 |
| The senior couples who served in the Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission gathered at the Morris Home for a farewell dinner: (Back) Elder Gary and Sister Sue Weitziel, Elder Daniel and Sister Michelle Hastings, Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, Elder Mark and Sister Julie Sheanshang, Elder David and Sister Kimberly Walker, Elder Leon and Sister Marilynn Holland, Elder John and Sister Carolyn Naegle, Elder Virgil and Sister Alice Steele. (Front) Sister Catherine Mace, President Steven and Sister Littlefield, President Craig and Sister Julia Fisher, President Blair and Sister Caroline Morris. |
 |
| President Craig and Sister Julia Fisher and Elder and Sister Burkinshaw. |
 |
| The beginning of our 4½ mile Mormon Trail hike from Big Mountain Pass to Mormon Flat. (l to r) Danny Haws, Noah, Owen, Will, Spencer and Isaac. |
 |
| The Wrights along with Grandma and Grandpa with the Salt Lake Valley in background. It was here that Brigham Young first saw the valley and said, "This is the right place. Drive on." |
 |
| Our hiking group including the Wright family with Aunt Robyn and her friend Alisa Haws and her son Danny. |
 |
| Noah with flowers he gathered along the way for his Mom! ;-) |
 |
| At the end of the trail of 41/2 miles, the boys enjoyed soaking their feet in a cool creek running near where our cars were parked. |
 |
| Grandpa opens his Father's Day gift from all the children and grandchildren. |
 |
| A closeup of Grandpa's Joke Book. Many of the jokes were new material for Grandpa! ;-) |
 |
| Grandpa reading to Spencer, Owen, Isaac, Will and Noah. They loved the joke book and were very well behaved. |
 |
| Bryce & Kathleen with William, Isaac, Spencer, Noah and Owen on Temple Square in front of the Handcart monument where the Sisters start tours under normal times. |
 |
| The whole Wright Family with Grandma and Grandpa just outside the mission office. |
 |
| Our new mission president, Russell M Larsen (St George) speaks to our Sister Missionaries about patriotism at the beginning of the 4th of July activity. |
 |
| President Russell M Larsen and his wife, Sister Kay Lynn Larsen speaking with Sister Rebecca Marie Davik (Stavanger Norway) and Zoey Anne Rayelle Clark (Calgary Canada). |
 |
| The J Dawg's truck with Sister Nancy Littlefield and Sister Burkinshaw serving potato salad and chips to our Sister Missionaries: Sister Bayli Renay Gale (Washougal, WA), Alice Lynn Smith (Tolleson, AZ), and Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua). |
 |
| Sister Giovanna Justiniano Brasil (Cotia, SP, Brazil), Sister Heimiti Elizabeth King (Waipahu, O'ahu, HI), Sister Aira Steinmetz Dos Santos (Canoas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil) and Sister Maile Michele Mayer (O'Fallon, MO). |
 |
| Sister Erica Sanders (Fisherville, VA and daughter of Grant Sanders), Sister Emma Kirstina Webb (Gilbert, AZ), Sister Andrea Mica Cariaso (Bataan, Philippines), Sister Tori Ellen Fisher (Ivins, UT), Sister Sarah Dizon Rosero (Puerto Princesa, Philippines) and Sister Halee Jordan Glenn (Molalla, OR). |
 |
| Victoria Paige Malmstrom (Des Moines, WA), Sister Ramira Serafim Lourenço (Minas Gerais, Brazil), Sister Ivonne Alejandra Solis (Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico), Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua) and Alice Lynn Smith (Tolleson, AZ). |
 |
| Sister Eden Chatelle Orr (Aberdeen, SD) and Sister Brianna Lynne Roberts (Ridgecrest, CA) |
 |
| Sister Denali Renee Gerber (Island Park ID) and Sister Heather Brenna Murray (Ontario, Canada) |
 |
| Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara (Carazo, Nicaragua) and Alice Lynn Smith (Tolleson, AZ) with Sister and Elder Burkinshaw. |
 |
| Sister Ramira Serafim Lourenço (Minas Gerais, Brazil). |
 |
| Sister Gabriella Vanessa Escobar (Ontario, Canada) and Sister KateLynn Paige Anderson (Grovetown, GA) |
 |
| A group photo of the four zones or 94 Sisters plus Mission Presidency and senior missionaries. |
 |
| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw and the Sisters that rode with us to Centerville. Sister Ligia Valencia (Independence, MO), Sister Gwen Taylor Johnson (Newbury Park, CA), Sister Chloe Lyman (Snowflake, AZ) and Sister Rocio Nahir Pedernera (Cordoba, Argentina) |
 |
| Sister Justine Hannah Abad Tesoro (Bakersfield, CA originally from Philippines) and Sister Angela Marie Anderson (Nampa, ID) |
 |
| Sister Arriana Camille Brimhall (Snowflake, AZ), Sister Julia Michelle Proudfit (Peoria, AZ), Sister Kourtney Annamaria Cox (Greeley, CO) and Sister Riley M Siebers (Canton, CT) |
 |
| Sister Kendall Audrey Mellow (Gilbert, AZ), Sister Sabrina Nicolle Astle (Laguna Hills, CA), Sister Naomi Ruth Kroeger (Kansas City, MO) and Sister Claire Elizabeth Bean (Austin, TX) |
 |
| Sister Addison Marie Donovan (Washington, MO) and Sister Kennedy Rae Summers (Denio, NV) |
 |
| Sister Katherine Julia Jordan (Bennett, CO), Sister Jennifer Naomi López Rios (Potrerellos, Honduras) and Sister Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ) |
 |
| Sister Onbee Kim (Calgary, Canada), Sister Paige Brooke Dolenar (Gilbert, AZ) |
 |
| Sister Daniela Raymundo Ponce (Mesa, AZ) and Sister Cassidy Rose Norton (Gig Harbor, WA) |
 |
| Sister Holly Marie Moncur (Mesa, AZ) and Sister Mariana Carolina Gonzalez (Riverside, CA) |
 |
| Sister Nina Janda (St Jean, Toulouse, France) |
 |
| Sister Daniela Arcangel Alvarez (Mesa, AZ) and Sister Agustina Anahi Persia Gomez (Mendoza, Argentina). |
 |
| (clockwise at 6:00) Sister Xin Jie Kou (Haerbin, China), Sister Hiu Tung Chan (Hong Kong, China), Sister Ya Mei Hsu (Taichung City, Taiwan), Sister Yurou Li (Hong Kong, China), Sister Courtney Jane Brown (Jacksonville, NC), Sister Madeleine May Helvey (Lafayette, CA), Sister Emmalee Bass (Goldsboro, NC), Sister Ting Yi Chan (Hong Kong, China). |
 |
| Sister Megan Alann Clower (Leesburg, VA) and Sister Lynese Chanell Claypool (San Tan Valley, AZ). |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw enjoying a J Dawgs hotdog at the 4th of July activity. ;-) |
 |
| A group photo of the other four zones or 94 Sisters plus Mission Presidency and senior missionaries. |
 |
| Aunt Robyn's friend Alisa Haws (who is the Stake Relief Society President who she serves with in the Grant Stake) organized a surprise birthday party for her at Este Pizza on 21st South and 9th East. Alisa called us on the phone and we found out at the party that she got our phone number from Elder and Sister Sheanshang's son who Alisa knows, the church is a very small place. |
 |
| Alisa made these yummy cupcakes for Aunt Robyn's birthday. |
 |
| On Sunday, July 5, we had Aunt Robyn over for her official birthday dinner of chicken Parmesan with spaghetti (one of her favorites), zucchini and garlic bread. |
 |
| And for the 5th anniversary of her 39th birthday, we had a nice carrot cake (which we confess came from Dick's Market in Centerville which has a fantastic bakery). |
 |
| Proving that she still has good lung capacity, Aunt Robyn was able to blow out all 44 candles! ;-) |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw's six generation fan chart with cemetery locations added. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw behind the grave marker of her 4th great grandfather, Gustavus Adolphus Perry of upstate New York who joined the Church with his family in 1832 due. |
 |
| The grave marker of Sister Burkinshaw's 4th great grandfather, Gustavus Adolphus Perry. Elder L Tom Perry is a 2nd great grandson of Gustavus Adophus Perry and gave an interesting history of him at a BYU Devotional entitled "The Value of a Good Name." Listening to this fireside would be a great family home evening lesson! Gustavus Adophus Perry is a direct descendant of the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock. |
 |
| Grave markers of Gustavus Adolphus Perry and his wife Eunice Wing Perry in the Brigham City Cemetery. |
 |
| Joseph Harrison Tippets was the son-in-law of Gustavus Adolphus Perry and Eunice Wing Perry, marrying their second daughter Amanda Melvina Perry 26 June 1842 in Nauvoo, IL. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw standing adjacent to the gravesite of Amanda Melvina Perry Tippets and behind the grave marker of her husband, Joseph Harrison Tippets. We don't know why there is no grave marker for her. Behind Sister Burkinshaw, you can see the grave markers of Amanda Melvina Perry Tippets' parents, Gustavus Adolphus Perry and Eunice Wing Perry. |
 |
| The grave marker for William Plummer Tippets in the Brigham City Cemetery. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw with the grave marker of her 3rd great grandfather, William Plummer Tippets. |
 |
| Grave marker of James Henry Brown who was renowned for his masonry work. He worked on the Crystal Palace at Hyde Park in London before emigrating to the United States. He began the Pioneer Monument Co. and most of the early headstones in Cache Valley cemeteries were his work. |
 |
| Grave marker for Mary Scott Low Brown, wife of James Henry Brown. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw at the grave marker of James Henry Brown. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw at the grave marker of Mary Scott Low Brown. |
 |
| The grave marker for Frances Saxton Brown and a memorial to her husband William Brown who died in England. During our London Temple Mission, we actually visited Bridgnorth in Shropshire following a visit to William Shakespeares home in Stratford on Avon. Despite our best efforts looking for the grave marker of William Brown, we were not able to find it. |
 |
| Here is Sister Burkinshaw with the grave marker of Frances Saxton Brown in front of her and the grave markers of James Henry Brown and Mary Scott Low Brown to either side of her. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw behind the grave marker of William Walker Low and Helen Budge Low. |
 |
| A close-up of the grave marker for William Walker Low and Helen Budge Low in the Providence cemetery. |
 |
| The Peoa Cemetery where some of Sister Burkinshaw's pioneer ancestors are buried. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw with the grave marker for Elizabeth Wright Marchant. Records show that her mother, Elizabeth Barrett Wright died in Peoa but there are no records showing her grave in the Peoa Cemetery. We learned that there were many pioneer graves without permanent markers. |
 |
| A close-up view of the grave marker for Elizabeth Wright Marchant who was sealed to Gilbert Johnson Marchant in the Salt Lake Endowment House which was used before completion of the Salt Lake Temple. Records show that Elizabeth Wright Marchant's mother, Elizabeth Barrett also died while living in Peoa but the cemetery has no records for her and we were unable to find any grave marker for Elizabeth Barrett there. |
 |
| The grave marker for Abraham Marchant and Lydia Johnson Marchant. Note that Abraham Marchant was one of the founders of and served as the first Bishop of Peoa, UT. He had previously served as the presiding elder in Bath, County Sommerset, England before he, his wife and 8 children emigrated to Utah in 1854. During our mission at the London Temple, we visited Bath and saw the area where the Marchant family lived. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw points to the street sign New Marchants Passage which was named for the father of Abraham Marchant (also named Abraham Marchant) who was a firefighter and died several months before his son was born in 1815 trying to save a woman from a fire. His heroism was recognized by the city by naming this road after him. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw at the New Marchants Passage. Originally this was a street but the area was developed into the SouthGate Bath Shopping Mall so it has become a walkway. |
 |
| While we were in Bath, we looked for the grave marker of Sister Burkinshaw's 4th great grandfather Abraham Marchant, the firefighter. There were some secondary records that showed he was buried in the Smallcombe Cemetery. |
 |
| We searched Smallcombe Cemetery for Abraham Marchant (Sr) unsuccessfully, but it was very interesting endeavor. We later learned that newly uncovered records showed he was buried in the St James Old burial ground which was heavily damaged in World War I so his grave no longer exists. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw standing on the spot where her third great grandfather, Thomas Henry Wright is buried in the Salt Lake City cemetery. We marked the GPS location on FindAGrave (see the link). This picture is looking southeast. |
 |
| Sister Burkinshaw at the grave of Thomas Henry Wright looking northeast. |
 |
| Thomas Henry Wright gravesite is shown with a red arrow since there is no marker. The grave location is 7 rows east of Central Avenue and is two rows south of the marker for Joseph C Platt (1871-1934) and seven rows north of the marker for Ida S Larsen (1878-1967). |
 |
| Just a block south from Thomas Henry Wright's grave, right along Central Avenue, we saw the grave of Elder James E. Talmage. |
Curiously enough, a large part of this widespread attack on the
Mormons did not appear to be an organized effort on the part of the enemies of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints - although the dedicated anti-Mormons were taking every advantage of it,
of course -but rather a device to promote the sale of newspapers. A certain
class of reader avidly devoured this type of sensationalism. Editors published
it to boost circulation, sometimes without thought or concern as to its truth
or falsity or the effect of their action on an innocent people. Indeed, Mission
authorities had encountered at least one sub-editor who freely admitted that
his own daughter had travelled in the United States, visited Utah and seen the
Latter-day Saints in their home environment, and knew how completely false were
the fabricated tales being published in Britain.
"But they aid us in selling an enormous number of
newspapers," the sub-editor said candidly.
The big difficulty in trying to combat this problem of the
press, President McKay explained to his successor, was that Mission authorities
had been unable to reach the men at the decision-making level of the offending
journals. When Latter-day Saints called at the various newspapers to protest,
they were invariably received by sub-editors or staff reporters who listened in
cold politeness, promised to "see if something could be done," but
pointedly emphasized that they themselves had no authority to order a change
and would have "to take the matter up" with someone higher in the
chain of command. Always the man at the top, the man who made policy, was
unavailable-for a variety of reasons or, rather, of conventional fictions.
One of the reasons for Dr. Talmage's call to preside over the
European Missions at this particular time was the wide experience he had
acquired, and the impressive record of success he had compiled, in dealing with
anti-Mormon attacks in the American press. It was hoped that he could be
correspondingly successful in Britain. Another factor which was undoubtedly
weighed in making the selection of a successor to President McKay as mission
president, was the prestige which Dr. Talmage carried in Britain as a member of
distinguished British scientific societies. President McKay had vivid
recollections of the famous lecture tour of 1898 when as a young missionary he
had staged Dr. Talmage's remarkably successful Glasgow appearance, and he knew
the special weight which Dr. Talmage's British honors carried in their homeland.
Events proved that both of these factors-experience in dealing with the press
and the special prestige of membership in distinguished British
institutions-were to play important roles in bringing about a spectacular
change in the attitude of the British press towards the Mormons, with great
benefit to the missionary effort.
James' first direct encounter with the hostile press confirmed
in every detail what he had been told. The Argus, a daily newspaper in the city
of Bradford, Yorkshire, was engaged in an all-out campaign against the Mormons.
This was not merely the publication of sensational anti-Mormon fiction as a
circulation-booster, but also a continuing editorial attack on The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an institution and particularly on the
Church's missionary labors in Bradford and vicinity.
In November, 1924, the situation in Bradford was approaching a
climax, centered on the issue of the Mormon missionaries' use of the public
baths of the city, on a rental basis, for performing baptisms. The Argus had
taken the lead in a campaign to deny the Mormons use of the municipal baths,
and other newspapers including the Yorkshire Observer, Bradford Daily
Telegraph, and Leeds Mercury participated in the anti-Mormon campaign.
City officials, however, had taken the stand that the Latter-day
Saints were breaking no laws, were abiding by the rules, were paying the
standard rental fee, and were entitled to use the public facilities. Because of
the newspaper agitation, the question was brought up for reconsideration, and a
public hearing scheduled for November 24.
The Argus, seething with anger, published a scathing editorial
on November 18. In it Mormonism was labelled "an abominable thing . . . an
insidious attempt to sow the seeds of license in the minds of immaturity . .
." that "should be stamped out ruthlessly."
The editorial criticized city officials for not being present or
represented at Mormon baptismal services for which they rented the public
baths, noting that the city was always officially represented at sanctioned
boxing matches. The diatribe concluded with the contrived suggestion that the
exercise of boxing "would come into effect with peculiar value when the
Mormon missionary is around."
The regular Latter-day Saint conference in this area of the
British Mission was scheduled for the weekend prior to the municipal baths
hearing, and Dr. Talmage went to Yorkshire a few days early in an effort to
talk to the editors of the hostile newspapers.
Accompanied by President John E. Wahlquist of the Leeds
Conference [District] and other missionaries laboring in the area, James
presented himself at the offices of the several newspapers and met precisely
the reception he had been warned to expect. When he offered his calling card,
it was taken to the editor (or a pretense was made of doing so) only to be
brought back with the professedly regretful announcement that the editor's
schedule was so filled that he could not possibly find time for an interview
with the visitor.
Dr. Talmage then resorted to a little stratagem which he had
been mulling over in his mind and which only he among the authorities of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints could have adopted.
James would ask the newspaper staffman if he might have his
calling card back for a moment to add a note which he had earlier
"forgotten" to append. Taking his pen he wrote after his name:
F.R.S.E., F.R.M.S., F.R.G.S.-signifying "Fellow of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh," "Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society,"
"Fellow of the Royal Geological Society."
The effect on the several British newspapermen was electric.
These were designations with which they were familiar and of which the
significance did not have to be explained. The cryptic notations carried a
potent message: the owner of these titles was no ordinary American, but a man
recognized and honored by prestigious British institutions. Fellowship in the
Royal Society of Edinburgh was especially impressive at this particular time,
for the Prince of Wales-an untarnished national idol in 1924-was to be given
honorary R.S.E. fellowship within a few weeks, and the institution was very
much in the news.
The newspapermen to whom the altered calling cards were returned
gave a startled glance at the inked initialings and hastily excused themselves
to return for a further discussion with their editors. Almost always they
returned with word that the editor had, after all, managed to squeeze a few
minutes from his crowded schedule, either immediately or at some specified time
in the near future.
Once through the previously impregnable door to the editor's
sanctum sanctorum, James had most of his battle won. Face to face with an
educated and generally reasonable man who had authority to act, it was a
relatively simple task to convince him of the unfairness and lack of
journalistic integrity in the unwarranted attacks on the Mormons-particularly
when the speaker possessed such impressive credentials in the way of British
scientific honors. Dr. Talmage's long experience in dealing with newspaper
editors on the other side of the Atlantic was also extremely helpful.
The immediate effect of the visits to editorial offices in the
Bradford-Leeds area was the appearance of generally fair and objective reports
of the LDS conference sessions in most of the area dailies, and the promise of
a complete reconsideration of policy toward the Mormons in the future. Dr.
Talmage was unable to see the editor of the Argus at this time, as he was
genuinely ill, but James wrote a substantial article replying to that
newspaper's charges, and extending an invitation to Bradford municipal
authorities and others, including the Argus' own representatives, to witness
the Mormon baptismal ceremonies. This he delivered to the second-in-command,
and in the issue of November 24 the communication appeared in full, some 24
column-inches of type under a two-column headline reading, "Letter from
Mormon Apostle-Categorical Denials of Leader of European Missions-Bradford
Baptisms-Witnesses Invited to Baths Ceremonies."
The conference meetings were unusually well attended, the
audience at the evening session being counted at 472. Dr. Talmage noted that
"but for the newspaper agitation we would have had no such numbers."
On the day following the conference meetings, the public hearing
on the Mormons' use of the municipal baths was held. City authorities treated
Dr. Talmage and the other Latter-day Saint missionaries courteously and gave
them full opportunity to state their case. When the vote was taken, it was nine
to two in favor of allowing the Latter-day Saints to continue using the
municipal baths. The following morning's Yorkshire Observer carried a headline
proclaiming "Victory for the Mormons."
Similar headlines appeared in other newspapers, including the
London dailies, for the Bradford Baths issue had become something of a cause
célèbre throughout the nation. Some of the press accounts carried the
implication that the "Mormon victory" was a defeat for British
morality, but a first crack had been made in the solid wall of newspaper
hostility toward the Latter-day Saints.
Over the next few months, Dr. Talmage made calls on other newspaper editors across Britain, giving first priority to those which had exhibited the strongest anti-Mormon bias, but making a point of calling on the press wherever he went on Mission business.
The campaign was astonishingly successful. Within a few months, anti-Mormon attacks in the British press - a real problem for Latter-day Saint missionaries laboring in Britain for many years - had become the exception rather than the rule.
Over the years since Dr. Talmage's term as European Missions
president, relations between the Church and the press in Britain and other
European countries have continued to improve. Many people have contributed to
the improvement, but the changes brought about in 1924-1927 under James E.
Talmage's direction remain a landmark in this area of endeavor. There have
since been, and perhaps always will be, periodic isolated anti-Mormon
outbursts, but in nearly half a century there has been nothing even approaching
the vitriolic attacks that characterized the nineteen-teens and early 1920's.
No comments:
Post a Comment