Feedback

I want to tell you how much I enjoy the feeling of the spirit of the Saints all over the world as I read the New Era each time we receive it. I have ordered subscriptions for two nonmember friends of mine in the States, and I feel that everyone should do the same for a friend they would like to see touched by a worthwhile, uplifting magazine.

Elder David Liggett
France-Switzerland Mission

Recently an elder gave me a copy of the March issue of the New Era. I’m a nonmember and have never come in contact with the magazine before. I can’t begin to express my thanks, for this magazine has greatly enlarged my understanding of the Church and has set me to thinking. I especially enjoyed Bishop Simpson’s article on gaining and holding onto a testimony.

Kendra Frakes
Sun Valley, California

We would like to have a subscription to the New Era sent to the Woods family, because they have some fine young people in their family. They are Mormons already, but they just don’t know it yet. We wish that all Church members would take advantage of this great missionary tool to prepare their friends and neighbors to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Elders Hardman and Scott
Texarkana, Arkansas

What a thrill for each LDS youth to receive a New Era each month! I really like how each article deals with contemporary issues and problems which confront us today. Brother Terry Warner’s article on having faith and thinking for yourself cleared up many of my misconceptions about faith and knowledge. I’m going to ask my nonmember father to study this article, as he also has misconceptions about faith. He will appreciate the logical, common-sense arrangement of the article. I find that many nonmembers find our Church magazines very refreshing, informative, and attractive.

Judy Dowling
Victoria, Australia

Each point made in Bishop Simpson’s article is one that I can relate to and internalize. I am filled with the kind of spirit that often abides at testimony meetings. It is an enlightening spirit that fills my heart each time I read truly inspired articles and speeches such as this. I thank you for furthering my knowledge of the gospel and again confirming my testimony.

Elizabeth Morris
Reno, Nevada

I just finished reading “Chiasmus in the Book of Mormon” [February] by John W. Welch and want to thank Brother Welch for writing it and you for printing it. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as chiasmus, let alone that it was contained in the Bible and Book of Mormon. This article has really helped me understand and appreciate the Book of Mormon even more than I did before.

Chad Pharis
Moscow, Idaho

I would like to thank Brother Welch for his article on chiasmus in the Book of Mormon. Great thanks should also be given to the New Era for placing this story “in the headlines.” After I read this article, everything seemed to slip together, both in my mind and in my heart, and my testimony is stronger than ever.

Wayne C. Payeur
Rockwall, Texas

Today I received two magazines in the mail—Arizona Highways and the New Era. I have already devoured the New Era, with a mere glance at Arizona Highways. Coming from a pureblood Arizona boy who hasn’t seen any range or mountains for a year and a half, that is quite a compliment for your fantastic accomplishment.

Elder Richard Turner
Uruguay-Paraguay Mission

I sincerely appreciate the fact that the New Era considered my talk [March] good enough to publish. However, I am a little surprised that you used a picture of someone who isn’t connected with the article, and a picture that detracts from the meaning rather than enhances it. There are plenty of good, bright, yearning young adults who don’t like being constantly forced into the conservative picture. Don’t get me wrong—I think we should all dress with taste and modesty. But I had hoped that my experience would reach some fringe groups who just need coaxing from people who don’t seem so goody-goody right off the bat. They’ve got to know that you can be a good member of the Church and have Christ in your heart and still wear levis.

You can probably tell that I have just barely seen the article and the effect of it hasn’t quite worn off. My friends and I feel such a burning obligation to reach our humanitarian friends who have estranged themselves for those silly, superficial reasons. Just think, if we could get through the barrier of stereotypes, maybe we could plant the seeds for real renewal and love for Christ. Then they could see that those external things don’t really symbolize the Church, that the Church is really what’s inside, and that the external appearance can’t serve as a reason to justify one’s argument to stay away from all those “stuffy Mormons.”

Sally Hess
Salt Lake City, Utah

I think the Osmond family interview in the February issue was fabulous, and so did my nonmember friend who reads my New Era monthly.

Betty Downs
Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Are they really any different from the other rock groups? Do their songs and music uplift and edify our Father in heaven? Do their appearance and gyrations typify Mormon youth?

Carmen Mary Nelson
Provo, Utah

The New Era is a great help to me on my mission. I have learned much from this magazine that has helped me in my work as a missionary. The poster that was in the September issue is up in apartments all over the Italy South Mission.

Elder Eugene V. Byers II
Italy South Mission

The New Era even comes to Indonesia! And we love it. We are thankful for the timely articles and the emphasis on basic Church doctrines. Salvation material! The work of the Lord goes on.

Elder Lavarr G. Webb
Jawa Tengah, Indonesia

I read with interest the article entitled “The Latter-day Saint on Campus” [February]. As a former student government official and student activist at a small college in eastern Oregon, I went through many experiences without following the standards to which I had been converted. I affirm my conviction that Latter-day Saint students must become politically involved, and when they assume positions of importance, they must not forget the example they are to set for others, member and nonmember students alike. I sometimes wonder how many persons I could have influenced if I had been an example to others instead of just being an activist at school.

Joe H. Wilson
Logan, Utah

Your article entitled “What the Scriptures Say About: Ecology” [March] is marvelous. It emphasized the necessity of being a steward, a protector of animal life. In articles written a hundred years ago in the Juvenile Instructor by George Q. Cannon and others, the statement is made that Latter-day Saints will take the lead in freeing the animals from torment by man.

Florie Sayner
Sherman Oaks, California

In the commandment given in Genesis 1:28, I doubt that the words “multiply and replenish” [Gen. 1:28] are synonymous. Replenish means to restore or renew. Thus, it seems we are commanded to restore natural balances even as we multiply and to live in harmony with ecological principles even as we dominate.

Sharon Dequer
Monrovia, California