Orson Scott Card is a Latter-day Saint and a science fiction author. I love his books. He maintains a website for his fans. Part of that website offers answers to research questions regarding his work and himself. One person asked If he could describe his experience when he was a missionary for the Mormon Church in Brazil?
Of course this was far too broad a question to answer, but Card promised to try to answer more specific questions, so I asked if he could describe the instructions he received from his mission president regarding the teaching of black people in Brazil because I knew that different missionaries received different instructions at different times.
My father-in-law, for example, received no instruction at all and actively proselyted among Brazilians of African descent.
Here is Orson Scott Card's response
May 12, 2000: Because Mormon congregations are completely staffed by lay members - no hired priesthood - they need to have at least a minimal number of priesthood-holding men in order to function. In Brazil, so many people have African descent that the rule the Church had before 1978, barring the priesthood from them, made it so that out of necessity, the Church had to restrict its missionary activity among people of African ancestry. We were told to put obvious barriers in front of people whose African ancestry was apparent, so they had to be exceptionally motivated in order to join the church.
This was a painful thing, in practice. So many people that were really interested in the Church were, in effect, turned away - not meanly, but nevertheless effectively - that many of us yearned for that restriction to be lifted. Most of us, of course, had grown up in the American west - an area that has very few blacks. So we had not seen the effect of this policy in our own lives, among our friends or acquaintances. Now that we saw first-hand how much more receptive the Brazilians of African descent were to the gospel, it was hard to think they in any way "deserved" to be cut off from it. Naturally, in order to "justify" the Church policy, many people had invented folk doctrines or seized on doctrines invented by others that, in effect, blamed blacks for the restriction. But in fact the policy had been introduced solely to preserve the Church in its early days on the American frontier, when, in Missouri, the local slave-holding culture hated and feared the mostly-Yankee Mormons because they were growing in number and represented potential anti-slavery votes. When it became clear that Mormons were baptizing and giving the priesthood to freed slaves, the anti-Mormon mob went into a frenzy. That was when the policy to no longer give the priesthood to blacks was introduced. And, during the era when blacks were grossly discriminated against throughout all of America, that policy helped the Mormon Church survive in bigoted Bible-belt areas. By 1973, however, the policy already seemed pretty dated to some of us. Though we also knew that change would only come when the leaders of the Church felt that they had the Lord's permission to make a change. Some of them had expressed their personal belief in some of those folk doctrines, making it seem sometimes that they would be highly unlikely ever to change.
And the worst thing was what the policy did to many of the missionaries there. It was like a carte blanche for racism. Some of the disparaging comments I heard, the hostile or mocking attitudes toward blacks, shocked me. I had never heard anything like that from my family. While I grew up hearing some of the fear-centered stereotypes about blacks, there was never anything even approaching hostility toward or mockery of any racial group, and I could not believe that people calling themselves Latter-day Saints could have such attitudes. I was not the only one to get into arguments with some of the most excessive of the racists - but it was hurtful how THEY claimed to have the Church on their side.
Still, I also saw many examples of faithful members of the Church who, having joined the church despite the restrictions, or having done their genealogy, discovered African ancestry, and had their priesthood "suspended," nevertheless remained loyal, faithful, loving Latter-day Saints. They helped dispel much of my own ignorance and racial stereotypes.
And when, five years after I got home from my mission, the announcement came that the restriction was lifted, I was one of many former missionaries to Brazil who longed to go back and find all those people we had to turn away when they were seeking the gospel. Since 1978 the Church has grown by leaps and bounds within Brazil. Why did it take so long? I do not think for a moment that the Lord or the Church were waiting for Africans to be ready - they were ready all along. First the wait was for American culture to be ready to accept fully integrated churches in every region of the country; then the wait was for the Church members themselves to be ready to embrace the change. And embrace it we did. Yes, there were areas where substantial numbers of Church members stopped coming to church and haven't been back. But the vast majority of the Saints were ready and eager to see that restriction lifted from our shoulders - for it burdened us as surely as it burdened any of the African-Americans (and African-Brazilians) who joined the church despite the rule or missed out on it because they could not bear the inherent racism of the policy.
It was a racist policy that had been instituted by a non-racist church for the sake of the survival of the church in a racist region, and, like racism in America in general, it lingered far too long. But I'm proud of the fact that we Mormons don't do things by halves - we are now one of the most rigidly ANTI-racist Churches. Throughout the South where we live now, most churches are segregated, not by rule but by custom - blacks go to mostly-black churches, whites to mostly-white churches. But the Mormon churches are integrated and black members are fully involved in leadership and service.
I hope this answers your question. I'd love to know what prompted you to ask it.
Orson Scott Card
Links:
* The Casting Broad
* Fresco Pictures
* Hatrack River: The Official Website of Orson Scott Card
* Lost Books
* Nauvoo: A Gathering Place for Latter-day Saints
* The Ornery American
I was greateful to receive this reply from Card, and sent him a reply in return. I don't recall all of what I wrote, but he replied again.
May 13, 2000: I truly wish the issue WERE dead. As far as the official church is concerned, it is ... but several issues remain.
1. The previous folk teachings about race continue to be taught despite our best efforts to stamp them out - so many members still hear all that old nonsense about why blacks deserved inferior treatment in this life, etc.
2. Members who think that EVERY action of EVERY authority of the Church must be inspired by God are grossly disillusioned at the discovery that many if not most actions of church leaders from the lowest to the highest offices are merely those leaders best decisions at the time, based on their own understanding and their own preferences and judgments. when you think about it, this shouldn't be a problem - God isn't creating puppets here, he's creating people, and that means we have to have experience making decisions, even harmful ones - and also bearing with and being patient with the mistaken decisions of others. However, the story that everything is inspired, while it has the convenience of getting many people to accept decisions without argument, does the great harm of setting up the members of the church for disillusionment and loss of faith. The decision to restrict blacks from holding the priesthood was one such decision - it may have even been inspired at the time, but all the nonsense set up in support of it certainly was NOT inspired ...
3. The language with which the declaration was made left the implication that there is an unwritten revelation somewhere in someone's memory. Quite the contrary. what there was - all there EVER was - was President Kimball's profound assurance, given by God, that the restriction should be lifted. He spoke of this to the 12 in the temple, and all of them agreed, in a very spiritual meeting in which it was clear to all that this was the will of God. My wife can steer you to where the best account of this has been written down. So what was not given in words cannot be written down in words. Still, there could have and should have been an official account of how this revelation was given ... except that I think part of the reason for not doing so is that to have such an account in the scripture would lock in the fact that the racial restriction ever existed, and there is, I think, a profound wish among the Brethren that the memory of that old policy might just go away.
It won't, of course. But it can be set aside by most members and nonmembers alike, and perhaps, unlike polygamy, it will NOT continue to be one of the first things that people think of when they think of Mormonism <wince>.
Anyway, I'm glad that you're one of those who are not only concerned that the true doctrine be taught and widely understood, but are taking part in that effort. I'm looking forward to reading your paper - the table of contents looks good.
Best,
osc
I also received this kind response from Kristine Card
May 15, 2000: Hi, I'm Scott Card's wife, Kristine. He asked me to send you the reference to the place I think is one of the best accounts of the revelation on the priesthood. But, I'll bet you have already read it. If not -- it is Chapter 11 "The Long Promised Day" in Leonard J. Arrington's biography "Adventures of a Church Historian". The book was published in 1998 by University of Illinois Press. I know you can get it from Deseret Book or Amazon because my bookclub just read it and that's where everyone got their copies. Best wishes, Kristine Card
Saturday, May 13, 2000
Saturday, April 1, 2000
Autobiography of Dianna Solmes (2000)
HASTINGS, MICHIGAN, APRIL 2000
I was born in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 13, 1943. My father was in the Air Force stationed in South America most of the time during Mother's pregnancy, but he managed to be with Mother before she left the hospital with me. I was born in the Breakers hotel(1) which was requisitioned as a hospital during these war years. I was the second daughter and the second child of my parents. My sister, Suzanna, was a year and a half older than I. We were great friends all of our youth
I had a brother, Brian, born three years later in West Palm Beach, Florida, but I don't remember him until later when my last brother, Jeffrey, was born in 1950. By then, we lived in Montgomery, Alabama
>Dad never stayed in one place for long. We moved from Florida to Texas, to California, to Florida, to Arizona, to Alabama, to Maryland, to Virginia, to New Mexico, to Germany, to Morocco, to Virginia, to Ohio, to California, to Florida. I'm not even sure about the order in the earlier years
My grandmother lived with us for a few years from 1951 to 1953. She was a wonderful influence in my life. She talked to me about God and encouraged me to go to church with our neighbors in Clovis, New Mexico, the Huttons. Reverend Hutton was the pastor for a Baptist Church in Clovis and Suzanna and I went with them every Sunday. They had five sons all of whom were grown and married except Jimmy, who was two years older than Suzanna. He was neat
Suzanna and I were baptized the summer of 1953. Then Dad received orders to go to Hahn Air Force Base in Germany as the Fiftieth Fighter Bomber Wing commander. He left in August and we followed in December. We flew to New York and waited for several days. We met Mother's cousin, Will (Bill) Pahlman, and his friend, Margaret Cousins, who was the author of several biographies for young people. She gave me a copy of her biography of Benjamin Franklin and autographed it for me. They took us to the ice capades in Times Square. Then, we flew to Frankfurt, Germany. On the airplane we read horror comics. I had some bad nightmares because of one in particular. I was afraid the ceiling was going to fall on me in my sleep and puncture me with a thousand spears! Dad met us at the airport. It was nighttime and very dark. We drove for a long time before we got to the base. Dad entertained us with stories of bears and wolves in the German woods along side of the road. He laughed and laughed when we shrieked in fear! He didn't know about the comic books
We lived on post in a double apartment and we had a German housekeeper. It was great. We didn't even have to make our beds! But we got spoiled. If our beds weren't made we had a fit. We even learned to do it ourselves the German way. That resembled the military way (tight corners -- tight everything!). We had every base privilege which included free shuttle bus service anywhere on base, a movie theater, a commissary, a gymnasium, school, everything we could want. We had the freedom to explore the nearby German woods, go to summer camp in the black forest, and shop in quaint little German towns. Frau Zeiler, our first German housekeeper, would go on picnics in the woods with us. She would warn us about the mines that were still buried there. We felt immortal, I guess, because we never let that stop us from exploring and having fun. Some people weren't so lucky. They got blown up!
The following year, Dad was transferred to Ramstein Air Force Base, which was more of the same, it was great. We loved playing in the woods. Then he received orders to go to Rabat, French Morocco. This was different. We had to live on the economy, which meant no military housing. It took three months to get a house fixed up for us in Rabat. The house was French and had black marble floors upstairs and down with a curved marble staircase and three balconies. In the meantime we rented a tenant house on a fruit farm in Salé, a small place outside the city. We spent a lot of time at the beach on the Atlantic Ocean swimming, body surfing, and picnicking. We rode a bus for an hour to get to our American school in Quonset huts in the middle of a cork forest. We even had basketball courts and baseball diamonds. In the spring we had a caterpillar epidemic. The trees and buildings were totally covered with them. They had to be burned off with torches.
During a softball game that I played in, I lost my temper with the coach/teacher and threw the ball at him as he turned around and walked away from me. I hit him in the back of the head. I was more shocked at my actions even than he was! When he turned around to see who had hit him, the fear on my face tempered his anger, and he let me off with a warning. I never did anything like that again.
Mother played softball on an Officer's wives' softball team. I don't remember who they played, but it was probably the non-commissioned officers' wives. They lost I was a cheerleader for mother's team. I lost heart and couldn't cheer much toward the end of the game. But mother never lost heart. She was dynamite! And she was a gracious and generous loser. I really admired her that day.
Just before we came home to America, the Moroccans won their independence from France. There was a showy procession into the city by the King and his mounted army on their day of independence. We stood at the top of the hill watching them. They were colorful and proud and happy. Even though the Americans were under curfew for several weeks prior, I heard of no blood being spilled.
We returned to the U.S. on the USS Hodges, a military ship converted into a passenger ship. It was the pits. Everyone was seasick, but the food was great. I was the only one well enough to do the laundry.
We moved to Annandale, Virginia, near enough to the Pentagon for Dad to commute. Our neighbor had two horses and didn't have time to exercise them both so she let Suzanna and I take turns exercising one of them. Suzanna had always loved horses, so we made a pact with each other to save every penny we could get our hands on until we could buy our own horse. We talked Dad into paying us per job rather than a flat rate for chores. It worked out great for both of us. For a year and a half, the house, car, and yard never looked so good, and we got enough money to buy our first horse!
The next time we moved, to Columbus, Ohio, Dad purchased a place with enough land to keep a horse. This time the Air Force didn't move him, because he retired and went to work for Space and Systems Information Division of North American. We bought our first horse from a riding stable that was going out of business. We were amazingly lucky, because she still had a soft mouth and was still willing to go. In fact she could go very fast. I won a race on her with a farm boy that my best friend, Mary Ann Sumption, had a crush on. Merry Frolic was her name, but we changed it to Reveille, a good military name. In the winter, we boarded her at a nearby farm. The second winter, Suzanna could drive, so we boarded her at a stable. John Dean Phillips, also know as Jack, was hired to run the stable. I was fifteen and he was twenty-one. He was ready to get married and we were in love, My parents decided to move to California. They really didn't like the way things were going with me and Jack! Jack was going to come to California and bring Reveille to me, but after three months' separation, we broke up and he sold our horse and sent us the money. He sold her for twice as much as we had paid. Now we had money to buy a horse in California. In fact, we ended up getting two. But horses sort of lost my interest after my junior year in High School and we finally sold them both. Suzanna went to Stephens college in Springfield, Missouri. I bought a car. I started hanging around kids who drank and smoked and I started doing the same. Up until this time, I was known as Miss Goody-Goody, but I soon lost that status. I could never admit how much I missed it.
Mother and I had been at odds for years, but now things became very volatile. She wanted me to be good and study hard to make something of myself and I wanted to goof off and be popular with my bad friends! As soon as I graduated from high school, I got a job with the Redondo Beach Telephone Company and two weeks before my eighteenth birthday, I moved out of my parents' house into my own apartment on the beach. It took one month for all my friends to take advantage of me, and get me evicted from my apartment. I found another one and Pat Berrin, one of my girlfriends moved in with me. She didn't have a job, but enjoyed spending my money for groceries. She loved cheese and crackers. I hated them.
I quit my job and moved back home! I started working for the Downey plant of Space and Information Systems Division of North American as a clerk. When I had enough money, I found myself another apartment, but this time I stayed away from my old friends. Then I was transferred to the Seal Beach Facility and my Dad was transferred to Satellite Beach, Florida, and I elected to go with him and help take care of my brothers, because he wasn't taking Mother with him. I started going to college at Brevard Junior college, but by now my habits of drinking and not studying were so entrenched, that I did poorly in school. I was not a good influence on my brothers and I wasn't much help in any respect. One day I just left without a word to anyone and returned to California. I found a job working with Pat Berrin. I moved in with her and her mother-in-law. Pat had married Bob Corbin just before he was sent to Okinawa with the Marines. The day President Kennedy was shot, I was sitting at a bar in some town in Redondo Beach, California watching it all on TV. I was devastated. I sat there for the rest of the day, drinking.
I went to San Luis Obispo, where Suzanna and her husband, Mohammed Al-Bakhit lived with their son, Eyad. There was nothing for me there so I went east. I stopped to see a few friends on the way but I ended up in New York. It was big and unfriendly. I went to the Army Recruiters Station and tried to enlist in the WACS.(2) The Sergeant put me on a plane and sent me home, telling me to enlist from my home in Florida. To my amazement, I was greeted at Dad's door by my mother. I didn't even know that she had left California and come to Florida. My parents didn't try to stop me from joining the Army, so I joined up in March 1964.
I hated basic training. It was just like home. Somebody was always yelling at me. I tried to keep up so I wouldn't be yelled at and I was made the platoon leader. That wasn't too bad except when the other girls would bring me their problems and expect me to solve them. My sergeant didn't like what I told one girl, so I was demoted and the girl I had chastised took my place. I was humiliated of course, but still glad to be out of the focus of leadership.
After nine weeks of basic, I was assigned to flight simulator operator school at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It wasn't much of a move from Fort McClelland, Alabama. I had been there several weeks when I sort of encountered Russell Solmes. He offered me a ride one evening as I was on my way to the movie theater (actually he "picked me up"). He decided to go to the movie too. Afterwards he went with me to the Little Wheels Club, and finally left since I had joined up with some other friends. However, the next day he came around and every day thereafter. He would pick me up right from school in his pink Cadillac convertible until his windshield was broken by a kid with a tomato and had to park the car off post. Then we started marching all over post.
I went off post a few times. But I didn't like it. The townspeople didn't like the military much, except for their money, and if you had a black or Hispanic friend with you they didn't even want your money! That was such a shock to me that I preferred to stay on post.
Russ and I decided to get married when he received orders go to Vietnam. We made hasty plans, and were married by the base chaplain with a few of our friends present. My parents came out from Florida, and Mother brought me a white dress with blue cummerbund and white shoes. I was very grateful, because I was prepared to get married in my WAC uniform. The amazing thing was that it fit me perfectly. Mother just knew that I would be thin again after gaining so much weight in basic training. Actually, I think she didn't think anyone would marry me unless I was thin, so she bought a size 10 dress. I requested a discharge and it was granted, so when Russ was allowed to go home just prior to shipping out to Vietnam, I was free to go with him.
I lived with Russ's parents while he was gone. I got a job at White Products in Middleville, When he came home, we went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There I worked as a typist and property researcher for an abstractor in town. Russ worked an odd shift and we didn't see each other much. We came close to getting divorced then. When his time to reenlist came around he refused. He was discharged and we went home to Hastings, Michigan, where he immediately started working for his father in the auto body repair business. WE came close to getting divorced again. Guess what saved the marriage? Procrastination! Now, how many people can say that?
On June 8, 1970, our first daughter was born. I named her Erin Elizabeth. Erin was just a favorite name of mine, but I named her Elizabeth after my favorite grandmother whom I loved dearly because she was always so kind to me. She never spoke harshly ever. I wish I had emulated her on that so my kids could say that too. They can't. I used a lot of rather inventive language.
Russ and I had been renting a house on Center Street in Hastings up until Erin was about a year old, and because Russ's brother, David, was getting divorced, we took over his house payments. This was our first house, at 628 Colfax Street, and the only way we could afford it was because we didn't have to put anything down on it. All of our savings were always borrowed to invest in the business and we would get it back in commodities rather than cash, but it all worked out very well for us.
On October 12, 1972, Anna Mae was born. She wasn't as easy to take care of as Erin had been and it took me five months to figure out what her problem was. She didn't like nursing. It took too much effort or something. But when I finally gave her a bottle, she became a model baby.
I became pregnant again about two years later, but I miscarried, and it was another two years almost before I had Gabrielle Elaine on November 14, 1976.
In April, when Gabby was about five months old, I met my first Mormon missionaries. I had seen them walking around our neighborhood several times, but they had never ever knocked on my door before. We had been going to the Nashville Baptist Church for about three yeas and Pastor De Groote had preached a sermon once about the dangers of talking to them because they belonged to a cult and they could deceive you and take you to hell with them. When I found out that he had been talking about those clean cut, handsome, well-dressed, young men who were walking about my neighborhood, I thought it a terrible shame that they were going to hell, and why didn't someone help them? After all, the only thing it would take to save them, would be to tell them about Jesus Christ, that he died for their sins, and if they would only believe in Him, they could be saved like the rest of us!
There was only one problem with this. As a parent, I could feel that this was misleading and over simplified. I loved my children more than anything I had ever loved in all my life, but I certainly expected and desired more from them and for them than just to trust me and go about their self-centered way. I knew they had many things to learn and conform to if they were to become independent, successful, productive and happy.
Finally, one Saturday afternoon, two of these young men did come to my door. Russ was home and I was afraid he wouldn't support, understand, or tolerate my efforts at straightening out these doomed young men. I told them I couldn't talk to them now, but if they would come back on Monday, I would listen to their strange notion that Jesus had visited the Americas after his resurrection. I couldn't imagine where they got such a bizarre idea.
I never even had the chance to argue with them, because everything they said was true. They did believe in Jesus Christ, so how could they be doomed? Not only that, but they knew things that I had never been taught, but when they spoke, I knew they were speaking the truth. I knew that I had lived in heaven with heavenly Father before I was born, and wonder of wonders, I even knew that I had a mother there! Never had I heard this concept verbalized before, yet it was as clear as spotless glass.
Then, they began to teach me about Joseph Smith. This was harder for me to swallow. There are so many self proclaimed prophets and men called by God to do this, to go here or there, to teach and preach, to build this church or that church or whatever. The idea wasn't exactly original. They told me to read the Book of Mormon and pray. I didn't do it.
The next time they came back, I was willing to listen to more, even though now there was a different missionary with Elder Johnson. Elder Brown had gone home, I was told, and Elder Todd had replaced him. Elder Brown had done all the talking. Elder Johnson was very quiet and shy. Fortunately, Elder Todd had no trouble picking up where Elder Brown had left off. He told me that he had joined the church while he was in the Air Force, and after serving his term of enlistment, he began to serve his mission. I was very impressed.
He talked more about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. They left too soon, but they wanted me to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. That night I started reading after I prayed to know if the Book was true, or if it was the work of the devil, as I had been taught by Pastor DeGroote. I read 1 Nephi chapters 1, 2, and 3. I prayed between chapters. After a few more, I said to myself, what in the world was Pastor DeGroote talking about? If this was of the devil, then so was the Bible. I knew that if one was true, the other was true, too.
I became very excited. I called the missionaries. We had set another appointment for the following week. There was no way that I could wait a whole week for more information. I told them that I had read the first five or six chapters of the Book of Mormon, and I knew it was true. Could they please come over sooner than next week? They asked me when, and I said how about tomorrow morning? They came and they kept coming. I couldn't get enough. I talked to Russ incessantly about the things I was learning. He seemed interested but in no way willing to do any studying himself. The missionaries were very reluctant to teach me any more until Russ became involved. He finally agreed. The first night that he listened to the missionaries and watched a film, I was frightened to death. Later the missionaries asked me if I could feel the Spirit, and I told them I felt a terrible spirit the whole time they were there that night, but I never felt it again. I wanted to be baptized, but I didn't know if I was worthy . I had already quit drinking and smoking. Russ had actually quit smoking two years before me. Russ had made it clear to me that if I wanted to keep my children, I had to stop drinking. I couldn't smoke without wanting a drink so I quit that too. It was really hard. That was when I spent all my days reading the Old Testament and telling Russ everything I had discovered that day and each day when he came home from work.
Russ simply didn't want to be committed for the longest time. The missionaries kept working with us patiently. They invited us to come to church. The first time I went, I rode my bicycle and carried Gabby on my back while Russ stubbornly went to Nashville with the older girls.
At that time, the Saints were meeting in a small wooden church in the south quadrant of town. I was sure that Russ would hate it, but I loved it. It sort of reminded me of the Blacklick, Ohio Church that I used to attend with my friend Mary Ann Sumption because it was so small. Everyone was so friendly. The missionaries sat beside me, took me to classes and stayed with me, gave me a hymn book, helped me find the page, helped me with Gabby, and really made me feel at home. I never went back to the Nashville Baptist Church. Russ and the girls came the following Sunday, and every Sunday thereafter. The Gibson family fellowshipped us and we became very close friends. Their youngest son, Grant, was born the day before Gabrielle. Dawne Gibson knew Russ in high school. The Gregorys, the McMillans, Lucy Karcher, Sandy Gillum (now Wilkins), Bee Fuller (now Dunham), and others, all contributed to our sense of feeling at home. We finally were baptized, on September 1, 1977, in Grand Rapids at the old stake center with almost the entire branch present.
When Elder Todd confirmed me a member of the Church by laying his hands upon my head after my baptism, he gave me a blessing. I heard him say that if I was obedient and faithful, as Laiya was, I would receive the same blessings that she did. I thought I had misunderstood him, because I had no idea who Laiya was. Before the blessing was finished, he repeated the same words a second time. Later, I asked him what he had meant. He had no recollection of having said that, and he had no idea who Laiya was either. I know I heard it, because I was planning to ask him about it after the first time. When he repeated it, I was extremely curious. I still do not know who Laiya was, or is, or will be, but I do know that someday I will know. And I will be very disappointed if I fall short, because I was specifically promised the same blessing that she obviously was, is, or will be worthy of.
The day that Elder Todd left us was the saddest day I had ever lived. Fortunately, we have kept in touch and visited with each other over the years. He went to college, married, rejoined the Air Force as an officer in public relations and now has five children.
Elder Johnson's family came to Michigan to take him home when his mission was finished, and they spent a day with us. They were the sweetest people I had ever met. The following Christmas, Sister Johnson sent each one of us a gift, including our newest and yet unborn child . . . a baby quilt that she had made herself! He now has five or six children and is living in Wickenberg, Arizona.
Jessica was born February 1, 1979. She is the only one born in an odd-numbered year. She is also the only one who has rebelled against the church. However, I am comforted to know that her rebellion is not unlike my own, and it will go away someday and she will come back, if only for her own children?s sakes.
By now we lived on a forty acre farm south of Hastings. I loved it there. I thought I never wanted to move again. I wanted to raise goats and drink their milk and raise chickens and vegetables and be self sufficient. That lasted seven years and two sons later.
Levi Daniel was born November 13, 1980, When he first appeared to me in the doctor?s arms, I wondered where in the world this little slanteyed baby came from. I had watched him come from me, and he never left my sight so I knew he was mine and Russ?s. But he definitely looked Oriental to me and though he lost some of that look, he could always tip those eyes and make his "wolf-look". Dr. McAlvey thought I was nuts to give him the initials LDS. I just let him laugh at me. What did I care?
>Isaac was born August 13, 1982. I actually planned it that way. My mother had her last child, a boy, on her birthday. It so happened to be on her thirtieth birthday. I was slower than she was, and Isaac was born on my thirty-ninth birthday. Also, he was born at home, on the farm in my very own bedroom. I had wanted each one of my children at home after my first, but my husband wouldn't hear of it; too risky and dangerous. But I finally convinced him that I knew what I was doing by now, and besides, I would keep on having them until I had one at home. He finally relented. He didn't want to watch, but Lorna Adams, my friend, and a member of the church, pulled him into the room to see, and then he couldn't tear himself away. He was as eager as we women were about what was happening. I had one midwife and two support sisters to help me. The week before, I had made and decorated a beautiful birthday cake for him and put it in the freezer. When I started labor hard, I went down into the basement and got the cake out so it could thaw and be ready for the celebration that would soon follow.
The evening of Aug. 12, 1980, Russ and I went to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel for dinner and dancing with our Amway Group. I was huge and many people asked me when I was due to have my baby. I always told them tomorrow, because I knew that I would have him on my birthday. It was the plan. My contractions started on our way home after the dance. (I danced with exuberance. I figured it would help move the baby, and besides, I always danced with exuberance.
He was born very conveniently at 8:45, Friday morning. I was a Friday the thirteenth baby, too. I was so happy and so proud. Heavenly Father blessed me with my heart's desire. Not only did I have a perfect baby, but it was a son, so that Levi wouldn't be the only boy in a family of all girls. I am still trying to convince Levi that it was a good gift. I hope their rivalry will be completely resolved by the time they both complete their missions.
I was blessed to stay home with my children until Isaac was three years old. Then I had to go to work to help with the family finances. Also, I wanted to go to school and learn computer programming so that I could do something that I liked that would pay me a decent wage and compensate me for being away from my children.
I worked for Rodees, Inc. During the day as a secretary, and went to school three nights a week and Saturday mornings. It took me ten months to get through the course, and when I did I confidently quit my job and started looking for a job as a computer programmer. It took me three months to find one but to my utter surprise, and it was only temporary. However it temporarily lasted twenty-two months , and I loved it. I was an operator and programmer for the IBM System 34 at the E.W. Bliss company right here in town. We had sold the fame and moved back to town for convenience sake and I couldn't take care of all my animals while I worked and went to school and the kids needed to be closer to school and activities.
When that job phased out, I learned that I was not qualified for a job as a programmer because I had no degree and not enough experience. Erin went to college at BYU and I wasn't helping with the finances. Finally when she got home after her first year, we went together to get factory work. I worked in the factory three weeks and found another job in town as a secretary for a realtor and a land surveyor. Also, I started working nights as a waitress. Finally, I went to work for Russ in the Body Shop as his secretary, and eventually quit the waitress job, too because I was always so tired on Sunday mornings after no sleep for twenty-four hours that usually dragged out to forty hours before going to bed Sunday night and starting over Monday morning.
I am so proud of all my children. Erin became a missionary who served 18 months in Venezuela Caracas East, and then returned to finish college at BYU with a major in History and a Minor in Spanish. She then taught Enlace as a second language to Spanish speaking people, and then she taught Spanish to high school students for two years. Anna graduated from BYU with a Major in Family Science. She is the best mom! Gabrielle is grooming dogs at the present and managing a Petsmart Grooming Department. Jessica worked for Dewey's body shop until after her second son was born. Now she stays home to take care of her little family. I am so proud of her and she is a very good mom.
Levi has entered the MTC to prepare for his 2 year mission to Hiroshima Japan. This was his heart's desire. Could there be a premortal connection? I don't know, but I wonder.
Isaac is still in High School He loves sports. He hasn't decided what he will do yet, but he plans on serving a mission too.
I am so proud of all my children. Maybe this is the blessing that Laiya has. I really want to meet her. I wonder if it will be in this life?
Time is flying by so fast. This short autobiography tells so little really, yet is seems as though my life has gone as fast as these words. I hope that I can learn to take advantage of the time I have left, and accomplish more of the tasks mentioned in my patriarchal blessing so that I may experience the blessings that I was promised. 1. See photo on page two. 2. Women's Army Corp
File uploaded to geocities.com 20 Sep 1999.
Updated 09 Mar 2005
(c) 2005 Dianna Ford Solmes
transferred to blogger.com 01 Aug 2009.
I was born in Palm Beach, Florida, on August 13, 1943. My father was in the Air Force stationed in South America most of the time during Mother's pregnancy, but he managed to be with Mother before she left the hospital with me. I was born in the Breakers hotel(1) which was requisitioned as a hospital during these war years. I was the second daughter and the second child of my parents. My sister, Suzanna, was a year and a half older than I. We were great friends all of our youth
I had a brother, Brian, born three years later in West Palm Beach, Florida, but I don't remember him until later when my last brother, Jeffrey, was born in 1950. By then, we lived in Montgomery, Alabama
>Dad never stayed in one place for long. We moved from Florida to Texas, to California, to Florida, to Arizona, to Alabama, to Maryland, to Virginia, to New Mexico, to Germany, to Morocco, to Virginia, to Ohio, to California, to Florida. I'm not even sure about the order in the earlier years
My grandmother lived with us for a few years from 1951 to 1953. She was a wonderful influence in my life. She talked to me about God and encouraged me to go to church with our neighbors in Clovis, New Mexico, the Huttons. Reverend Hutton was the pastor for a Baptist Church in Clovis and Suzanna and I went with them every Sunday. They had five sons all of whom were grown and married except Jimmy, who was two years older than Suzanna. He was neat
Suzanna and I were baptized the summer of 1953. Then Dad received orders to go to Hahn Air Force Base in Germany as the Fiftieth Fighter Bomber Wing commander. He left in August and we followed in December. We flew to New York and waited for several days. We met Mother's cousin, Will (Bill) Pahlman, and his friend, Margaret Cousins, who was the author of several biographies for young people. She gave me a copy of her biography of Benjamin Franklin and autographed it for me. They took us to the ice capades in Times Square. Then, we flew to Frankfurt, Germany. On the airplane we read horror comics. I had some bad nightmares because of one in particular. I was afraid the ceiling was going to fall on me in my sleep and puncture me with a thousand spears! Dad met us at the airport. It was nighttime and very dark. We drove for a long time before we got to the base. Dad entertained us with stories of bears and wolves in the German woods along side of the road. He laughed and laughed when we shrieked in fear! He didn't know about the comic books
We lived on post in a double apartment and we had a German housekeeper. It was great. We didn't even have to make our beds! But we got spoiled. If our beds weren't made we had a fit. We even learned to do it ourselves the German way. That resembled the military way (tight corners -- tight everything!). We had every base privilege which included free shuttle bus service anywhere on base, a movie theater, a commissary, a gymnasium, school, everything we could want. We had the freedom to explore the nearby German woods, go to summer camp in the black forest, and shop in quaint little German towns. Frau Zeiler, our first German housekeeper, would go on picnics in the woods with us. She would warn us about the mines that were still buried there. We felt immortal, I guess, because we never let that stop us from exploring and having fun. Some people weren't so lucky. They got blown up!
The following year, Dad was transferred to Ramstein Air Force Base, which was more of the same, it was great. We loved playing in the woods. Then he received orders to go to Rabat, French Morocco. This was different. We had to live on the economy, which meant no military housing. It took three months to get a house fixed up for us in Rabat. The house was French and had black marble floors upstairs and down with a curved marble staircase and three balconies. In the meantime we rented a tenant house on a fruit farm in Salé, a small place outside the city. We spent a lot of time at the beach on the Atlantic Ocean swimming, body surfing, and picnicking. We rode a bus for an hour to get to our American school in Quonset huts in the middle of a cork forest. We even had basketball courts and baseball diamonds. In the spring we had a caterpillar epidemic. The trees and buildings were totally covered with them. They had to be burned off with torches.
During a softball game that I played in, I lost my temper with the coach/teacher and threw the ball at him as he turned around and walked away from me. I hit him in the back of the head. I was more shocked at my actions even than he was! When he turned around to see who had hit him, the fear on my face tempered his anger, and he let me off with a warning. I never did anything like that again.
Mother played softball on an Officer's wives' softball team. I don't remember who they played, but it was probably the non-commissioned officers' wives. They lost I was a cheerleader for mother's team. I lost heart and couldn't cheer much toward the end of the game. But mother never lost heart. She was dynamite! And she was a gracious and generous loser. I really admired her that day.
Just before we came home to America, the Moroccans won their independence from France. There was a showy procession into the city by the King and his mounted army on their day of independence. We stood at the top of the hill watching them. They were colorful and proud and happy. Even though the Americans were under curfew for several weeks prior, I heard of no blood being spilled.
We returned to the U.S. on the USS Hodges, a military ship converted into a passenger ship. It was the pits. Everyone was seasick, but the food was great. I was the only one well enough to do the laundry.
We moved to Annandale, Virginia, near enough to the Pentagon for Dad to commute. Our neighbor had two horses and didn't have time to exercise them both so she let Suzanna and I take turns exercising one of them. Suzanna had always loved horses, so we made a pact with each other to save every penny we could get our hands on until we could buy our own horse. We talked Dad into paying us per job rather than a flat rate for chores. It worked out great for both of us. For a year and a half, the house, car, and yard never looked so good, and we got enough money to buy our first horse!
The next time we moved, to Columbus, Ohio, Dad purchased a place with enough land to keep a horse. This time the Air Force didn't move him, because he retired and went to work for Space and Systems Information Division of North American. We bought our first horse from a riding stable that was going out of business. We were amazingly lucky, because she still had a soft mouth and was still willing to go. In fact she could go very fast. I won a race on her with a farm boy that my best friend, Mary Ann Sumption, had a crush on. Merry Frolic was her name, but we changed it to Reveille, a good military name. In the winter, we boarded her at a nearby farm. The second winter, Suzanna could drive, so we boarded her at a stable. John Dean Phillips, also know as Jack, was hired to run the stable. I was fifteen and he was twenty-one. He was ready to get married and we were in love, My parents decided to move to California. They really didn't like the way things were going with me and Jack! Jack was going to come to California and bring Reveille to me, but after three months' separation, we broke up and he sold our horse and sent us the money. He sold her for twice as much as we had paid. Now we had money to buy a horse in California. In fact, we ended up getting two. But horses sort of lost my interest after my junior year in High School and we finally sold them both. Suzanna went to Stephens college in Springfield, Missouri. I bought a car. I started hanging around kids who drank and smoked and I started doing the same. Up until this time, I was known as Miss Goody-Goody, but I soon lost that status. I could never admit how much I missed it.
Mother and I had been at odds for years, but now things became very volatile. She wanted me to be good and study hard to make something of myself and I wanted to goof off and be popular with my bad friends! As soon as I graduated from high school, I got a job with the Redondo Beach Telephone Company and two weeks before my eighteenth birthday, I moved out of my parents' house into my own apartment on the beach. It took one month for all my friends to take advantage of me, and get me evicted from my apartment. I found another one and Pat Berrin, one of my girlfriends moved in with me. She didn't have a job, but enjoyed spending my money for groceries. She loved cheese and crackers. I hated them.
I quit my job and moved back home! I started working for the Downey plant of Space and Information Systems Division of North American as a clerk. When I had enough money, I found myself another apartment, but this time I stayed away from my old friends. Then I was transferred to the Seal Beach Facility and my Dad was transferred to Satellite Beach, Florida, and I elected to go with him and help take care of my brothers, because he wasn't taking Mother with him. I started going to college at Brevard Junior college, but by now my habits of drinking and not studying were so entrenched, that I did poorly in school. I was not a good influence on my brothers and I wasn't much help in any respect. One day I just left without a word to anyone and returned to California. I found a job working with Pat Berrin. I moved in with her and her mother-in-law. Pat had married Bob Corbin just before he was sent to Okinawa with the Marines. The day President Kennedy was shot, I was sitting at a bar in some town in Redondo Beach, California watching it all on TV. I was devastated. I sat there for the rest of the day, drinking.
I went to San Luis Obispo, where Suzanna and her husband, Mohammed Al-Bakhit lived with their son, Eyad. There was nothing for me there so I went east. I stopped to see a few friends on the way but I ended up in New York. It was big and unfriendly. I went to the Army Recruiters Station and tried to enlist in the WACS.(2) The Sergeant put me on a plane and sent me home, telling me to enlist from my home in Florida. To my amazement, I was greeted at Dad's door by my mother. I didn't even know that she had left California and come to Florida. My parents didn't try to stop me from joining the Army, so I joined up in March 1964.
I hated basic training. It was just like home. Somebody was always yelling at me. I tried to keep up so I wouldn't be yelled at and I was made the platoon leader. That wasn't too bad except when the other girls would bring me their problems and expect me to solve them. My sergeant didn't like what I told one girl, so I was demoted and the girl I had chastised took my place. I was humiliated of course, but still glad to be out of the focus of leadership.
After nine weeks of basic, I was assigned to flight simulator operator school at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It wasn't much of a move from Fort McClelland, Alabama. I had been there several weeks when I sort of encountered Russell Solmes. He offered me a ride one evening as I was on my way to the movie theater (actually he "picked me up"). He decided to go to the movie too. Afterwards he went with me to the Little Wheels Club, and finally left since I had joined up with some other friends. However, the next day he came around and every day thereafter. He would pick me up right from school in his pink Cadillac convertible until his windshield was broken by a kid with a tomato and had to park the car off post. Then we started marching all over post.
I went off post a few times. But I didn't like it. The townspeople didn't like the military much, except for their money, and if you had a black or Hispanic friend with you they didn't even want your money! That was such a shock to me that I preferred to stay on post.
Russ and I decided to get married when he received orders go to Vietnam. We made hasty plans, and were married by the base chaplain with a few of our friends present. My parents came out from Florida, and Mother brought me a white dress with blue cummerbund and white shoes. I was very grateful, because I was prepared to get married in my WAC uniform. The amazing thing was that it fit me perfectly. Mother just knew that I would be thin again after gaining so much weight in basic training. Actually, I think she didn't think anyone would marry me unless I was thin, so she bought a size 10 dress. I requested a discharge and it was granted, so when Russ was allowed to go home just prior to shipping out to Vietnam, I was free to go with him.
I lived with Russ's parents while he was gone. I got a job at White Products in Middleville, When he came home, we went to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. There I worked as a typist and property researcher for an abstractor in town. Russ worked an odd shift and we didn't see each other much. We came close to getting divorced then. When his time to reenlist came around he refused. He was discharged and we went home to Hastings, Michigan, where he immediately started working for his father in the auto body repair business. WE came close to getting divorced again. Guess what saved the marriage? Procrastination! Now, how many people can say that?
On June 8, 1970, our first daughter was born. I named her Erin Elizabeth. Erin was just a favorite name of mine, but I named her Elizabeth after my favorite grandmother whom I loved dearly because she was always so kind to me. She never spoke harshly ever. I wish I had emulated her on that so my kids could say that too. They can't. I used a lot of rather inventive language.
Russ and I had been renting a house on Center Street in Hastings up until Erin was about a year old, and because Russ's brother, David, was getting divorced, we took over his house payments. This was our first house, at 628 Colfax Street, and the only way we could afford it was because we didn't have to put anything down on it. All of our savings were always borrowed to invest in the business and we would get it back in commodities rather than cash, but it all worked out very well for us.
On October 12, 1972, Anna Mae was born. She wasn't as easy to take care of as Erin had been and it took me five months to figure out what her problem was. She didn't like nursing. It took too much effort or something. But when I finally gave her a bottle, she became a model baby.
I became pregnant again about two years later, but I miscarried, and it was another two years almost before I had Gabrielle Elaine on November 14, 1976.
In April, when Gabby was about five months old, I met my first Mormon missionaries. I had seen them walking around our neighborhood several times, but they had never ever knocked on my door before. We had been going to the Nashville Baptist Church for about three yeas and Pastor De Groote had preached a sermon once about the dangers of talking to them because they belonged to a cult and they could deceive you and take you to hell with them. When I found out that he had been talking about those clean cut, handsome, well-dressed, young men who were walking about my neighborhood, I thought it a terrible shame that they were going to hell, and why didn't someone help them? After all, the only thing it would take to save them, would be to tell them about Jesus Christ, that he died for their sins, and if they would only believe in Him, they could be saved like the rest of us!
There was only one problem with this. As a parent, I could feel that this was misleading and over simplified. I loved my children more than anything I had ever loved in all my life, but I certainly expected and desired more from them and for them than just to trust me and go about their self-centered way. I knew they had many things to learn and conform to if they were to become independent, successful, productive and happy.
Finally, one Saturday afternoon, two of these young men did come to my door. Russ was home and I was afraid he wouldn't support, understand, or tolerate my efforts at straightening out these doomed young men. I told them I couldn't talk to them now, but if they would come back on Monday, I would listen to their strange notion that Jesus had visited the Americas after his resurrection. I couldn't imagine where they got such a bizarre idea.
I never even had the chance to argue with them, because everything they said was true. They did believe in Jesus Christ, so how could they be doomed? Not only that, but they knew things that I had never been taught, but when they spoke, I knew they were speaking the truth. I knew that I had lived in heaven with heavenly Father before I was born, and wonder of wonders, I even knew that I had a mother there! Never had I heard this concept verbalized before, yet it was as clear as spotless glass.
Then, they began to teach me about Joseph Smith. This was harder for me to swallow. There are so many self proclaimed prophets and men called by God to do this, to go here or there, to teach and preach, to build this church or that church or whatever. The idea wasn't exactly original. They told me to read the Book of Mormon and pray. I didn't do it.
The next time they came back, I was willing to listen to more, even though now there was a different missionary with Elder Johnson. Elder Brown had gone home, I was told, and Elder Todd had replaced him. Elder Brown had done all the talking. Elder Johnson was very quiet and shy. Fortunately, Elder Todd had no trouble picking up where Elder Brown had left off. He told me that he had joined the church while he was in the Air Force, and after serving his term of enlistment, he began to serve his mission. I was very impressed.
He talked more about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. They left too soon, but they wanted me to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. That night I started reading after I prayed to know if the Book was true, or if it was the work of the devil, as I had been taught by Pastor DeGroote. I read 1 Nephi chapters 1, 2, and 3. I prayed between chapters. After a few more, I said to myself, what in the world was Pastor DeGroote talking about? If this was of the devil, then so was the Bible. I knew that if one was true, the other was true, too.
I became very excited. I called the missionaries. We had set another appointment for the following week. There was no way that I could wait a whole week for more information. I told them that I had read the first five or six chapters of the Book of Mormon, and I knew it was true. Could they please come over sooner than next week? They asked me when, and I said how about tomorrow morning? They came and they kept coming. I couldn't get enough. I talked to Russ incessantly about the things I was learning. He seemed interested but in no way willing to do any studying himself. The missionaries were very reluctant to teach me any more until Russ became involved. He finally agreed. The first night that he listened to the missionaries and watched a film, I was frightened to death. Later the missionaries asked me if I could feel the Spirit, and I told them I felt a terrible spirit the whole time they were there that night, but I never felt it again. I wanted to be baptized, but I didn't know if I was worthy . I had already quit drinking and smoking. Russ had actually quit smoking two years before me. Russ had made it clear to me that if I wanted to keep my children, I had to stop drinking. I couldn't smoke without wanting a drink so I quit that too. It was really hard. That was when I spent all my days reading the Old Testament and telling Russ everything I had discovered that day and each day when he came home from work.
Russ simply didn't want to be committed for the longest time. The missionaries kept working with us patiently. They invited us to come to church. The first time I went, I rode my bicycle and carried Gabby on my back while Russ stubbornly went to Nashville with the older girls.
At that time, the Saints were meeting in a small wooden church in the south quadrant of town. I was sure that Russ would hate it, but I loved it. It sort of reminded me of the Blacklick, Ohio Church that I used to attend with my friend Mary Ann Sumption because it was so small. Everyone was so friendly. The missionaries sat beside me, took me to classes and stayed with me, gave me a hymn book, helped me find the page, helped me with Gabby, and really made me feel at home. I never went back to the Nashville Baptist Church. Russ and the girls came the following Sunday, and every Sunday thereafter. The Gibson family fellowshipped us and we became very close friends. Their youngest son, Grant, was born the day before Gabrielle. Dawne Gibson knew Russ in high school. The Gregorys, the McMillans, Lucy Karcher, Sandy Gillum (now Wilkins), Bee Fuller (now Dunham), and others, all contributed to our sense of feeling at home. We finally were baptized, on September 1, 1977, in Grand Rapids at the old stake center with almost the entire branch present.
When Elder Todd confirmed me a member of the Church by laying his hands upon my head after my baptism, he gave me a blessing. I heard him say that if I was obedient and faithful, as Laiya was, I would receive the same blessings that she did. I thought I had misunderstood him, because I had no idea who Laiya was. Before the blessing was finished, he repeated the same words a second time. Later, I asked him what he had meant. He had no recollection of having said that, and he had no idea who Laiya was either. I know I heard it, because I was planning to ask him about it after the first time. When he repeated it, I was extremely curious. I still do not know who Laiya was, or is, or will be, but I do know that someday I will know. And I will be very disappointed if I fall short, because I was specifically promised the same blessing that she obviously was, is, or will be worthy of.
The day that Elder Todd left us was the saddest day I had ever lived. Fortunately, we have kept in touch and visited with each other over the years. He went to college, married, rejoined the Air Force as an officer in public relations and now has five children.
Elder Johnson's family came to Michigan to take him home when his mission was finished, and they spent a day with us. They were the sweetest people I had ever met. The following Christmas, Sister Johnson sent each one of us a gift, including our newest and yet unborn child . . . a baby quilt that she had made herself! He now has five or six children and is living in Wickenberg, Arizona.
Jessica was born February 1, 1979. She is the only one born in an odd-numbered year. She is also the only one who has rebelled against the church. However, I am comforted to know that her rebellion is not unlike my own, and it will go away someday and she will come back, if only for her own children?s sakes.
By now we lived on a forty acre farm south of Hastings. I loved it there. I thought I never wanted to move again. I wanted to raise goats and drink their milk and raise chickens and vegetables and be self sufficient. That lasted seven years and two sons later.
Levi Daniel was born November 13, 1980, When he first appeared to me in the doctor?s arms, I wondered where in the world this little slanteyed baby came from. I had watched him come from me, and he never left my sight so I knew he was mine and Russ?s. But he definitely looked Oriental to me and though he lost some of that look, he could always tip those eyes and make his "wolf-look". Dr. McAlvey thought I was nuts to give him the initials LDS. I just let him laugh at me. What did I care?
>Isaac was born August 13, 1982. I actually planned it that way. My mother had her last child, a boy, on her birthday. It so happened to be on her thirtieth birthday. I was slower than she was, and Isaac was born on my thirty-ninth birthday. Also, he was born at home, on the farm in my very own bedroom. I had wanted each one of my children at home after my first, but my husband wouldn't hear of it; too risky and dangerous. But I finally convinced him that I knew what I was doing by now, and besides, I would keep on having them until I had one at home. He finally relented. He didn't want to watch, but Lorna Adams, my friend, and a member of the church, pulled him into the room to see, and then he couldn't tear himself away. He was as eager as we women were about what was happening. I had one midwife and two support sisters to help me. The week before, I had made and decorated a beautiful birthday cake for him and put it in the freezer. When I started labor hard, I went down into the basement and got the cake out so it could thaw and be ready for the celebration that would soon follow.
The evening of Aug. 12, 1980, Russ and I went to the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel for dinner and dancing with our Amway Group. I was huge and many people asked me when I was due to have my baby. I always told them tomorrow, because I knew that I would have him on my birthday. It was the plan. My contractions started on our way home after the dance. (I danced with exuberance. I figured it would help move the baby, and besides, I always danced with exuberance.
He was born very conveniently at 8:45, Friday morning. I was a Friday the thirteenth baby, too. I was so happy and so proud. Heavenly Father blessed me with my heart's desire. Not only did I have a perfect baby, but it was a son, so that Levi wouldn't be the only boy in a family of all girls. I am still trying to convince Levi that it was a good gift. I hope their rivalry will be completely resolved by the time they both complete their missions.
I was blessed to stay home with my children until Isaac was three years old. Then I had to go to work to help with the family finances. Also, I wanted to go to school and learn computer programming so that I could do something that I liked that would pay me a decent wage and compensate me for being away from my children.
I worked for Rodees, Inc. During the day as a secretary, and went to school three nights a week and Saturday mornings. It took me ten months to get through the course, and when I did I confidently quit my job and started looking for a job as a computer programmer. It took me three months to find one but to my utter surprise, and it was only temporary. However it temporarily lasted twenty-two months , and I loved it. I was an operator and programmer for the IBM System 34 at the E.W. Bliss company right here in town. We had sold the fame and moved back to town for convenience sake and I couldn't take care of all my animals while I worked and went to school and the kids needed to be closer to school and activities.
When that job phased out, I learned that I was not qualified for a job as a programmer because I had no degree and not enough experience. Erin went to college at BYU and I wasn't helping with the finances. Finally when she got home after her first year, we went together to get factory work. I worked in the factory three weeks and found another job in town as a secretary for a realtor and a land surveyor. Also, I started working nights as a waitress. Finally, I went to work for Russ in the Body Shop as his secretary, and eventually quit the waitress job, too because I was always so tired on Sunday mornings after no sleep for twenty-four hours that usually dragged out to forty hours before going to bed Sunday night and starting over Monday morning.
I am so proud of all my children. Erin became a missionary who served 18 months in Venezuela Caracas East, and then returned to finish college at BYU with a major in History and a Minor in Spanish. She then taught Enlace as a second language to Spanish speaking people, and then she taught Spanish to high school students for two years. Anna graduated from BYU with a Major in Family Science. She is the best mom! Gabrielle is grooming dogs at the present and managing a Petsmart Grooming Department. Jessica worked for Dewey's body shop until after her second son was born. Now she stays home to take care of her little family. I am so proud of her and she is a very good mom.
Levi has entered the MTC to prepare for his 2 year mission to Hiroshima Japan. This was his heart's desire. Could there be a premortal connection? I don't know, but I wonder.
Isaac is still in High School He loves sports. He hasn't decided what he will do yet, but he plans on serving a mission too.
I am so proud of all my children. Maybe this is the blessing that Laiya has. I really want to meet her. I wonder if it will be in this life?
Time is flying by so fast. This short autobiography tells so little really, yet is seems as though my life has gone as fast as these words. I hope that I can learn to take advantage of the time I have left, and accomplish more of the tasks mentioned in my patriarchal blessing so that I may experience the blessings that I was promised. 1. See photo on page two. 2. Women's Army Corp
File uploaded to geocities.com 20 Sep 1999.
Updated 09 Mar 2005
(c) 2005 Dianna Ford Solmes
transferred to blogger.com 01 Aug 2009.
Saturday, August 28, 1999
Gladys Knight: Many Different Roads
by David Nathan 08/1999
"My mother always wanted to me do an inspirational album and it was just in my spirit to do it. I knew that eventually I would make this kind of record and I even started to do one [back in the late '70s] but never finished it. After my mother passed away in December 1997, it was time..."
Gladys Knight, unquestionably one of music's greats, is in at a New York radio station and she's talking "Many Different Roads," her latest album on her own Many Roads label, distributed through MCA (for whom Gladys continues to record). She's just wrapped up an interview with Isaac Hayes, who hosts a morning show on the city's popular KISS-FM outlet. She'll be leaving momentarily for rehearsals for the Broadway show, "Smokey Joe's Cafe": for a couple of weeks, audiences will be treated to Gladys' inimitable vocal style on songs originally penned by Leiber & Stoller, the legendary team who wrote so many classic hits during the '50s and '60s (including "Hound Dog," "Yakety-Yak" and "On Broadway"). As always, she is gracious, warm and open to conversation...
We talk about how she feels her loyal audience will respond to the new album: "Hopefully, it will touch them...and doing an inspirational record is something that we've had a lot of requests from fans to do and I always want to do what they would have me do. I'm making a spiritual statement with the album...that everyone may take different paths but the bottom line is to get to your destination." Many of the choices of material Gladys made for the album (which was originally distributed on a limited basis last year) had to do with her own life experiences: "I'd say a song like "Mercy's Arms" is my own testimony," she reflects. "It makes a statement that we're all just lowly human beings, we're so imperfect and we fall so short and yet God loves us no matter what." Her inclusion of the time-honored hymn "Precious Lord" was "because it was my mother's favorite" while a new version of the "Mr. Love" (originally released on her 1991 MCA album "Good Woman") is included because Gladys feel it was a song with a timeless message.
Timeless indeed as is all of her music. In between a tour with The Temptations, Gladys has begun work on a new album, reuniting with songwriter Jim Weatherly, who wrote so many of her classic hits with The Pips (including "Neither One of Us," "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" and "Midnight Train to Georgia). The untimely passing of Gladys' son and manager Jimmy Newman may mean that the album will not be released by the end of the year as originally planned but it's a safe bet that whenever Gladys Knight releases new music, her solid and loyal audience will be right there ready to hear it.
(c) 1999, David Nathan
"My mother always wanted to me do an inspirational album and it was just in my spirit to do it. I knew that eventually I would make this kind of record and I even started to do one [back in the late '70s] but never finished it. After my mother passed away in December 1997, it was time..."
Gladys Knight, unquestionably one of music's greats, is in at a New York radio station and she's talking "Many Different Roads," her latest album on her own Many Roads label, distributed through MCA (for whom Gladys continues to record). She's just wrapped up an interview with Isaac Hayes, who hosts a morning show on the city's popular KISS-FM outlet. She'll be leaving momentarily for rehearsals for the Broadway show, "Smokey Joe's Cafe": for a couple of weeks, audiences will be treated to Gladys' inimitable vocal style on songs originally penned by Leiber & Stoller, the legendary team who wrote so many classic hits during the '50s and '60s (including "Hound Dog," "Yakety-Yak" and "On Broadway"). As always, she is gracious, warm and open to conversation...
We talk about how she feels her loyal audience will respond to the new album: "Hopefully, it will touch them...and doing an inspirational record is something that we've had a lot of requests from fans to do and I always want to do what they would have me do. I'm making a spiritual statement with the album...that everyone may take different paths but the bottom line is to get to your destination." Many of the choices of material Gladys made for the album (which was originally distributed on a limited basis last year) had to do with her own life experiences: "I'd say a song like "Mercy's Arms" is my own testimony," she reflects. "It makes a statement that we're all just lowly human beings, we're so imperfect and we fall so short and yet God loves us no matter what." Her inclusion of the time-honored hymn "Precious Lord" was "because it was my mother's favorite" while a new version of the "Mr. Love" (originally released on her 1991 MCA album "Good Woman") is included because Gladys feel it was a song with a timeless message.
Timeless indeed as is all of her music. In between a tour with The Temptations, Gladys has begun work on a new album, reuniting with songwriter Jim Weatherly, who wrote so many of her classic hits with The Pips (including "Neither One of Us," "The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me" and "Midnight Train to Georgia). The untimely passing of Gladys' son and manager Jimmy Newman may mean that the album will not be released by the end of the year as originally planned but it's a safe bet that whenever Gladys Knight releases new music, her solid and loyal audience will be right there ready to hear it.
(c) 1999, David Nathan
Gladys Knight - Womens' Conference 1999
This address was presented at the 1999 Women's Conference, which was sponsored jointly by Brigham Young University and the Relief Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The theme of the conference was "The Arms of His Love." This presentation was selected for publication by Bookcraft in a volume titled after the theme.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in they sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Song to me is symbolic of joy-the joy in my heart. That song is not “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” or “Neither One of Us Wants to Be the First to Say Good-bye,” or “You’re the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” or my most popular son, “Midnight Train to Georgia” (though I love those songs-especially since they were hits). The song in my heart is of Jesus Christ and all the things in the restored gospel that I have learned and of the peace he has given me since I have joined th Church. He has blessed me with a wonderful family. My son Jimmy and my daughter-in-law Michelene set the example an led us to this Church. My daughter Kenya, and son-in-law, Jimmy, followed them. They , too were a great light to me, and along with them, my ten grandchildren.
Now I finally understand what my song is for. It is to be a part of my light, shining so that people may see and I can be a missionary for Heavenly Father. I’m so excited about all of this. I want to tell the world about it-shout it from the mountain tops! I’ve never been one for gossip, but I want to gossip about the Lord and what he has done by restoring his truths to the earth. I want to tell all about the blessings we can receive by following him. My friends have reminded me that because of my travels and singing I am in a position to share the message of the Restoration all over the world. I accept that. I am so pleased that God has chosen me to be one of his disciples, and I am so ready to shine his light.
Music and the gospel go hand in hand. To Emma Smith, the Lord said: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (D&C 25:12). To Brigham Young it was revealed: “If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music with dancing, and with prayer of praise and thanksgiving” (D&C 136:28). We also lean that the great latter-day events will be initiated with the “sound of a trump” (D&C 42:6) even up to the time where Michael the Archangel will sound his trumpet at the last resurrection. We don’t hear that kind of music much in meetings. But we should get ready for the great band of trumpets that will accompany the Lord at this great second coming.
When I come to bridging certain kinds of gaps, music is definitely one of our Heavenly Father’s best tools. That’s why music is considered the universal language. On a personal level, if you’re down, you can put on good music that lifts you; or if you need to meditate, you can play something that helps you get deeper into the Spirit. Music is like being quickened; it gets you close to the Lord right away. Music does touch the heart. To liken joy in the Spirit to having a song in your heart is a perfect analogy because of the role music plays in our lives. We all should carry a song in our hearts.
During the time of slavery, we were calling upon the Lord in the spirituals we sang in the fields. We found a way to put into song the heavy load we carried as a people, even the joys we felt in the midst of pain. The Lord gave us th gift of must to get us through, and the old Negro spirituals were definitely a part of that. When you’re troubled, you can sing your blues away. You can sing a lullaby to a little baby and soothe his tiny spirit. Son is a wonderful gift from the Lord.
The beauty of music is one side of the picture. Let me say a little about the other side if I may. The adversary is always working, trying to mess up Heavenly Father’s great works. And music is no exception. Too much music plays into the power of the adversary and it’s unfortunately making its mark. Music has power, so we must be very careful with the music we put into our spirits. If we choose the right music, we definitely experience a good power in our lives.
There are not words to express the power and joy I feel as the result of finally find this Church. The Lord said, “Seek, and ye shall find; knock , and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). The Lord keeps all his promises; and after a long journey, the Lord kept that promise for me. He knew I was looking, He knew I was hurting, He knew I was confused. He knew I was diligently wanting to draw closer to him. But his way is like no other way. Now I know why Paul said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15). We must learn to understand his language and to rise to his level of doing things.
The gospel was there all along, hidden in plain sight. Some people will see it, some won’t I’m so honored and happy that the Lord led me to find it. Coming to the fullness of the Lord’s gospel has been life-changing. Without a doubt, the Church is “The Best Thing Tat Ever Happened to Me”-if I were to sing my own song. The difference between my life yesterday and today is that I’m a brand new me. Even my show when I perform is different. People tell me all the item, “There’s something different about you. I see a light in you. What its it?” The gospel gives me hope. It give me joy. And I know it will do the same for others. What a wonderful song Heavenly Father has placed in my heart!
The Lord’s prophet today, President Gordon B. Hinckley, said, “I invite every one of you, wherever you may be as members of the Church, to stand on your feet and with a song in your heart move forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom. Together we shall stay the course and keep the faith, the Almighty being our strength.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 1995, 72.) The best way to put a song in our hears is by following the counsel and teaching of the Lord’s prophet. I am so grateful that I know with certainty that we have a real prophet of God on this earth., just like Peter was to the ancient church.
Last October [1998] I had the privilege of meeting President Hinckley. It was another dream come true-but I never dreamed I would be so nervous about its fulfillment. I was waiting with my family in a room in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. My first sight of the prophet was when he walked by our door to speak to someone else. He wasn’t even in the room yet, and my hear began pounding. The moment was intense. He entered, and as we were introduced and shook hands, my mind went completely blank. We all stood there in a family receiving line, and I could not remember one single name of my grandchildren standing there with me. The prophet was very attentive to each of us. He started with my first grandchild, Sterling-whose name completely escaped me at the time. To help me out, the prophet suggested we all call my grandson “Bill” for the time being. “He kind of looks like a ‘Bill,’” President Hinckley sad. Finally , Sterling piped up and said, “My name is Sterling!” That broke the ice, and finally I was okay.
But later on I became flustered again when I remembered I was to sit at the table of President and Sister Hinckley the next afternoon at Sister Hinckley’s birthday celebration, when I would be performing for them. The next day rolled around, I was escorted to the table of President and Sister Hinckley, and, sure enough, I was nervous all over again. But the Lord certainly knows how to choose his prophets. What a wonderful man! He kept me laughing and eased my spirit all afternoon. Sometimes we imagine that our Church leaders are always stern, but I leaned first-hand that our prophet has great sense of humor. He mad me laugh, and he made me feel loved.
It’s wonderful to know that Heavenly Father speaks once more to his chosen servants. He communicates. He has not turned away from us. I have always felt that, but now I know it with certainty-a certainty given to me and magnified by the power of th Book of Mormon. It is the blueprint and foundation of my testimony.
I seek the Spirit in everything I do now. I don’t feel right if I don’t take the sacrament. I attend church every Sunday, wherever I am. I ‘m better at it than the postman-rain, snow, sleet, or the dark of night can’t keep me from my appointed sacrament meeting. In the se meetings, I hear the testimonies of my wonderful and loving brothers and sisters. The foundation of their testimonies I the same as min: Because of the Book of Mormon, we know our Lord is a gracious and merciful Savior. I am so grateful to be acquainted with his plan of salvation.
I’m blessed to have two earthly brother right now, Bubba and David. So many times I have sought their help, and always they’ve bailed me out. But that eldest brother of ours-Jesus Christ-oh, will I ever be out there singing his praises! He has bailed us out of physical death and also spiritual death, if we love him enough to follow his teachings and example. Our eldest brother gave up his life for us. It’s such an amazing gift to know that he loves us that much.
I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for my wonderful mother. I’m so glad she was still alive when I made that great conversion to this wonderful Church. She was not Mormon, but we were always coaxing her-knowing that very spiritual being that she was-to step into the waters and get into the true Church. And she would answer us by sing, “I’m more Mormon than any of you. Who tells you about general conference?” We’d answer, “You do, Gram.” “Who tells you to do what the prophets tell you to do?” Again we would reply, “You do , Gram.” I sincerely believe-though she never told me-that she was a believer in this Church. She was a great believer in God and in family. She knew that we are to nurture our children and help them find their way.
I attended a class in a ward other than my own a few Sundays ago. A class member who was new in the Church expressed concern about little children attending sacrament meetings. I raised my hand and said, “Llook at our world today and what it’s becoming. It’s jet-set, it’s microwave, but it’s not spiritual. In the restored gospel, as soon as our babies are born and breathing, we have them in church. I think this is a wonderful thing.” Church is the way we are exposed to this laws, his gospel, his word, his Spirit, and his light-by being taught from our very earliest years, when we are fresh from heaven. We should always be exposed to the truth and light found in this gospel, whether we are young or old.
In sacrament meeting, sometimes as my grandchildren are drawing pictures and coloring, I have the grates sense that the word is getting through. Just the environment itself-being in church with their moms and dad-promotes spirituality. Another thing I love about our Church is that the mothers and fathers come together to nurture and raise their families. That is so important. That’s why God gave us two parents. Even though we fall short of the mark sometimes, this is the way it was intended. I love it, even though sometimes I have to strain to hear over the children being a little noisy and wonder, What did that speaker just say? That’s okay; our children need to be her; it’s worth it.
In the world, there seems to be a pessimism about families and family relationships. But through the restored gospel, we know that we can have eternal families-something I did not know before. Just knowing that we can have our mates and our children eternally makes our life’s journey worthwhile; it helps us keep ht song in our hearts eternal. True sisterhood, true brotherhood, the sealing covenant, and eternal families are some of the unique gifts o love our Heavenly Father extended to us through the restored gospel.
Our Heavenly Father is so generous and kind to us. He also chastens his children sometimes. But to me that’s the measure of a good parent, because then you know he really loves you. If ewe ever feel his chastening, we know that he is very mindful of us-that we have his attention-and that he wants us to qualify for all the wonderful gifts he has to bestow.
God deals with us on our level. He knows we can’t comprehend certain things in a worldly environment, so he has a house right here among us. On weekdays, I like to find a nearby temple to attend. I’m addicted to the temple-it has been a journey unlike anything I’ve ever known. Just as the glory we will experience after this life is unimaginable, so also has been this experience for me in contras to my life before I joined this church. Like visiting a friend, I can go to the Lord’s house to visit him. I feel his presence, and I know he is there. He welcomes me to his holy house, where I can feel his Spirit in great abundance.
I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. We’re like fish swimming around in water. The water is a fish’s lifeblood, just like the gospel is ours. It’s everything! But the fish doesn’t realize it until he chases that worm that’s on a hook. When he’s pulled out of the water, then he realizes, Where’s my water! I need my water! I miss my water! At last he sees how precious that water was to him.
I know this is the Lord’s true Church and kingdom here upon this earth. God is truly just and merciful. On the basis of how we use our agency, he gives us those things we are willing to receive, I am so grateful that in this dispensation of time Gladys Knight has been given the fullness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
“Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in they sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14). Song to me is symbolic of joy-the joy in my heart. That song is not “Heard it Through the Grapevine,” or “Neither One of Us Wants to Be the First to Say Good-bye,” or “You’re the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me,” or my most popular son, “Midnight Train to Georgia” (though I love those songs-especially since they were hits). The song in my heart is of Jesus Christ and all the things in the restored gospel that I have learned and of the peace he has given me since I have joined th Church. He has blessed me with a wonderful family. My son Jimmy and my daughter-in-law Michelene set the example an led us to this Church. My daughter Kenya, and son-in-law, Jimmy, followed them. They , too were a great light to me, and along with them, my ten grandchildren.
Now I finally understand what my song is for. It is to be a part of my light, shining so that people may see and I can be a missionary for Heavenly Father. I’m so excited about all of this. I want to tell the world about it-shout it from the mountain tops! I’ve never been one for gossip, but I want to gossip about the Lord and what he has done by restoring his truths to the earth. I want to tell all about the blessings we can receive by following him. My friends have reminded me that because of my travels and singing I am in a position to share the message of the Restoration all over the world. I accept that. I am so pleased that God has chosen me to be one of his disciples, and I am so ready to shine his light.
Music and the gospel go hand in hand. To Emma Smith, the Lord said: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads” (D&C 25:12). To Brigham Young it was revealed: “If thou art merry, praise the Lord with singing, with music with dancing, and with prayer of praise and thanksgiving” (D&C 136:28). We also lean that the great latter-day events will be initiated with the “sound of a trump” (D&C 42:6) even up to the time where Michael the Archangel will sound his trumpet at the last resurrection. We don’t hear that kind of music much in meetings. But we should get ready for the great band of trumpets that will accompany the Lord at this great second coming.
When I come to bridging certain kinds of gaps, music is definitely one of our Heavenly Father’s best tools. That’s why music is considered the universal language. On a personal level, if you’re down, you can put on good music that lifts you; or if you need to meditate, you can play something that helps you get deeper into the Spirit. Music is like being quickened; it gets you close to the Lord right away. Music does touch the heart. To liken joy in the Spirit to having a song in your heart is a perfect analogy because of the role music plays in our lives. We all should carry a song in our hearts.
During the time of slavery, we were calling upon the Lord in the spirituals we sang in the fields. We found a way to put into song the heavy load we carried as a people, even the joys we felt in the midst of pain. The Lord gave us th gift of must to get us through, and the old Negro spirituals were definitely a part of that. When you’re troubled, you can sing your blues away. You can sing a lullaby to a little baby and soothe his tiny spirit. Son is a wonderful gift from the Lord.
The beauty of music is one side of the picture. Let me say a little about the other side if I may. The adversary is always working, trying to mess up Heavenly Father’s great works. And music is no exception. Too much music plays into the power of the adversary and it’s unfortunately making its mark. Music has power, so we must be very careful with the music we put into our spirits. If we choose the right music, we definitely experience a good power in our lives.
There are not words to express the power and joy I feel as the result of finally find this Church. The Lord said, “Seek, and ye shall find; knock , and it shall be opened unto you” (Matthew 7:7). The Lord keeps all his promises; and after a long journey, the Lord kept that promise for me. He knew I was looking, He knew I was hurting, He knew I was confused. He knew I was diligently wanting to draw closer to him. But his way is like no other way. Now I know why Paul said, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God” (2 Timothy 2:15). We must learn to understand his language and to rise to his level of doing things.
The gospel was there all along, hidden in plain sight. Some people will see it, some won’t I’m so honored and happy that the Lord led me to find it. Coming to the fullness of the Lord’s gospel has been life-changing. Without a doubt, the Church is “The Best Thing Tat Ever Happened to Me”-if I were to sing my own song. The difference between my life yesterday and today is that I’m a brand new me. Even my show when I perform is different. People tell me all the item, “There’s something different about you. I see a light in you. What its it?” The gospel gives me hope. It give me joy. And I know it will do the same for others. What a wonderful song Heavenly Father has placed in my heart!
The Lord’s prophet today, President Gordon B. Hinckley, said, “I invite every one of you, wherever you may be as members of the Church, to stand on your feet and with a song in your heart move forward, living the gospel, loving the Lord, and building the kingdom. Together we shall stay the course and keep the faith, the Almighty being our strength.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, November 1995, 72.) The best way to put a song in our hears is by following the counsel and teaching of the Lord’s prophet. I am so grateful that I know with certainty that we have a real prophet of God on this earth., just like Peter was to the ancient church.
Last October [1998] I had the privilege of meeting President Hinckley. It was another dream come true-but I never dreamed I would be so nervous about its fulfillment. I was waiting with my family in a room in the Church Office Building in Salt Lake City. My first sight of the prophet was when he walked by our door to speak to someone else. He wasn’t even in the room yet, and my hear began pounding. The moment was intense. He entered, and as we were introduced and shook hands, my mind went completely blank. We all stood there in a family receiving line, and I could not remember one single name of my grandchildren standing there with me. The prophet was very attentive to each of us. He started with my first grandchild, Sterling-whose name completely escaped me at the time. To help me out, the prophet suggested we all call my grandson “Bill” for the time being. “He kind of looks like a ‘Bill,’” President Hinckley sad. Finally , Sterling piped up and said, “My name is Sterling!” That broke the ice, and finally I was okay.
But later on I became flustered again when I remembered I was to sit at the table of President and Sister Hinckley the next afternoon at Sister Hinckley’s birthday celebration, when I would be performing for them. The next day rolled around, I was escorted to the table of President and Sister Hinckley, and, sure enough, I was nervous all over again. But the Lord certainly knows how to choose his prophets. What a wonderful man! He kept me laughing and eased my spirit all afternoon. Sometimes we imagine that our Church leaders are always stern, but I leaned first-hand that our prophet has great sense of humor. He mad me laugh, and he made me feel loved.
It’s wonderful to know that Heavenly Father speaks once more to his chosen servants. He communicates. He has not turned away from us. I have always felt that, but now I know it with certainty-a certainty given to me and magnified by the power of th Book of Mormon. It is the blueprint and foundation of my testimony.
I seek the Spirit in everything I do now. I don’t feel right if I don’t take the sacrament. I attend church every Sunday, wherever I am. I ‘m better at it than the postman-rain, snow, sleet, or the dark of night can’t keep me from my appointed sacrament meeting. In the se meetings, I hear the testimonies of my wonderful and loving brothers and sisters. The foundation of their testimonies I the same as min: Because of the Book of Mormon, we know our Lord is a gracious and merciful Savior. I am so grateful to be acquainted with his plan of salvation.
I’m blessed to have two earthly brother right now, Bubba and David. So many times I have sought their help, and always they’ve bailed me out. But that eldest brother of ours-Jesus Christ-oh, will I ever be out there singing his praises! He has bailed us out of physical death and also spiritual death, if we love him enough to follow his teachings and example. Our eldest brother gave up his life for us. It’s such an amazing gift to know that he loves us that much.
I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for my wonderful mother. I’m so glad she was still alive when I made that great conversion to this wonderful Church. She was not Mormon, but we were always coaxing her-knowing that very spiritual being that she was-to step into the waters and get into the true Church. And she would answer us by sing, “I’m more Mormon than any of you. Who tells you about general conference?” We’d answer, “You do, Gram.” “Who tells you to do what the prophets tell you to do?” Again we would reply, “You do , Gram.” I sincerely believe-though she never told me-that she was a believer in this Church. She was a great believer in God and in family. She knew that we are to nurture our children and help them find their way.
I attended a class in a ward other than my own a few Sundays ago. A class member who was new in the Church expressed concern about little children attending sacrament meetings. I raised my hand and said, “Llook at our world today and what it’s becoming. It’s jet-set, it’s microwave, but it’s not spiritual. In the restored gospel, as soon as our babies are born and breathing, we have them in church. I think this is a wonderful thing.” Church is the way we are exposed to this laws, his gospel, his word, his Spirit, and his light-by being taught from our very earliest years, when we are fresh from heaven. We should always be exposed to the truth and light found in this gospel, whether we are young or old.
In sacrament meeting, sometimes as my grandchildren are drawing pictures and coloring, I have the grates sense that the word is getting through. Just the environment itself-being in church with their moms and dad-promotes spirituality. Another thing I love about our Church is that the mothers and fathers come together to nurture and raise their families. That is so important. That’s why God gave us two parents. Even though we fall short of the mark sometimes, this is the way it was intended. I love it, even though sometimes I have to strain to hear over the children being a little noisy and wonder, What did that speaker just say? That’s okay; our children need to be her; it’s worth it.
In the world, there seems to be a pessimism about families and family relationships. But through the restored gospel, we know that we can have eternal families-something I did not know before. Just knowing that we can have our mates and our children eternally makes our life’s journey worthwhile; it helps us keep ht song in our hearts eternal. True sisterhood, true brotherhood, the sealing covenant, and eternal families are some of the unique gifts o love our Heavenly Father extended to us through the restored gospel.
Our Heavenly Father is so generous and kind to us. He also chastens his children sometimes. But to me that’s the measure of a good parent, because then you know he really loves you. If ewe ever feel his chastening, we know that he is very mindful of us-that we have his attention-and that he wants us to qualify for all the wonderful gifts he has to bestow.
God deals with us on our level. He knows we can’t comprehend certain things in a worldly environment, so he has a house right here among us. On weekdays, I like to find a nearby temple to attend. I’m addicted to the temple-it has been a journey unlike anything I’ve ever known. Just as the glory we will experience after this life is unimaginable, so also has been this experience for me in contras to my life before I joined this church. Like visiting a friend, I can go to the Lord’s house to visit him. I feel his presence, and I know he is there. He welcomes me to his holy house, where I can feel his Spirit in great abundance.
I am so grateful for Jesus Christ. We’re like fish swimming around in water. The water is a fish’s lifeblood, just like the gospel is ours. It’s everything! But the fish doesn’t realize it until he chases that worm that’s on a hook. When he’s pulled out of the water, then he realizes, Where’s my water! I need my water! I miss my water! At last he sees how precious that water was to him.
I know this is the Lord’s true Church and kingdom here upon this earth. God is truly just and merciful. On the basis of how we use our agency, he gives us those things we are willing to receive, I am so grateful that in this dispensation of time Gladys Knight has been given the fullness of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
Monday, June 14, 1999
Gladys Knight's son and manager dies
June 14 1999
LAS VEGAS (AP) - James "Jimmy" Newman, the son and manager of singer Gladys Knight, died Saturday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 36. Newman, a 22-year resident, managed his mother's career through his Newman Management Inc., one of four Knight-related companies sharing offices in Southern Nevada.
An official cause of death is pending. This year, Newman helped his mother launch Many Roads, a specialty record label formed to support her recent gospel album, "Many Different Roads," and other gospel artists. According to the album's media materials, Newman brought many of the songs to Knight's attention, including "Jesus' Love Is Like a River," a song co-written by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. Newman was the singer's eldest child and was named after his father, Knight's late first husband.
Newman's birth on Aug. 13, 1962, interrupted the fledgling career of Gladys Knight & The Pips, the singer once told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Women weren't liberated then. It was a natural expectation that I would probably want to go be a wife and a mother, and I did want that," she said of time spent in her native Georgia away from the Pips, while the group pursued opportunities in New York. Within a year, partly motivated by financial need, she decided to get back into show business, and the group went on to carve its place in R&B history.
Besides his mother, 55, of Henderson; and stepfather, Barry Hankerson of California; Newman is survived by his wife, Michelene; daughters Nastasia and Gabrielle; and sons Rishawn, Stefan and Sterling; all of Las Vegas; a sister, Kenya Jackson of Henderson; and brothers, Shanga Hankerson of Atlanta, Jomo Hankerson of New York City and Jimmy Jordan of Atlanta.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Red Rock Stake Center, 221Lorenzi St. Burial will follow at Palm Valley View Cemetery.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the Newman Children Education Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, Account No. 6835665183.
LAS VEGAS (AP) - James "Jimmy" Newman, the son and manager of singer Gladys Knight, died Saturday at his home in Las Vegas. He was 36. Newman, a 22-year resident, managed his mother's career through his Newman Management Inc., one of four Knight-related companies sharing offices in Southern Nevada.
An official cause of death is pending. This year, Newman helped his mother launch Many Roads, a specialty record label formed to support her recent gospel album, "Many Different Roads," and other gospel artists. According to the album's media materials, Newman brought many of the songs to Knight's attention, including "Jesus' Love Is Like a River," a song co-written by Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch. Newman was the singer's eldest child and was named after his father, Knight's late first husband.
Newman's birth on Aug. 13, 1962, interrupted the fledgling career of Gladys Knight & The Pips, the singer once told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "Women weren't liberated then. It was a natural expectation that I would probably want to go be a wife and a mother, and I did want that," she said of time spent in her native Georgia away from the Pips, while the group pursued opportunities in New York. Within a year, partly motivated by financial need, she decided to get back into show business, and the group went on to carve its place in R&B history.
Besides his mother, 55, of Henderson; and stepfather, Barry Hankerson of California; Newman is survived by his wife, Michelene; daughters Nastasia and Gabrielle; and sons Rishawn, Stefan and Sterling; all of Las Vegas; a sister, Kenya Jackson of Henderson; and brothers, Shanga Hankerson of Atlanta, Jomo Hankerson of New York City and Jimmy Jordan of Atlanta.
Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Palm Mortuary, 7600 S. Eastern Ave. Services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at Red Rock Stake Center, 221Lorenzi St. Burial will follow at Palm Valley View Cemetery.
The family requests memorial donations be made to the Newman Children Education Fund at Wells Fargo Bank, Account No. 6835665183.
Friday, June 11, 1999
Gladys Knight keeps busy and happy in her music 1999
Gladys Knight keeps busy and happy in her music
by Steve Jones USA Today 06/11/1999
Gladys Knight has a lot to smile about these days. After a lifetime in show business filled with pain and glory, the R&B legend is right where she wants to be - happy, in demand and able to combine her work, family and faith.
Fifty years after Little Miss Gladys Knight rose in the pulpit of Atlanta's Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to give her first recital, the 54-year-old singer released Many Different Roads, her first inspirational album.
"A lot of people are like, this is your 50th anniversary, aren't you going to have a party?" Knight says. "It's a milestone, but I'm just in awe of my still being here. I have a mission to let my light shine."
Over the years, the three-time Grammy winner has shone frequently on such impassioned R&B classics as "Letter Full of Tears," "If I Were Your Woman," "Save the Overtime (For Me)" and her signature, "Midnight Train to Georgia."
The album, released at the end of 1998, was produced by her 37-year-old son and manager, Jimmy Newman, on Many Roads Records, of which he is president. It features her first recording in a decade with the Pips and two songs written by Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican - Utah.
And that's not all that's keeping her busy. Knight has been touring since September, and performs at Pine Knob tonight. Last year Columbia Legacy released Gladys Knight & the Pips Live at the Roxy, featuring unreleased tracks from a 1980 engagement at the West Hollywood club. Knight has a recurring role on The Jamie Foxx Show as the lead character's mother. And she and the group, already members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, were honored by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation last year. "I've had so many things happening to me this year, it's just awesome," Knight says, letting loose a peal of the throaty laughter that punctuates her conversation. "When you've been here for so long, you start feeling like you're supposed to get jaded, but when you get so many blessings, you just keep going."
Knight attributes her contentment to her newfound Mormon faith, which she embraced last year while dealing with her divorce from her third husband, inspirational speaker Les Brown.
Knight says she had long admired the way some members put the church's principles into practice, but she had concerns about joining.
"The questions I had to ask were questions that anyone of my descent would probably ask about blacks in the church. I was able to ask those questions and in my spirit be peaceful and satisfied with the answers."
Working on the 13-song inspirational album was another source of joy for Knight, who had always wanted to do one. On "Good Morning Heavenly Father" she reunites with brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousin William Guest. The third Pip, cousin Edward Patten, no longer sings because of a stroke five years ago.
She says that she'd had no idea that Hatch was a songwriter, but he'd been a friend of her son's for a long time and she was impressed with his lyrics. On the track "Many Different Roads," Hatch - who calls Knight "a great person and a great artist" - pays tribute to Princess Diana and Mother Teresa; Knight and gospel singer and producer Kurt Carr added a verse about Knight's mother, Elizabeth "Gram" Knight.
Gladys Knight has a lot to smile about these days. After a lifetime in show business filled with pain and glory, the R&B legend is right where she wants to be - happy, in demand and able to combine her work, family and faith.
Fifty years after Little Miss Gladys Knight rose in the pulpit of Atlanta's Mt. Moriah Baptist Church to give her first recital, the 54-year-old singer released Many Different Roads, her first inspirational album.
"A lot of people are like, this is your 50th anniversary, aren't you going to have a party?" Knight says. "It's a milestone, but I'm just in awe of my still being here. I have a mission to let my light shine."
Over the years, the three-time Grammy winner has shone frequently on such impassioned R&B classics as "Letter Full of Tears," "If I Were Your Woman," "Save the Overtime (For Me)" and her signature, "Midnight Train to Georgia."
The album, released at the end of 1998, was produced by her 37-year-old son and manager, Jimmy Newman, on Many Roads Records, of which he is president. It features her first recording in a decade with the Pips and two songs written by Senator Orrin Hatch, Republican - Utah.
And that's not all that's keeping her busy. Knight has been touring since September, and performs at Pine Knob tonight. Last year Columbia Legacy released Gladys Knight & the Pips Live at the Roxy, featuring unreleased tracks from a 1980 engagement at the West Hollywood club. Knight has a recurring role on The Jamie Foxx Show as the lead character's mother. And she and the group, already members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, were honored by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation last year. "I've had so many things happening to me this year, it's just awesome," Knight says, letting loose a peal of the throaty laughter that punctuates her conversation. "When you've been here for so long, you start feeling like you're supposed to get jaded, but when you get so many blessings, you just keep going."
Knight attributes her contentment to her newfound Mormon faith, which she embraced last year while dealing with her divorce from her third husband, inspirational speaker Les Brown.
Knight says she had long admired the way some members put the church's principles into practice, but she had concerns about joining.
"The questions I had to ask were questions that anyone of my descent would probably ask about blacks in the church. I was able to ask those questions and in my spirit be peaceful and satisfied with the answers."
Working on the 13-song inspirational album was another source of joy for Knight, who had always wanted to do one. On "Good Morning Heavenly Father" she reunites with brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousin William Guest. The third Pip, cousin Edward Patten, no longer sings because of a stroke five years ago.
She says that she'd had no idea that Hatch was a songwriter, but he'd been a friend of her son's for a long time and she was impressed with his lyrics. On the track "Many Different Roads," Hatch - who calls Knight "a great person and a great artist" - pays tribute to Princess Diana and Mother Teresa; Knight and gospel singer and producer Kurt Carr added a verse about Knight's mother, Elizabeth "Gram" Knight.
Friday, September 1, 1995
Excerpt from Spencer W. Kimball, Resolute Disciple, Prophet of God
Spencer W. Kimball, Resolute Disciple, Prophet of God
by Francis M. Gibbons (September 1995)
Chapter 22
Almost every working day of the 12 years during which Spencer W. Kimball was president of the Church, Francis M. Gibbons saw and worked with him closely. From this unique perspective, he has written this fresh and insightful biography of a quiet but profoundly beloved and faithful man.
"Shortly after the October general conference, President Kimball was distressed when he was served with a subpoena to give a deposition in a case brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People against the Boy Scouts of America and Troop 58, organized in one of the wards of the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City. There were two black Scouts in the troop. One of them complained to the black ombudsman for Utah because he was deprived of the chance to become the senior patrol leader of his troop because of the Church procedure that the senior patrol leader had to be the deacons quorum president. It was contended that this violated the young man's civil rights. This procedure had been put into effect as part of the effort to bring about more complete coordination and correlation between the priesthood and the activity programs for young men. While the Church was not a party to the suit, the Church's practice was a key issue in the litigation. It was for this reason the subpoena was issued to President Kimball. And because it was a subpoena duces tecum, he was directed to bring to the deposition every document relating to the Church's policy withholding the priesthood from blacks. Because he had had little to do with litigation during his life and was uncertain about what faced him, President Kimball was distraught. He could not sleep. He could talk of little else in the meetings with his counselors. Long sessions were held with the First Presidency, the Twelve, and the Presiding Bishopric where the implications of the suit and the subpoena were considered at length. The Brethren were reluctant to change the procedure because it served an important need to coordinate the priesthood and activity programs. Yet they also were reluctant to sever connections with the Boy Scouts of America, ending a relationship that had lasted amicably and profitably for both parties for more than sixty years. After prayerful deliberation it was decided to change the Scouting procedure in Church-sponsored troops so as not to require that the senior patrol leader also be the deacons’ quorum president. This removed the basis for the suit and it was soon dismissed, much to the relief of President Kimball. He had found that the subpoena so dominated his thoughts he was unable to focus on anything else for long. And there was much to do.
.....
Though these were important steps needed to strengthen the fast-growing Church, they were overshadowed by the action taken by President Kimball on June 9, 1978, when he made the priesthood available to all worthy male members of the Church. Such an action had been discussed for decades. Until President Kimball acted, however, the discussions always ended as they had in the early 1960s during President David O. McKay's tenure. At that time, as already noted, numerous letters were received from Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa, pleading for the Church to send missionaries. The Brethren refrained from granting these requests. Instead, they sent literature and equipment and urged the people to be patient and prayerful. President McKay noted in his diary that the issue facing the Church was not unlike the issue that faced the first apostles over whether the gospel should be taken to the Gentiles. The earlier issue was resolved when Peter baptized the gentile household of Cornelius after receiving the extraordinary vision recorded in the tenth chapter of Acts. President McKay said the issue regarding the priesthood would be resolved only in the same way—namely, by a revelation from heaven. It remained for President Spencer W. Kimball to fulfill that prediction many years later.
While he and his brethren had talked about the priesthood restriction often and had speculated as to when the Lord would lift it, President Kimball did not begin to focus on it intensely until more than a year before the revelation was announced. Several factors seem to have prompted him to do so: he had genuine concern for those affected by the restriction, a concern intensified by his experiences in South America; he was concerned about the conflict between the restrictions on priesthood and his admonition that members join in prayer that the doors of all nations be opened to the preaching of the gospel; and he was concerned about administrative complications leaders would face in Brazil, when the temple was completed in São Paulo, in determining qualifications for temple recommends, given the uncertainties about ethnic origins in that country. These and other grave issues drove President Kimball to his knees, seeking a spiritual solution to a problem of tangled complexity.
A string of related events provides insight into the lengthy process by which President Kimball received the revelation he sought. His concern for those deprived of priesthood blessings due to racial origin was typified by his concern for Helvécio Martins, a black member of the Church in Rio de Janeiro. Brother Martins, who would later be called to the Second Quorum of the Seventy, joined the Church several years before the revelation on priesthood. In 1977, while serving as the public communications director for the Church in Brazil, he attended the cornerstone lying of the São Paulo Temple. President Kimball motioned to Helvécio, who was in the audience, to take a seat beside him on the stand. Through an interpreter, he told Brother Martins that if he remained faithful, no blessing of the Church would be withheld from him. Later that year, one of the General Authorities assigned to a stake conference in Rio de Janeiro contacted Helvécio and said President Kimball wanted to be sure Helvécio understood the implications of what President Kimball had said at the cornerstone laying ceremony. Helvécio said he understood. (Conversation of author with Elder Martins.)
Meanwhile, President Kimball had begun to discuss the priesthood question with his brethren and to pray for spiritual direction. This included fervent and frequent prayers alone in the Salt Lake Temple. On March 23, 1978, President Kimball advised his counselors that he had had a wakeful night struggling with the question of priesthood restrictions and felt they should be lifted. No action was taken at the time. On April 20, 1978, the prophet advised the Twelve of his prayerful efforts to receive divine guidance on the issue and asked them to join him and his counselors in their prayers to that end. There followed personal interviews between President Kimball and members of the Twelve to discuss the matter. President Kimball continued to spend many hours alone in the temple, imploring the Lord for guidance.
On May 4, 1978, following a council meeting, Elder LeGrand Richards asked President Kimball for the privilege of saying a few words. He told the Brethren that during the meeting, he had seen a personage seated in a chair on the organ. He said he thought it was President Wilford Woodruff. "He was dressed in a white suit and was seated in an armchair," reported Elder Richards. "I thought at the time that the reason I was privileged to see him was probably that I was the only one there who had ever seen President Woodruff while he was upon the earth. I had heard him dedicate the Salt Lake Temple and I had heard him give his last sermon in the Salt Lake Tabernacle before he died." (Lucile C. Tate, LeGrand Richards: Beloved Apostle, p. 292.) The significance and timing of this appearance are apparent. Here, appearing through the veil in the upper room of the temple, was the prophet who, almost a hundred years before, had wrestled with a critical problem, plural marriage, which was resolved by revelation, the same way the problem President Kimball faced would be resolved.
The week following this incident, President Kimball again spent several hours alone in the Salt Lake Temple, asking the Lord for guidance. On Tuesday, May 30, 1978, President Kimball read to his counselors a tentative statement he had written in longhand removing all priesthood restrictions from blacks except those restrictions as to worthiness that rest upon all alike. He said that he had a "good, warm feeling" about it. There was a lengthy review of the statements of past leaders about the restrictions on blacks. It was decided that this aspect of the matter should be researched in detail. Elder G. Homer Durham, who was serving as the Church historian, was asked to do this. Also, the luncheon in the temple for the following Thursday was canceled. Instead of eating lunch, the Brethren were asked to fast and pray that the Lord would make his mind and will clear in this matter.
On Thursday, June 1, 1978, following the meeting of all General Authorities, the First Presidency and the Twelve (Elders Mark E. Petersen and Delbert L. Stapley were absent) counseled for two hours about the restrictions on the priesthood. Each member of the council expressed himself freely on the subject. In the discussion, the feeling was unanimous that the time had come to lift the restrictions. And following the prayer at the end of the meeting, which was offered by President Kimball, several present mentioned the powerful, confirming spirit they felt.
On Wednesday, June 7, 1978, President Kimball advised his counselors that through inspiration he had decided to lift the restrictions on priesthood. At that time, letters were read from three members of the Twelve, which President Kimball had requested, containing suggested wording for the public announcement of the decision. Using these three letters as a base, a fourth statement was prepared and then reviewed, edited, and approved by the First Presidency. This document was taken to the council meeting with the Twelve on Thursday, June 8, 1978. At this meeting, President Kimball advised the Twelve that he had received the inspiration to make the priesthood available to all worthy male members of the Church, whereupon the document was read and, with minor editorial changes, was approved. Later in the day Elder Mark E. Petersen approved by telephone from South America, and Elder Delbert L. Stapley approved when President Kimball visited him in the hospital. The statement, of course, was merely a memorandum of the revelation President Kimball had received by the spiritual means already described.
The next day, Friday, June 9, 1978, all the General Authorities who were in the city and available assembled at 7:00 a.m. President Kimball announced the decision to lift priesthood restrictions, had the statement read, and invited the comments of the Brethren. All sustained the decision and approved the statement. The members of the Seventy who were out of the city on assignment were advised of the decision by telephone. Following the meeting, the statement was released to the press.
The reaction to the announcement was prompt and, with a few exceptions, was overwhelmingly positive. Within minutes after the news hit the street, the telephones in the First Presidency's office began to ring, and they rang incessantly for hours. There were hundreds of calls, calls from England, from Hawaii, from Florida, from Maine, and from countless points in between, calls (but for two isolated exceptions) that expressed feelings of exuberant joy.
The announcement of this revelation irrevocably altered the future of the Church. Its impact was felt almost immediately in the missions of the Church. During the first full year after the revelation, convert baptisms were up almost 20 percent. Two years later, that rate of growth had almost doubled. The growth was most pronounced in South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. In Brazil, for instance, of the 1989 membership of more than 300,000, approximately 85 percent had joined the Church after the revelation.
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