Filled with A Marvelous Light—A Story from Yemen by Leroy Hannon (Click here to read the article.)

Disagree with Former Professor

I thoroughly enjoyed this article and I am going to have to disagree with his former professor as I thought it well written and well presented. If the author ever goes back to Yemen to accomplish his original dream of seeing the sites I would love to hear about that also. I very much enjoy your website. I make sure I check it every day.

Michael Edwards
Decatur, Georga

You Would Have Gotten an A

I wept tears, also, as I read of the marvelous experience you had with the handicapped children in Yemen . I don't know what bad experiences you have had in the past, but you are surely loved of the Lord for your insight into the needs of others. What a wonderful thing it must have been to be "healed" in such a personal fashion. By the way, your English professor must have forgotten that the first criteria of good writing is having something to say. You would have gotten an A in my class.

Judith LaMontagne

Wiped my Eyes

How excited I was to read this story – when I read the last words, I just paused and wiped my eyes.  It was beautifully written and I felt as if I knew the heart of the author.  Thank you for sharing this sweet story. 

Connie Solum
Murray, Utah

Proved the Teacher Wrong

How I loved and thoroughly enjoyed reading the truly marvelous experience the Lord blessed Leroy with. I cried with him as I read.

Surely he was able to have that wonderfully loving experience to share time with those special "little ones" for their happiness and his own rich enlightening of God's never faltering love.

What a great article! It shows the talent Leroy certainly has in writing. He has proved that teacher wrong!

Wilma J. Willis

Help

I love this story! I would like to know if there is anything our Branch can do to help that orphanage?  Can I have the address where we could send things that might be of benefit to the girls?

Patty Crawford
Naselle, WA

Editor: We have sent your letter on to Leroy Hannon. Perhaps he can answer that question.

Tender Mercies

I was very touched by this story and the message that has been given. I am so grateful for the tender mercies that the Lord has shown me in my life and this article is a perfect example of how the Lord can bless us when we are open to the unexpected. I pray that the Lord will bless the sisters that run this orphanage and the children that they care for. I hope more people are able to read this article and have an experience like mine.

Russ Haney
Bountiful, Utah

Touched Deeply

Thank you.  This story touched me deeply, more deeply than any other for a long time,  with concern for the girls and with gratitude for the sharing of this wonderful testimony of the Father's love and plan for all.

Vicki Blackburn

Tears Make It Difficult to Read

I just finished reading Leroy Hannon's story on line. It took a while because of the tears that filled my eyes as I read. Thank you for this wonderful, encouraging article.

I have been facing what I thought were great personal and professional trials. Brother Hannon's story  certainly brings a perspective and assurance to my situation.

Raymond Hurst

College Professor Flunks

Please let Bro. Hannon know how MUCH we loved his sweet story of redemption. I started out reading and thought I knew where it was going, and I was so surprised. It was truly inspiring and uplifting. We wish him all the best and applaud his bishop/ward for not just hearing a story and letting it go, but spreading their good will clear to Yemen . As for Bro. Hannon's supposed inability to write for his fellow humans, his college professor couldn't have been more wrong!

Nancy Gardner

Why the Suffering?

I appreciate the story. I have felt the healing of the Lord since I moved to Branson, but didn't know of the scripture in Hebrews about suffering helping to bring perfection. My life has had much suffering and I wondered why. I felt I received an answer when I read this article. Thank you

How Americans View Mormonism-Seven Steps to Improving Our Image by Gary Lawrence, reviewed by Maurine Proctor

While there is probably much good information within the book, it also produces a little worm of discomfort about the direction we may be moving if we take this book too seriously.  "Image" is mentioned frequently, a word with connotations that aren't entirely positive, and often suggest an artificial and unhealthy concern more with how others view us than with reality.  It is a good idea to be aware of behavior that is objectional or hurtful, but we aren't here for a popularity contest, rather as a light that shines toward a higher ground.  We have ample teachings already from our leaders and the scriptures about our behavior, attitudes and ultimate goals. If we invest the time, prayer and effort into study of what is given us by the prophets, seers and revelators who receive inspiration for us we will get much further than worrying about our image in what is a world less and less in tune with spiritual things.  If one is truly interested in learning how to help others there is a wonderful body of work available from the Arbinger Insitute that deals with real behavior and change rather than superficial image making. 

We will never be popular with the world, and shouldn't be.  Hopefully, we are striving to become more Christ like, loving and selfless, turning away from the world and worldly things.  In that way we can become an example and a light for those seeking the truth.  It is the spirit that teaches the truths of the Gospel, and if we live to have the influence of the spirit those individuals who are seeking the truth will recognize that spirit and that is all that is necessary.

Betty in AZ   

Editor's Note from Maurine Proctor: As one who thoroughly read the book and found its message invaluable, I find here no unhealthy concentration on image, but an important discussion of what we might do to correct misperceptions and reach out more effectively.

Refreshing

Thanks for this very insightful article and the one yesterday on this topic.  As another member who values my membership in the church, but sometimes feel fearful sharing it, I found these ideas very refreshing.  I'm going to strive to be more diligent in sharing basic truths in ways that are natural and not pushy.

Sterling Hill
San Jose, California

P.S.  I love your magazine!  It is wonderful to get an LDS perspective on not only LDS news, but national news as well every day.

Not at Fault

So, put simply, if the Church is misunderstood, then it is my fault, and the fault of every other Church member. No non-member, especially a member of an evangelical Christian church, would ever dream of distorting or misrepresenting Mormonism, would he? And no journalist would dare write and publish an article about the Church until he has thoroughly done his homework and found out all the facts, now would he? The idea of an agenda is inconceivable, isn't it?

I'm really sick and tired of being told I'm to blame. I spent two years as a missionary doing my very best to explain the Church in as loving and Christlike way as I could. If I speak to a nonmember about the Church, I use simple straightforward language so they will understand. I am not at fault.

Editor's Note: Certainly we have all seen purposeful and even mean-spirited distortions of our Church, its people and its teachings. Giving these suggestions, based on scientific polling, is only meant to be helpful, not blaming.

Interesting and Troubling

I found your article on How Americans View Mormonism interesting and troubling both. It raised a question, though, that made me wonder if the negatives in the survey were applicable specifically and solely to Mormons or if they might reflect an attitude toward religion in general. With declining interest in and increasing antagonism toward religion generally in the U.S. , is it possible that Mormons and the LDS Church are being seen in a negative light in part because all religions are being seen similarly? This survey might be more instructive if the same survey were conducted substituting the words Catholic or Baptist or Presbyterian or Jew for the word Mormon in the survey questions. While it is possible that the LDS Church would fare poorly compared to other religions, suggesting that we truly do have an image problem, perhaps we might not be faring as badly as we think if we were to discover that other organized religions were also being seen as restrictive, judgmental, unfair to women, self-righteous, weird, power hungry, fanatical, etc. by American society in general.   

Greg Dalton
Salt Lake City, UT

The Little Emperors of China — China 's One Child Policy by Steve Orton (Click here to read the article)

Additional Insights on Policy

My wife and I found your article on China 's one-child policy to generally be right on target. It is a bit more positive than what we experienced during the two years we spent teaching in Jinan , China under BYU's China teachers program. We came to the conclusion that the one-child policy was having a very negative impact on China 's families leading to divorce and otherwise break-up of the traditional family. I don't think that you touched on this in your article. Let me explain.

During our stay we mixed with a dozen or so faculty members, staff, students and other acquaintances because I spoke putonghua. They often came to our apartment or we were invited to their homes where we met their one child. In their homes rarely did we meet the spouse. He (or she) was never home often too wrapped up in a profession working late, traveling or attending banquets. In most nearly all cases the one-child was being raised by grandparents. Because the one child required so little attention or concern on the part of either parent, there was little family togetherness. Both parents were left to pursue their own interests often involving other people of the opposite sex leading to infidelity, unfaithfulness and divorce if deemed necessary.

In discussions among adult students in my evening or other classes I was very positive in my approach to family life drawing upon my experiences of raising six children with a loving and dedicated wife. While I found wives speaking highly of their one child, rarely did I hear anyone say anything positive about their spouse. I discerned that faithfulness in marriage didn't really matter. (Maybe they were all matched marriages). I attributed this laxness to the fact that parents today in China have little that requires them to work together for the sake of a child or the family.

I offer the following. One evening a faculty member took us out to dinner. Her daughter and a friend accompanied us. We went to a rather exquisite restaurant. Upon arrival however, and even before we ordered our food she discovered a male friend that she wanted to spend some time with. She immediately called her nanny to come and get the child, sort of excused herself from us asking the accompanying friend to take care of us and then spent the rest of the evening being wined and dined by this male friend at a corner table of the restaurant. When she noticed that we were through eating she called for a cab to take us home. She made no excuses for her actions. We sensed this type of activity to be very common.

At the end of our first year we came to the conclusion that maybe 20 percent of the married people that we knew really loved each other, spent quality time with spouse or in some cases quality time with their one child. Most were living a life independent of spouse and child. I would like to see some statistics on this.

Our second year was somewhat different maybe more in line with your observations. More of the couples that we got to know were very close and loved their one child. We discovered that the reason that they were attending my English classes however was so they could qualify to emigrate. And the prime reason for emigrating they told us was so they could have another child and raise a real family.

My wife's sophomores while visiting our apartment from across Shandong province often spoke of the sacrifice that their parents had made so that they could have a brother or sister. They were so happy that they had a sibling. They spoke of their parents having never regretted their decision even following stiff fines or loss of job. These students hoped that when they married in a few years that China 's one-child policy would ease.

Again thanks for your observations and analysis.

Karl Wheatley
China Grove, NC

Mei you ren he cheng gong ke yi mi bu jia ting de shi bai
    ( No success can compensate for failure in the home)

Shrieking and Slapping

When our daughter, Elizabeth, moved to China three years ago, she was assigned to teach in a private middle school as well as a public primary school.  She was horrified to see exasperated and shrieking teachers chasing shrieking children around the classrooms, slapping and hitting them with books, it seemed the bigger the book the better.

Today,  Elizabeth teaches technical and written English in a Cambridge Center about 80 miles inland from Shanghai .  Her students tested into the center and many are the children of the very wealthy Chinese.  In the last couple of years, Elizabeth has learned, first hand, a few things about Chinese students.

Tonight, she and I were discussing Brother Orton's article.  I thought I'd pass on one of the consequences of raising "little emporers".

This is what she said,  

"You can always tell which kids live with another child, they're more tolerant and they share.  The rest scream and stomp, won't stand in line, and even steal things they want! 

There's a very good reason Chinese teachers are encouraged to smack those kids if they get out of hand."

Terry Montague
Rupert, Idaho

Implicit Approval

I just read the article by Steve Orton on China 's on child policy.  The photos were interesting but implicit approval of China 's tyrannical treatment of its own people is hard for me to take.   Approval of social engineering is even more worrisome.  The phrase, "something had to be done" simply makes me cringe, particularly when I see Captain Moroni's flag on your front page.

I am not entirely ignorant on the topic.  I too taught university in Asia ( South Korea ) for nearly 9 years and had friends teach in China .  Their comments on millions of unmarried men, with no chance of ever getting married because of the shortage of women.  This alone has made sexual crime rampant.

Robert G. Powelson
Port Alice, BC, Canada

Editor's Note: As Steve Orton is currently a guest in China , he only described the situation rather than passed judgment on it. A one-child policy is not only oppressive and crushing to conscience and liberty, it has vast social ills as well.

Aborting the Girls

Several years ago, one of our home teaching families went on a tour to China and was able to speak to their Chinese guide about the one child policy. He said basically what the article says about how this policy

was necessary and they weren't concerned about limiting their family.

But in years past, the desirability of having a boy meant that girls were aborted or were actually disposed of at birth. This created an imbalance of boys and the realization that as they grew and wanted to marry, there would be a serious shortage of potential wives, which has been a problem. It is good to see that girls seem to now be as valued as boys.

Gail Wasden
Petaluma California

Orphanages

This article was good and well thought out, however, it failed to touch on one of the most glaring problems this policy causes! Chinese orphanages are filled with little girls who have been abandoned, or with children who have been deemed less than perfect. My sister and brother-in-law have adopted a little girl from China and have shared stories that would break your heart regarding this problem. I hope you will look into this and comment.

Thank you.

Julie K. Atkinson
Midland, Michigan

Only Child

Actually I have to say that article made me a little nervous! I'm an only child who had an only child myself.  I wanted a brother or sister more than anything as did our own daughter.  What China did may be something we have to do...and I am the first person to agree that having one child makes that child very precious...although probably not any more precious than the other children they could have had. For example, my only child has two children...and I honestly had no idea if I could love one as much as the other, but of course I do.

It will be very interesting to see how china's role plays out.

Pam Emick