January
26, 2003
Karla found an old book
this week entitled “Flashes from the
Eternal Semaphore” (The Deseret News Press, Salt Lake City, UT, By Leo J.
Muir 3rd Edition, 1928). There was a letter pasted inside the front
cover. President Heber J. Grant signed a letter addressed to my Grandpa – AR
Anderson. Grandpa Anderson went on his first mission to Illinois in 1929. He left his wife and five
kids at their home in Syracuse.
Mom (Faye) would have been seven years old when he left. It was a brief
proselyting mission. Grandpa was a teacher and he went during the summer months
while school was out. One might wonder what was so special about this book that
President Grant would mail a copy of it to Grandpa? There are five “Flashes” from the “Eternal Semaphore” discussed in the book. They are simple
principles of truth or as the author of the book calls them “laws.” He explains, “…This work is in substance a study of certain immutable laws with whose
influence upon human success and human happiness every individual must reckon.”
The first chapter or “law” is entitled “The
Pursuit of Easy Things Makes Men Weak.” Here the author warns us about “trying to evade the drudgery of work, the
weariness of toil, the burdens of responsibility.” He writes “Out of pain and labor come growth and
achievement.” Perhaps one of the most interesting concepts of this first “Eternal Semaphore Flash” was the
author’s belief about the scripture “By
the sweat of thy brow, thou shalt earn thy bread.” (Genesis 3:19) He writes, “It is unfortunate that men have been taught to regard this divine
proclamation as a curse, when in reality it is the foremost blessing of
creation, indeed the key-principle to all blessings…. It is the remedy for the
disease, the antidote against man’s natural propensity to pursue easy things.” Needless to
say those left at home while Grandpa was on his mission in Illinois had a few challenges to face. For
example, both Aunt Mary and mom recalled memories of a Tornado that came
while Grandpa was gone. Aunt Mary said, “I
remember seeing it. I was five. It made the funnel. The tornado took the barn
down near the house south of Lawrence
Criddle’s. It made the loop around and went down to the lake.” And as if
that wasn’t enough mom and Aunt Mary also remembered that someone stole all their chickens! That’s right,
one morning while Grandpa was on his mission the children went to the chicken
coop and the chickens were all gone! The Andersons
have always had chickens. Later they found out those who took the chickens were
a relation to the local sheriff. Grandpa also had some hard times on his
mission. The story has been told while Grandpa was on this mission he looked up
his Andrus Anderson who
was also in the Illinois
area at the time. Grandpa Anderson went to meet his grandpa (Andrus Anderson) as
a missionary. Interesting enough “They
didn’t want to have anything to do
with him.” The first “
Flash” in Grandpa Anderson’s book gave a variety of excellent
quotes including: “
The hard is the good.”
“There is no excellence without labor.”
“The darkest hour in any man’s live is when he sits down to plan how to get
money without earning it.” “The ruin of most men dates from some idle moment.”
“In the following the path of least resistance that makes rivers and men
crooked.” “An unearned dollar is a fool-maker.”
“Rich men’s sons are seldom rich men’s fathers.” “Pour gold on him and
he’ll never thrive.” “Laziness travels
slowly and is soon overtaken by poverty.”
“You will find the key to success under the alarm clock.” “Strength and
struggle travel together.” And
“If
you want to make life easy, make it hard.” In our world today there are many people
seeking the easy path, thinking easy is “good”- and any task requiring time or effort
is “bad” and should be avoided. Furthermore, some believe that they can avoid
the difficult and still reap the rewards of a life that has been filled with
hard work and sacrifice. This, I believe is an eternal lie and violates the
law of the harvest saying “…
for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also
reap…” (D & C 6:33) From what I remember of Grandpa Anderson, he must have
read this book and practiced this chapter.
Written by Rick
"Up at 6 A.M. did a little Reading. Had Breakfast and went down town to take the window down to put glass in while going down the steps I fell and about broke my neck there was 13 step I couldnt get up for a min or two. then we went and saw Dewy Morgan about giving the sunday school lesson. from there we went up to. george andrews Hammel and wife place about 15 miles on High way 7 then you park your car and walk the rail road for 1 1/2 miles. that the only way you can get there. we left at 1.30 back to the car 45 min walk came and got dinner so tired you couldnt hardly move at 5 pm Louis a little Jeu girl came up and put my hair up and A.R. went to the hospital to see the smiths and the Long family quiet a day."
