Bruce R. McConkie
said: “Above all the attributes of godliness and perfection, charity is
the one most devoutly to be desired. Charity is more than love, far more;
it is everlasting love, perfect love, the pure love of Christ which endureth
forever. It is love so centered in righteousness that the possessor has
no aim or desire except for the eternal welfare of his own soul and for the
souls of those around him.” (Mormon Doctrine, 121.)
This
story told by Vaughn J. Featherstone illustrates what type of charity we should
have. “Winter came early that year and froze much of the sugar beet crop
in the ground. My dad and brother Francis were desperately trying to get
out of the frosty ground one load of beets each day, and then haul the load off
to the sugar factory. It was slow and tedious work due to the frost and
the lack of farm help. While they were thusly engaged in harvesting the
family’s only cash crop, a phone call came through bearing the tragic
news that the nine-year-old son of our brother Charles, had been stricken with
the dread flu and had died; and would dad please come to Ogden and bring the
boy home and lay him away in the family plot. My father cranked up his
old Chevrolet and headed for Ogden to bring this little grandson home for
burial. Father brought the boy home, made a coffin in his carpenter shop,
and then dad went with Franz and two kind neighbors to dig the grave and
conduct a brief graveside service. The folks had scarcely returned from
the cemetery when the telephone rang again: Charles had died and two of
his beautiful little girls were critically ill. Our good cousins were
able to get a casket for Charles and send him home in a railroad baggage car
where Father and young Franz commended Charles into the keeping of his
Maker. Next day my sturdy, unconquerable old dad was called on still
another of his grim missions—this time to bring home one of the little
girls. Before father arrived home with the little girl, word had come
again. Her little sister had gone to join their daddy and sister.
And so it was that father made another heartbreaking journey to bring home and
lay away a fourth member of his family, all within a week. After that
final burial, Dad said to Franz, ‘Well, son, we had better get down to the
field and see if we can get another load of beets out of the ground before they
get frozen in any tighter.’ As they drove along the road, they passed
wagon after wagon-load of beets being hauled to the factory and driven by
neighborhood farmers. As they passed by, each driver would wave a greeting:
‘Hi ya, Uncle George,’ ‘Sure sorry, George,’ ‘Tough break,
George,’ ‘You’ve got a lot of friends, George.’ On the last wagon
was the town comedian, freckled-faced Jasper Rolfe. He waved a cheery
greeting and called out: ‘That’s all of ‘em, Uncle George.’ My dad
turned to Francis and said: ‘I wish it was all of ours.’ When they
arrived at the farm gate, he stopped the team, paused a moment and
scanned the field, from left to right and back and forth—and lo and behold, there
wasn’t a sugar beet on the whole field. Then it dawned upon him what
Jasper Rolfe meant when he called out: ‘That’s all of ‘em, Uncle
George!’ Then father sat down on a pile of beet tops—this man who brought
four of his loved ones home for burial in the course of only six days; made
caskets, dug graves, and even helped with the burial clothing—this amazing man
who never faltered, nor flinched, nor wavered throughout this agonizing
ordeal—sat down on a pile of beet tops and sobbed like a little child.
Then he arose, wiped his eyes with his big, red bandanna handkerchief, looked
up at the sky, and said: ‘Thanks, Father, for the elders of our
ward.” (Ensign, July 1973, pp. 36-37.)
Do you ever wonder how Seminary teachers prepare a lesson, wake up early, get dressed in church clothes, and teach teenagers every day of the week?
??????
It is because we GET to spend our mornings with these people, who brighten our days and lift our spirits. This calling is a privilege and a blessing. Our future is in good hands folks!
Sister Colvin's Freshman/Sophomore Seminary Class. New Testament 2012-2013
The Sophomores RULED the court and the scripture mastery challenge FIRST
place winners. They were also the victors of last years
challenge...and I am sure they will go for the streak next year too!
Our largest zero-hour class, the Freshmen, scored 70 points for a close second place!
They had awesome teamwork and the gentlemen were kind to the ladies.
My favorite picture of the Freshman class....but wait, where is Dylan.
The Senior class seemed to be entertained by thinking of "creative" ways to come from behind.
Good thing that the Juniors look cool...
because they struggled a bit with the challenge and tied with the Seniors for third place.
For ten team points...Tell Sister Colvin who is not pictured, but was present for March Madness.
For
several years people have wondered how Grammy Award winning solo
artist, Gladys Knight, came to join the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Her fame as lead singer of Gladys Knight and the Pips
has brought her millions of fans, many who are curious how the gospel
singing diva was introduced to the religion, and how she was converted.
The
story begins with Knight's oldest son- Jimmy Newman, and includes her
daughter, husband, and almost inexplicably, R&B sensation R. Kelly.
Jimmy
Newman was searching for the truth. Jimmy and his wife Michelene had
both been raised Catholic and had been married in a Catholic church. But
with 2 small children they searched for a new religion for their
growing family. Since graduating from the University of San Diego in
1984 with a degree in business at the age of 22, Jimmy had managed his
mother’s group - Gladys Knight and the Pips. After attending different
church services, Jimmy and his wife decided to continue searching for
the true church. They prayed that God would lead them to a religion
where they would find true doctrine and where they could raise their
growing family in an increasingly wicked world. As the business manager
for his famous mother, Gladys Knight, Jimmy often spent weekends
traveling with his mother to concerts around the world. His sister,
Kenya Newman Jackson, also joined Gladys and Jimmy on these regular road
trips as a business assistant to their entertainer/singer mother.
One
day Jimmy and Michelene noticed a new family had moved into the vacant
home located across the street from where they lived in Las Vegas,
Nevada. The Newmans went over to welcome their new neighbors, David and
Maria Sigler, who were about their same age and had a 6 year old and 3
year old, similar to the Newmans two young children. They quickly
became close friends, and eventually the Siglers explained that they
belonged to the Mormon Church.
One
Friday morning, on the way to drop Jimmy off at the Las Vegas airport
for a weekend Gladys concert, David gave Jimmy a copy of the Book of
Mormon to read. Jimmy and Michelene shortly thereafter took the
missionary lessons and loved what they heard. They welcomed the concept
of family home evenings. Everything they heard about this new church
felt right and the spirit confirmed to their hearts that this restored
church was the answer to their many questions and prayers. Jimmy and
his wife Michelene were both baptized into the Mormon church on February
25, 1989.
Next,
Jimmy began to subtly share the new gospel message with his beloved
sister Kenya. Kenya is a vivacious and talented business woman in her
own right. On a business trip shortly after his baptism, Jimmy opened
his scriptures on the airplane as he sat next to Kenya. When he told her
he was reading his scriptures, she was puzzled because she could tell
that what he was reading from was not the Bible. The Bible is a part of
the Mormon religion, certainly, but on this particular day, Jimmy was
reading the Book of Mormon. He began to share his new faith with his
sister Kenya, who, with her husbandJim, joined the Church one year after Jimmy in March of 1990.
Lovingly
and patiently the two siblings started to share the gospel with their
famous mother, a devout Christian. Both of Gladys' parents were singers
in the Wings Over Jordan gospel choir. Raised in a family which valued
education and the sounds of gospel music, Gladys began singing gospel
music at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church and had her first recital there
in 1948 when she was four years old. Jimmy and Kenya soon began
inviting their mother to attend various LDS church meetings, and
sometimes Gladys was invited to speak to youth groups when attending
with her children and
grandchildren.
For
example, shortly after the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta,
Georgia, Gladys spoke to the youth in the Las Vegas Cimarron Ward
(Jimmy’s ward). She explained her feelings about her recent experience
of coming onto the Olympic stage during the Opening Ceremonies in
Atlanta to sing before a world-wide television audience of several
billion viewers.
During
this period of time, Jimmy was also looking for other new singers to
manage. On a business trip to Chicago he was impressed by a young
singer he watched perform in a trio. After the performance was over,
Jimmy explained to the lead singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, that he
would be better as a solo act, without the two dancers next to him. The
young singer agreed, and thus Jimmy became the manager for a new and
relatively unknown singer/songwriter, who later became known as R.
Kelly.
As
they worked together, it soon became apparent to Jimmy (one of the
rising stars in the music business) that his new LDS beliefs and
religion ran counter to the sexually charged lyrics that R. Kelly was
writing into his new songs. Jimmy tried repeatedly to persuade the
talented young singer/songwriter to change various words and suggestive
phrases and lyrics in his music, but to no avail. Every time Jimmy
tried to explain to Robert how inappropriate the lyrics were for young
music fans, R. Kelly would counter that it helped to sell his music. He
was right, it did sell well, but Jimmy would not back down.
Finally,
after repeated attempts to tone down the sexually drenched lyrics of
his talented new composer, Jimmy realized that he could not continue to
market music that was so diametrically opposed to what he believed and
contrary to what he tried to teach his children and the teenagers in his
church assignments. Their business relationship soon soured and Jimmy
eventually terminated his contractual relationship with R. Kelly,
regardless of his monetary losses (a typical manager’s percentage of
sales is 15% to 20%). Jimmy was more worried about his spiritual
damages. R. Kelly’s management responsibilities were then turned to
Jimmy’s father-in-law, Barry Hankerson (having divorced James Newman II
in 1973, Gladys married Barry Hankerson in 1974).
R.
Kelly’s music sales, due in part to their sexually graphic lyrics, soon
skyrocketed to incredible record-breading levels. The Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recognized R. Kelly as one of
the best-selling music artists in the United States with over 38.5
million albums now sold. R. Kelly is often referred to as the King of
R&B, and he is considered to be the most successful R&B artist
of the last 25 years.
Jimmy
was shortly thereafter called to be the priest advisor in his ward and
shared with the youth that in spite of the huge profits (tens of
millions) he walked away from as R. Kelly’s former business manager, he
still felt he had done the right thing for his testimony and his family,
not to mention his conscience. Jimmy had been voted Mr. Football at
Gorman High School in Las Vegas, and his music talents, athletic
abilities, and magnetic personality made him a popular leader of the
young men in his ward.
Jimmy’s
good example, and that of his sister Kenya, had a significant impact
on their talented and award-winning mother. Despite being inducted into
the Hall of Fame and enjoying many of the perks of success, Gladys
understood that something was missing in her life. She wanted to be a
better person than she was, and to be more spiritual than she was. She
had been raised in a religious home and she was searching on her own for
faith, exploring a variety of religions. She wanted to live forever
with God, but wondered what happened after death. No one could tell her,
and she was spiritually frustrated.
She
had no idea that the foundation for her future spiritual life was
quietly being laid for her by her own children. Jimmy and Kenya, and
their spouses, all set wonderful examples for Gladys, who was still deep
in her own personal search for religion. She eventually agreed to meet
with LDS member Ron Strobelt, who had the answers to the many questions
she asked.
Gladys
joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1997. Later,
she married William McDowell in 2001, and despite his initial
determination not to be converted, he joined the church as well. He kept
his studies of her faith a secret from her until the very day before
his baptism. However, it was a surprise only to her; everyone else was
aware of his quiet investigation and his decision to be baptized.
Just
two years later, Gladys was invited to sing at President Hinckley’s
90th birthday celebration in June 2000. She had occasionally teased
President Hinckley that his flock needed to inject some "pep" into their
music. At the conclusion of the birthday program, Sister Knight walked
with President Hinckley to the podium in the Conference Center (filled
to its 21,000 capacity), and said, "President Hinckley, if it is okay
with you, I would like to clarify something. I love the music of this
Church as I love this Church. It is just that I knew when I came I may
have a little withdrawal, because of the foot-stomping and hand clapping
that I am used to!"
Eager
to share the gospel message, and mindful of her mother’s admonition that
her music was a gift from God to be freely shared, Gladys watched for
opportunities to simultaneously share her music talents and her
testimony. She recalled that shortly after her baptism, her manager/son
Jimmy had given her some sage advice. He told his mother that “You’ve
been there and done that. You need to do the music you love. You need
to do what’s in your heart.” So it was that in 2002, she formed the Saints Unified Voices,
or, as she likes to call it, the SUV Choir in Las Vegas. This new LDS
choral group performs gospel music in free concerts held in Mormon
churches, and on television, and records music as well. Their first
album won a Grammy.
“Except for a few, these wonderful people had never sung gospel music before,” says Gladys of her new choir members.They were also not accustomed to singing without sheet music. Given
only the words to the hymns typed in paragraph form, the choir learned
to sing the songs by following Gladys. “All they get is the lyrics
because I don’t want anybody reading notes on paper.” Jimmy
Newman brought many of the songs to his mother’s attention, including
"Jesus' Love is Like a River," a song co-written by Utah Sen. Orrin
Hatch. The SUV
choir has grown in popularity and now attracts huge crowds around the
world wherever they perform. The Church also helps to manage the
choir’s travel schedule and calendar. It is one of the most powerful
and successful sources of missionary referrals in the missionary
departments vast arsenal of resources. During each performance, Gladys
and William share their testimonies of the restored gospel. The choir’s
100 culturally diverse voices are all are members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is not uncommon for the local mission
to where they perform to receive several hundred referrals after an
evening’s performance.
On February 8, 2006, it was announced that the album One Voice won the 2005 Grammy Award for Best Gospel Choir or Chorus Album
as part of the 48th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Shortly after learning that
her choir had been nominated for a Grammy Award, Gladys Knight said: "A
Grammy nomination is always an honor, but this means even more to me
because I share it with my choir. We worked hard making this album for
the Lord. It's wonderful that it also pleases the music industry." During each performance, Gladys and William share their testimonies of the restored gospel.
People have been noticing a change in Gladys Knight, known as the Empress of Soul,
since she became a member of the Church. “Since I joined the Church, I
desire to be more and more obedient to God. As I do so, many people say
to me, ‘I see a light in you more than ever before. What is it?’ …
During one performance at Disney World … [a member of the audience
asked,] ‘Could you please tell us … how you got that light?’The
question was direct. So I gave a direct answer: ‘I have become a member
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.’ To the surprise of
some of my friends watching the show, the audience suddenly burst into
applause” (Why I Believe, Bookcraft, 2002, quoted on LDS.org Newsroom).
Gladys
is currently ranked number eighteen in the 2005 Guinness Book of World
Records’ list of the most successful female musical artists of all time.
Sadly,
Jimmy Newman, the son who helped bring Gladys the restored gospel of
Jesus Christ, died in 1999, two years after her baptism. He was just 37
years old (1962–1999). Gladys told
the Ottawa Citizen, “He [Jimmy] brought me to my church and I just grew
immensely from his example. I am happy in my spirit for where I know for
sure he is. That (death) is something we all have to go through, it’s
not our time and place to dictate when, where or what, it’s not our
business. It belongs to the Lord and that’s how I’ve dealt with it. I
know I’ll see him again.” (Ottawa Citizen). Her testimony of the purpose
of life and the plan of salvation were spiritual gifts that helped
Gladys recover from the loss of her beloved son. General Relief Society
Presidency Member Sheri Dew attended Jimmy Newman’s funeral in the Las
Vegas Red Rock Stake to convey the condolences of the Brethren and their
love for Gladys and her family.
Michelene
later married James Barton, who had lost his wife Holly in a car
accident in Las Vegas while driving to a Sunday church meeting.
Together James and Michelene have been successfully raising their 8
children (Michelene’s 5 and Jim’s 3) in the same ward in the Green
Valley Henderson Stake as Gladys, where James Barton now serves in the
Bishopric. Three of Jimmy Newman’s children have or are serving
full-time missions for the church, and one of Kenya’s son’s is now
serving.
Editor’s
Note: Mark Albright served as both the bishop and as the stake
president for Jimmy and Michelene Newman, and is Jim Barton’s former
brother-in-law. He performed the marriage for Jim Barton and Michelene
Newman. Michelene Newman Barton contributed to this article.
The entire broadcast is amazing, but forward to minutes 49 to have a special treat and testimony given by Gladys Knight as she shares her amazing talent.
Page 1 of 3
For
several years people have wondered how Grammy Award winning solo
artist, Gladys Knight, came to join the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Her fame as lead singer of Gladys Knight and the Pips
has brought her millions of fans, many who are curious how the gospel
singing diva was introduced to the religion, and how she was converted.
The
story begins with Knight's oldest son- Jimmy Newman, and includes her
daughter, husband, and almost inexplicably, R&B sensation R. Kelly.
Jimmy
Newman was searching for the truth. Jimmy and his wife Michelene had
both been raised Catholic and had been married in a Catholic church. But
with 2 small children they searched for a new religion for their
growing family. Since graduating from the University of San Diego in
1984 with a degree in business at the age of 22, Jimmy had managed his
mother’s group - Gladys Knight and the Pips. After attending different
church services, Jimmy and his wife decided to continue searching for
the true church. They prayed that God would lead them to a religion
where they would find true doctrine and where they could raise their
growing family in an increasingly wicked world. As the business manager
for his famous mother, Gladys Knight, Jimmy often spent weekends
traveling with his mother to concerts around the world. His sister,
Kenya Newman Jackson, also joined Gladys and Jimmy on these regular road
trips as a business assistant to their entertainer/singer mother.
One
day Jimmy and Michelene noticed a new family had moved into the vacant
home located across the street from where they lived in Las Vegas,
Nevada. The Newmans went over to welcome their new neighbors, David and
Maria Sigler, who were about their same age and had a 6 year old and 3
year old, similar to the Newmans two young children. They quickly
became close friends, and eventually the Siglers explained that they
belonged to the Mormon Church.
One
Friday morning, on the way to drop Jimmy off at the Las Vegas airport
for a weekend Gladys concert, David gave Jimmy a copy of the Book of
Mormon to read. Jimmy and Michelene shortly thereafter took the
missionary lessons and loved what they heard. They welcomed the concept
of family home evenings. Everything they heard about this new church
felt right and the spirit confirmed to their hearts that this restored
church was the answer to their many questions and prayers. Jimmy and
his wife Michelene were both baptized into the Mormon church on February
25, 1989.
Next,
Jimmy began to subtly share the new gospel message with his beloved
sister Kenya. Kenya is a vivacious and talented business woman in her
own right. On a business trip shortly after his baptism, Jimmy opened
his scriptures on the airplane as he sat next to Kenya. When he told her
he was reading his scriptures, she was puzzled because she could tell
that what he was reading from was not the Bible. The Bible is a part of
the Mormon religion, certainly, but on this particular day, Jimmy was
reading the Book of Mormon. He began to share his new faith with his
sister Kenya, who, with her husbandJim, joined the Church one year after Jimmy in March of 1990.
Lovingly
and patiently the two siblings started to share the gospel with their
famous mother, a devout Christian. Both of Gladys' parents were singers
in the Wings Over Jordan gospel choir. Raised in a family which valued
education and the sounds of gospel music, Gladys began singing gospel
music at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church and had her first recital there
in 1948 when she was four years old. Jimmy and Kenya soon began
inviting their mother to attend various LDS church meetings, and
sometimes Gladys was invited to speak to youth groups when attending
with her children and grandchildren.
For
example, shortly after the 1996 Summer Olympics held in Atlanta,
Georgia, Gladys spoke to the youth in the Las Vegas Cimarron Ward
(Jimmy’s ward). She explained her feelings about her recent experience
of coming onto the Olympic stage during the Opening Ceremonies in
Atlanta to sing before a world-wide television audience of several
billion viewers.
During
this period of time, Jimmy was also looking for other new singers to
manage. On a business trip to Chicago he was impressed by a young
singer he watched perform in a trio. After the performance was over,
Jimmy explained to the lead singer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, that he
would be better as a solo act, without the two dancers next to him. The
young singer agreed, and thus Jimmy became the manager for a new and
relatively unknown singer/songwriter, who later became known as R.
Kelly.
As
they worked together, it soon became apparent to Jimmy (one of the
rising stars in the music business) that his new LDS beliefs and
religion ran counter to the sexually charged lyrics that R. Kelly was
writing into his new songs. Jimmy tried repeatedly to persuade the
talented young singer/songwriter to change various words and suggestive
phrases and lyrics in his music, but to no avail. Every time Jimmy
tried to explain to Robert how inappropriate the lyrics were for young
music fans, R. Kelly would counter that it helped to sell his music. He
was right, it did sell well, but Jimmy would not back down.
Finally,
after repeated attempts to tone down the sexually drenched lyrics of
his talented new composer, Jimmy realized that he could not continue to
market music that was so diametrically opposed to what he believed and
contrary to what he tried to teach his children and the teenagers in his
church assignments. Their business relationship soon soured and Jimmy
eventually terminated his contractual relationship with R. Kelly,
regardless of his monetary losses (a typical manager’s percentage of
sales is 15% to 20%). Jimmy was more worried about his spiritual
damages. R. Kelly’s management responsibilities were then turned to
Jimmy’s father-in-law, Barry Hankerson (having divorced James Newman II
in 1973, Gladys married Barry Hankerson in 1974).
R.
Kelly’s music sales, due in part to their sexually graphic lyrics, soon
skyrocketed to incredible record-breading levels. The Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) has recognized R. Kelly as one of
the best-selling music artists in the United States with over 38.5
million albums now sold. R. Kelly is often referred to as the King of
R&B, and he is considered to be the most successful R&B artist
of the last 25 years.
Jimmy
was shortly thereafter called to be the priest advisor in his ward and
shared with the youth that in spite of the huge profits (tens of
millions) he walked away from as R. Kelly’s former business manager, he
still felt he had done the right thing for his testimony and his family,
not to mention his conscience. Jimmy had been voted Mr. Football at
Gorman High School in Las Vegas, and his music talents, athletic
abilities, and magnetic personality made him a popular leader of the
young men in his ward.
Lovingly
and patiently the two siblings started to share the gospel with their
famous mother, a devout Christian. Both of Gladys' parents were singers
in the Wings Over Jordan gospel choir. Raised in a family which valued
education and the sounds of gospel music, Gladys began singing gospel
music at the Mount Moriah Baptist Church and had her first recital there
in 1948 when she was four years old. Jimmy and Kenya soon began
inviting their mother to attend various LDS church meetings, and
sometimes Gladys was invited to speak to youth groups when attending
with her children and 
Jimmy
was shortly thereafter called to be the priest advisor in his ward and
shared with the youth that in spite of the huge profits (tens of
millions) he walked away from as R. Kelly’s former business manager, he
still felt he had done the right thing for his testimony and his family,
not to mention his conscience. Jimmy had been voted Mr. Football at
Gorman High School in Las Vegas, and his music talents, athletic
abilities, and magnetic personality made him a popular leader of the
young men in his ward.
