Portraits
“Portraits,” Ensign, Sep 1998, 68–69
Newsmakers: Mothers of the Year
“Newsmakers: Mothers of the Year,” Ensign, Sept. 1998, 68
Diane Stirland Matthews of the Southern Estates Ward, Mesa Arizona Kimball Stake, recently was named 1998 National Mother of the Year by American Mothers, Inc., and Tammy Jones Huber of the Oatfield Ward, Milwaukie Oregon Stake, was chosen as National Mother of Young Children.
Sister Matthews has been the single parent of six children since April 1983, when her husband, Elmo G. Matthews, died of a heart attack. A stay-at-home mother who was trained as a schoolteacher, she renewed her teaching certificate and taught for several years while trying to settle her husband’s business affairs and raise her children. However, “it was too much emotionally and physically, and it didn’t allow me enough time to assist in the growth and development of my children,” she says. “After a lot of soul-searching, I finally decided I needed to beat home.” She established a business in her home and resigned from her teaching position so that she could be the main caregiver to her children—a decision she now calls “the wisest I ever made.”
“For me, the blessings that have come from staying at home as much as possible have far outweighed anything perceived as a sacrifice,” she says. “We’ve had our struggles, but we have a solid, cohesive family that works well together and supports one another, and my children have chosen to walk in paths of righteousness.”
Sister Huber, at 27 the youngest nominee for the title of National Mother of Young Children, has endeavored to teach her three children the importance of community service. “My children are almost always with me when we serve, whether it’s taking meals to someone who is ill, helping out in someone’s yard, or visiting the elderly,” she says. She first realized the impact of her children’s involvement when she overheard her son inform someone that he had “five or six grandpas,” referring to the elderly men he had helped serve meals to. “My son didn’t see just an older person; he saw a person to love,” says Sister Huber.
She emphasizes that she isn’t a “perfect” mother. “When they made the announcement at church, my son was in the process of doing a cartwheel off the pew,” she says with a laugh. “In public I may appear well put together, but like any typical mother, I spend many days in my sweats. They didn’t choose me because I was the most perfect; I’m simply a mother who tries her best in all facets of life.”
[photos] Diane Stirland Matthews; Tammy Jones Huber
Try, Try Again
Barbara Jean Jones, “Try, Try Again,” Ensign, Sept. 1998, 68
After 14 attempts and 7 years of trying, Ben Roll, a member of the Corona del Mar Ward, Newport Beach Stake, passed the California state bar exam. “I just didn’t want to give up,” says the 76-year-old great-grandfather. “There is great satisfaction in seeing a job through. So each time I failed, I bowed my head, got out my books, and started over again.”
Brother Roll’s accomplishment has not gone unnoticed. His story has been carried in newspapers and magazines across the nation, and he has appeared on local and national television news programs.
Brother Roll first began law school 20 years ago at an age when most people are thinking about retirement. His son Thomas explains, “Dad had been hounding me for years about getting an advanced degree, so to get him off my back I told him I’d go to law school only if he’d do it with me. Boy was I surprised when he actually took me up on that!”
After completing two years of law school, Brother Roll interrupted his studies to serve a welfare mission in Hawaii with his wife, Garnet. Afterward he returned to full-time employment for financial reasons. But his dream of completing law school did not escape him. Several years later he reapplied to law school and then had to start from scratch because his earlier credits had expired.
Ten years and 14 bar exams later, Brother Roll was sworn in as a California state attorney by an emotional son, Thomas, now a pro tem judge.
Today Brother Roll enjoys practicing general law with his son. While most father-son law firms might be titled something like “Roll & Son,” the business card that Brother Roll proudly presents states, “Roll & Father, Attorneys at Law.”—Barbara Jean Jones, Salt Lake City, Utah
Area Authority in Korea
“Area Authority in Korea,” Ensign, Sept. 1998, 68–69
As managing director for a major international firm in Korea, Elder Won Yong Ko, an Area Authority Seventy in the Asia North Area, says the Lord has blessed him to be able to carry out both his career and his Church responsibilities. Of the two, he says, “I always put first priority on Church work. Then I can manage everything else without serious problems. This has increased my testimony of the law of consecration.”
Keeping the Word of Wisdom can seem challenging to some Latter-day Saints in Korea, says Elder Ko, because drinking with associates is considered almost mandatory. “However, there are many ways to achieve the same social and career success without violating the Word of Wisdom,” he says. “The Lord compensates us by giving us blessings in his own way.”
Every year his employer sponsors a company sports day, and Elder Ko says he is “one of the few old-timers who still play soccer with the young employees. Many people are surprised because they think I am too old to play such a tough game. But others know I can do it because I do not drink or smoke.”
Elder Ko was in high school when a classmate introduced him to the Church. He attended a Church activity with his friend, and when he entered the meetinghouse he was overwhelmed by the many people who reached out to welcome him. “I wondered, How come?” he remembers. “I was just a young high school student, and many of them were adults and older than I. I was very impressed by the kindness of the Church members.”
On 24 March 1962, after taking the missionary discussions, he was baptized. “The gospel has been the center of my life,” he says. “I love it and know that it is true and can give us everlasting happiness if we are worthy.”
In 1978 Elder Ko married Eun Hee Kim. They are the parents of two children and live in Seoul.
[photo] Clockwise from top: Elder Ko; son, Seung-Hyun Ko; mother, Sang-Soon Lee; daughter, Hye-Won Ko; wife, Eun Hee Kim.
Model of Faith
Lani Gilbreath, “Model of Faith,” Ensign, Sept. 1998, 69
Irene Kealoha Kamauoha Rushing lived as a young girl in Napoopoo, South Kona, Hawaii, raised by her great-aunt “Tu Tu” (Grandma) Kealoha Kamauoha. Their small Church building was five miles away, and they had to walk there. Tu Tu had only partial use of one of her legs, so she, Irene, and Irene’s brother and sister would start before daylight to get to their meetings on time.
The little group would stop frequently so that Tu Tu could rest. At these stops Tu Tu would sing Church hymns in Hawaiian, and as she did so, tears would often stream down her cheeks. Young Irene would ask, “Tu Tu, why do you cry?” Tu Tu always answered, “Because I am so happy.” This confused Irene, who thought people didn’t cry when they were happy. Tu Tu would go on to explain, “My heart is full of love for Heavenly Father.” Years later Tu Tu’s example helped keep Irene firm in the faith even when she was the only Latter-day Saint living in the small town of Lamesa, Texas. Though isolated from other Church members, she read her Book of Mormon daily. When friends invited her to go dancing, she declined because the dances were held in bars. She would imagine Tu Tu’s tear-stained but radiant face and was determined to follow the example Tu Tu had set.
In 1947 Irene married Simpson Matthew Rushing, whose father was a minister of another faith. One day not long afterward, Irene saw a beautiful sight: two LDS missionaries were walking down the street! She still remembers their names—Elder Nelson from La Plata, New Mexico, and Elder Miller from Denver, Colorado. The first thing she said to them was, “May I please have the sacrament?” They informed her of a branch that met 60 miles away and arranged for her to attend.
In 1957 Simpson was baptized. He became the first superintendent of Lamesa’s independent Sunday School. Today he and Irene are members of the Athens Ward, Gilmer Texas Stake, where Simpson served as bishop for several years.
“The gospel is everything to us, and we have spent the best years of our lives serving our Heavenly Father,” says Irene.—Lani Gilbreath, Honolulu, Hawaii
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