Dear Parley’s Stake sisters,

I’m looking forward to our Stake’s Continuing Education (CES) class through BYU. Our instructor, Gary Poll, taught the Four Gospels from the New Testament during the last Spring semester. He will cover Acts - Jude during this semester. (He covered the Book of Revelation during a summer class.) It begins Wednesday, August 24 from 1:00-2:30 PM in the 3rd/5th Ward Building and costs $24.00. You may pay for the entire semester or pay $2.50/class. Hope you can find time in your week to join us for this spiritual class!


I’m also excited to read and discuss either The Book of Mormon or Jesus the Christ by James Talmage with you in the next several months! I was recently re-reading Jesus the Christ and was again impressed with its depth and knowledge. It is a book, like the Book of Mormon, that can be inspiring as one reads it quickly or when one reads it with deliberation and contemplation. I feel connected to our Savior through Talmage’s imagery and explanations.

I became more intrigued with James Talmage when my father and mother-in-law, George I. and Isabel Cannon, served as President and Matron of the Salt Lake Temple from 1993-96. They took us on a tour through some of the remote areas of the temple—one of which was an open room with the desk where James Talmage wrote his book. It was marvelous to see this preserved space and be able to visualize where he worked and sometimes lived. When he was heavily involved with writing this book, his wife would sometimes come and stay there with him in the temple.

I found the following story about James Talmage from his earlier years in an article by Kathy Troxler in 1974. It describes his baptism in Eddington, England in June, 1873. It was a time of persecution and he and his sister, Ellen, were to be baptized at night.

“The water made loud splashing noises as it passed over the old mill wheel, but further down where the four finally stopped [it] was much calmer. James’ father looked slowly in every direction, but there was no one in sight. None of the townspeople had … seen the eleven-year-old boy leave the village with his father and friends. It was safe to go ahead with the baptism.
Earlier that year, James had become seriously ill. The Talmage family grew concerned about the life of their oldest son. Three years had passed since the time he should have been baptized, and his father thought that perhaps this [the fact he hadn’t been baptized] was the reason for his boy’s sickness. He made a covenant with our Heavenly Father to baptize James as soon as possible if only he could be well again. James recovered, and his father was keeping his promise. Brother Talmage stepped into the water and firmly braced his feet so that the current could not upset his balance. Just as he offered a hand to his son, a horrible noise more powerful than a scream broke the calmness of the night. It was a combination of a shriek and a howl and sounded as loud as a thunderclap.
James froze on the bank and … Father Talmage was also frightened by the sound and understood his son’s trembling as he stood alone in the dark.
‘James, are you too frightened to be baptized tonight?’ his father asked. James answered by stepping boldly into the deep canal.
The cold water soaked his thin clothing, but the young boy was unaware of the shivers running down his back. The noise stopped as mysteriously as it began the instant James entered the water…[and] Brother Talmage said the sacred words of the baptism. Then his strong arm lowered his son into the water.
When they returned home, Brother Talmage told the rest of the family about the strange happening. Surely, he thought, the loud noise reached the house, yet no one heard anything unusual. Questioning the townspeople the next day provided no answers either, for it seemed only the baptismal party shared the experience.
James E. Talmage never understood what caused the strange sound on the night he was baptized. But through his trust in the Lord he had had the courage to be baptized and to obey our Heavenly Father’s commandment. Later in his life he became a great leader and an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

We will gain additional insight and inspiration from the life of Christ as we read either Jesus the Christ or The Book of Mormon and look forward to reading your comments on our blog.

Your sister in the gospel,
Corinne Cannon, Counselor in the Parley’s Stake Relief Society Presidency