Did You Know?

Following are a few significant events that happened in Church history during the month of January.

18 January 1827: The Prophet Joseph Smith married Emma Hale in New York State. The couple met while he was working in Pennsylvania and boarding with Emma’s family.

19 January 1841: A revelation given at Nauvoo, Illinois, instructed the Saints to build a temple in Nauvoo (see D&C 124).

21, 28 January 1900: The Salt Lake Stake, which included 55 wards, was divided, and the Jordan and Granite Stakes were created. This was the first stake division in the Salt Lake Valley after the pioneers arrived in 1847.

When schoolteachers in Kaiserslautern, Germany, wonder if holding classes, grading papers, and putting up with noisy students are worth it, the youth of the Landstuhl Military Ward, Kaiserslautern Germany Military Stake, like to remind them of their value. Each year for the past six years, the youth have expressed appreciation for their teachers’ service and caring with a teacher appreciation night.

The youth chose “For the Strength of Youth” as this year’s theme. They made a memory and quote book for their teachers, thanking them for their guidance, knowledge, and service. The youth also treated the teachers to dinner in the Church cultural hall, which they decorated for the occasion, and they put on a show to entertain them. On each table they left copies of For the Strength of Youth for the teachers to take home. Their teachers certainly appreciate being appreciated!

“Those who are called to lead in the ministry of the Master are not called to be chiefs or dictators,” explains President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. “They are called to be good shepherds. They are to be constantly training others to take their place and become greater leaders than their teachers. A good leader expects much [and] inspires greatly … those he is called to lead.” President Faust suggests reading Doctrine and Covenants 121:41–43 to find “the transcending keys of leadership” contained there. (See “These I Will Make My Leaders,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 35.)