Ensign

July 2007

Volume 37 Number 7

Do You Have a Story to Tell?

The Ensign invites you to share your experiences with literacy in the Church. How have you or others been blessed from learning to read or write or from teaching someone to read and write? Please label submissions “Literacy” and send them by August 17.

We also welcome other submissions that show the gospel of Jesus Christ at work in your life. Publication criteria are posted on the Ensign home page at www.lds.org.

Send submissions to [e-mail] or Ensign Editorial, 50 E. North Temple Street, Room 2420, Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3220, USA. Include your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, ward (or branch), and stake (or district). Due to the volume of submissions, we cannot acknowledge receipt. Authors whose work is selected for publication will be notified. If you would like your material returned, please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope.

Using This Issue

Teaching in the home, through the home. In “Three Tools to Build a Sacred Home” (p. 44), Shirley R. Klein points out that “everyday routines have great power in our lives.” In your next family council or family home evening, discuss ways your family can experience the significance of these patterns.

Managing household finances. “Before You Lose It All …” (p. 62) includes several tips for avoiding and eliminating debt. For additional information, review the new online course “Peace in Your Hearts,” available at www.providentliving.org.

Learning eternal truths. After reading “Lay Hold upon the Word of God” (p. 12), consider how the formula of “study, ponder, and pray” has helped you withstand the attacks on faith that are common today. Consider why all three components are essential to the process.

Coming in August

Look for articles on:

• Overcoming feelings of inadequacy.

• Becoming equal partners in marriage.

• The global effort to index family history names online—and how you can help.

Contents

• Messages

  • 4

    First Presidency Message: The Peril of Hidden Wedges

    President Thomas S. Monson

    Sometimes we take offense so easily. On other occasions we are too stubborn to accept a sincere apology. Let’s remove any hidden wedges that can do nothing but destroy.

  • 59

    Visiting Teaching Message: Practicing Holiness

• Feature Articles

  • 12

    Lay Hold upon the Word of God

    Elder Gary L. Pocock

    When we “lay hold upon” the word of God, His words strengthen us against deception and temptation.

  • 16

    All Charged Up

    Paul VanDenBerghe

    The gospel has brought together the members of the Benoni Second Branch—the first young single adult unit in Africa—as friends and fellow Saints.

  • 19

    Burbank Boulevard: A Lesson in Unimportant Differences

    J. Robert Nelson

    Occasionally we put up artificial barriers between us and others. But in the gospel of Jesus Christ, differences such as where we live or the color of our skin do not matter.

  • 22

    From Iowa to Immortality: A Tribute to the Mormon Battalion

    Elder Lance B. Wickman

    These soldiers didn’t march just to San Diego. In every sense, they marched into history.

  • 28

    It’s All Been Done

    Loretta Evans

    Even when your relatives have already done much work on family history, you can still contribute. Here are some ideas.

  • 32

    Tours and Testimonies

    Andy Cargal

    As they teach visitors about Church history, missionaries on Temple Square invite people to learn about the Savior.

  • 38

    Too Busy to Share the Gospel?

    Donna Pike Jones

    Our move was less than two weeks away. So why did my husband bother praying for missionary opportunities?

  • 40

    Parables of the Master

    The sower, the lost sheep, the ten virgins—these and other parables taught by the Savior are portrayed in art.

  • 44

    Three Tools to Build a Sacred Home

    Shirley R. Klein

    Opportunities to practice gospel living are sacred; these times help us grow spiritually and draw closer to the Savior.

  • 48

    Talking to Youth about Pornography

    Dan Gray

    As parents and leaders, we need to be bold in communicating the sacred nature of human intimacy. We must listen to our youth and give them sound direction and guidance.

  • 52

    This, the Greatest of All Dispensations

    Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

    We should watch for the signs of the Second Coming, but we must not be paralyzed just because that event and the events surrounding it are ahead of us somewhere. Indeed, we should live life more fully than we have ever lived it.

  • 60

    Time Stood Still

    Joyce Hanson Wallin

    The fire engine came first, then a police car, then an ambulance, and then the coroner. I couldn’t believe this was happening.

  • 62

    Before You Lose It All …

    Jerry Mason

    Many circumstances can result in so much debt that bankruptcy may seem to be the only option. But this decision is not one to make lightly. Here are a few things to consider.

• Departments

  • Lessons from the New Testament

    10

    Believe

    Vicki F. Matsumori

    The Lord’s counsel to Thomas holds true for each of us. It is our faith, belief, and understanding of the Atonement and the Resurrection that give us perspective and hope.

  • 66

    Mine Errand from the Lord

    Rowland E. Elvidge

    Church callings are part of the process the Lord uses to refine us and help us reach our full potential.

  • 70

    Latter-day Saint Voices

    Lessons from the pioneers, preservation through prayer, and fulfilled promises.

  • 74

    Random Sampler

    Teaching families about ancestors, starting your home storage, positively managing a classroom, and organizing family home evening.

  • 76

    News of the Church

On the cover: Front: The Mormon Battalion Arrives on the Shores of San Diego, by Sam Lawlor.

Back: Mormon Battalion cloth banner and personal gear backpack, courtesy of the Museum of Church History and Art.

Celebration on July 4, 1847, Los Angeles, California, by Charles Brent Hancock. Courtesy of Church History Library and Archives. Pioneer artist Charles Brent Hancock designed and created this image of the Mormon Battalion as part of a diorama. From July 20, 1846, to January 29, 1847, the battalion trekked some 2,000 miles from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, to Los Angeles, California.

Looking at Sarah, by Lee Udall Bennion. May not be copied. Of motherhood, President Howard W. Hunter (1907–95) said: “Surely we need not look far to see the unnoticed and forgotten heroes of daily life. … I am referring to the uncommon valor of the mother who—hour after hour, day and night—will stay with and care for a sick child. … I am speaking of those who are always there to love and nurture” (“True Greatness,” Ensign, May 1982, 19).