Letter from Heber J. Grant

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 3^rd 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