{"chapter_no":"40","chapter_title":"A Lantern in the Church Steeple","book_id":"3","book_name":"Springville","subchapter_no":"0","page_no":"573","page_number":"1","verses_count":0,"total_pages":8,"page_content":"

<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Chapter 40<\/span><\/p>

A Lantern in the Church Steeple<\/span><\/h1><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha Bradley sounds the alarm of the restored gospel to her friends and family—The <\/i>restored
Church of Jesus Christ<\/i> is the ultimate Christian church on earth—Martha gains a strong testimony and
desires to be baptized immediately.<\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

A week passed, and it was now Sunday again. Two other wards shared the meetinghouse
with the Hobble Creek 2nd. One of these, the Springville Sixth, started their meetings at 9:00
AM.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

The organist for the Sixth Ward was a sixty-four-year-old woman by the name of Phyllis
Janner. A widow, she lived alone in a cottage-style two-bedroom house a block away from the
church. Every week, it was customary for her to arrive twenty or thirty minutes early to prepare
the music for sacrament meeting. At 8:35, she arrived at the front entrance and went immediately
through the foyer to the chapel. As she opened the chapel door, there were, to her surprise,
already a number of people inside waiting for the services to begin. They sat at the front of the
chapel, occupying the first few rows of benches. Phyllis walked past them, smiled politely (they
seemed like strangers to the ward), and continued up the stairs towards the organ. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

After pulling out sheet music from the bench, she selected the pieces she wanted,
arranged them on the music stand of the organ, then sat down to play the prelude music. As she
played, she glanced down every so often at the visitors. There was no missionary farewell today,
she thought. It was somewhat unusual to have so many visitors seated early like this before
sacrament meeting. Who might these people be?<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

The eyes of everyone in this mysterious group, including even the small children, focused
on her with some fascination as she played, like they were experiencing the church service for
the first time. Phyllis was struck by how quiet and reverent they all were. The children's arms
were folded with the precision of a military unit. The adults whispered a little among themselves
but were otherwise quiet and very respectful as they watched her. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Again, she wondered, Who are these visitors<\/i>?<\/i> And why are they here so early today?<\/i> It’s
nice<\/i>, <\/i>but a little unusual.<\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Seated in the first row of the chapel were Martha Bradley and her husband Clark; their
oldest boy Ron, his wife Cassandra, and their four boys, ages ten to seventeen; Victor Wyatt, an
old war buddy of Clark's from his Vietnam War days, who sat in a wheelchair in the aisle next to <\/p>

Clark; and also Mabel Wyman, age eighty-two, the mother of Martha, sitting next to her. Seated
on the second row were the Bradley’s second oldest boy Mike, his wife Alisha, and their
children––two girls and one boy, ages nine to thirteen. Frank and Laura Prescott, Alisha’s
mother and father, who were close friends of the Bradleys from their old home town of Great
Bend, Kansas, sat next to them. On the opposite side of the bench sat Clark and Martha’s
youngest daughter Kylie, her husband Jonathon, and their four children, ranging in ages from
two to eleven. There were twenty-three persons in total. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

With the exception of Mabel, who had recently started living with Martha and Clark in
their Springville home, all of them had come from outside the state at the behest of Martha to
attend the 2nd Ward church services. In the direct aftermath of the wonderful experience she had
had in Sunday School class the prior week, Martha had made an urgent plea to all of her
immediate family to lay aside any prior plans so they could come to Utah and be with her. This
was a rare request on her part. She was not one to ever ask for favors; in fact, she was one to
grant favors, to come running at any hour of the day when called upon. Therefore, when she
called on this occasion, there was no question that all of her family would drop everything and
come. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha's views on faith and God were well known to her children and their spouses.
Thus, if she had suddenly experienced something dramatic in a religious sense, there must have
been something to it. She was not one to sound false alarms about such things. If she had
experienced something significant and was urging the attendance of family and friends at an
event, it was a big deal. Martha was among the most serious of persons one was likely to meet;
her firsthand testimony of an event was not to be taken lightly. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Her first phone call had been to Kylie and Jonathon in Long Beach, California. The
conversation went as follows:<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Kylie, you and Jon need to come out to Utah this next weekend. There's something
important going on here you need to see!”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Sure, Mom. What happened? You sound pretty excited!” said Kylie.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“I can’t tell you everything right now over the phone, but I’ll tell you this much––I went
this morning to donate money through one of these local Latter-day Saint churches in town. I had
to wait because a Church meeting was already going on, a gospel lesson of some kind, so I sat
down in one of their meeting rooms and listened for a little while.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Kylie, I felt the power of God upon me! I'm not making this up, and I’m not mistaken. I
felt the power of God, no question about it! But you must experience it for yourself! So please
come out here to Utah so that you can go to church with me next Sunday.\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Wow!” responded Kylie. “I can’t believe it. Are you sure?”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Yes, I'm sure.”<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

Kylie paused, then got Jonathon on the phone to listen. “Listen to Mom. Something
special happened to her today. She wants us to travel out to Utah.”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“What?” said Jonathon, picking up the phone.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Now, Jon,” said Martha, “I’ll take care of the hotel reservations and travel costs for all
of you. But please plan to be here by Saturday evening so we can all go together bright and early
on Sunday morning to this church. I don’t want to be late.\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Uh... okay,” said Jon. “Sure, we can come. But what's this all about?”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

The conversation continued and travel plans were finalized. Something very important
was happening in the Bradley family. A sense of urgency was felt by all.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Like Paul Revere, the patriot of the American Revolutionary War, Martha had sounded
the alarm—truth in the gospel of Jesus Christ had been discovered.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“I felt the power of God! Come, come, to Utah to join with me, and be quick about it!<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Place signal lanterns this very night in the steeple of the old Hobble Creek church! One
if by land, two if by sea.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Go from town to town, and tell all your neighbors! The Regulars are coming out!<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Ring the bells, strike the drums, fire the alarm guns, blow the trumpets, and set signal
bonfires—God the Father and his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, have appeared to man. The true
nature of God has been restored to the earth.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Angels from heaven have appeared again like in times of old, bearing tidings of great
joy to the world! <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Prophets and apostles have been called of God once more to cry repentance to the
people!<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“The priesthood authority of God, the power to act in His name, has been given to man
again!\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha had raised the voice of warning, as though riding on horseback through the streets
of all the villages and farms of the countryside.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She called her sons Ron and Mike to arms, to come to Utah with all possible haste. It was
their duty towards God that they now needed to fulfill, much like the duty they had fulfilled
earlier in their lives when serving their country in the armed forces. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Clark was the first to hear Martha’s story, and he doubted nothing of his wife’s
testimony. She was an excellent source, a material witness who could be relied upon. Lacking <\/p>

the firsthand knowledge often demanded by unbelievers in matters of faith, he nonetheless
believed all of her words. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

At first, her demeanor and tone were very serious as she shared with him her experiences;
but then slowly, the stiffness of her emotions started to give way. She talked softer, even
allowing herself a few tears. Martha was not afraid to cry. It just hadn’t been necessary to do this
kind of thing for a while. She described the feelings of the Spirit with a tenderness Clark found
to be very touching.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

For some reason, as Martha progressed further in the telling of her story, the image of
Clark’s old friend Victor instantly popped into his head. If this powerful Spirit of God had
indeed been present as Martha was describing, then it was important that Victor should come and
experience it as well. Victor’s debilitating disease was certainly an important consideration—like
the touching of the master’s robe. His thinking was that if miracles of God were happening then
perhaps one might be granted for Victor if he were to be physically present at this Latter-day
Saint church. But Clark wanted him there for even better reasons than that. He thought of Victor
and all the suffering he had endured and wanted to give him a new faith and a new hope in his
life. Thus, Clark arranged for Victor to fly out to Utah from his home in Savannah, Georgia,
which added even more drama to the gathering in the chapel. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha's family sat quietly on the padded bench seats, listening to the organ music of
Sister Janner. Their reverence in this place of worship was borne, instinctively, out of a respect
for God. But they were also curious and somewhat timid in the new surroundings, which added
further to the reverence they displayed. The small children sensed the seriousness of the situation
and obeyed the code of silence amazingly well. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha, experiencing the chapel for the first time, was gleaning all possible information
about the Church and its way of doing things, carefully recording all of this down in her mind. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

What do the <\/i>Latter-day Saints<\/i> believe about God, about the Bible, <\/i>and <\/i>about Jesus
Christ? <\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She knew very little, only that which others had told to her, or what she had occasionally
picked up from the news. Some of what she knew about the Church was good, and that was why
she had sought out the Church the week before to make a donation. As a bank to initially receive
her money, it was fine; and as a reputable charitable organization to distribute her money to the
needy around the world, it seemed like a solid choice.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She had many Latter-day Saint friends in Utah, and they had been helpful to her over the
years in providing a positive image of the Church and its teachings.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

On the other hand, there were opinions expressed by some among her friends and in the
media, that hardly painted a flattering picture. Thus, a conflict existed between these two views–
–the good things about the Church she knew indirectly through friends, and now also firsthand,
versus the things said by those who opposed or were angry with the Church, its teachings, and its <\/p>

general policies. And had she had not received a testimony of her own through a manifestation of
the Spirit the prior week, she would, even at this moment, still have cause to wonder.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

But the Spirit had spoken, highlighting to her this particular church and its teachings of
Christ to her, and in the process, laying aside all others. Therefore, this church was now her
church; its beliefs were now her beliefs. Although not yet a member, she was ready to move
forward towards great things in the gospel, a nonmember catalyst of Zion ready to be baptized,
and ready to help make her new congregation special in the eyes of God. Her faith and
testimony, even before baptism, had already exceeded that of many Latter-day Saints who had
been active in the Church all of their lives.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She had become like Ruth of the Old Testament, in effect, saying to her new church: <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

W<\/i>hither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my
people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the LORD
do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.<\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha was a Latter-day Saint of nonmember status awaiting her baptism. Her husband,
her elderly mother, and her sons and daughters and their children would soon follow her example
and gain testimonies of their own.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Minutes before the start of the meeting, she was delighted that Carolyn Williams, the
woman she had sat next to the prior week, had come up to the front row and visited with her.
Carolyn had been invited by the Sixth Ward to perform a special musical number for their
sacrament meeting, having just arrived to the chapel with Grant. Although now somewhat
spiritually self-reliant, this timely encounter with Carolyn––a familiar face––did wonders for
Martha, helping her and her extended family to feel more at home in the chapel. The Sixth
Ward's bishop-–Brother Wilson––had also filled his role well, noticing them immediately and
coming by for a friendly chat. Little by little, the list of good things she knew about the Church
was growing and, one by one, the negative things she had heard mentioned about the Church
were disappearing.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

From their position at the front of the chapel, Martha and her family watched the
sacrament meeting proceedings with interest, taking note of how everything was done. The
opening prayer, the hymns, the announcements and ward business, the blessing and
administering of the sacrament, the talks—both men and women were giving talks in church—a
special musical number, the closing hymn, and the closing prayer. All of these things looked fine
to her. In fact, all of these things looked wonderful! Having already joined the Church in a sense,
she was quite proud of how her new church did things. It seemed to be well-organized, it flowed
well, and it contained all of those things that one might expect to find in the true church of Jesus
Christ on earth.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She had had only one disappointment as she looked around at all of the people there, the
same concern lamented by Carolyn only a few weeks before:<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Why <\/i>are there <\/i>so few people in attendance? <\/i>I see<\/i> so many empty seats<\/i>!<\/i><\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

I<\/i> see maybe<\/i> a hundred or a hundred and fifty persons<\/i> in a chapel capable of holding
many more than that<\/i>.<\/i> <\/i>Where is everybody?<\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Shouldn’t the<\/i> chapel<\/i> of the <\/i>true <\/i>church<\/i> <\/i>of Jesus Christ <\/i>in this neighborhood<\/i> be<\/i>
overflowing with people<\/i>? Shouldn’t there be standing room only,<\/i> filling up this meetinghouse
with<\/i> hundreds<\/i> more<\/i>? <\/i><\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

After sacrament meeting was over, Carolyn came up to the front of the chapel again to
introduce Grant. Martha’s smile grew wide. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Grant, that presentation you gave last week was beautiful! The paintings and the
wonderful story were so impressive to me. I only wish my family could have been here to see
it!”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Then without even a thought of what others might think, she blurted out her testimony to
Grant, “Last Sunday, I felt the power of God upon me! I know this is the true Church of God. I
felt it in my soul!”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She spoke somewhat loudly, causing those nearby in the chapel to turn their heads
immediately to look over at her. Even Clark and those of her family visiting with her were
surprised, not expecting she would say something like this to people she hardly knew.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Grant was also caught by surprise by her definitive tone, but he immediately smiled.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Yes, I saw you there in class last week. I believe you. There was a special spirit in the
room last week and your presence there was one of the reasons why.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“We're glad to see you here today. Would you like to come and attend Sunday School
class with us again in the Hobble Creek 2nd Ward? It will be starting a little later. In the
meantime, we can give you a tour of the meetinghouse and talk some.\" <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

And then, grinning towards the bishop who was approaching them, \"We'll steal you away
before the Sixth Ward has a chance to invite you to their other meetings!\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

The group toured the cultural hall, the kitchen, the bishopric office, the grounds outside,
and then Martha and her family returned later when Sunday School in the Hobble Creek 2nd was
ready to begin. Provisions were made to situate Victor and his wheelchair next to Clark in the
room as they arrived.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Martha was thrilled to be in the Sunday School classroom once again. And what added
more fascination and joy to her was that the regular Sunday School teacher was of all things, a
woman! Women were everywhere! This Church was not an exclusive country club for men by
any means. It was for everybody: men, women, the youth, and the children (she had seen the
Primary opening exercises for the little children and the youth Sunday School classes where her
teenage grandchildren were invited in).<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

She enjoyed the Sunday School lesson, although, somewhat hard of hearing in both ears,
she had trouble hearing Diane’s voice. Asking Carolyn about this afterward, Carolyn grinned and
said to her, “Yes, she doesn’t speak very loud. It's been a constant problem. She doesn’t like
using the microphone, so we all try to be very quiet so everyone can hear. I'm actually quite used
to it now and kind of like it!\"<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“True,” said Martha, “She does have a nice way about her. Somehow, I was still able to
understand most of the lesson once she got started.”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Later that day, on the drive home after the meetings, Martha turned to Clark in the front
seat of the car and asked:<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“How in the world can people say that Latter-day Saints are not Christians? My word! <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“I've attended services in other churches, and they were nice, too. But what in the world
are all these people talking about? Jesus Christ is in every page of the hymn books, in the talks
given by the speakers, in the blessing on the bread and on the water for the sacrament, in the
badges worn by their missionaries, in the scriptures they carry, in the prayers they utter, and
really, in everything they think and do as Church members. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“Is it envy, ignorance, or evil intentions of those people who say bad things about the
Latter-day Saints? I have no idea what they're talking about. They're factually wrong in what
they say.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

“This is a church of Jesus Christ; in fact, this is THE Church of Jesus Christ, and I want
to become a member right away.”<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Clark listened and nodded his head, feeling the momentum of her words and already
thinking about the changes in his life that seemed to be coming. He enjoyed smoking and
drinking and had seldom thought about those habits in a religious sense before, but certainly, he
had thought about them often from a health perspective.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Over the next two weeks, the missionaries were received at the Bradley’s home every day
at 3:00 in the afternoon. This time, Clark and Martha spoke very little and just listened as the
missionaries taught gospel truths and bore witness to them. On the first appointment, and even
before the first discussion had been given, Martha told them that she was ready to be baptized
immediately. Provisions were happily made by the missionaries to accommodate her request as
quickly as possible.<\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Clark and Mabel were also baptized in the weeks that followed. The rest of their family
received the missionaries at their homes, and all were baptized as well. Victor took his time to
study it out more, but within two years he, too, was baptized by missionaries in his local ward in
Georgia.<\/span><\/p>

<\/p>

<\/span><\/p>

As a result of Martha’s new testimony, we can say for sure the lantern in the old Hobble
Creek church steeple shined more brightly at night than ever before. <\/p>"}