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YES!  My wanderer (now 16) managed to open the screen door and take a trek down a Denver, Colorado neighborhood at the age of 24-ish months.  Safely.  We learned to LOCK both front doors to make sure she didn't escape (the back yard was fenced in).  When we moved to Indiana, I specifically wanted something off the road so she could wander somewhat more safely.  We have a 1/4 mile driveway and 26 acres, with lots of fences.  It helped my sanity for years!  When she got to bicycle age, though, I had to make a rule that she 1) couldn't leave the property on her bike without someone else along as a companion, and 2) couldn't go on her bike farther than the corner of our road (about 1/2 mile), EVER.  Losing her in department stores was a nightmare. 

These are the ones who you just "know" will bring the Child Protective Services knocking on your door.

Karen Morgan

New Castle, Indiana

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I, too, have felt the rigors of life inside the home with one exception.  I am a single mother of a young teenage boy (almost 14).  When my son was little, I worked full time, went to school two nights a week for five years without a break carrying a 3.84 GPA, took care of my calling in church and took a month to tile my downstairs floor. I still found time to spend quality time with him.  What about a social life, dating other wonderful men in the church?  What social life?  I had all I could do just to take care of everything I had to do with very little time left for myself. 

By the time the dishes were done, laundry washed, dried, folded and put up, toys back in the box, and books back on the shelf, my evenings were gone. Spending all my extra time with my son, I was lucky if I had any time left for myself to enjoy the so-called pleasures of life.  Dating was virtually non-existent. My son and his needs and accomplishments came first.   He has been taught how to do his laundry, how to cook and fix something for himself if he's hungry, wash the car, repair inside door handles, master the VCR and DVD players, take piano lessons, and learn to play clarinet and bassoon. He took eight years of karate (almost has his black belt), played soccer, took a trip to China, and learned how to be compassionate and very generous with his time, giving service to others who are less fortunate than he is.  He has had everything he needs and has learned how to save part of his allowance (after his tithing, mission, and savings have been taken out) for something he really wants.  He does his home teaching every month with his adult companion and has even come to the aid of a young lady being roughed up by a neighborhood bully. 

Yes, a child's growing up years are gone all too fast and then they leave the nest to begin the tradition all over again. I hope he will have it better than he had it growing up; but the lessons and traditions he has learned outweigh all the messy floors and artwork on the walls and lack of sleep on mom's part.  I wouldn't have traded a day that I had for anything else.  The only thing I would change would have been being able to be a stay-at-home mom to enjoy his growing up even more. 

My highest of respect for this mother of three boys.  You receive a royal crown for doing all of this with three boys under the age of four.

Mlee Clark

Tempe, Arizona

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Thank you! Thank you ! I read your article about this wonderful family and decided to attend the fireside held at the Washington DC Temple Visitors' Center (standing room only). I was truly touched and my testimony strengthened by their lives.

Pamela Harrison

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I really have enjoyed your coverage of Black History month. It has been insightful and, at times, touching. There is a place for all of us in this church!

Rodney Ross

Payson Arizona

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Lesson 10

I am so thankful for the articles published by Meridian Magazine to give greater insight into the cultural aspects of the Old Testament in particular.  In reading this lesson regarding the comment that Brother Halverson wrote about placing the servant's hand under the thigh of Abraham as quoted from the King James version of the bible, was confusing to me.  Brother Halverson seemed to put symbolic importance on that point.  However, as I am sure he is aware, the Joseph Smith Translation of the bible and the Church Education System Institute manual quotes that phrase as "putting his hand under Abraham's hand" meaning something like a handshake for an oath.  I know that we do not readily use the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible for all study, and I understand why; but we quote continually from it in all of our manuals as well as footnotes in our King James Bible. 

I also have read in the last few years that most in the church accept the fact that the Joseph Smith Translation is probably intact as Joseph translated.  If that is so, why would Brother Halverson not point that out in his article?  In the scope of things, it probably does not matter, except for the fact it is curious he mentioned the oath making with the term "thigh" himself and not as a misquote or interpretation of the scripture. It makes me want to stick with the CES course of study, and scriptures for clarification if there are continued discrepancies in modern day studies and interpretation by learned scholars.

I love Meridian Magazine. It has enriched my life greatly in many areas.

Karolyn Pieren

Brookings, Oregon

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Visual Aid

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Please print more of this type of information. I find it fascinating, to say the least. It helps me understand my faith better by understanding where we came from.

Matt Throckmorton

Springville, Utah

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Thank you for the very interesting article regarding Wilford Woodruff. You have stimulated interest in me to learn more about his life. Sometimes I am so busy keeping up with the present-day church leaders, I neglect those of the past. There is much to be grateful for in understanding the roll each prophet filled while leading the Church.

You are undoubtedly my cousin, if you come from the Joseph William Summerhays line.

Marian Vance, daughter of Emma Summerhays

Las Vegas, Nevada

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I enjoyed John A. Tvedtnes's article, but there are a few points I believe need clarifying.  In reference to the raiding that nomads conducted he mentions that "it was most often easier to steal what one needed from a neighboring camp rather than go off on a long trip to purchase it."  According to Rafael Patai in his book "The Arab Mind" raiding was the sport of the Bedouin youth as basketball and baseball are the sports of our youth and for many of the same reasons.  They raided regularly and rarely was it because of a great need.  If distance and need were the issues and they were willing to pay for it, they could either purchase it from a neighbor or a traveling salesman could make a killing.  It would also imply that camps closer to cities where goods could be obtained were less likely to be raided because they would only have a short distance to walk rather than take the risk of stealing it from a neighbor.  Because of this common sport of raiding the men always remained in camp to defend their possessions.

Under the subtitle "Collective Responsibility," John failed to mention how enmeshed this responsibility was especially, when it came to the chastity of their women.  If a female in the family became violated, willingly or unwillingly, all the men in the family felt the shame since they see themselves personally violated.  This explains why Simeon and Levi felt justified in killing the men of Shechem after one of the men of the city violated their sister Dinah.  It also explains why Jacob was not upset that his sons just killed more than a few men, but because other clans might see them as a threat or take revenge. 

This collective responsibility goes far in explaining why today's Arabs can not place the blame for offending cartoons on a single paper in Denmark, but on the entire country.  It also explains why Arab terrorists see no problem in killing innocent children and women, because they are part of the offending clan and any member will do.

August Lehman

Spanish Fork, UT

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I found this article so interesting because I've been watching families valiantly work at helping toddlers, babies and young children be reverent. I happen to be in a ward with two of my siblings and their families. We've discussed reverence several times and both families are working hard with very young children to improve their reverence. We sit on one long bench near the back of the chapel and one or two of the parents of these families make a trip out to the foyer every Sunday. It is hard on them and hard on everyone as they climb over numerous bodies to take out the young child.

So, it made this comment of another family member all the more interesting to me. She and her husband moved to Utah from Tempe, Arizona, a few years ago and she was talking about reverence in the chapel. She said that her Tempe ward reconfigured their chapel just slightly by taking out a bench or two and making enough room between every two benches for someone to sit and for someone to walk by them. She said when they made that change in the chapel that the reverence in sacrament meeting DRAMATICALLY improved. Parents could quickly and easily take out a crying child without any problem. She mentioned how hard it was for her to address issues with her own four children when she has to climb over them or someone else just to take a child out of the chapel.

Has anyone else had this experience? I thought it sounded like an excellent aid in improving reverence. I think everything that was discussed in this article is very important too and possibly just the addition of one small logistical change like this would aid parents in chapels all over the world who need to take a child out of the chapel quickly and painlessly. What do you think?

Eden Rasmussen

Orem, Utah

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Well, I've read all about the people who never had problems and all the ones who found solutions to train their children.  I'm glad they found success in training children for Sacrament meeting.  I read every article and book on the subject I could find, studied, prayed, tried quiet times at home, even offered a bribe or two. 

I tried to keep their feet off the floor and even carried them out to the car a time or two. But frankly, they were still little horrors much of the time. The best talk I ever heard was a loving sister speaking in a stake conference many years ago.  I was out in the hall with a very heavy, wiggly two-year old in my arms trying to catch a word or two and wondering why I was even there.  Then I heard it: "Some of you wonder why you even come as you haven't sat through any meetings in ages."  This is it, I thought. Finally she will have the answer.  Then she said she had wondered too and concluded that there was just a season for everything and this was your season to endure. 

And so I endured and tried. Eventually they grew up and now my husband and I sit alone and smile at the antics of other young ones in our ward.  Sometimes we reach out to help.  But usually I just tell the young mother that I haven't seen one as bad as ours were yet.  And mine: You wonder what happened to them.  Well they survived.  They grew up and graduated from seminary and Young Women and Scouts.  Three out of four served missions.  This summer we were blessed to sit in the temple as our last child was married to her sweetheart.  And the quiet, reverent feeling of peace that I felt there as I looked at all my children and their spouses told me that it had all been worth it.

Laura Irwin

British Columbia, Canada

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I enjoy reading your magazine everyday and find it uplifting.  Unfortunately I sometimes find some of the comments by other readers as very judgmental, not just in what they say but what they imply ("I don't have a problem with it so you shouldn't either").  Some of the comments about the topic of reverence and children did this to me.

Any parent will tell you that each child is different and reacts differently to different circumstances.  I read the ideas put forth in the article and follow-up letters about children and reverence and felt that some people had forgotten how each child is so different.  Just because something worked with your children doesn't mean it will work with all children.  Every week I put into practice most of the ideas that have been put forward. Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't.

Not all of the ideas can always be used, especially ones involving two parents.  Not every child is blessed to have two parents sitting with them, to help, especially when one child has to be taken out leaving several children sitting alone in Sacrament meeting.  This can come because of various reasons - one parent is a shift worker, part-member or part active family, widow or single parents, or parents in leadership positions.  These parents particularly struggle each week as they do it by themselves.  They are not lesser members because of this. 

I sit with three children under six and have sat by myself for over six years (minus a few months rest a few years ago).  My children find it hard; they can see their Daddy and want to go up to the stand and sit with him (which we do not allow). Daddy finds it hard watching me struggle every week, and I sometimes just sit there counting down the minutes till primary and Nursery begin and I can try to get something out of Sunday School and Relief Society.

I have threatened to join the stake choir so I can sit on the stand during stake conference and he has to struggle with the three children by himself (this is a joke as I am totally tone deaf). 

Despite trying many different forms of distraction and training, each week is a struggle.  But we keep it up, because that is the only way my children will learn this is where they need to be.  I wonder at times why I have been blessed with such children, but take courage as I can see the almost six year old now being very reverent after years of struggling.  I know, if I keep it up, I only have four years till they all might learn how to sit still (four very long years).  I also took comfort from something someone said a few months ago. We live in a ward that has had several young families either reactivated or baptized, and they also struggle with their children.  Someone commented that they (the new members) felt better about their struggles when they also saw the Bishop's wife struggling. They knew they weren't alone.

Just because someone's children aren't behaving the way you (and their parents) would want them to behave does not mean that that parent isn't trying.  They are probably also trying what you have suggested, but it may not be working that week.  Rather than criticize or judge, why not go up and help to sit with them?  For years in a previous ward I had an older couple sit with me as surrogate grandparents, and my children would behave so well when they were with us.  It also helped when one had to be removed from the chapel (never to the halls/corridors) and I didn't have to leave several little ones sitting by themselves.

Elissa East

Canberra, Australia

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Turning Old Clichés into New Maxims: Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid, by Richard Eyre

My mother, who was happily and lovingly married to my father for about 70 years, told me in my first marriage that she and Daddy did not always disagree but never argued. I never heard them even disagree. When I got married I thought that was the way it was supposed to be, so when I did not agree with my husband I said nothing. It took three marriages to figure this out. The last husband and I agreed that if we had a problem we would discuss it together.  

That worked.

Oris Morgan

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Clinging to the Real Treasures of Life, by Anne Perry

So very enjoyable and valuable. And thank you, Anne, for the "Gideon Principle". We look forward to your book. And thank you, Meridian Magazine, for keeping Anne on your list.

William Manning

St. George, Utah

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The Miracle of Recovery, by Patricia Potts

Edited by Colleen Harrison and Darla Isackson with Introduction by Darla Isackson

Thank you so much for sharing this kind of information.  I have attended these ARP classes for almost two years.  Before I was lost and could not find my way out of addiction.  I hope all who need this information can find it.

Dave C.

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I had an experience at the temple a few weeks ago. As I was starting a session I was face to face with a temple matron whose face was so wrinkled that I was taken aback for a moment. When I looked at her again I saw something that is still hard to describe. She wore no makeup or jewelry, a simple smile but for just a moment I saw into her soul and witnessed an incredible experience that this was amazing woman. I don't even remember this sister's name. I don't really need to know it. I know her life has been remarkable and she has proven herself.

Thank you for this article; it helped me understand that it wasn't just an accident. That for a moment I got to witness a special spirit in my presence!

Sid Cartwright

Caldwell, Idaho

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Spirited Bodies

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Dr Bridell's logical and rational & poetic and beautiful & completely guaranteed Diet

#3: What Your Body will Do for You, by the Mysterious Dr. Bridell

Since your body knows what your brain doesn't seem to, watch your body.  When your stomach is full, you will sigh.  If you can watch for the sigh and push the rest of the food away, you'll be closer to really listening to your body.

JoAnn Myers: Still not listening as well as I should!!

Thermopolis, Wyoming

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Great idea for a column.  Will we ever know who you are?

OK, count me in.  I anxiously await the opportunity to connect diet to soul.  I really have already lost 35lbs. (5-10 more to go) by doing just as you suggested - cutting proportions.  My personal motto, "I simple eat less more often," is what I tell people when they ask, "How did you do it?" expecting some fad diet as an explanation.

My palate awaits further knowledge of spiritual food.

Jan Hathaway

Orangevale, California

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It took me the full week to figure out just how to make that "half" deal work. I realized that fasting is no problem for me, so I wondered why halving was so much more difficult. Then I decided to think of it as a half-fast. For me, it has worked.

Then at lunch today, I discovered I felt full at half! Miracle # 1 for me with this.

I am really enjoying the challenge. I had been thinking for a few months about something somewhat akin (trying to develop more spiritually based eating habits). So the timing is great for me.

Marilyn Miller,

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Sam Warren:  A Drifter with Direction, by Brandon Solomon

Photography by David Oryang

Brandon Solomon:

Thanks for the article.  I grew up in New York and loved the Drifters' music in the late 50's and early 60's.  Just the name of the group brings back memories.   Better yet, we all joined the Church!

Robert P. Goss, JD PhD

Provo, Utah

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Thank you for sharing the article about Bro. Warren - it was very interesting to hear about his life and experiences.  In my younger days some friends and I went to see the Drifters perform in San Francisco, and it was great fun to see and hear them. 

It's wonderful to hear that he has become a member of the Church! 

The Thompson Family

Lodi, California

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Happy Birthday, Meridian Magazine, by Maurine and Scot Proctor

You're seven years old, and we are seven years lucky to have had the great news and views you have shared with us for the past seven years. Please keep it up for seven more! Thank you for the tremendous magazine you produce.

Cecily Markland

Gilbert, Arizona

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(Almost) Seven Tips for Completing What You Write

Many thanks to Meridian and to author Paul Bishop for his encouraging (7) tips for writers.  As a wannabe writer myself, I find that consistency of effort is my biggest downfall.  At a recent management training seminar (for my day job) the session leader asked if any of us had aspirations for an alternative career and I raised my hand.  He asked what other career path I wanted to follow and I answered that I wanted to be a writer.  He then asked, "How much did you write last night?"  My telling answer, "Nothing," helped me realize that I really wasn't a writer - at least not at that moment.  Paul Bishop's article has inspired me to trudge on, however.

Lamonte John

Burke, Virginia

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I really enjoy your website.  On a regular basis I find articles to enhance my scripture study and

that brighten my life. Especially appreciated are the great photo essays of events and places that I cannot attend. Just two hours before the satellite broadcast of the Commemoration of Joseph Smith's birth, I read your photo essay from Vermont.  I was just thrilled to see the Prophet had been able to make that trip with Elder Ballard.  I printed it and my husband and I read it 10 minutes before the broadcast began.  It added to an awesome event.

Gay M. Odom

Tyler, Texas

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Latter-day Laughs, Edited and Compiled by Trish Manwaring, Assistant Editor, Meridian Magazine

You bring a taste of the light into my daily life.  Thank you.  Especially for your links to national news items and my Monday morning laughs from the little ones (I am a nursery leader in my ward).

Bryan Elkins

Caliente, Nevada

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Shabbat Hamalka - The Sabbath Queen, by Janet Lisonbee

Outstanding article.  Sister Lisonbee is an exciting new member to Meridian's stable of authors and has certainly made a great contribution with this article.  Keep 'em coming.

Steve Orton