take Jesus with you everywhere you’d planned to go?

Or would you, maybe, change your plans for just a day or so?

Would you be glad to have Him meet your very closest friends?

Or would you hope they’d stay away until His visit ends? Would you be glad to have Him stay forever on and on?

Or would you sigh with great relief when He at last was gone?

It might be interesting to know the things that you would do If Jesus Christ in person came to spend some time with you.

–Lois Blanchard Eades

Is Your House Set in Order?

-Anonymous

Recently, I had the following dream. I wasat home with my adult son and his wife andmy adult daughter. My husband was at work,so it was just the four of us in the house. Myson and his wife and my daughter were in theliving room watching TV, and I was in thekitchen making something with dough.

The house seemed to be cluttered with lotsof stuff. It was untidy. I thought I shouldclean it up, but I thought to myself that I couldclean it up later. I was focused on what Ineeded to bake with the dough.

My telephone rang and it was an elder fromthe Church. He told me he had somethingwonderful that he wanted to give my family(but he wouldn’t be specific) and asked if hecould come over immediately to bring it. Itold him that would be fine.

After I got off the phone, I was in a panicbecause my house wasn’t ready to receive anelder of the Church. I began to be upset withmy son and daughter-in-law and daughter as Iasked them to help me clean up the livingroom and put the stuff in my bedroom so Icould shut the door when the elder came over.Finally, they shut off the TV and began helpingme clean up the house. About that time, theelder’s car pulled up in front of my house.

When I awoke from the dream, the Lordgave me the following interpretation. He toldme that I felt unprepared to receive themessage of the elders of the Church because

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O my people, saith the Spirit,

Hear the word of God today;

Be not slothful, but obedient;

‘Tis the world’s momentous day!

Unto honor I have called you—

Honor great as angels know;

Heed ye, then, a Father’s counsel,

And by deeds your purpose show.

—Joseph Luff

my house was not in order. I was more concernedwith baking something in the kitchen when I shouldhave been more concerned with getting my house inorder.

I knew the Lord was telling me this is a similitudeof my spiritual life. I sometimes push spiritual cleanup aside and deal with the more pleasant things toclean up.

Placing all the stuff in my bedroom is a similitudeof what I do spiritually sometimes, too. The Lord toldme that if I shove the unpleasant things I don’t want todeal with in a room that is closed that he will not enterinto that area. All things are seen by him, and there isnothing we can hide from him. I knew the Lord wastelling me that his priesthood who will prepare willhave this same gift and power. We will not be able tohide our sins and lack of preparation from thepriesthood whom the Lord has called in these latterdays anymore than we can from the Lord, himself.

I knew the message the Lord was giving me was toput my house in order now, for time is short. Iunderstood that he is preparing his priesthood to comeinto our homes to help us prepare for the coming days.It will be better if our houses are already preparedbefore they come.

I know that Jesus Christ is seeking to prepare allthose who will hear his voice in these latter days. Doyou hear and recognize his voice? Obey it now whilethere is time and you will be greatly blessed.

The Power of Administration

-by Sarah Turner, Independence, Missouri

On March 31, 2015, I went into urgent care due tomy left wrist hurting. I had not fallen or hurt it in anyway that I could remember. I am a CNA for a living,so lifting is a huge part of my job. My wrist had beenhurting for about a week at this point. I told thedoctor what was going on, and he ordered me to havex-rays taken. He came back in and told me that I hadfractured one of the bones in my wrist, and he couldn'tbelieve it. He even showed me the x-rays and wherethe fracture was. It was very obvious that it wasfractured.

I was then put in a splint and told to follow up withan orthopedic doctor. This was not good. I haven'tworked at my job for more than a year, so I don'tqualify for FMLA or long term leave of absence. Withmy wrist being fractured, I was going to have to gothrough a separation of employment and then a rehire.That meant that I would have to start completely overwith no insurance, and that I would lose the personaltime I had already accrued.

On April 1, I went to the Wednesday night prayerservice and had my name put on the prayer list. Afterthe service, I was administered to by the elders.During the administration, it was prayed that I wouldbe healed if it be God's will.

On April 2, 2015, I saw the orthopedic doctor, andhe took new x-rays. He told me that there is no sign ofa fracture, arthritis, or any other deformity in mywrist. I know that due to my being administered to, ahealing took place. I was told that the cause of mypain is more than likely due to tendonitis, and I justneed to wear a brace for a few weeks. This is moregood news. I am so thankful for God’s blessing!

Is any sick among you? let him call

for the elders of the church;

and let them pray over him, anointing

him with oil in the name of the Lord.

(James 5:14)

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God Carried Us Through -by Megan Norman, Oak Grove, Missouri

In February 2013, my husband Jared and I got thesurprise of our lives when we found out we werepregnant. The surprise doubled when we went for ourfirst ultrasound and the tech told us she saw twoheartbeats. Our son had just had his first birthday, andthe news of twins brought joy and fear at the sametime as we anticipated what our future would holdwith three children under the age of two and Jaredstarting his second year of medical school.

The first trimester was very difficult as I foundmyself in and out of the emergency room every weekwith complications. I developed a subchorionichematoma (SCH), which causes lots of bleeding. I hadmy first episode of bleeding while I was at work. Myinitial response was panic as I thought I wasmiscarrying, but panic quickly turned to completepeace. The hymn “God Will Take Care of You”started playing in my head, and I felt no fear. I kneweverything was going to be okay.

I had two more of those episodes, and each onebrought total peace like I have never felt before. Iknew everything was going to be okay no matter whatthe outcome was going to be. I will say right now, Iam not a calm person. I have an anxiety and panicdisorder, and anything that deviates from normal willsend me into complete panic, so the peace I felt wasnot my own.

At thirteen weeks we started to have a “normal”pregnancy again, or as normal as it gets for a twinpregnancy. We discovered that the twins shared aplacenta which increases the risk of complications, sowe were monitored very closely. It seemed likeeverything was going well.

One day when I was twenty-eight weeks along, Iwent to work even though I was feeling very rundown. We were understaffed that day, so I had to pickup some of the slack. I was working on a patient whenI felt a very strong contraction. The blood drainedfrom my face because I knew that feeling from thebirth of my first child, and I knew something wasn’tright. I decided to ignore it, because we were too busy

for me to call mydoctor.

Thirty minutes laterI felt another contraction. I tried to talk myself out ofcalling the doctor, but I couldn’t shake the feeling thatsomething was very wrong. I looked around the roomfor anyone free who could help me, but everyone wasworking. I could tell the doctor thought I was spacingout because I kept dropping things, and my head wasnot where it should have been. I felt anothercontraction shortly after that. This one wrappedaround my back and tightened everything.

As soon as we were finished with that patient, I ranto my phone and called the nurse. I explained whatwas going on, and she told me to drop everything andgo to the hospital. I left work and promised my bossI would be back after lunch. I got to triage and foundout I was two centimeters dilated. By the time thedoctor got to me, I was three centimeters andcontracting every two minutes.

I had only felt four contractions before I got to thehospital, and I never thought I might be in activelabor. I started to panic. A full term pregnancy isforty weeks, and I knew it was way too early for thetwins to be born. Even though 90 to 95% of babiesborn at twenty-eight weeks will survive, they will stillrequire long stays in neonatal intensive care unit(NICU) with extensive medical care before they aredischarged to home.

The triage room suddenly became very busy as thenurses started hooking me up to magnesium andgiving me other medications that were meant to stoplabor. I was given a steroid shot to help the babies’lungs mature in case of delivery, and a second steroidshot was scheduled for twenty-four hours later. Assoon as my initial panic was over, I felt like I wasalmost floating—like I was watching all of this takeplace, but it wasn’t really happening to me. God spoketo me and said, “Pray, Megan.” So that’s what I did.

I felt God pick me up, just like he did when I wasbleeding so many weeks ago. I was calm. I had the

Zion's Call 11

labor and delivery team surrounding me; I had theNICU staff talking to me; I had people prepping mefor delivery; and I had to sign consent papers for anepidural, but I knew it was all in vain. I knew thesebabies were not coming out at that time. My nurse andmy doctor told me that it was a matter of hours beforeI would meet the twins, but I knew differently. Theirbirthday was not going to be August 8, 2013.

The magnesium wasn’t helping, and contractionskept coming. I was dilating pretty fast, and they toldme I was now four centimeters. My obstetric doctor(OB) sat down and said that we weren’t going tomake it to the twenty-four hour mark when they hadplanned to give me the needed second dose ofsteroids. She ordered it to be given to me in twelvehours instead and said my goal was to make it to thatnext steroid shot before delivery.

I asked about the magnesium, since everyone wasso sure I was going to deliver. They told me that whenmagnesium works, it is within the first two hours.They said since I had passed that two-hour mark, themagnesium was not going to stop labor. It was onlybeing used to strengthen the twins. I again politelysmiled. These babies were NOT coming out thatnight! I knew it.

I was administered to by the elders three times thatnight. Also, I remember one of my family membersmentioned that Lyle Smith was in charge of the prayermeeting at our home branch at Oak Grove thatevening, and while all this was going on at thehospital, he led a special service where every personthere prayed for me and my babies.

Right around the time that prayer meeting wasover, I stopped dilating. My OB kept checking, but Iwas still at four centimeters. I asked my nurse how mycontractions were looking, and she said that they wereslowing down considerably. The attitude in the roomstarted to change from “You are having these babiestonight,” to “You may make it a few more days.”Labor completely stopped at some point that night,and I was able to get some sleep.

The next morning, they felt comfortable enough totake me off the magnesium, and I was allowed toleave the delivery room and go to the mother/babyside of the hospital floor—where I stayed on bed restfor the next six weeks.

I know it was the power of prayer that stopped mylabor because the doctors and nurses were amazedthat it just stopped for no reason. I knew it wouldstop. I had no doubt it would. God had carried methrough the difficult pregnancy, and he had assured methat he would continue to carry me though until theright time for the safe arrival of our twins.

A few days later, I toured the NICU just in case mybabies still came early and needed to be there. Istarted crying when I saw two incubators side by sidethat were decorated and had pink blankets. They werelabeled “Twin A” and “Twin B.” The nurse told methat they had set those up for my babies when I was inlabor. They had really thought they were going toneed them that night. I realized just how close we hadcome to delivering at twenty-eight weeks and howblessed I was that God stopped my labor when therewas nothing modern medicine could do to stop it.Because of the prayers from my church family thatnight, my little girls never saw the inside of a NICU.

The six weeks I spent in the hospital on bed restwere very difficult. My church arranged for elders tocome every day to administer to me. There were somedays I would be contracting pretty badly, and I wouldwatch the clock waiting for the elders to comebecause I knew that my contractions would stop assoon as they administered to me. To everyone’samazement, I was still pregnant at thirty-four weeks.At this point, if I went into labor, they would not tryto stop it, since the babies were developed enough notto be too high risk if they were born, even though theywould have to spend some time in the NICU. I wasallowed to go home, where I continued with thepregnancy for two more weeks before the twins werefinally born at thirty-six weeks.

My doctor had originally planned for me to beinduced into labor at thirty-six weeks, as it wasdecided that was the safest time for delivery since thebabies shared one placenta. After I went intopremature labor, no one had thought I would evermake it to that point of the pregnancy, but by God’smercy I did, and I delivered two perfectly healthy babygirls. Aubree was five pounds, five ounces, and Avaleewas four pounds, fifteen ounces. If they had been bornbefore thirty-six weeks, it would have been mandatoryfor them to go to the NICU for at least twenty-fourhours. Even being born at thirty-six weeks, I was told

12 Zion's Call

that they might have to spend a bit of time in theNICU, but they were so healthy and strong they didn’tneed to go to the NICU at all. It was a miracle to beable to hold and nurse my babies right away and totake them home with me when I was discharged fromthe hospital.

Today, the girls are healthy, active nineteen-month-old toddlers. I am so thankful for God’s blessing overtheir lives from the very beginning! God is so good!

Praise the Lord Always -by Mike Stahlman, Missouri

We lost both of our riding mowers in a house fireon April 20, 2013. The four acres of grass didn’t careif the house was destroyed in a fire; it kept growinganyway. For the remaining part of that year, we hiredthe mowing to be done. After much thought, I decidedI wanted a zero-turn mower, which would cut downon mow time. It took around six hours to mow ourland with a little riding mower. The yard is quiteuneven, which causes the person riding the mower tobe bounced around quite a bit.

After studying the various mowers that areavailable, my heart was set on a Ferris brand zero-turn. This is the only brand that has any kind ofsuspension (springs and shocks), which would cutdown on the wear on the body when mowing. Tryingto conserve money, I was searching for a used onethat was the best bargain.

On the evening of Friday, April 25, 2014, while Iwas on my way to meet my wife at the yearlycongregational weekend retreat at the churchcampgrounds in Odessa, Missouri, I saw a Kubota

zero-turn mower for sale along the side of the road. Icalled the phone number, and the seller had fourmowers for sale. One was a Ferris that had only beenused for 120 hours even though it was eight years old,and the price was a bargain. Because that particularmower was at a different location, and I was headedto the service taking place that evening, I madearrangement to meet the man the next morning at 8:00a.m. The man selling the mower called me the nextmorning and when he didn’t get an answer, he sold themower to another buyer.

Saturday morning I had overslept and missed theappointment. Another buyer got there before me. Theowner called me, but I didn’t hear the call because thephone was still on vibrate from the night before. I hadput it on vibrate during church service and hadforgotten to turn the volume back up. Not being ableto reach me, he sold the mower to the other buyer. Igot up, headed out the door and called the seller to lethim know that I was on my way at which time he said,“I’m sorry buddy, I just sold it.” I responded that hedidn’t owe me an apology, but I owed him one.

After I hung up the phone, disappointment anddepression tugged at my heart for having missed thewonderful blessing that the Lord had prepared for me.I had been telling people how important it was topraise the Lord—especially when things go bad—now I was being put to the test. Though it wasdifficult at first and it was through gritted teeth, Imanaged to praise God that someone else had bought“my” mower. I returned home and looked once againon Craig’s list. I hadn’t had much luck previously onCraig’s list but tried once more. There on the list wasa better, newer used Ferris zero-turn mower. It wasthe exact same model, but with a bigger motor than onthe one that I missed for about the same price.

After talking with the owner on the phone, I toldhim if the mower was as good as he represented it tobe that I would buy it and be down the followingMonday with a cashier’s check. He took my word andremoved his add from Craig’s list. Monday came andI found the mower to be everything that he said it tobe. After taking it for a test run, we bought it.

My good wife insisted I share this testimony withhim, which we did, and we professed the goodness ofthe Lord. The mower has been a real blessing. It nowtakes about an hour and fifteen minutes to mow allfour acres.

Zion's Call 13

“O remember my son, and learn wisdom

in thy youth; yea, learn in thy youth to

keep the commandments of God.”

(Alma 17:68)

“Prepare ye, prepare ye

for that which is to come,

for the Lord is nigh.”

(D&C 1:3b)

A Vision of

the Future

-by Paul Colville, age 13, Missouri

A while ago, I had a dream in which I saw a few years into the future. In my dream, I was looking out my bedroom window and saw havoc and soldiers forcing their way into the neighbors’ homes and taking them captive.

I was alarmed at first, until I walked out into theliving room and saw my parents looking out the frontwindow. They did not act the least surprised orscared. In the dream I said, “What is the matteroutside?”

My parents said, “The Lord is protecting us.”

I walked out of the house and saw a force field thatcovered our whole property. The soldiers werewalking and running around our house and sawnothing. I was amazed and marveled.

Then the soldiers started to leave with a truck fullof people, and my parents said, “Time to go,” and Isaid, “Where?” and they said, “A surprise.”

We started walking down our street with angels,and their swords of fire, walking on our left and right.I did not know where we were going until I saw theStone Church. Then I realized we must be going tothe Temple Lot.

At the Temple Lot, there were hundreds of peoplethat I knew and did not know. Just then, hundreds ofangels descended from the heavens and came to thegrounds of the Temple Lot with their swords of fire.Then I heard trumpets, the clouds opened up, and Iwoke up.

Bible Treasure -by Edgar Pillsbury, Fall River, Massachusetts

I once read about an east coast man who thoughtit would be humorous to place a hundred dollar billbetween the pages of a Bible and send it to his westcoast brother as a Christmas gift. The west coastbrother did not open the Bible. As a joke the followingChristmas, he simply returned it to the east coastbrother.

Thereafter, it became a running joke for severalyears. Back and forth the Bible went at Christmastime,before the west coast brother, amazed, discovered thehundred dollar bill when it fell from between the Biblepages. During those many years, the west coastbrother had not bothered to open the Bible.Subsequently, the treasured hundred dollar bill wasnot found for years.

Since reading about this, it has occurred to me thatthis situation is similar to the great treasure which hasbeen placed in the Scriptures by God. If more peoplewould open the Scriptures, they would be amazed atthe treasure God has tucked into its pages. Thistreasure includes the formula by which we may reachcelestial glory, along with the method by which wemay establish the cause of Zion and bring about thebrotherhood of man.

These Bible treasures are available to anyone wholoves God and wants to serve him. Such people willnever regret their decision to study the scriptures.

14 Zion's Call

The K-LOVE Cruise 2015 -by Delores Champ, Bates City, Missouri

A friend gave me a book called Godwink Stories bySquire Rushnell and Louise Duart. On February 1, thestory I read from this book, “A Man Named Fred,”reminded me of a recent occasion. In the story, Godused the writer, Kimberly, to bring joy and self-forgiveness to a man named Fred in an out-of-the-wayplace in Idaho, under “coincidental” circumstances(which, of course, we all know were not coincidentalat all). Kimberly and Fred were from the same area ofNew Jersey—clear across the country! God broughtthem together because “we are on a gloriousGPS—God’s Positioning System—and his awesomestitching of the invisible threads of Divine Alignmentis guiding each of our journeys through life.”Kimberly wrote: “He has already used you today—perhaps to offer a smile, a gift of forgiveness, amoment of caring, a word of encouragement, or inmysterious ways of which you are not aware. We arethe bearers of God’s grace.”

In Mid-January, I went on the K-LOVE Cruise. (K-LOVE broadcasts Christian music to affiliate radiostations across the United States.) Afterwards, myroommate and I were waiting for our homeboundflight at the Fort Lauderdale, Florida, airport. Ithought to myself, “Usually you see someone youknow in places like this; I wonder who I will see?”Then I dismissed the thought. I wandered over to thegift shop, bought nothing, but on my way back to myseat in the waiting area, I DID see someone I knew.It was my former sister-in-law, Carolyn.

My previous husband, Robert, (although I calledhim Bob), was killed by a drunk driver in 1998. I hadnot seen Carolyn since then, although I had becomeFacebook friends with three of Bob’s four children.The family and I did not end up on the best of terms,but now his children are adults. I think they justneeded to grow up in order for there to be forgivenesson the part of all of us. Carolyn and her husband livein Oak Grove. Their children are adults now, too.

Carolyn and I had a very nice visit. She had beenon a cruise too, although it was a different one thanmine. Hers had been previously scheduled to takeplace a year earlier, but due to other things thatoccurred in their family, it had been postponed untilnow. They were at the airport to go home also. Infact, we were on the same flight home! At the end ofour conversation, we hugged one another, and arenow Facebook friends as well. God’s “GPS” put usin the same place, at the same time.

Now, to tell you about the K-LOVE Cruise! First,let me tell you how I came to go on this cruise. I ama member of the International Association ofAdministrative Professionals (IAAP), just one of myprofessional associations. There are several chaptersin Missouri, and we get together once a year for aMissouri Division meeting. We had a meeting in June,after my husband Daniel passed away. Pamela, amember from a nearby chapter, visited with me. She isalso a widow. A few weeks later, she emailed measking if I would like to be her roommate on thiscruise. I hesitated and had to check my schoolschedule, but a few days later, I said yes and signedup.

While on the cruise, Pamela told me her testimonyof God’s love for her: Last year she went on the K-LOVE Cruise (a different ship). She was full ofanxiety with the rocking of the ship on the waves. Sheprayed about it, and God spoke to her, asking her(paraphrased), “Why are you afraid? Don’t you knowthat when you feel the ship rocking, I am holding it inmy hands?” She was no longer anxious after that.

The cruise was amazing! The luxurious ship washuge. It was easy to get lost on the MSC Divina. TheK-LOVE vocal artists were wonderful, the food wasfabulous, the weather was great (for the most part),and of course, every guest on the cruise was there forthe same reason—all were Christians, ready to praiseGod even more at the nightly concerts and with othersas we prayed over our meals, etc. The ship is aregular cruise ship, not specific to Christian cruises.This was the first time there had been such cruisepatrons on this ship. Although a few people bought

Zion's Call 15

alcoholic beverages, it was announced at one of theconcerts that for the most part on THIS particularcruise, the bars and the casino area were NOTfrequented. The audience cheered.

On our flight out and back from Kansas City was adisabled young man, Noah. Noah was on this cruiseas a “Make a Difference” kid with his parents and hissister. (He wore a big button so proclaiming.) Whilemy roommate and I saw one other “Make aDifference” girl on the cruise, Noah’s sister told methere were actually four “Make a Difference” kids onthe cruise—two girls and two boys. How wonderfulfor them to have chosen the K-LOVE Cruise as their“event of a lifetime.”

We boarded the ship Tuesday, January 13. Therewere activities for all age levels, all day and into thenight. There was so much to do and see—a personcould not do it all. The main concert that first nightfeatured For King & Country, and Building 429.Afterward, we had supper (late dining each night),then went to the Aqua Park and heard Tim Timmonsperform, followed by watching a fabulous artist, JaredEmerson, paint a picture in just a few minutes, whilemusic played. The final product—a picture of Christwith the crown of thorns.

Wednesday, January 14, we had a shore excursionin Freeport, the Bahamas, after breakfast. We hadchosen to take a bus tour that included lunch, a littleshopping, and a short walk to the beach area, althoughwe really did not have time to get in the water there.It was sunny and warm. Our tour bus driver was aman named Daniel Kemp. When he said his name, itsounded like “Camp.” How much closer can you getto Daniel Champ than that? I knew, then, that Danielwas with me on this trip (although if he were alive, hewould not have wanted to be there—too many peoplefor his liking, he was not a water person, and hepreferred country music).

We heard Colton Dixon, and Casting CrownsWednesday night, then went again to the Aqua Parkafter supper, and heard Sanctus Real, and watchedJared Emerson again as he painted his “Face of God”painting while Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in theSky” played over the loudspeakers. Listen to that onYouTube or CD and you’ll know just how much timeJared had to paint from blank canvas to masterpiece.

Thursday, January 15, Pamela and I did not have aplanned shore excursion, so we attended the women’smorning devotions with Lysa TerKeurst and SchylerDixon. Lysa talked about the “one wise woman” in 2Samuel 20:16-22. Notes I wrote down are as follows:1) Approach. This wise woman was not only aservant, but she was serving God. If you are willingto do what you can (faith), God will meet you there.2) Assurance. Pray—not only FOR issues, butTHROUGH them. You may feel a certain way, butyou do not need to act it out. Tuck points of wisdomin your life, so others can see the evidence of God’struth in us. 3) Attention. Pay attention—not to foolsand foolish things; that will bankrupt our perspective.We steer where we stare. Never take your eyes off theMaster. 4) Intention. What is our real intention?What God anoints, no man can disappoint. Do not getsidetracked. 5) Prevention. Use wisdom. Makedecisions today that are good for tomorrow. God’sgrace never shakes its head and walks away. Walk inthe way you want to go—for your future. And finally,God is good at being God all the time.

After breakfast, we got off the ship in Nassau andwandered through the souvenir vendors and then intothe main shopping area itself. Thursday evening’sconcerts in the theater featured Chris August andMandisa, with Jared Emerson painting “The Lion andthe Lamb.” It was different than the lion and the lambwe are used to seeing. This was a lion, yes, but thelamb was Christ—the Lamb of God.

Friday, January 16, we were supposed to takesmaller “tenders” and go to the private island GreatStirrup Cay, but the captain determined the weatherwas too inclement for that—cloudy, overcast, a littlerain, choppy waves—so we spent the day on board theship. In the afternoon, we participated in some funactivities sponsored by the Singles Ministry.

Then it was time to get dressed for our “formalnight.” We enjoyed supper and the last concertswhich featured Plumb and The Newsboys (“God’s NotDead”). Plumb told her story of how she used to wantall the fame, glory, and what money could buy. Sheand her husband and son had the big, fancy house andall the trimmings that go with such a lifestyle, but theirmarriage suffered. They separated, and she finallyrealized what was really important—their family.After a while, they reunited. They no longer have the

16 Zion's Call

big, fancy house. Her story can be read in her book,Need You Now: A Story of Hope.

Saturday, January 17, we attended morningdevotions with Marvin Mumford (a former alcoholicand drug dealer) leading us in praise songs, and LysaTerKeurst again speaking. The story she featured thisday was about Abigail (1 Samuel 25, with backgroundin 1 Samuel 22:2). She brought out several things inthis story, but the main point I wrote down is thathumility opens the door to opportunity. It doesn’tvalidate the other person, but it frees you. Several ofthe musicians shared great testimonies or had notablethings to say. One I remember was Mandisa saying(I’m paraphrasing), “It’s not about your ability; it’sabout your availability—to God.”

Some participated in a couple of short mission tripsto schools in Freeport and Nassau. I might do that ifI go again. Also, there was a silent auction to raisefunds for a playground in a poor area of Jamaica, anda new church to replace one ravaged by HurricaneKatrina. A special area of the ship featured K-LOVE’s Hope Center in Detroit, Michigan. A personcould get more information and make donations there.

On the flight back to Kansas City, Pamela and Iwere seated in different rows. I sat between a manand a woman. We all three visited, but the main thingwas the conversation I had with the woman—Lindley,I believe her name was. She is Episcopalian. Wetalked about Scripture. I told her we had the threebooks of Scripture and named them; I told her webelieve God still speaks to people today through hisprophets, and others. She remembered Joseph Smithwas originally from the northeast—I reminded her thathe was from Palmyra, New York. We also talkedabout how Brigham Young took a group to Utah andthat was why we had to reorganize; and why webelieve eight years old is the age of accountability andwhy we don’t baptize until then. There was more wediscussed, no doubt, but I can’t recall it all now. Itwas a good conversation, and I was glad to witness, tobe able to perhaps plant a seed in her mind to do moreinvestigating later.

Then, when my grief support group met in earlyFebruary, I shared I’d been on vacation. They askedwhere, and I told them the K-LOVE Cruise. It was asmall group that day, and many of them were familiarwith K-LOVE. Those who were not, know about itnow after the discussion that followed!

Walking in Obedience-by Rhonda Stahlman, Missouri

In October 2013, we moved into a mobile home park in Blue Springs, Missouri. The park is clean, friendly, and conveniently located to the stores where we shop. After we got settledin, the Holy Spirit told me, “Walk everyday.” I walkedthe day he told me to and a few other times in thefollowing months, but it wasn’t until May2014—when a friend shared with me her testimony offasting from certain foods and walking every day, andhow she was being blessed because of it—that I beganto take that commandment from God seriously. Ibegan to walk every day and have even walked in therain in order to keep the commandment God gave me.

At the time he spoke this to me, I pondered as tothe reason why I had been given the commandment,thinking that it might be due to the fact that mymother’s family all had heart disease, and walkingwould be beneficial for my health. Then I decided notto be concerned about the reason why and just do itbecause God told me to. I know that he never tells meanything that isn’t for my good in some way.

One day last winter, the day began and becamevery busy, and it wasn’t until the evening when thelight had already faded that I contemplated notwalking, since I was tired and did not feel like Iwanted to get dressed in my outerwear and battle thecold. As I thought of not walking, this thought cameto mind, “You would be breaking a good habit.” I toldMike, my husband, what the Holy Spirit had spoken tomy mind and he, being aware that I had beencommanded to walk every day, suggested that I justwalk the short distance to the end of the road andback. That word of encouragement, said in kindness,was all I needed to get up, get dressed for theweather, and get out the door.

As I started to walk I decided that I would actuallywalk around our lighted mobile home park andactually circled it twice. With a little encouragementfrom my faithful husband, I continued to walk inobedience to the commandment given me, eventhough I admit, that it took me seven months to bediligent to his commandment. At one point in thisjourney, after praying for my Heavenly Father toforgive me for my negligence, the thought occurred tome that I was only delaying my blessing.

Zion's Call 17

Our Australia Trip: The Tie That Binds-by Pat Chadwick, Oak Grove, Missouri

At the beginning of any trip there is always a littletrepidation for one never knows what one mightencounter. When my husband, Hal, and I set out onour trip to Australia, I did feel a good degree ofnervousness and concern as to how the trip would goand if we would be able to keep up with all thetraveling. I need not have worried, for when you goforth to serve the Lord, his hand is always upon you.We were strengthened daily.

I won’t try to recount all the places we visited onour trip, but I would like to share some testimoniesabout our wonderful experience in Australia. Our firstofficial stop was the church reunion, and there we metmany of the Saints of Australia. The song “Blest Bethe Tie That Binds” comes to my mind. This songexpresses my feelings about that reunion experience,for at the reunion with church people I hardly knew,I experienced the power of that sweet Spirit that trulydoes bind our hearts in Christian love. I quickly felt atone with the Saints gathered there. They became mynew church family. I felt as if I had known them for along time, and Hal and I both experienced a genuinelove and affection for them.

The reunion was an excellent experience. I deeplyappreciated the opportunity to teach classes to mynew-found sisters in the faith. While teaching andlooking out upon their faces, I felt a deep love foreach woman in the class. At the close of the reunionas we sang a blessing upon each one, I found that Ihated to leave this group of Saints who in such a shorttime had become dear to me. I was pleased to discoverthat as we traveled around the country I would get thechance to visit with many of them again.

One evening while in Brisbane, I felt very illbecause of an infection, and later on I wasadministered to by the elders. I received a greatblessing. By morning I still had some symptoms, butthey were no longer acute. I know the Lord gave me

a great blessing that my symptoms went from acute tovery mild overnight.

The next morning while going through mymedications, I realized I had packed enough antibioticfor a week. This is an antibiotic prescribed for Hal’srosacea. He packed his own medication. I don’tremember packing those extra pills. Doug Smith (whois a doctor) said to take them, and I should be fine.One of the Saints from Australia, Helen Archer, toldme of some over-the-counter medication that wouldalso be helpful. All in all, I was greatly blessed, andour trip continued without me having to seek anymedical care. God is so good!

Everywhere we went, we were greeted with warmand wonderful hospitality. People opened their homesto us, fed us, and took us to see the sights in the area.One person even bought us tickets to the CurrumbinWildlife Center, which we enjoyed so very much!Many gave us little gifts of appreciation, and most ofall, we felt loved by everyone we met. The Archers(Peter, Helen and Danny) took off work to help driveus all over Australia. I found that the Saints inAustralia are a very kind and loving people, and I wantto thank them for all their generosity, care and love!I miss them already!

I hope that Hal and I will be able to return somedayto visit once again with our new church family inAustralia. Hal and I both really do feel as if we have awhole new church family there. In one of the prayerservices at reunion I thought, “Lord, why do I feelsuch a great love for these people?” It came to mymind that this is how we will feel when the Church ofthe First Born comes down out of heaven. We willinstantly know them and feel “The Tie That Binds” usall together, and it comes by the power of the HolySpirit. It is the same power that one day will bind ustogether in one heart and mind in Zion.

18 Zion's Call

For thus saith the Lord, I, the Lord, am mercifuland gracious unto those who fear me, and

delight to honor those who serve me inrighteousness and in truth unto the end; greatshall be their reward, and eternal shall be their

glory; and to them will I reveal all mysteries; yea,all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom fromdays of old; and for ages to come will I make

known unto them the good pleasure of my willconcerning all things pertaining to my kingdom;

yea, even the wonders of eternity shall theyknow . . . for by my Spirit will I enlighten them,and by my power will I make known unto them

the secrets of my will; yea, even those thingswhich eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

(D&C 76:2a-d)

My Experience in Paradise

-excerpts from a testimony by Betty Jean Richardson

It all started in Portland, Oregon, on a beautifulsummer night in June 1973. I was riding home withfriends, but the driver was driving too fast and refusedto slow down! The next thing I knew, my head wasgoing through the windshield. I traveled one hundredforty-seven feet, hitting trees and large shrubs, until Ilanded in the field, which was railroad property.

As I lay in the field, suddenly my spirit came out ofmy body. It went up through my head and into the skyand on into the heavens. I then went through a tunnelof lights, for lack of a better name for it. The tunnelstarted out black and then went through the rainbowof colors and finally to white light. Then I was walkingtoward the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seenin my life. It looked like translucent marble that justglowed and sparkled all over. I walked up the stairsof white marble that sparkled like a silver-white horseand walked down a pure white hall with doors on eachside and one door at the end of the hall.

I walked to the end of the hall and started to openthe door when Jesus stepped out of the door andhugged me and kissed me on my cheek. What lookedlike a projector for film suddenly appeared, and wereviewed my life. Jesus did not condemn any of myactions, but I realized my sins and wanted to change.When we were through, Jesus said I could stay inheaven or return to earth. Jesus said to me, “Yourdaughter will need you, and others will need you intime.” So I decided it would be better if I returned toearth to help others. I didn’t feel right staying inheaven if I was needed on earth to do his will. Still, Ihated to leave, because there you have no pain orsadness, no regrets, no sorrow. Only love and joy areyours in heaven.

Later I found out that my body had been injuredvery severely in the accident. My injuries includedmany broken bones (with compound fractures). Somebones were crushed. My jaw was wired together. Ihad plastic surgery to my face, hands, and breasts andwork done on my legs, stomach, and diaphragm. Onethumb had to be put back on. My spleen was removed.I had exhaust pipe burns on my legs. I had eye surgery

and many other repair surgeries, including many skingrafts. The doctors thought I would never walk or seeagain, but praise God, I do!

I was able to go through walls in the hospital whenmy spirit was out of my body. During all my surgeries,I could see what the doctors and nurses were doing,even though I was in a coma. When my body waslying in the morgue, my spirit could see everything thecoroner was doing. When you’re in your spiritualbody and you’re looking at your physical body, itdoesn’t matter how beautiful the physical body is—itlooks very ugly and smells horrible. It looks like a jarof clay and smells of sulfur and other gases. I didn’twant to go back into my physical body.

Every night for years, I cried myself to sleep afterbeing in paradise. I missed being with Jesus and beingin constant love and joy. I still do, from time to time.

Zion's Call 19

That Your Hearts Would Be Changed-by Vincent Truba, Independence, Missouri

This is a series of eight poems that outline our basic beliefs in the Lord’s Church: faith, repentance, baptisms,laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, eternal judgment, eternal life, plus a conclusion. [Editor’s Note: These poems will be printed two at a time as a series in this and upcoming issues of Zion’s Call.]

Faith

That your hearts would be changed, I provided FAITH, in things unseen;

To trust in me. For everything.

That your faith would grow, Like a rising tide;

Filled with the Spirit,Christ by your side.

It is through study and prayer That your faith is found;

Then Spiritual experiences, And your faith becomes sound.

When faith becomes knowledge,Of the Father and Son;

Your treasures in heaven, Will have just begun.

Serve the Lord in faith,And seek for the truths;

Witness for Him, And spread the good news.

To your sacred faith, You must hold fast; Believe in the Christ,

And take up your task.

Now is the time, Season and hour

To seek the Christ, And His protective power.

And don’t let the world, Pull you aside,

And lose your faith, Through Worldly pride.

Repentance

That your hearts would be changed,I provided REPENTANCE, for all your sins;

The Salvation Plan,Where it all begins.

Your bended knees, And your bowed heads;

Asking forgiveness, From our only Godhead.

Through Jesus Christ,Our lone intercessor;

To the God of creation,And our final Judgment, processor.

We are called to Repentance, In all generations;

Since the Garden of Eden, And all of its manifestations.

Saying you’re sorry, While not repeating the offense;

While Christ reads your mind and your heart,And your real intents.

Returning to God, Is a lifelong plan;

Repentance, provided, His Salvation Plan.

Water baptism, For remission of sins;

Becoming sin free, Christ’s example begins.

All mankind,Has been called to Repent;

The laying on of handsIs the Spiritual Cement.

20 Zion's Call

He Gives Me

Strength-by Janet Williams, Grain Valley, Missouri

On March 16, 2015, I called upon the Lord and hegave me strength. I have chronic myofacial pain, whichmeans that my muscles are very weak and I experiencepain daily. My roommate and I had just moved. I wasin my second-floor attic room of our older housecleaning an old four-drawer metal file cabinet. Thedrawers are full of files and very heavy.

My family had moved the file cabinet into the roomthe weekend before. I remember my son chucklingand telling me that my file drawers were openingbecause the floor was not level. He had then situatedit in a spot where the drawers didn’t open on theirown so easily.

I was finally trying to arrange the furniture so thatI could work in the room. I wanted the file cabinet tobe against the wall a few inches from where it hadbeen placed and used my very strategic scooting skillsto reposition it. The floor apparently slants justenough that the file cabinet was once again in a spotwhere the drawers kept opening on their own. I waspondering how to remedy the situation while I wipeddown the side of the cabinet, all the while trying tokeep the drawers from sliding open. I didn’t realizethe danger I was going to be in during the next fewminutes.

When more than one drawer is open, the cabinetloses stability and will tilt forward, even on a levelfloor. Before I knew it, two of the drawers rolled out,causing the cabinet to topple forward and causing theother two drawers to open also. One drawer felltotally out of the cabinet, landing on its front end. Theothers were protruding from the cabinet, jammedagainst the floor and the bed. The cabinet was leaningforward against the drawers, the bottom corner of theback side of the cabinet was against the wall behind it.

So there I was, somehow holding the cabinet fromfalling further and trying to stabilize the drawers thatwere coming out of the cabinet. I’m five feet tall, thefile cabinet being only seven inches shorter than I am.I stood there holding the cabinet, trying to figure out

what to do. I hollered for my roommate, but she was sleeping in her room on the first floor in the opposite corner of the house and didn’t hear me.

I quickly asked God to help

me. Then in faith, I proceeded to do what I could. Looking at the mess before me, I thought there was no way I would be able to fix it. I felt the calm of the Lord with me and began to try. I tilted the cabinetback, while trying to keep the drawers from falling. Byhis power, I got the cabinet back on the floor and thedrawers out of it with minimal catastrophe.

I assessed the damage to the cabinet. It appearedthat it was still in working order, which I found to beutterly amazing! I scooted the empty cabinet over tothe wall where I wanted it to be. I found something toput under the front of the cabinet so it was tiltingbackwards and the drawers would not roll outanymore.

I considered waiting till the next day when myroommate could help put the drawers back in. Butthen, considering that I knew God had beenstrengthening me, I decided to at least try to put oneof the drawers back in. Of course, I chose the bottomone first. That went well, and I thought maybe hewould help me get the next one in. I wouldn’t knowunless I tried, so praying as I tried to lift the secondone, I summoned all my might and hoped God woulddo the rest. He is faithful! I was able to lift thedrawer and slide it onto the track. I kept working,praying each time I began to lift a drawer and while Iwas trying to get it positioned onto the tracks. It isnoteworthy that almost all of the files stayed in thedrawers in the correct order!

The last one would not slide back past a certainpoint. I tried and tried. I investigated, I reasoned, Ipushed and shoved, to no avail. It just would not goback in the cabinet. I heard my roommate movingaround. Since she was out of bed, I asked her to help.She tried and tried. It still would not go in. Finally, Inoticed a small bump in the metal on the back cornerof the drawer. We got a hammer, and she banged thebump out so it was relatively flat again. She picked upthe drawer and slid it easily back into the cabinet!

Zion's Call 21

I am writing this testimony the day after ithappened. As I look at the file cabinet, I am soamazed. There it stands, fully operational in the spotI wanted it, and all the drawers are closed. I amabsolutely sure that there is no way I could have doneany of that on my own. I have never been capable oflifting even one of those heavy drawers. I am alsoconvinced that without God, I would have beenphysically injured and there would have been seriousdamage to the cabinet, my bed, and the wall where thecorner of the cabinet rested. The wall, the cabinet andthe bed are great, and I am just extremely sore. I amso thankful to my Heavenly Father to be alive andunharmed and to have the cabinet safe and sound.

“Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, thatthe everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the endsof the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there isno searching of his understanding. He giveth powerto the faint; and to them that have no might heincreaseth strength” (Isaiah 40:28-29).

To Love the Unlovable -by Jill Gowan, Blue Springs, Missouri

“And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thyheart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, andwith all thy strength. This is the first commandment.And the second is like this, Thou shalt love thyneighbor as thyself” (Mark 12:35-36).

This testimony happened when I was a sophomorein high school. A girl I will call Mary had been a friendof mine since age six. We car pooled to dance lessonsand were in school together. Eventually, she and hermom joined our church. As we grew older, we driftedapart due to a move and different schools, but most ofall, due to different life choices. Even though weattended church together, I really had a tough timeloving her.

She had a chip on her shoulder, was cutting withher words, and in my opinion, quite negative. I beganpraying about how to love this girl. I knew she hadlow self esteem and conflicts at home between herparents, so she needed friends.

I really didn’t know how to reach her, and my heartwas hard toward her. After praying for many months,one Sunday morning while getting ready for churchand being in prayer, I was filled from head to toe withlove for her. At that moment I was brought to tears,and I felt I would do anything in the world for her.

For the first time in my life, I knew what it meantto love someone by the Spirit. This was simply a giftGod gave me out of his grace, but only because Iasked and prepared. It did change the way I was ableto treat her.

If we have the desire to keep this firstcommandment, God will bless us with the ability tolove everyone, especially the unlovable!

Have You Found Christ?-by Edgar Pillsbury, Fall River, Massachusetts

Recent speculation and doubtful claims have beenmade that the cup used by Christ at the Last Supperhas been discovered. People are perpetually anxiousand ready to acknowledge anything which our Lordmight have possessed or used when living upon theearth, but to find Christ himself should be our eternaland highest ambition. “And ye shall seek me, and findme, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.And I will be found of you, saith the Lord ” (Jeremiah29:13-14).

How wonderful to find Christ, to make him yourown, and to worship him according to his will andspecifications. It would be wise to lay aside any searchfor our Lord’s personal items and to embark upon alife’s journey to find him. This is done by serving,loving, and worshiping him. This leads to undreamedspiritual heights as we assist him in establishing Zion.

The words of Isaiah 55:6 are wise admonitionwhich we must consistently use: “Seek ye the Lordwhile he may be found, call ye upon him while he isnear.” We must seek him with all our heart, mind,might, and strength. Being done with lesser things, letus reach out to him that we may all be able to say, “Ihave found the Christ. He is most wonderful tobehold.”

22 Zion's Call

I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works. (Psalm 9:1)

I WAS NEARLY EATEN UP BY A CORN-PICKER

-by Jay W. Thrift

There was no doubt about God performing a miracleon November 2, 1980. I was shelling corn on that dayat the Smith farm. I told my wife I would not be homeuntil later (5:30 p.m.).

The machine would not work properly; the augerwould not engage to carry the corn up into the wagon.I got off the tractor to get a closer look (big mistake).I pulled on the rope gently to see why the augerwouldn’t kick in. My gloves caught on the cross shaft.In no more than two seconds, my arms were gone intothe corn-picker. I only had time to think a mentalprayer: “Lord, help me!”

I could see the bones protruding out of both arms.At that point, my new snowmobile suit came offwrapped around the shaft, my pants came off, myshorts came off, and I only had one pant leg on. I wasnaked as my clothing stripped off. I fell back out of themachine. The tractor was still running. My elbow wasgood enough to kill the tractor (turn it off). I was ableenough to walk back to my truck about quarter-mile

away. That day, I had left the door open on the truck.I don’t remember ever doing that before. My armswere like rags. I was able to pull myself into thetruck, but could not start it or blow the horn to getanyone’s attention. I thought I would die at that time.

A young boy, who lived the closest to the farm,said that God told him something was wrong at theSmith farm. He got on his bike and came to the farm.When he got there, the gates were locked. He turnedto go home, but said he couldn’t. He pushed his bikeinto the ditch, around the gates, and came into thefield. He rode his bike around the truck where I satand kept going. He never stopped.

I thought, “There went my last chance.” But thatyoung man knew what he was there to do. He called9-1-1. There was no time to lose; I had been sittingthere for three-and-one-half hours.

The ambulance came and took me to the LapeerHospital. When we arrived, I saw my body beingpushed down a long hallway on a gurney by fivepeople and into the emergency room. I was floatingin the upper part of the room, watching the ER peoplework over my body, until I went back into my body.

The breathing equipment they had couldn’t do thejob. Two days later, I was transferred to Flint,Michigan. I was in a coma. I didn’t know anythingfor twenty-three days. I was in the hospital for sevenweeks. I had nine broken ribs and multiple breaks inboth arms (twenty-nine broken bones all together). Iwent through a long recovery period from my injuries.

I have taken every opportunity to share thistestimony. God plucked me from certain death so Icould testify to the people that HE IS, and he watchesover his people! He gave me a healing and a secondchance to witness for him to the Saints and anyoneelse who will listen.

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Australian Reunion 2015: A Spiritual Feast -by Linda L. Kerswell, Queensland, Australia

I had a great time at reunion this year. I had been having adifficult time prior to camp and was almostbegrudging going because it was an expense I reallydidn’t have the money for, and I was just over tiredand worn out. As I started preparing the last weekbefore camp, I did start to feel hopeful of a great timebecause I’d had trial after trial. I figured this meantthat the adversary wanted me to pull out, and Ithought it might definitely be worth going.

We had a truly awesome trip to camp, lots oflaughs, sleep, and chatter between the four of us in thecar. I traveled down with my brother, Neil Kerswell,and his daughter, Emma Kerswell, and my uncle, NoelRowlatt. We arrived safely in very good time.

I was rooming with my niece, Emma, and my son’sgirlfriend, Rebecca Young. I had prayed that we’d allget along and that by the end of the weekend we’d betruly bonded like a family. I was blessed. We hadlaughing, stories, and devotional time in the evening.It was so great to hear my lovely roommates havingsuch a wonderful time and seeing Rebecca enjoyingand feeling so loved at her first church camp. Myprayers were answered, but that’s just the start of therich blessings that I received at camp.

I had been struggling, as I said earlier, with somepast issues that had been interrupting my sleep,causing such bad nightmares and a lot of undue stress.I hadn’t even realized I had been bothered by the issuethat had arisen and had pretty much forgotten about it,but it raised its head and was causing me anguish.

At camp, there was a class for the women run byone of our American visitors, Pat, and it really strucka chord with me. I listened to this woman being sohumbly truthful about a very difficult time in her life.She told how she had chosen to turn to God forguidance and just hand all of the troubles she wasfacing over to him. It was like God had seen howmuch I had been suffering for months and promptedPat to be there to give that class just for me.

Each class and service after that gave me just a fewmore of the keys to help myself out of the mire I’dbeen in. I started to get more and more excited witheach class, even though I was also struggling to findtime to organize the choir and concert. That beingsaid, it all fell into place in a few minutes and wentreally well, so I was stressing over nothing.

I went to my cabin on Saturday night, and my niececame in. She could tell I was on the verge of cryingand she asked me if I was all right. I told her of allthat had happened so far—about the trials and howthey’d been haunting me, and about how I felt thatPat’s class was inspired. I felt like a weight had beenlifted and I felt free to move on to healing.

The next day Pat had another class for the womenon the power of prayer. It was incredible. That nightI went to bed and prayed mighty prayers of thanks. Iprayed that the Lord would help me to leave my trialswith him and leave me free to walk away from thatpoint unburdened. I truly feel like that is whathappened for me. No more nightmares, no morestress, or random bursting into tears—nothing. It wasall taken. I’ve since handed over other things that I’dbeen holding onto as well, and each time I do, I feellighter and peaceful.

I got a lot out of all of the classes at reunion. Ilearned just how much God loves each individual. I’mso glad that I’m a child of his! I’m so glad that I wentto camp and sat through those classes and heard thingsthat I’d in some cases forgotten and in other cases justhadn’t learned about in such depth. We get so caughtup in our everyday lives that we forget just howimportant it is to remove ourselves from it and feaston the fruits of the Spirit. We certainly did have aspiritual feast at reunion! I’m just so happy and soblessed to have been a part of it!

Reprinted from the May 2015 Australian Restoration News

24 Zion's Call

“Put thy trust in that Spirit which leadeth to do good; yea, to do justly,

to walk humbly, to judge righteously; and this is my Spirit.” (D&C 10:6)

Direction for Protection

-by Tiffany Jones, Missouri

A year-and-a-half ago, my family and I were called to take care of animals for a family. They had three dogs. One dog was going to be outside, and the other two dogs were going to be in the basement. The two dogs in the basement were aggressive dogs.They were very territorial, and they had already killedone of the owner’s dogs and a cat, and had bitten myhusband’s leg.

The morning after getting the call, my children andI went to the farm to feed the animals. I fed the dogthat was outside and was going to the basement doorto feed the other two dogs. While walking to thebasement door the Lord stopped me and said, “Lockyour children in the barn, and get a stick beforeopening the door.” So I gathered the children and hadthem go into the barn and close the door. I went up tothe garage and found a walking stick.

I walked down to the basement door, which I couldget to from the outside. I opened the door, and thetwo dogs greeted me with growling, barking, andshiny teeth, like they were going to attack. I triedcoaxing them to go outside, but they didn’t want to,so I went in with a strong stance. Holding the stick inmy hand, I stamped the stick to the ground andrepeated, “In the name of Jesus Christ” three times.Then I said, “I come in peace.”

As soon as I said this, they stopped barking, backedaway, and hid behind the stairs. I went to check theirfood and water. I turned around and started walkingto the door. The dogs started to follow me, but not inan aggressive manner.

I am so thankful to the Lord for giving me directionon what to do. Those dogs could have attacked mychildren and even me.

A Letter to the Editor

In receiving the recent Zion’s Call and reading the[request for] contributions, I prayed if the Lordwanted me to contribute something that he would helpme to know what to give.

I was also inspired by the first article by MikeLidberg by what his son gave as a wish in getting thebigger half of the wishbone. His words were, “I wishfor heaven to come down and be with us on earth.”His answer made me cry, for we all so need to haveZion as our first wish and desire.

When my husband, Harry, passed away in October2013, we had just sold some rental property andbecause it was commercial property, we received alarge sum of money. I was very concerned andprayerful as to where that money should go.

Notwithstanding the many choices I had to investin property in this area [Washington], the Lord guidedmy situation. After many meetings with my childrenand property searches, the opportunity fell into placeto invest in property in the land of Zion. This was amiracle to me, for it almost didn’t happen.

I know that the Lord did what we could not do inour own wisdom. After a year of owning this rentalproperty [in the land of Zion], we have been veryblessed. May all thing be to God’s glory. I feel this isthe right step toward being a part of the Zion that willbe!

I appreciate so much the Zion’s Call and enjoy the testimonies that encourage, strengthen, and give us hope! Thank you for your work!

Lois ArndtMilton, Washington

Zion's Call 25

A Testimony of Tithing -by Corey Stark, Lee’s Summit, Missouri

Tithing has been something I firmly believein—regardless of the spiritual state of the Church. Theblessings of God are eternal. Growing up, I hadalways heard of tithing but had never tithed regularly.When I was first out of college, I finally tookinventory and calculated I owed $154 in tithing. Ididn’t have the money. I was working on a farm thatsummer for a whopping $3.25 per hour. I was sharinga house with my sister and brother-in-law, and myexpenses were few.

I decided I would sacrifice something to save themoney, so for three weeks I rode my bike to work(and everywhere) to save gas money. After about amonth, I got paid cash for one week and had exactly$154. I was so happy. I put the cash in my sock androde my bike home (I lived in Blue Springs at thetime) with the full intent of putting that cash in anenvelope as soon as possible and sending it to thebishop.

I walked in the house, and my sister was crying.She said the propane tank was empty, and she didn’tknow what to do. There was no hot water in thehouse, and she was nursing my nephew. We had allgathered in to the Center Place, and no one had anysteady work yet. Times were hard. She had no money,but she had called the propane company, and theybrought the minimum amount of propane. They saidthat she could come to the office to pay and left thebill with her. It was $152. She was crying because shedidn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how the billwas going to get paid. Without a word, I pulled outthe cash from my sock and presented it to her. Shewas elated beyond words.

I was not able to put the money in the envelope forthe bishop that day, but I knew her need was greater.I felt God wanted me to learn that it is alwaysimportant that we meet our basic living needs andserve others with our substance. I was able to keepriding my bike, and by the end of the summer I didsend the $154 to the Church. I have never regretted it.

In paying tithing for about thirty years, I havefound many blessings. One blessing is simply this:Each year I have owed more tithing than the previous

year, which is simply anindicator that God increasesour increase if we are faithfulto him.

After my wife, Marji, and Ihad owned our first house fora while, we were about tooutgrow it. We decided it was time to move. We putup a “For Sale by Owner” sign. I had calculated ourtithing for that year, but had not taken the time to sendin the statement to the bishop as I had in yearspast—believing that it was more of a formality than anecessity. But there was this burning feeling that if Iwould take care of filling out the statement andsending it in, perhaps our house would sell.

One night, I felt urged to complete the accounting.As I signed the paper on our kitchen table and put it inthe envelope, I picked up my Bible, and it fell out ofmy hands onto the kitchen table. It opened exactly tothe verse in Malachi 3:10 stating, “I will . . . pour youout a blessing, that there shall not be room enough toreceive it.” The Spirit burned in confirmation.

That morning I dropped off the envelope at thepost office on the way to work. By the time I arrivedat work there was a message from Marji to call home.(This was pre-cell phone days.) I called home, andMarji said a family had called to make an offer on thehouse—full asking price—and they made the offer atthe exact time I was putting the tithing envelope in thepost office box.

Even more so, we wanted whoever purchased ourhouse to have the same spiritual blessings we had hadthere. It turned out the folks making the offer wereChurch members, too. They still live there to this day,twenty-two years later.

I have many times received blessings in multiples ofthe amount I tithed. A few years ago I filed ourtithing, and on the very next day was offered acontract for exactly ten times the amount I had justcommitted to pay in tithing. This has happened morethan once. God will bless us when we are faithful inkeeping his financial law.

Keeping the Word of Wisdom: The Truth about Commercial Wheat Products

-by Debbie Norman, Oak Grove, Missouri

A key principle of Section 86 of theDoctrine and Covenants is that grain is the staff of life,and wheat, particularly, is for the use of man [humanbeings]. However, commercially produced wheatproducts are a poor representation of the nutritious grainGod created. Let’s look at a few reasons why this is true.

Commercially produced wheat flour is milled onrollers which separate the bran and germ from the starchyendosperm. For white flour, only the endosperm is used.Read my previous articles in Zion’s Call or on my blog 1

for a summary of the health hazards of eating refinedwhite flour baked goods. Then consider this additionalhazard to your health: White flour is almost alwaysbleached by chemicals such as benzoyl peroxide,nitrogen dioxide, chlorine gas—or even worse—azodicarbonamide or potassium bromate. White flour isbleached to speed up the softening and whitening processwhich occurs naturally in about twelve weeks. It takesonly forty-eight hours if bleaching chemicals are used.

The North American Millers’ Association (NAMA)says this: “In the bleaching process, flour is exposed tochlorine gas or benzoyl peroxide to whiten and brightenflour color. The bleaching agents react and do not leaveharmful residues or destroy nutrients. In soft wheatproducts chlorine gas is also used to control cookiediameter and cake height.” Because these bleaching2

agents are purported to leave no residue, they are notrequired to be listed on the labels. In spite of NAMA’sinsistence of their safety, the chemicals listed above areall banned in Europe and other parts of the world.

“That’s okay,” you say. “I’ll just buy whole wheatflour.” While that is a big step in the right direction andwill avoid exposure to bleaching chemicals, commercialwhole wheat flour is not what you think it is. Mostconsumers assume that whole wheat flour containsground up whole kernels of wheat. Unfortunately, this isnot true of commercially milled whole wheat flour (andsubsequently not true for commercial whole wheat bakedgoods). Commercial whole wheat flour (even if it says“100% whole wheat) is NOT 100% of the wheat kernel.Commercial roller mills ALWAYS separate theendosperm from the germ and bran. To make “wholewheat flour,” some bran and some germ are added backinto the white (endosperm only) flour. The healthy oils ofthe germ are usually not added back in, since they gorancid rapidly and would greatly reduce the shelf life ofthe flour. So with commercial whole wheat flour and

baked goods, you are still missing out on a significantportion of the nutrition that God packed into wheat.

It gets worse! Previously, I have recommended thatif one cannot grind their own fresh flour, then one shouldtry to purchase stone ground whole wheat flour. Wholewheat flour that is ground at old-fashioned stone burrmills is actually whole wheat. Nothing is taken out oradded back in. Unless you have a stone burr mill in yourneighborhood, the stone ground flour will not be as freshand nutritious as home-milled flour, but at least it is thereal thing.

However, while researching online, I came acrossdisturbing information. Dated back in 2006, an articlefrom USA Today titled “The hard truth aboutstone-ground flour” said that “for many big companies,stone-ground is just a marketing phrase.” A spokes-person for General Mills was quoted as saying the label“stone ground” on their Gold Medal flour simply meansthat the “flour products have passed through an actualstone mill at least once.” In other words, companies maydeceptively “pass” their grain “through” a stone mill andthen mill the flour on commercial roller mills as I havedescribed above and still legally label it “stone ground.”

It turns out that there are NO federal requirements onthe use of the term stone-ground on food labels. None.The owners of Hodgson Mills—an actual stone burr millwhich produces flour that is truly stone ground—foundthis to be outrageous (and I do, too)! In 2001, they fileda petition with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)to establish a standard of identity for the term “stoneground” as applied to wheat flour. In 2002, the FDAdenied their petition saying Hodgson Mills “did notprovide any data to show what consumers understand theterm ‘stone ground’ to mean and to show that consumersare buying a product labeled ‘stone ground’ that differsfrom their expectations.” 3

So when you reach for that brand name loaf of 100%stone ground whole wheat bread, there is NO assurancethat it is really made with stone ground whole wheat flourinstead of commercially milled counterfeit whole wheatflour (in spite of a picture of a mill on the label). Thesame goes for that box of crackers that says “Made withstone ground wheat” on the front, and for the bag of flourlabeled “Stone ground whole wheat.” The “evils anddesigns” which God warned us would “exist in the heartsof conspiring men” are very real (D&C 86:1a).

NutriMill Wonder Mill KoMo Mills

Price as of May 2015 $240 $220 $400 and up

Grinding method Stainless steel impact heads Stainless steel impact heads Corundum-ceramic burrs

What will it grind? All dried grains, including smallgrains such as quinoa andamaranth.Dried legumes.

All dried grains, including smallgrains such as quinoa andamaranth.Dehydrated sprouted grain.Dried legumes.Some spices.

All dried grains, including small grainssuch as quinoa and amaranth (butpopcorn in not recommended)Dried legumes Spices. **Has interchangeable insertsystem to avoid cross-contamination**

What will it not grind? Not suitable for herbs, spices,nuts, oily seeds like flax, fibrousmaterials, or dried sproutedgrains or seeds.

Not suitable for nuts, oily seedsand some spices.

Not suitable for herbs, oily seeds likeflax, popcorn, or fibrous materials.

Grinding adjustments Fine flour to coarse meal Fine flour to coarse meal Fine flour to coarse meal, cracked grain

If you must buy flour, I now recommend purchasingit only from reliable sources which operate a legitimatestone burr (or other non-roller type) mill. Two of whichI know are Bob’s Red Mill and Hodgson Mill. If youmust buy bread or baked goods, look for ones sold innatural foods stores which are produced by smallercompanies (not the giant conglomerates). Look for the100% whole grain label and a minimum of ingredients.(I hope to discuss commercial bread additives andingredients in a future article.)

Of course, a MUCH better option would be to investin your own grain mill! I believe this should be a priorityfor most families. God said grain is the staff of life, andthe best way to receive all the goodness of grain is to millfresh flour in your own kitchen and bake with itimmediately! The nutritional superiority of fresh groundflour over store-bought whole grain flour is vast. Even ifyou never bake a loaf of yeast bread, it is worth theinvestment of a kitchen mill to grind flour for pancakes,muffins, waffles, and other quick breads. Maybe youcould even find a friend who would bake bread for you inexchange for milling fresh flour.

When considering the purchase of a mill, the firstquestion many people ask is whether they should buy amanual or electric mill. I recommend that you buy anelectric mill. Manual mills are fine for emergency backup, but grind much slower and take a considerablephysical effort, making them impractical for regular use.

So which electric mill is best? From my research, Irecommend three brands, and I am confident that any oneof them would be a satisfactory investment: NutriMill,Wonder Mill, and KoMo Mills. See the table below forcomparisons. Here are several online stores Irecommend which sell grain mills: Pleasant Hill Grain(pleasanthillgrain.com); The Urban Homemaker

(urbanhomemaker.com); and The Bread Beckers(breadbeckers.com). The Bread Becker’s site also has awealth of information in their blog articles andinstructional video library.

I grind with a Whisper Mill. I have been totally happywith its trouble-free performance under steady use for theeight or nine years I have owned it. Although WhisperMills are no longer available, the Wonder Mill ismanufactured in the same plant and said to be a nearlyidentical product with some upgrades, such as a morepowerful motor with more air flow.

After reading many reviews and comments, I do notrecommend buying a grain mill attachment for a KitchenAid. Many say that grinding grain will burn out theKitchen Aid gears in a short time.

After you have invested in a grain mill, you might alsoconsider a grain flaker (sometimes called a roller). I havethe Marga Mulino Flaker. It is hand cranked, but quickand easy to use. Pour the oat groats in the top and crankaway for the freshest, tastiest, most nutritious oatmealever! Other grain flakers that get good reviews are theKoMo Flocino or KoMo FlicFloc.

We need to take the Word of Wisdom seriously! It isGod’s Word for our temporal salvation!

1. Please visit my blog atwww.RunningWithTheGrain.blogspot.com

2. North American Millers’ Association http://www.namamillers.org/education/wheat-milling-process/

3. FDA reply to Hodgson Mills’ petitionhttp://www.fda.gov/ohrms/dockets/dailys/02/Jul02/070902/80016bd4.pdf

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For more information about the Book of Mormon, or the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ restored to earth in the latter days, write to Zion’s Call at the address below.

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And believe in prophesying, and in revelations, and in the ministering of angels,

and in the gift of speaking with tongues, and in the gift of interpreting languages, and in all things which are good:

For there is nothing which is good, save it comes from the Lord; and that which is evil, cometh from the devil.

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.

Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth, ye will be saved. (Omni 1:44-47)