Hey Dad!
So to start off, there is a couple serving here in Portugal from Springville, Utah. Their names are Elder and Sister Dyal. Elder Dyal asked me about if I had a "Hyrum Valentine" in my ancestry and I didn't remember hearing the name, but he sent me a couple emails:
"I hope this is the email address for Elder Valentine; if not please let me know or forward this information to him. Thank you.
Elder Valentine, as I indicated I found the information on the man I have read about and here it is:
Hyrum W. Valentine, from Brigham City, Utah and his wife Rose Ellen (Ella) Bywater Valentine, presided over the Swiss-German Mission from 1912 until late 1916. World War I began in August 1914 and I believe all American missonaries were withdrawn at that time or maybe it was in 1916. The US entered the war in April, 1917. President Valentine was asked to speak in General Conference in April, 1917 (see CR, April 1917, 146-147)
It would be wonderful if you are related to this good, faithful man who did so much for the Church and its members before and during the first part of WW I as well as preside over missionaries in two nations with one of them at war from 1914.
Let me know if you find out if he is one of your ancestors or related to him."
and then this one:
"Elder Valentine, I picked up a few more items of information on President Valentine. He was a native of Brigham City, Utah, was called as the president of the Swiss-German Mission in 1912. He had served a mission in Germany starting in 1900. He was still President when WW I began in August, 1914 and had the urgent responsibility of getting all missionaries out of Germany as quickly as possible. When the war began, he was traveling in Germany with Apostle Hyrum M. Smith, son of President Joseph F. Smith and grandson of Hyrum Smith and grand nephew of his grand uncle Joseph Smith. Both he and Apostle Smith were arrested by German officials along with an elder traveling with them, and were charged with being British spies. They were held for seven days while the American consulate worked to have them freed. When they were finally released, they took passage on an overcrowded train and went straight back to Switzerland and Pres. Valentine went to work to get missionaries safely and quickly out of Germany.
you can find this information in a book written two years ago by Gerald N. Lund in a Volume One of a series of historically based novels on two families, one German the other American. Vol I is entitled Fire and Steel and has been followed by two other volumes.
When you go home you may want to read the first volume and see if it is as intriguing as I find it."
I looked up Hyrum Valentine and he isn't a direct ancestor, but he's the brother or nephew of one of our ancestors. I just don't remember which! But anyway it's just cool. And I was thinking - you know how there are Valentine's down in that area? Like Springville and the like? Is it because of August Valentine when he ran off with his young Swedish wife from the mission? Because Mary Huston stayed in Brigham City, so did August leave and now there are other Valentine's farther south? I was just wondering how we were related to them.
Yeah we had a big missionary broadcast where Elder Oaks, Elder Bednar, Elder Andersen, Sister Oscarson and a couple other Seventies talked about "preaching repentance and baptizing converts" and at the end they changed the missionary schedule as well as our key indicators. The schedule doesn't actually affect me a ton being in the office haha but the key indicators were a big change! Now we will only submit baptisms, investigators marked for baptism, investigators in church, and new investigators. I am excited because it will help missionaries focus a lot more on the most important part - actually getting an investigator to baptism! Because I feel like sometimes missionaries will try to boost their other numbers like lessons or referrals or whatever, and those are still important but they can distract us from helping investigators progress, so now it will be a bigger focus on the most important stuff. The results might not be immediate, but I am excited to see the change in how missionaries spend their time. It's cool! The schedule change was made for two reasons: 1. to allow missionaries to spend more time proselyting and 2. to give missionaries to have more flexibility in their schedule, to allow them to use their time with the greatest efficiency. Very inspired changes!
That temple experience is awesome; I love "tangible" experiences that portray gospel principles that you would otherwise not really think of! And You'll have to tell me how your missionary efforts go with the Young Men and Young Women. It sounds like a lot of fun! How is your book going to be? like, is it going to be kind of a doctrinal study like some church books? Or will it be different?
That quote is awesome! It's something that I have seen in the mission - your will starts to become more like God's will, and you desire what He desires for you!
It would be awesome if you sent those references from Elder Callister. I love learning! But I'll try to do as much as I can myself before using all of the references.
I'm glad that more cousins are serving missions. It's really awesome to see more family members doing so!
Well I gotta go write mom. Love you dad! Good luck this week with all of your crazy preparations for RootsTech!
Love, Elder Valentine
Dear Elder Valentine,
Hey, Spence! Feels like it’s been a while since I wrote you. It’s a crazy busy time for us right now, but what’s new?
Did you hear about the new missionary guidelines? Have you been trained on that? How does it effect your mission? I’m really interested to hear about it.
I had a really cool experience at the temple on Friday that I want to tell you about. It was our ward temple night. We had a semi-okay turnout: 8 couples from the ward. The session was really good, as always. When I was at the veil the person on the other side sounded really familiar to me. I kept wondering if it was this guy that’s a good friend of mine at work. But I figured it couldn’t possibly be him. But at the end he sort of gave my shoulder a squeeze, which I thought was odd for a temple worker who didn’t know me. So when I came through I found out that it WAS my friend! It was so cool. I grabbed him and gave him a big hug. I felt so happy to have someone I know on the OTHER SIDE helping me through. Isn’t that exactly how it is going to be when we die? We will have a huge family on the other side to help us. Imagine that family reunion! The Plan of Salvation is so awesome!!!
I’ve officially kicked off my new program to call all of the 14-15 year olds as Family History Consultants and all the 16-18 year olds as ward missionaries. We had a “zone conference” last week with the ward missionaries and a zone conference today with the consultants. By next week I’ll have the first companionships out teaching in the homes of my ward. The Teachers and Mia Maids are starting with an indexing competition. I’m really excited about this!
So I’m sort of writing a non fiction book right now. Well, I am not WRITING yet, but I am doing research. The book will be about how to stand as a witness of Christ, what that means, with examples from history, the scriptures, and modern day of people who stood as witnesses. I’m getting excited about it. I’m finding lots of great stories to go in the book. I also have been finding lots of wonderful quotes from the Brethren. Here is one from President Hunter that I wanted to share with you:
“Ultimately, what our Father in Heaven will require of us is more than a contribution; it is a total commitment, a complete devotion, all that we are and all that we can be. If we can pattern our life after the Master, and take his teachings and example as the supreme pattern for our own, we will not find it difficult to be consistent and loyal in every walk of life, for we will be committed to a single, sacred standard of conduct and belief. Whether at home or in the marketplace, whether at school or long after school is behind us, whether we are acting totally alone or in concert with a host of other people, our course will be clear and our standards will be obvious. We will have determined, as the prophet Alma said, “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death.” (Mosiah 18:9.) This loyalty obviously includes support of the institutional church, but one of the purposes of that church is to alter and improve the way we live every other aspect of our lives as well, wherever we are and in whatever circumstance we find ourselves, “even until death.” (Hunter, Standing as a Witness of God)
“The ability to stand by one’s principles, to live with integrity and faith according to one’s belief—that is what matters, that is the difference between a contribution and a commitment. That devotion to true principle—in our individual lives, in our homes and families, and in all places where we meet and influence other people—that devotion is what God is ultimately requesting of us.”
I really love that quote. I love the concept of the total commitment. I love that in the Church we get to the point where WE want to give a total commitment based on our growing love of the Savior. It is only because of our love of the Savior that we are motivated to do anything at all! I do love this principle of the Gospel.
On Monday we had Kimberly and Kevin over for FHE. I did a lesson about the Apostasy and the restoration. I used a book from Tad Callister that gave a list of doctrines that were in the original church that have since been lost or corrupted by the other Christian churches but which are now restored in ours. It was a fun exercise. I’ve attached to this email the document that I used for our FHE. Perhaps in your study time you can fill in the scripture references yourself. If you want me to send the references that Brother Callister used, I’d be happy to do so. I LOVE that our church is the only church that has all of the original teachings of Jesus Christ within our concept of the Gospel. Of course our Church is true!!
I’m gearing up for RootsTech right now. That will be my life the next two weeks. The conference is not this coming week, but the next. That week is going to be really intense. At the same time it should be fun and lots of new crazy experiences!
Well, it’s getting late and I have an early meeting tomorrow. By the way it was so cool to see Parker today in his sacrament meeting. I think he’ll make a great missionaries. He has really experienced a ‘mighty change of heart.’
Take care of yourself! Eager to hear from you tomorrow.
Love,
Dad
