Church Offers Special Issue of Liahona and Ensign for New Members

The October 2006 issue of the Liahona and Ensign may seem a little different.
A special issue for new members, the October 2006 edition of the Liahona and Ensign will speak directly to those who have recently joined the Church.
Elder Jay E. Jensen, Executive Director over the Church magazines, said: “The Lord said that 'the worth of souls is great in the sight of God' (D&C 18:10). This truth speaks volumes about our new brothers and sisters whom we welcome as new members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We love each one and want to help strengthen them and to speak directly to their common questions in this special issue.”
A welcome from a living prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley; what a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wishes every member knew; direction for how to fit into the framework of the Church—all these topics and more are included in the magazine, written especially with new members in mind.
For long-time members, it may seem strange to receive an issue addressed to new members, but long-time members play a vital role in nurturing new members. This issue can strengthen all members and help them be more aware of the challenges faced by new members.
Some of these challenges include accepting a new lifestyle, trying to meet new people, and making difficult changes. New words, meetings, and teachings can be overwhelming to new members, who may not have the support of friends and family in their decision to join. This issue will be a forum for these concerns.
Within its pages, terms are defined, testimonies are shared, and difficult questions are answered, such as “How do I answer friends and family who question my decision to join the Church?” and “Now that I've been baptized, where do I go from here?”
The issue will retain all of the magazine's usual departments, including the First Presidency Message, Visiting Teaching Message, Sharing Time, and Latter-day Saint Voices, yet each article will contain a special message for new members. Many converts will share how they overcame the challenges and difficulties they experienced as new members. The issue will also include an introduction to the Church magazines and suggestions for getting the most out of them.
“Conversion is a process through which every member must pass, regardless of how he or she came into the Church,” said Elder Jensen. “We hope the Church magazines, and this special issue in particular, will help members deepen their commitment to gospel living and encourage them to become and stay fully engaged in the Church so that they may enjoy all that the gospel has to offer.”
The Church offers this issue to all members with the encouragement to become familiar with its content. Members who wish to give a gift subscription to a new member—or anyone else—can contact their local distribution center or visit ldscatalog.com.

Choir, Orchestra Celebrate Christmas in August

By Abbey Olsen, Church Magazines
Christmas trees, holly, wreaths, lights and poinsettias adorned the stage of the Conference Center complementing holiday and patriotic music that rang throughout the auditorium August 19, 2006, as the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square joined international relief organization Feed the Children and special guests to provide a tribute Christmas Concert to the military that will be rebroadcast in December.
Sandi Patty, the most awarded female vocalist in contemporary Christian music; guest hosts Lorianne Crook and Charlie Chase, long-time TV broadcasters on The Nashville Network and hosts of a daily radio show; and The Band of the Air Force Reserve joined with the Choir and Orchestra. President Thomas S. Monson of the First Presidency attended the concert.
“Joy to the World,” “Angels We Have Heard on High,” and “O Come All Ye Faithful” were a few of the traditional carols the hundreds gathered in the auditorium enjoyed on the warm August night. Other Christmas music favorites included “The Most Wonderful Christmas Waltz,” “I Saw Three Ships,” and “Sleigh Ride.”
Lorianne Crook told the audience that although it was unusual to celebrate Christmas in a warm summer month, the warmth they felt would reach out to those who were away from loved ones across the world when it was broadcast during the holiday season.
Many of the selections performed testified of the Savior, Jesus Christ, reiterating that the Christmas spirit reaches across cultures, backgrounds and traditions to furnish hope and peace in a world of conflict.
At the end of the concert, the performers were given a standing ovation, after which the crowd wouldn't sit down again until the encore—“Battle Hymn of the Republic”—began, performed by the Choir, Orchestra, and Band.
The Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) will air a 60-minute radio version of the concert during the upcoming holiday season as their annual Christmas special. The relief organization, Feed the Children, will air 30-minute and 60-minute television versions of the program during the holiday season from Thanksgiving until Christmas.

LDS urged to share gospel with all people

By Carrie A. MooreDeseret Morning News
PROVO — The restored gospel of Jesus Christ must be shared with all people — regardless of culture, ethnicity, religious background or heritage — and Latter-day Saints have an obligation to share their faith without arrogance or self-righteousness.

Scott G. Winterton, Deseret Morning News
The BYU campus was busy Tuesday during Education Week, which runs through Friday and explores a variety of topics. Speaking during the keynote session of the 84th annual Education Week at Brigham Young University, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf told thousands gathered at the Marriott Center Tuesday that when Jesus Christ established his church anciently, he knew there would be a great apostasy to follow. Elder Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said Christ "established a divine pattern" for his church anciently, knowing that "future generations would recognize the same priesthood authority and structure" featuring apostles and a living prophet when the church was restored centuries later. "Without the Prophet Joseph Smith (LDS Church founder), the world would still be in the same state of confusion and darkness" that existed during the Dark Ages with respect to religion, he said. Latter-day Saints believe their faith is a restoration — rather than a reformation — of Christianity in its pure form, as revealed to Joseph Smith. Other faiths and historic religious figures were inspired by God at various times to keep the flame of belief alive, he said. LDS prophets have recognized the goodness inherent in other faiths, and have urged believers of all stripes to build on their own beliefs by examining the LDS Church, he said. Such was the experience of Elder Uchtdorf's mother-in-law, who was living in an apartment in Frankfurt, Germany, with her two daughters and was taught about the LDS faith by young missionaries in 1954. She was a lifelong Christian and was seeking greater knowledge of things spiritual shortly after her husband died.

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She wanted to know the purpose of life, whether there was life before Earth life and what happens to the soul when a person dies. The information provided by other clergy had not helped her, he said. After giving her a Book of Mormon and asking her to read selected passages, the missionaries returned two days later to ask about her impressions. She told them she had read the entire book and believed it was true. The family joined the church shortly thereafter. "The spirit was able to teach her, for she was open and receptive to truth and light. There was no disdain for what she had believed in her Lutheran faith for so many years," he said, adding she had learned to quote and internalize many passages from the New Testament. It prepared her to listen to the missionaries, he said. "When she heard the message of the restoration, she was flooded with light and filled with love and hope. 'It was as if something of great importance had been lifeless and inert but was now resurrected to life, beauty and activity,'" he said, quoting her recollection. "She represents in many ways the multitude of converts that come into the church every day," from every faith and none at all, he said. While Latter-day Saints should be willing to share their knowledge with everyone, "Having the fullness of the gospel should not cause any of us to feel arrogant or have a 'holier than thou' attitude," he said, but should inspire "great gratitude" for knowledge of the truth. "Let us never be ashamed to testify of this restoration. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation." Education Week runs through Friday and features scores of hourlong presentations on a variety of family and spiritual topics that run daily from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. For information, see the Web site at educationweek.byu.edu.

Brochure Highlights Latter-day Saint History in California

As Church members commemorate the 150th anniversary of the handcart pioneers who moved west to the Salt Lake Valley, Saints in California are remembering the sacrifice of Latter-day Saint pioneers who journeyed to California, blazing trails of faith as some moved east to the Salt Lake Valley while others stayed and influenced the establishment of California.
The California Pioneer Heritage Foundation produced a brochure, “California's Pioneer Heritage: Saints, Soldiers and Settlers,” to help not only Church members, but the public as well, which become more aware of the influence of the early Latter-day Saints in California.
“The pioneers' history is kind of overlooked,” said Lila Bringhurst, a Church member from the San Francisco Bay Area, who wrote the brochure under the direction of the foundation. ”This is regenerating some interest in that important time period in which many Mormons played an important part.”
Although the brochure is not sponsored by the Church, Church members have helped produce it as it has gone through a lengthy rewrite and editing process to accurately recount an overview of early pioneers and how they met their challenges, exercised faith, and built new communities.
The brochure states, “They were involved in every important event in pioneer California: the Bear Flag Revolt, the discovery of gold, the creation of communities and counties, the rush to statehood, the establishment of businesses and the birth of commercial agriculture.”
On July 31, 1846—160 years ago—the Saints on the ship Brooklyn arrived in San Francisco (formerly called Yerba Buena) after enduring the longest known religious voyage in history.
In 1847, the 500-man Mormon Battalion arrived in San Diego, California, after a 2,000-mile trek, one of the longest in U.S. infantry history. They were sent to reinforce the Army of the West and to build a new wagon trail from Santa Fe to San Diego.
In 1851, Brigham Young authorized a settlement in Southern California as a source of supply for the Utah settlements and as a way station for immigrants traveling from the coast. Soon a 500-pioneer wagon train from Salt Lake City headed there and began to form the city of San Bernardino.
Ten to eleven years after they arrived in California, having established homes and farms and become wealthy, many Saints gave it all up again to go to Utah, at Brigham Young's call to defend the Saints against Johnston's army.
“You have to stand back and admire what they did for their love of the gospel and their obedience,” said Sister Bringhurst, who has been involved in California history research for many years.
Today, Church members in California continue building their communities and spreading the gospel. With Church membership at more than 756,000 and the seventh temple soon to be dedicated in Sacramento on September 3, the Saints in California, like many worldwide, continue building upon their pioneer legacy.