Contributed by: Ann Scriptures
D&C
59:16-20
16 Verily I say, that
inasmuch as ye do this, the fulness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the
fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;
17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the
earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or
for gardens, or for vineyards;
18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season
thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to
gladden the heart;
19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell,
to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.
20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things
unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess,
neither by extortion.
Moses 2:28-31
28 And I, God,
blessed them, and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And I, God, said unto man: Behold, I have given you every
herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which
shall be the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the
air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be
given every clean herb for meat; and it was so, even as I spake.
31 And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and, behold,
all things which I had made were very good; and the evening and the morning were the sixth
day.
Quotations
Quote 1
A prophet of God has
said, "Man, I say, as the offspring of God, is the greatest of all his creations. He
is greater than the moon, the sun, and the stars, which are the work of the fingers of
God" (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols.
[Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56], 1:63).
Quote 2
"Providing
opportunity for the spirit children of our Father in heaven to come to earth and work out
their own salvation is one of our sacred privileges and obligations" (Heber J. Grant,
"A Promise of Possibilities," Improvement Era, June 1941, p. 329).
Quote 3
"The greatest
mission of woman is to give life, earth-life, through honorable marriage, to the waiting
spirits, our Father’s spirit children who anxiously desire to come to dwell here in
this mortal state. All the honor and glory that can come to men and women … is but a
dim thing whose luster shall fade in comparison to the high honor, the eternal glory, the
ever-enduring happiness that shall come to the woman who fulfils the first great duty and
mission that devolves upon her to become the mother of the sons and daughters of God"
(Melvin J. Ballard, Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard, comp. Bryant S.
Hinckley [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1949], pp. 203-4).
Quote 4
"Abortion must
be considered one of the most revolting and sinful practices in this day. … To
interfere with any of the processes in the procreation of offspring is to violate one of
the most sacred of God’s commandments—to ‘multiply, and replenish the
earth.’ (Gen. 1:28)" (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1975, p. 8;
or Ensign, May 1975, p. 7).
Quote 5
"Again, abortion
is a growing evil that we speak against. Certainly the terrible sin of premeditated
abortion would be hard to justify. It is almost inconceivable that an abortion would ever
be committed to save face or embarrassment, to save trouble or inconvenience, or to escape
responsibility" (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1974, p. 8; or
Ensign, May 1974, p. 7).
Stories
Story 1
Many years ago a
strong, healthy baby girl was born to Arthur and Kate Keller, who lived in the southern
part of the United States. The parents, who named the little girl Helen, were delighted
with their beautiful daughter. At the age of eighteen months, Helen suffered a serious
illness that left her deaf and blind. However, through the love and patience of her
parents and a teacher named Anne Sullivan, Helen learned to read and speak. She graduated
from college with honors and spent her life serving other people.
President David O. McKay once told an experience of Helen
Keller’s. He said:
"Have you ever read Helen Keller’s comment on a
girl who had just taken a walk in the woods, who in answer to Helen’s question,
‘What did you observe?’ replied, ‘Nothing in particular.’
" ‘How is it possible,’ Helen asked herself,
‘to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I, who cannot
see, find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate
symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or
the rough shaggy bark of a pine. In the spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in
search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter’s sleep.
Occasionally, if I am very fortunate, I place my hand gently on a small tree and feel the
happy quiver of a bird in full song.
" ‘At times my heart cries out with longing to see
all these things with physical eyes, but if I can get so much pleasure from mere touch,
how much more beauty must be revealed by sight. And I have imagined what I should most
like to see if I were granted the use of my eyes—even for just three days!’
" (Treasures of Life [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1962], pp. 394-95).
Story 2
"My name’s
Cindy. I laugh a lot. I like flowers and dogs and cats, even though Daddy says I love them
too hard. And I like to blow out candles on birthday cakes. I’m twenty years old now.
I watch Mickey Mouse on TV and other cartoons too. I can tie my shoelaces all by myself.
It makes me happy when I hear other people laugh. Then I laugh.
"You know what makes me smile most? When Mama says she
called me her little china doll—I was a baby then. I don’t remember much about
that but I remember some kids saying, ‘Cindy, Cindy, Cindy, yeah, yeah, yeah,’
and making funny faces, and Mama shooing them away and then holding me against her and
crying. I don’t understand it yet.
"I can go real high in the swing, and I like to have a
shower bath and let the water run over my head.
"I remember when Daddy worked on the new chapel in the
evenings and he took me with him. He was a bishop then. He gave me a little bucket and
I’d pick up things. Daddy would put me on his shoulders when we’d go home. That
would make me laugh too.
" ‘Cindy’s helping build the chapel,’
he’d tell Mama and swing me down. ‘It’s Cindy’s chapel too.’
"That made me feel funny inside, and sometimes I’d
feel like I was bursting; but try as hard as I could, my words wouldn’t come out
right, and Mama would look sad and turn away. I would be sad too because they
couldn’t understand what I was saying.
"I’ve been riding on a horse, and I’ve seen a
circus. I was afraid of the big elephant. But I wasn’t afraid of the clowns. They
fell down and I laughed.
"I remember when a strange man came to our house when
the chapel was finished. He was from Salt Lake.
" ‘He’s an apostle of God,’ Daddy told
me. I stood and stared at him and pinched his arm until Mama pulled me away.
" ‘Don’t bother Brother Kirkham, Cindy,’
she said.
" ‘It’s all right, Sister Abbott,’ he
said. His eyes twinkled and he lifted me onto his lap. He put one hand on my hand.
" ‘Cindy’s no bother.’ He smiled, and I
felt something warm inside of me. ‘Brother and Sister Abbott, this spirit is so
special in God’s eyes,’ he went on, ‘that she was sent to earth for her
mortal body in such a way that she cannot be tempted by this world. She will return to God
as pure as she came. You have been chosen to take care of this special spirit. Try to
understand her for she certainly holds hands with God.’
"Mama didn’t cry as much after the apostle went
away, and Daddy began to whistle. The children didn’t say, ‘Cindy, Cindy, Cindy,
yeah, yeah, yeah’ anymore. They took my hand and said, ‘Come and play with us,
Cindy.’
"Once I followed the children to school, but they
wouldn’t let me stay in school, so Mama bought me a book with pictures in it. There
were pictures of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and Brigham Young, and I looked and
looked at them while Mama told me stories, and sometimes at night I’d think about the
book and try to remember what Mama said.
"In church I’d hear a name and I’d find the
picture in my book and pull on Mama’s sleeve.
" ‘That’s very good, Cindy.’ She would
smile.
"I wanted to stand up in testimony meeting and tell
everyone I knew the Church was true too, but when I tried to stand up, Mama and Daddy held
me down.
" ‘The children will laugh at you, Cindy,’
they said. I would cry until Mama had to take me out.
"I can ride a bike and go to a school now. I’ve
learned to stuff envelopes and I have some money in a bank.
"Every testimony day I tried to stand up, and Mama kept
taking me out. One Sunday night after fast meeting, after I had cried all afternoon, Mama
said she didn’t know what to do about me; maybe they shouldn’t take me to fast
meeting anymore. No one seemed to understand. The turmoil inside me was more than I could
stand, and I didn’t know what to do about it, but I knew I had to stand up and bear
my testimony. Then all of a sudden there was a light in my room, but I knew Mama had
turned out the lights. I got up to see if the moon was shining. I felt so strange; the
light around me was warm and I got on my knees and prayed. Then I felt a hand touch mine,
soft and warm like the light in my room.
" ‘Cindy, Cindy, what is it?’ I heard
Mama’s voice. She helped me up, and Daddy put his arms around me because I was
crying. For a long time Daddy and Mama sat on the bed talking about how they could help
me; I wanted to tell them about the light and the hand that touched mine.
" ‘If Cindy feels that deeply about bearing her
testimony,’ Daddy said, ‘then next month she must stand up. We surely can’t
deny her the right or privilege to share her testimony with others.’
"I felt calm inside and went to sleep.
"I go on picnics with the school, and we go on big
yellow busses. I have friends and we laugh at each other.
"It seemed like a long long time before testimony
meeting came around again, and I sat there calm and listened. Then Mama handed me the
microphone and smiled. I stood up.
" ‘I love my Daddy. I love my Mother and I love my
brothers and sisters. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.’
"It was just like I’d heard the other children say
it. No one laughed. It was quiet for a long time. Mama was crying. Daddy too. Then a man
stood up in front.
" ‘These spirits are special in God’s
eyes,’ he said. ‘They are sent to earth for their mortal bodies in such a way
they can’t be tempted by this world. Cindy will return to God as pure as she came. We
don’t know how deep their emotions run, but we do know these special children hold
hands with God.’
"I felt a warm soft hand close over mine. This time it
was my daddy’s hand" (Cindy Abbott, as told to Verna W. Holt, "Hold Hands
with God," New Era, Feb. 1973, pp. 48-49).
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