September 21-October 31, 2020 - Hikes, Sisters, Conference and Family
Mission Origami
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The office assistants, Sister Brimhall and Sister Tesoro, created an origami shirt for Elder and Sister Burkinshaw, complete with name tag (it says Elder/Sister Burkinshaw in very small letters) and a blueberry and a cherry muffin - yum!
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Millcreek Pipeline Trail, Saturday, Sept 26, 2020
When we started up Millcreek Canyon on Saturday, we had several hikes in mind but we discovered that all the hiking trails had been closed because of the fire danger since it has been so dry. The only trail that was open was called the Millcreek Pipeline trail which has a great view of the Salt Lake Valley at the very end. Here's a few pictures.
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| This is looking to the east going up Millcreek Canyon from the top of the trail. |
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Another eastern-facing shot showing the parking lot below where we started our hike.
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| The route of our hike began at the green key and went up (north) doubled back (south) then went east where there was a beautiful view of the valley. The small red dot is where Uncle Duane Bateman's home was located so we had a fun view of his yard. |
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The Millcreek Pipeline Trail looking towards Mount Olympus.
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| Mount Olympus with the Olympus Cove area below bordered by I-215 on the right (west). |
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Panoramic view of the Salt Lake Valley from the Millcreek Pipeline Trail end. Uncle Duane's home is below on the right. Note the air was still hazy from the California wild fires.
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District Group Study and Dinner, Tuesday, September 29, 2020
In preparation for General Conference, our district met in the Brigham Apartments social room for a discussion we entitled "Hear Him - Perspective and Revelation" and Domino's Pizza.
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| Our district from left to right: Sister Burkinshaw, Sister Noleigh Ann Benroth (Honolulu, HI), Sister Emma Kell McClellan (Allen, TX), Sister Arriana Camille Brimhall (Snowflake, AZ), Sister Jaelyn Raeanne Clint (Cambridge, New Zealand), Sister Rocio Nahir Pedernera (Córdoba, Argentina) and our District Leader Sister Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ). |
For those interested, here is a link to the PowerPoint presentation (a large file) which includes several video clips of the members of the First Presidency describing experiences with revelation. "Hear Him, Perspective and Revelations." We also gave the Sisters a handout about Succession in the Presidency.
Sister Hsu's Departure for Taiwan, Wednesday, September 30, 2020
Sister Ya Mei Hsu from Taichung City was originally scheduled to return home on August 5 but with limited flights to Taiwan, her flights were cancelled or she was bumped from the few flights that were going. Almost two months later, she finally had a flight and Elder and Sister Burkinshaw drove her to the Salt Lake Airport.
Mission Twins in the Office, Thursday, October 1, 2020
Last summer, Sister Burkinshaw picked up a couple of light summer dresses at the Zara store in London. Imagine her surprise when Sister Madeleine May Helvey (Lafayette, CA) showed up in the office in the same dress that she had bought at the Zara store in Bangkok, Thailand where she was originally assigned. So we had to get a picture.
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Sister Burkinshaw and Sister Helvey in their matching dresses from Zara, one from London and one from Bangkok.
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To even it out a little, Sister Helvey comes down to Sister Burkinshaw's height! ;-)
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Joseph Smith Memorial Building Chapel Pipe Organ, Friday, October 2, 2020
As we now have authorization to begin holding sacrament meeting in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building for the first time since we arrived in Salt Lake last March, Sister Burkinshaw was trained on the JSMB Chapel pipe organ by Brother W. Hebert Klopfer. Brother Klopfer has quite an interesting story as he grew up in communist East Germany and escaped in 1950 with his mother and brother and came to America. His story is recounted in an episode of the Mormon Channel's program Conversations. Brother Klopfer is an accomplished organist and has been a member of the Church's music committee since the early 1980's. He participated in preparing the new 1985 Hymn Book and is currently involved in screening more than 4,000 new submissions for the new language-correlated Hymn Book which was announced in 2018 (and is still a long ways from publication! ;-) Brother Klopfer is often the organist for the regional stake conference broadcasts that originate in Salt Lake City.
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Brother W Herbert Klopfer demonstrating the JSMB chapel pipe organ for Sister Burkinshaw so that she can train the Temple Square Mission Sister Missionaries.
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Brother W Herbert Klopfer at the JSMB chapel pipe organ as he instructed Sister Burkinshaw on it's use for our upcoming Sacrament Meetings.
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Sister Burkinshaw at the JSMB chapel pipe organ.
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Sister Burkinshaw at the JSMB chapel pipe organ with the pipes in the background. She especially appreciates the adjustable bench so she can easily reach the foot pedals! ;-)
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General Conference, Saturday and Sunday October 3-4, 2020 General Conference was held in the Conference Center Theater but only General Authorities and their families could attend there, appropriately socially distanced. We had planned for our Sisters to watch conference together in several of the North Visitor Center theaters but on Friday afternoon, the Presiding Bishopric determined it wouldn't be a good idea if people saw all the Sisters together. So 50-60 Sisters were able to watch from computers in the Teaching Center at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and the rest streamed General Conference on their phones in their apartments.
General Conference Saturday Meal for the Sister Missionaries
Temple Square was closed during General Conference both in October and last April. However, previously it had been open and there were so many visitors and tours for the Sister Missionaries that the Presidency always arranged for the Sisters to be fed in the JSMB on Saturday afternoon since they didn't even have time to go back to their apartments to have lunch. That tradition has continued and in April 2020, individual meals from the restaurant Michelangelos were delivered to the District Leaders and they took them to the members of their District. For this October's Conference, bulk food was delivered by Michelangelos to the JSMB and the senior missionaries served the Sisters.
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Elder Burkinshaw, masked and gloved in preparation to serve the Sister Missionaries their lunch between General Conference session on Saturday.
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Fettucine Alfredo.
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Spaghetti and Meatballs.
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Cut up bread pieces.
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Risotto with Chicken Alfredo for the Sisters with gluten allergies.
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Salad with parmesan cheese for the Sisters with gluten allergies.
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Desert plates with a brownie, eclair and cream puff.
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A gluten-free éclair for the Sisters with gluten allergies.
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Camila Fernanda Jimenez Guevara ( Nicaragua). |
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| Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Sister Ligia Valencia (Independence, MO) |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Melissa Briana Flores (West Covina, CA), Sister Valencia and Sister Jimenez following the Saturday lunch between Conference Sessions. |
Sunday General Conference at Our Apartment
For the Sunday Afternoon session of Conference, Aunt Roby and her good friend (who has also become our good friend) Sister Cheryl Martin came to watch the afternoon session and then have a delicious dinner of Sister Burkinshaw's meatloaf, backed potatoes, peas and carrot cake provided by Sister Martin.
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Elder Burkinshaw, Aunt Robyn and Sister Martin watching the Sunday afternoon Conference Conference session.
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Sister Burkinshaw watching the Sunday afternoon General Conference Session
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Some Oreo chocolates made for us by Sister Cummard and Sister McClellan.
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Some pigeons on our porch during the Sunday afternoon session of General Conference.
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John, Emily, Sam, Caleb, Micah, Levi and Claira Visit for Fall Break-October 10-15, 2020 For their Fall break, John and family flew out from Knoxville for a visit. They went to work and school on Friday, October 9th and then flew to Salt Lake and we picked them up about midnight. Early Saturday morning we were up and going, taking full advantage of the time they had.
Donut Falls, Saturday, October 10
Donut Falls which is up Big Cottonwood Canyon was the perfect start for some family time. It's about 3 miles round trip and has lots of fun things to see.
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The three girls, hand-in-hand, walking up the trail
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Water features prominently in this hike and the boys loved crossing the stream on the logs!
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Caleb had designs on a hike that was outside the recommended limits.
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Caleb with the "Donut Falls."
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John got a great selfie of our group with Donut Falls in the background.
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Any hike is no problem as long as you provide the appropriate motivation! ;-)
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Sam and Caleb on a log that they were using as a teeter totter.
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Ensign Peak, Saturday Afternoon, October 10, 2020
After some lunch and a little rest, we were off on our next adventure to climb Ensign Peak!
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| Levi preferred grandpa's shoulders to walking up to Ensign Peak. |
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John, Emily and family from Ensign Peak with the Salt Lake Valley below.
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The monument at Ensign Peak commemorating the arrival of the pioneers.
"And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far..." Isaiah 5:26 |
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Emily, John and Family at the Park near the base of Ensign Peak.
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Jordan River Temple, Sunday, October 11, 2020
Even though the temples have limited access during this season of COVID-19, we took the opportunity to visit their peaceful grounds.
Remembering our Ancestors, Sunday, October 11, 2020
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Sam in front of the grave of pioneer Samuel Bateman, his 4th great grandfather at the West Jordan Cemetery.
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Sam and Caleb at the wood grave marker of pioneer Daniel Rapyelle Allen, their 5th great grandfather and Samuel Bateman's father-in-law in the Wights Fort Pioneer Cemetery in South Jordan.
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Salt Lake Temple, Sunday, October 11, 2020
It has been nearly 16 years since John and Emily were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Here's a before and after comparison.
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John and Emily on their wedding day, Wednesday, December 22, 2004.
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John and Emily and the fruits of 16 years of their labors!
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Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon, Monday, October 12, 2020We took a walk through Memory Grove and City Creek Canyon on Monday evening after John and Emily and family spent the day in Provo.
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Sam and Caleb found a tree along City Creek.
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| John, Emily and Family along City Creek. |
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John, Emily and Family in front of the Marble Pagoda in Memory Grove which recognizes those who gave their last full measure of devotion during World War II.
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Idaho Falls Temple, Tuesday, October 13, 2020
On our drive to Yellowstone on Tuesday, we stopped at the Idaho Falls Temple.
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| John, Emily and Family in front of the Idaho Falls Temple where Emily's parents were sealed 40+ years ago. |
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Sister and Elder Burkinshaw at the Idaho Falls Temple where Sister Burkinshaw's parents were sealed 60+ years ago.
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Yellowstone National Park, Tuesday, October 13, 2020
The last time we had been to Yellowstone National Park with John, he was about the same age as Micah, so this trip was much awaited. We got to the park on Tuesday afternoon. Here's what we saw:
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| Claira, John, Sam, Levi, Emily Caleb and Micah at the Yellowstone sign at the West Entrance. |
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Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with the little sweeties at the West Entrance to Yellowstone Park.
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Of course our first stop was Old Faithful geyser. We arrived just as it was finishing it's eruption, so we had time to walk around the multiple features around Old Faithful.
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The whole crew (minus Sister Burkinshaw who took the picture) as we walked around all the smaller geysers and pools around Old Faithful.
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A candid moment for a girl (Claira) and her Dad (John).
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Eventually, Old Faithful lived up to its name about 95 minutes after the previous eruption. Although Sam did comments about 60 mins. into our wait that "Old Faithful may be old, but she isn't very faithful."
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After Old Faithful, our next stop was Grand Prismatic Spring which was about a 0.7 mile hike.
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Grand Prismatic Spring was quite impressive and definitely provided a rainbow of colors.
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The whole crew at Grand Prismatic Springs.
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| The perfect setting for a family picture on our hike back from Grand Prismatic Spring. |
Fountain Paint Pot and Geyser, Tuesday, October12, 2020
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The Fountain Paint Pot instructional sign.
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The Fountain Paint Pot had a very strong sulfur smell but was quite pretty.
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Sam, Levi and Micah with Elder Burkinshaw (aka grandpa)
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John, Emily and crew in front of the fountain geyser.
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Wildlife, Wednesday, October 13, 2020
Wednesday morning we went to the northeast side of Yellowstone park in search of some wildlife and here's what we found.
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| A majestic multi-point elk. |
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A distant herd of bison with the beautiful background of Yellowstone Park
A closer view of a bison herd. |
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A group of bison crossed the road right in front of us allowing almost too much of a close-up!
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Mammoth Hot Springs, Wednesday, October 13, 2020
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Caleb, Levi, Claira, Elder and Sister Burkinshaw (aka Grandma and Grandpa), Sam and Micah in front of one of the Mammoth Hot Springs terraces.
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Emily, Caleb, Claira, Sam, Micah, Levi and John in front of the travertine terraces of Mammoth Hot Springs.
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The Mound Terrace and walkway at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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Burkinshaw Family at the top of Mound Terrace at Mammoth Hot Springs.
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| Levi, Claira and John in front of the multiple lamina of Mammoth Hot Springs. |
Yellowstone Picnic, Wednesday, October 13, 2020
After a busy morning, we found a picnic table for lunch although the wind was blowing and it was fairly cold.
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The bed of Aunt Robyn's pick-up truck provided some shelter for the kids from the cold wind.
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Levi did not want a sandwich of peanut butter or Nutella or jam so Grandpa came up with a lunchtime innovation sure to please the pickiest eater.
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The "Cheeto" sandwich was a big hit with Levi and he devoured it in short order--and Grandpa made one for himself which was also devoured quickly!!!
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Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Wednesday, October 13, 2020
Artist Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River with its grand 308 foot lower waterfall was our final stop in the Park. Trappers named the river for the yellow stone canyon and the park was thus named Yellowstone National Park. It is a breathtaking view and as the signs there say, no one has ever captured it completely with a camera but here's a few pictures. It was a spiritual experience to be here.
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The majestic view looking east (upstream) in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River.
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Two of the great miracles of life - the Family and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River!
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Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone in the background.
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| Looking southwest (downstream) across the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. |
Antelope Island and the Great Salt Lake, Thursday, October 14
Fortunately Sarah, Zak, Rosie, Leo and Annie arrived in Salt Lake in time to go with us to Antelope Island in the Great Salt Lake before John and Emily and family had to leave.
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Claira, Rosie, Sam, Micah, Levi and Caleb at Antelope Island entrance with the blue buffalo.
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| Here are Sam, Rosie, Micah, Levi, Claira and Caleb on some of the rocks we had to climb to get to the water at Lady Finger at the north end of Antelope Island. |
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Rosie walked out to pose in the Great Salt Lake.
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Leo also thought it was great fun to stand on the little islands of salt in the Great Salt Lake!
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| Sam, Micah and Caleb pointing out the tiny brine shrimp that live in the Great Salt Lake. |
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Here's a close-up of the brine shrimp in the Great Salt Lake.
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Grandma and Grandpa (aka Elder and Sister Burkinshaw) with all the grandkids, Leo, Sam, Rosie, Micah, Annie, Levi, Claira and Caleb and the Great Salt Lake in the background.
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Annie loved running along the flat beach although it was quite abrasive and she had a little scratch on her forehead by the end of our walk.
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Zak and Leo on the big rocks with the Great Salt Lake in the background.
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| John and Emily and family with Sarah and Zak and family at Buffalo Point looking southwest with the Great Salt Lake in the background, |
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| Using his iPhone and binoculars, John was able to snap this picture of the Antelope just west of Buffalo Point. We also saw several herd of bison. |
We had a great week with John, Emily, Sam, Caleb, Micah, Levi and Claira! We were grateful they came to visit us during the Fall break! We hope they all took away some great memories because we sure did! ;-)
Donut Falls, Saturday, October 17, 2020
Sarah and Zak went to Provo on Friday while Elder and Sister Burkinshaw worked in the mission office, but on Saturday we were off to Big Cottonwood Canyon for a hike to our favorite Donut Falls!
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Sarah, Leo, Rosie, Zak and Annie with Elder Burkinshaw hiking toward Donut Falls.
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Sarah, Leo and Rosie playing on the log teeter totter on our hike to Donut Falls.
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Rosie at the base of Donut Falls having some yummy trail mix ;-)
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Zak, Annie, Rosie, Leo and Sarah with Donut Falls in the background
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Ensign Peak, Saturday, October 17, 2020
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Annie, Zak, Rosie, Sarah and Leo at Ensign Peak overlooking the Salt Lake Valley.
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| Rosie decided a little rest was in order as she descended from Ensign Peak. |
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| Sarah, Annie, Rosie, Zak and Leo at sunset on the Ensign Peak trail. |
Salt Lake Temple Square and Big Mountain, Sunday, October 18, 2020
The Salt Lake Temple holds great significance to the Thomas Family.
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Zak and Sarah on their wedding day, Friday, April 6, 2012.
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Eight years later, Sarah and Zak with the fruits of their eight years of marriage!
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Zak, Annie, Rosie, Leo and Sarah in front of the handcart statue on Temple Square.
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| The view of the Salt Lake Valley from Big Mountain Pass which was the route of the 1847 pioneer company coming into the Salt Lake Valley for the first time. |
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Annie, Zak, Rosie, Sarah and Leo at Big Mountain Pass with the Salt Lake Valley in the background.
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Here are a few pictures from the This is the Place Heritage Park.
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The Pioneer Children's Memorial is a relatively new part of the This is the Place Heritage Park.
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Rosie standing by the statue of Bodil Mortinsen.
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Speaking of the Willie Handcart Company who crossed the plains in 1856, President James E Faust said, "Two of those buried at Rock Creek Hollow were heroic children of tender years: Bodil Mortinsen, age nine, from Denmark, and James Kirkwood, age eleven, from Scotland.Bodil apparently was assigned to care for some small children as they crossed Rocky Ridge. When they arrived at camp, she must have been sent to gather firewood. She was found frozen to death leaning against the wheel of her handcart, clutching sagebrush." (James E. Faust, "A Priceless Heritage", General Conference, October 1992)
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Leo and Rosie at a memorial of the crossing of the Sweetwater River.
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President Faust also told the following story of the Martin Handcart company: "It was an emotional experience to see the Sweetwater River crossing where most of the five hundred members of the company were carried across the icy river by three brave young men. Later, all three of the boys died from the effects of the terrible strain and great exposure of that crossing. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child and later declared publicly: 'That act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.'" (James E. Faust, "A Priceless Heritage", General Conference, October 1992)
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While we are all familiar with the larger "This is the Place Monument" built in 1947, this smaller monument is the actual location where Brigham Young made the statement,
"This is the place. Drive on."
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BYU with Benson, Friday, October 23, 2020
Benson arrived to visit us on Thursday night and after sleeping in, he joined us for pizza at the COB (Church Office Building) cafeteria. We then went down to Provo to visit BYU.
Living Room Hike and Antelope Island, Saturday, October 24, 2020
Saturday morning, we hiked to the Living Room which overlooks the Salt Lake Valley. Here's some pictures.
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On our Living Room hike, we passed several trees like this and wondered which way the prevailing wind was blowing! ;-)
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Ever the overachiever, Benson climbed well above the Living Room.
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Benson sitting on the "furniture" in the Living Room.
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We had a beautiful view of the valley from the Living Room.
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| A panoramic shot of the valley from the Living Room. |
Our next stop was Antelope Island but we stopped at the Farmington Cemetery on the way.
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Benson next to the grave marker of his 5th great grandfather, Thomas Grover, who was part of the original 1847 pioneer company to come to the Salt Lake Valley.
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Temple Square and Big Mountain Pass, Sunday, October 25, 2020
Benson and Sister Burkinshaw watched the Temple Square Mission Sacrament Meeting on Zoom and then we walked around Temple Square. It snowed and was quite cold, but Benson took the cold in "Iowa" stride! ;-)
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| Benson with the Salt Lake Temple in the background. (BTW that's a mask and not a beard!;-) |
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| It was so cold that even the lions on the Joseph Smith Memorial Building had a runny nose! ;-) |
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Benson at Big Mountain Pass with the Salt Lake Valley in the distance. It was an icy drive and the temperature was in the teens and the wind was blowing hard.
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Benson next to the Big Mountain historical marker. It reads:
"On 19 July 1847, scouts Orson Pratt and John Brown climbed this mountain and became the first Latter-day Saints to see the Salt Lake Valley. Due to illness, the pioneer camp had divided into three small companies. On 23 July, the last party, led by Brigham Young, reached the Big Mountain. By this time, most of the first companies were already in the valley and planting crops. Mormons were not the first immigrant group to use this route into the Salt Lake Valley. The ill-fated Donner Party blazed the original trail one year earlier. They spent thirteen days cutting the trail from present-day Henefer into the valley. That delay proved disastrous later on when the party was caught in a severe winter storm in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The Mormons traveled the same distance in only six days. Until 1861, this trail was also the route of California gold seekers, Overland Stage, Pony Express, original telegraph line, and other Mormon immigrant companies, after which Parley’s Canyon was used." |
Utah Museum of Natural History, Monday, October 26, 2020
Benson and Grandpa (aka Elder Burkinshaw) visited the Utah Museum of Natural History before he had to catch his mid-day flight home to Iowa.
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Utah Museum of Natural History with the Fall colors.
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| The Antarctic dinosaur exhibit was one of the most interesting things we saw. We also saw native American exhibits, lots of dinosaur bones, dioramas of different wildlife and ecosystems of Utah and even a cool computer program which traced the evolution of life and showed the descent in the Linnaean classification system. |
Departing Sisters Dinner, Monday, October 26, 2020
After we took Benson to the Salt Lake Airport to fly back to Iowa, we went for the departing Sisters dinner in the Empire room of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building (the same room where we had John and Emily's Wedding Breakfast). This was the first dinner they had hosted in the JSMB since March.
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| Sister Alyssa Paige Wilcox (Bentonville, AR), Sister Jaylie Jackson (Pleasant Grove, UT), Sister Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ), Sister Ka'ena K Keawe (Waimanalo, HI) and Sister Ligia Valencia (Independence, MO) |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Andrea Mica Dumapias Cariaso (Bataan, Philippines) |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Vivian Kristina Tholen (Coral Springs, FL) |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Danielle Marie Nelson (Myerstown, PA) |
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All the departing Sisters with Sister and President Larsen.
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with Sister Yurou Li (Hong Kong) |
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| Sister and Elder Burkinshaw with one of our favorite missionaries, Sister Calee Cummard (Mesa, AZ). |
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| On Tuesday, October 27 we invited the following Sisters to lunch at the Blue Iguana: Sister Rose Marie Tracy (Griffin, GA), Sister Rachel Elaine Gallo (Clermont, FL), Sister Daniela Raymundo Ponce (Mesa, AZ) and Sister Brileigh Saige Allen (American Fork, UT). |
Transfer Days, 28-29 October 2020
For this transfer, we had 16 Sister departing, 43 Sisters arriving and we had 51 Sisters moving apartment buildings making 110 moves or more than half the mission to organize. Here's what Elder Burkinshaw's logistics charts looked like:
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| The new Sisters in the JSMB Empire Room, all socially distanced and masked, ready to hear President Larsen's announcement of their first companion in the mission. |
Silver Lake Hike in American Fork Canyon, Saturday, October 31, 2020At the end of a fun but very busy month, we decided to hike to Silver Lake in American Fork Canyon, just below the southeast side of Lone Peak.
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Driving along the Alpine Loop in American Fork Canyon towards the Silver Lake cutoff. The colors were quite stunning.
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Here's the trail map with the hike in orange showing a 2.3 mile, 1500 foot vertical climb from Silver Lake Flat Reservoir (which was nearly empty) to Silver Lake, just below Lone Peak.
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| Elder Burkinshaw at the beginning of the trail to Silver Lake. |
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| Looking back towards Silver Lake Flat Reservoir with the Wasatch Mountains |
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Elder and Sister Burkinshaw on the trail.
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A 180° panoramic view as we hiked up towards Lone Peak and Silver Lake.
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A selfie of Elder and Sister Burkinshaw with Lone Peak and Silver Lake in the background
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Sister Burkinshaw on the bank of Silver Lake with Lone Peak in the background.
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| A panoramic view of Silver Lake with it's exceptionally clear (and cold!) water. |
It was a beautiful hike and a great way to close out the month of October.
"My brothers and sisters of the rising generation of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, I love you. I want to help you. Since I cannot meet with you individually as I would love to do, I must try to help you through teaching correct principles and trying to help you follow them.
Love is fundamental. I remind you that the love of God for His children and the love of His Son—the Savior who atoned for our sins—are incomprehensible. Joseph Smith helped us understand and apply this love in our own lives. He taught:
While one portion of the human race [is] judging and condemning the other without mercy, the great parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and paternal regard; he views them as his offspring, and without any of those contracted feelings that influence the children of men.
That teaching, together with the Lord’s commandment to “love your enemies . . . and pray for them which despitefully use you,” has application in all political campaigns. I will say no more of elections, except to reaffirm the political neutrality described in our recent letter. I urge you to treat others with civility and respect—and to vote!
We can be grateful for our inspired constitutional government and the freedoms it affords us and the resultant prosperity that we enjoy. We, however, are responsible to follow the example of the Savior in loving and forgiving all of our brothers and sisters. Following His gospel is the only way we, or the rest of the world, will enjoy His peace.
Elder and Sister Burkinshaw
