Each Life that Touches Ours for Good

Early this morning, President James E. Faust, Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ and second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, passed away.

Before his call to the ministry, President Faust was an attorney and served as a member of the Utah State Legislature, President of the Utah Bar Association, and was appointed as a member of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights in 1962 by President John F. Kennedy.

President Faust was a true disciple of Jesus Christ whose words and testimony of Christ served to strengthen and sustain my own devotion to Jesus. As a missionary in Ecuador, I listened as President Faust addressed the Church about the importance of having a growing testimony of Jesus Christ, the text of which is attached below. He spoke of his feelings of inadequacy: He was just an ordinary man called to an extraordinary calling, and the only thing which qualified him for the ministry as an Apostle was his burning and abiding testimony of Jesus Christ.

At that time, I was struggling with my own feelings of inadequacy: I had also been called to be a witness of Jesus Christ, yet my personal weakness often impeded the Lord's work in Ecuador. But President Faust's words helped me recognize that despite my weakness, I also have a burning and abiding testimony of Jesus Christ. And I moved forward, as an imperfect servant with a perfect witness, striving to follow the example of President Faust.

Nearly one year after my wife and I were married, we went to Park City for a weekend. We went to a local restaurant, and as we sat down, I recognized a man sitting just a few tables away. It was President Faust with his wife and two other members of his family. Certain that as someone with such a prominent position within the Mormon community he is constantly approached, my wife and I decided not to approach him to let him enjoy some time away from the burdens of his calling. I admired him from afar. But as he and his family left the restaurant, he walked by our table and asked, "How are you folks?"

All we could say was we were doing well.

I testify the President James E. Faust was truly an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ with all the powers, authority, and privileges enjoyed by ancient Apostles, such as Peter, James, John, and Paul. I will always remember him as a true disciple of Christ and someone I sought to emulate as I have strived to become a true disciple of Christ.

I will miss him.

The following is the talk I mentioned before and an excerpt of another presentation which President Faust gave as a Special Witness of Jesus Christ:

A Growing Testimony

My beloved brothers and sisters and friends, I have lived a long time. As I look back over my life, I recognize one source of singular strength and blessing. It is my testimony and knowledge that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. I am profoundly grateful that all of my life I have had a simple faith that Jesus is the Christ. That witness has been confirmed to me hundreds of times. It is the crowning knowledge of my soul. It is the spiritual light of my being. It is the cornerstone of my life.

As one of the least among you but in my calling as one of His Apostles, I testify of the Christ as our Savior and the Redeemer of the world. Since this testimony has been forged by a lifetime of experiences, of necessity this requires my relating experiences which are very personal in nature. But this testimony is mine, and I feel that the Savior knows that I know that He lives.

The first cornerstone of my testimony was laid a long time ago. One of my early recollections was having a frightening nightmare as a small child. I still remember it vividly. I must have screamed in fright during the night. My grandmother woke me up. I was crying, and she took me in her arms, hugged me, and comforted me. She got a bowl of some of my favorite rice pudding that was left over from dinner, and I sat on her lap as she spoon-fed me. She told me that we were safe in our house because Jesus was watching over us. I felt it was true then, and I still believe it now. I was comforted in both body and soul and went peacefully back to bed, assured of the divine reality that Jesus does watch over us.

That first memorable experience led to other strong confirmations that God lives and that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Many of these came in response to earnest prayer. As a child, when I lost things such as my precious pocketknife, I learned that if I prayed hard enough, I could usually find it. I was always able to find the lost cows I was entrusted with. Sometimes I had to pray more than once, but my prayers always seemed to be answered. Sometimes the answer was no, but most often it was positive and confirming. Even when it was no, I came to know that, in the Lord’s great wisdom, the answer I received was for my best good. My faith continued to grow as building blocks were added to the cornerstone, line upon line and precept upon precept. There are far too many of these to be chronicled individually; some are too sacred to utter.

These early seeds of faith sprouted still further when, as a young Aaronic Priesthood boy, I received a firsthand confirmation of the remarkable testimony of the Three Witnesses concerning the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. My stake president was President Henry D. Moyle, and his father was James H. Moyle. In the summertime Brother James H. Moyle would visit his family, and he would worship with us in our little ward in the southeast of the Salt Lake Valley.

One Sunday, Brother James H. Moyle shared with us a singular experience. As a young man he went to the University of Michigan to study law. As he was finishing his studies, his father told him that David Whitmer, one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, was still alive. The father suggested to his son that he stop on his way back to Salt Lake City to visit with David Whitmer face-to-face. Brother Moyle’s purpose was to ask him about his testimony concerning the golden plates and the Book of Mormon.

During that visit, Brother Moyle said to David Whitmer: “Sir, you are an old man, and I’m a young man. I have been studying about witnesses and testimonies. Please tell me the truth concerning your testimony as one of the witnesses of the Book of Mormon.” David Whitmer then told this young man: “Yes, I held the golden plates in my hands, and they were shown to us by an angel. My testimony concerning the Book of Mormon is true.” David Whitmer was out of the Church, but he never denied his testimony of the angel’s visitation, of handling the golden plates, or of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. Hearing with my own ears this remarkable experience directly from Brother Moyle’s lips had a powerful, confirming effect upon my growing testimony. Having heard it, I felt it was binding upon me.

One of the foundation stones of my testimony came when I served my first mission in Brazil as a young man. At that time our labors were unfruitful and difficult. We could not envision the great outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord which has come in that country and its neighboring countries of South America, Central America, and Mexico in the intervening years. Sixty years ago there was only one stake in all of these countries. Now there are 643 stakes in Latin America. I believe it is only the beginning. What has happened is beyond my wildest hopes and dreams. It is one of the many miracles we have seen. It is my witness that all of this could not have happened without the divine intervention of the Lord, who is watching over this holy work, not only in Latin America but in all of the countries of the world.

In my long life I have found peace, joy, and happiness beyond my fondest hopes and dreams. One of the supreme benedictions of my life has been my marriage to an elect daughter of God. I love her with all my heart and soul. Upon the wind of her spirit have my wings been carried. 1 We were married in the Salt Lake Temple 57 years ago when I was a soldier in World War II and did not know if I would come back alive. Her strong, unwavering faith and support have strengthened my own testimony in times of challenge and difficulty. My inevitable eternal journey, if I am so favored, will be wonderful with her at my side.

Another great blessing in my life has been to have children come into our family even though we thought we might never have any. Our joy has increased with our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Only by the power of a priesthood blessing did this come about.

Along with the blessings, however, I have known some difficult challenges and heartaches. I am grateful for the lessons learned in these adversities. As a young man, I lived through the Great Depression, when banks failed and so many lost their jobs and homes and went hungry. I was fortunate to have a job at a canning factory that paid 25 cents an hour. That may have been all I was worth! But it helped me get my education. I served three long years in the military in World War II. One time when we were in peril of our ship capsizing in a horrendous storm in the Pacific, I put myself in the Lord’s hands and fervently promised Him that if I survived I would try to serve Him all of the days of my life.

At times I have stumbled and been less than I should have been. All of us experience those wrenching, defining, difficult decisions that move us to a higher level of spirituality. They are the Gethsemanes of our lives that bring with them great pain and anguish. Sometimes they are too sacred to be shared publicly. They are the watershed experiences that help purge us of our unrighteous desires for the things of the world. As the scales of worldliness are taken from our eyes, we see more clearly who we are and what our responsibilities are concerning our divine destiny.

I humbly acknowledge that these many experiences have nurtured a sure knowledge that Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer. I have heard His voice and felt His influence and presence. They have been as a warm, spiritual cloak. The wonder of it is that all who conscientiously strive to keep the commandments and sustain their leaders can receive this same knowledge in some measure. The privilege of serving in the cause of the Master can bring great satisfaction and inner peace.

The united testimonies and faith of the early Church members brought them from Palmyra to Kirtland, and from Nauvoo to the Salt Lake Valley. Eventually that faith will establish this work all over the world. That strength of testimony and faith moves the work of God forward in such a marvelous way. The power of the Lord is in this work, as evidenced in the wonderful happenings of our time.

President Gordon B. Hinckley presides over what is possibly the greatest number of faithful people who have ever lived upon the face of the earth. I testify that he is a truly great prophet. He needs faithful followers. The great strength of this Church comes from our collective and individual testimonies, born of our own trials and faithfulness. The faithfulness of the Saints has permitted this great Conference Center to be built and dedicated in the name of the Lord on this historic day. It is unique in all the world. So wondrous and great are the works of the Lord in our time. As a people, we are not as yet what we ought to be—far from it. However, I hope we will strive harder to become a more righteous people, worthy to continue to receive the blessings of heaven.

The acceleration of temple building in our time has been marvelous. Through the prophetic vision of President Hinckley, we now have many temples that dot many lands on the earth. This remarkable achievement has been made possible because of faithful tithe payers. This in turn has caused the Lord to redeem His promise spoken through Malachi: “And prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” 2 All of these exquisite holy edifices are a testimony of our belief that the Savior broke the bonds of death and opened up the way for us to enter into covenants which will be binding in another world.

Like Alma, I can testify, “All things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator.” 3
In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith that I know to be true, the Savior testified of Himself in these words:

“I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;
“… I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.” 4
The Lord has promised that “every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am.” 5

When I was called to the holy apostleship many years ago, my sure witness prompted me to testify on that occasion in these words: “I understand that a chief requirement for the holy apostleship is to be a personal witness of Jesus as the Christ and the Divine Redeemer. Perhaps on that basis alone, I can qualify. This truth has been made known to me by the unspeakable peace and power of the Spirit of God.” 6
Since accepting that call many years ago, my certain witness has been greatly magnified. This is because of my undeniable testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

My greatest desire is to be true and faithful to the end of my days on this earth. That we may all do so, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

(James E. Faust, "Testimony," Ensign Nov. 2000).

Excerpt from "Special Witnesses of Christ"

In the Gethsemanes of life which we all have, and often in my present calling, I have gone to my knees with a humble spirit to the only place I could for help. I often went in agony of spirit, earnestly pleading with God to sustain me in the work I have come to appreciate more than life itself. I have, on occasion, felt a terrible aloneness of the wounds of the heart, of the sweet agony, the buffetings of Satan, and the encircling warm comfort of the Spirit of the Master.

I have also felt the crushing burden, the self-doubts of inadequacy and unworthiness, the fleeting feeling of being forsaken, then of being reinforced an hundredfold. I have climbed a spiritual Mount Sinai dozens of times, seeking to communicate and to receive instructions. It has been as though I have struggled up an almost real Mount of Transfiguration and, upon occasion, felt great strength and power in the presence of the Divine. A special, sacred feeling has been a sustaining influence and often a close companion.

As I serve in the calling of the holy apostleship, I recognize that I am a very ordinary man. Yet I gratefully acknowledge one special gift. I have a certain knowledge that Jesus of Nazareth is our Divine Savior. I know that He lives. I know that through the unspeakable agony of the Atonement, men and women, if they repent, can be forgiven of their sins. Because of the miracle of the Resurrection, all will rise from the dead. I feel His love and marvel at the price He paid for each of us. I wonder how many drops of blood were spilled for me. This is the testimony I give of Him, even in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

(James E. Faust, "Special Witnesses of Christ," Ensign April 2000).

On Prayer

Prayer is a miracle. During the first few months of my time as a missionary in Ecuador, my companion, Elder Rekoutis, and I were across the room from each other, kneeling at our beds, praying. When each of us had finished, Elder Rekoutis quipped, "which of us was God listening to?" The answer, of course, was both, which is the beginning of the miracle. I wondered then how many millions of people were praying at the same time Elder Rekoutis and I were. Yet, during that prayer, I literally felt as if God was focusing all His attention on me and my concerns.

Still, God cares just as much about His other children and their concerns. And modern revelation teaches the inhabitants of this Earth are not the only children of God in the universe: There are other worlds and other men and women. (See D&C 76:18-24; Moses 1:29-34). And science estimates there are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on every beach on the Earth! When we look at ourselves within the context of the universe, we are specks living on a speck called Earth, which is a speck within our solar system, which is a speck in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is a speck within an ever-expanding universe.

Yet I have offered prayers when scarcely I have begun that I felt my Heavenly Father say, "I am here." And although Heavenly Father oversees the creation and governing of countless galaxies, He is completely devoted to us as individuals.

And what adds to the miracle of prayer is that God even cares about the minutia of our lives. For example, as my family and I traveled from Waco to Utah, we only had forty-five minutes to catch a connecting flight in the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. But our flight from Waco to Dallas was delayed. We were certain the plane to Utah would take off without us. But my wife and I were both praying that we would make it in time. And we did. As I sat waiting to take off, I said a silent prayer of thanks and was filled with the love of God. At that moment, I realized what a trivial thing catching a flight is when it compares to the grand scheme of things. But I also realized that our Heavenly Father took great pleasure in answering and granting that "trivial" petition.

Because it mattered to my wife and me, it mattered to Him!

That is the miracle of prayer. Even though we are specks, one of many billions of billions---or more---children of God, our Heavenly Father knows us individually, loves us personally, hears our prayers, delights in blessing us, and treats us as if we were His only child.

Thank God for the miracle of prayer.

Same-sex Attraction

Today, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released an official statement meant to reach out to members of the Church who are attracted to people of the same sex. To read the statement, click here.

Eternal Marriage

Reading today, I came across the following quotes by Elder Orson Pratt relating to eternal marriage:

The Lord ordained marriage between male and female as a law through which spirits should come here and take tabernacles, and enter into the second state of existence. The Lord Himself solemnized the first marriage pertaining to this globe, and pertaining to flesh and bones here upon this earth. I do not say pertaining to mortality; for when the first marriage was celebrated, no mortality was there. The first marriage that we have any account of, was between two immortal beings--old father Adam and old mother Eve; they were immortal beings; death had no dominion, no power over them; they were capable of enduring for ever and ever, in their organization. Had they fulfilled the law, and kept within certain conditions and bounds, their tabernacles would never have been seized by death; death entered entirely by sin, and sin alone. This marriage was celebrated between two immortal beings. For how long? Until death? No. That was entirely out of the question; there could have been no such thing in the ceremony.

What would you consider, my hearers, if a marriage was to be celebrated between two beings not subject to death? Would you consider them joined together for a certain number of years, and that then all their covenants were to cease for ever, and the marriage contract be dissolved? Would it look reasonable and consistent? No. Every heart would say that the work of God is perfect in and of itself, and inasmuch as sin had not brought imperfection upon the globe, what God joined together could not be dissolved, and destroyed, and torn asunder by any power beneath the celestial world, consequently it was eternal; the ordinance of union was eternal; the sealing of the great Jehovah upon Adam and Eve was eternal in its nature, and was never instituted for the purpose of being overthrown and brought to an end. It is known that the "Mormons" are a peculiar people about marriage; we believe in marrying, not only for time, but for all eternity. This is a curious idea, says one, to be married for all eternity. It is not curious at all; for when we come to examine the Scriptures, we find that the very first example set for the whole human family, as a pattern instituted for us to follow, was not instituted until death, for death had no dominion at that time; but it was an eternal blessing pronounced upon our first parents. I have not time to explain further the marriage of Adam and Eve, but will pass on to their posterity.

It is true, that they became fallen, but there is a redemption. But some may consider that the redemption only redeemed us in part, that is, merely from some of the effects of the fall. But this is not the case; every man and woman must see at once that a redemption must include a complete restoration of all privileges lost by the fall.

Suppose, then, that the fall was of such a nature as to dissolve the marriage covenant, by death--which is not necessary to admit, for the covenant was sealed previous to the fall, and we have no account that it was dissolved--but suppose this was the case, would not the redemption be equally as broad as the fall, to restore the posterity of Adam back to that which they lost? And if Adam and Eve were married for all eternity, the ceremony was an everlasting ordinance, that they twain should be one flesh for ever. If you and I should ever be accounted worthy to be restored back from our fallen and degraded condition to the privileges enjoyed before the fall, should we not have an everlasting marriage seal, as it was with our first progenitors? If we had no other reasons in all the Bible, this would be sufficient to settle the case at once in the mind of every reflecting man and woman, that inasmuch as the fall of man has taken away any privileges in regard to the union of male and female, these privileges must be restored in the redemption of man, or else it is not complete.

Orson Pratt, "Celestial Marriage," Journal of Discourses, 1:58 (1852).

Sweet Land of Liberty

The Book of Mormon teaches that when the waters of the Great Flood receded, the American continent "became a choice land above all other lands, a chosen land of the Lord; wherefore the Lord would have that all men should serve him who dwell upon the face thereof." (Ether 13:2). And an ancient-American General blessed it to be "A chosen land, and the land of liberty." (Alma 46:13-18). Today, those prophesies and blessings have been fulfilled, and no other nation in the history of the world can boast the great freedoms which we enjoy today.

My ancestors came to America for religious reasons. On my mother's side of my family, the first of my ancestors who came to America did so to realize the Puritan dream of establishing a "City on a Hill." Others came to America to establish Zion first in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, then in the mountain valleys of Utah. Their sacrifice was great, and many suffered as they strove to find the freedom to worship God as they saw fit.

And on my father's side of my family, my ancestors came to America because they refused to carry arms and shed the blood of their brothers. They were Mennonites and had been driven from country to country in Europe until they found home in the Midwest.

In honor of my Mennonite heritage and the great nation in which we live which affords us so many freedoms and blessings of liberty, I am posting a History paper I wrote years ago about my ancestors, the sister of my great-great Grandfather Peter Pankratz, her husband, and their family.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mennonite history, here is a brief synopsis: During the Reformation, several men in Switzerland decided their infant baptisms were invalid because they did not have the option to choose for themselves. They were rebaptised, and thus the Anabaptist movement was born.

Among all the sects which emerged in Reformation Europe, the Anabaptists were the most radical. They actively proselytized their neighbors, and many rejected the authority of their secular leaders. As a result, the Anabaptists suffered severe persecution. Among the most radical of the Anabaptists were those living in the city of Munster, Germany. There, one Anabaptist leader claimed to be the prophet Enoch and Munster the city of Zion. They drove all non-believers from the city, but their neighbors retaliated and slaughtered the Munster Anabaptists.

After Munster, the Anabaptist movement needed leadership when a former Catholic priest, Menno Simons took the lead of the largest group of Anabaptists. He preached the need for the separation of Church and State, the importance of Faith and Works to gain salvation, and pacifism. The were known as the Mennonites.

The Mennonites gathered in communities and supported one another physically and spiritually. And because they were pacifists, they were driven from place to place. Finally, they were allowed to live in Prussia in the early Seventeenth Century. After one hundred years and prosperity in Prussia, the Prussian government demanded that the Mennonites give their sons to serve in the military.

Cathrine the Great of Russia, hearing of the Mennoites' prosperity in Prussia, invited them to come to the Ukraine and Crimea, which Russia had just acquired in the Crimean War.

Now, here is the paper:

Here, They Found Home

Departing

Early on the morning of May 1, 1875, Abraham Hiebert and his wife Helena awakened their five children and bid farewell to the home they held dear. Eva, their oldest, was only ten years old, and her young mind must have strained to understand why they had to abandon all they had owned for a distant land in the west.1 Alexanderwohl2 was the only home any of them had known. The village was recognized throughout Russia for its industrious inhabitants and superior agricultural output.3 Through hard work, many of the villagers, including the Hieberts, had become economically comfortable,4 but money was not on their minds that morning: here, Abraham and Helena fell in love and were married; here, Helena gave birth to their seven children; here, they buried two sons.5 The Hieberts were leaving their home and a myriad of memories.

Loading the last of their things into their wagon, they looked over their house and land for the last time. Abraham helped his wife and their six-week-old daughter into the wagon with the rest
of their children. Soon, they would be on the plains of Kansas with the family of Helena’s brother, Peter Pankratz;6 soon, they would have a new home. "Thus," recorded Abraham, "[they] surmounted the hill of Alexanderwohl with the rising of the sun, the state of [their] feelings at the last view of [their] long inhabited village . . . known only to God."7 The time to leave had come. A new day was dawning.

The choice to leave must have been heartrending for Abraham and Helena. It is difficult to understand why the Hieberts would choose to leave their home, but such episodes were not uncommon in the late nineteenth century Ukraine. Abraham, Helena, and their children were among thousands of Mennonites who emigrated from South Russia to the United States and Canada.8 Their reason for leaving was clear: Mennonites were devout pacifists, and in 1871, Czar Alexander II of Russia ordered all men within the boundaries of his empire to submit themselves to military service. However, he opened a ten-year window of emigration for anyone opposed.9 The decree outraged the nearly forty-five thousand Mennonites, and after several failed attempts to dissuade the Russian government, the only solution was emigration.10 Nevertheless, only eighteen thousand succeeded in fleeing.

While the reasons for emigration are evident, the fact that only one-third of the Mennonites migrated presents unanswered questions. Why did the majority of Mennonites remain in Russia, and why didn’t the Hieberts stay? The answer is simple. Although the Czar initially demanded that all men defend Russia and attempted to block the Mennonite emigration, the Mennonites were adamant in demanding exemption from combat. Therefore, the Russian government, unwilling to lose the hardworking pacifists, did all in its power to calm the fears of the Mennonites and to stop their migration through a series of concessions and roadblocks. Alexander’s attempts at reconciliation satisfied many of the Mennonites, while his roadblocks discouraged others from leaving. Russia’s actions were effective. The majority of Mennonites stayed. Yet, despite the government’s efforts, several thousand pacifists refused to tarry in Russia. Consequently, only the most determined Mennonites, including the Hieberts, emigrated to North America while the rest remained in their homeland.

Favors and Failures

The relationship between Russia and the Mennonites began in the late eighteenth century. Years before the conscription crisis, the Czarina Catherine, having heard of the Mennonite’s prosperity in Prussia, had offered them fertile lands on the southern steppes of Russia and freedom from persecution.11 Her offer—no Mennonite would be required to bear arms—was to have been everlasting. This assurance resulted in an immigration to south Russia lasting several decades.12 However, eighty-five years after Catherine’s promise, the announcement of a broken contract, lamented one young Mennonite, "[boomed] like lightening out of a clear sky."13

Despite Russia’s double dealing, the Mennonites refused to despair before they had done all they could do. Four delegations petitioned St. Petersburg to extend Catherine’s exemption, but the Czar would not revoke his resolution. All who lived on Russian soil would participate in the defense of its borders. However, to deter an exodus, authorities promised the pacifists that they would be given noncombatant assignments. 14 This did not satisfy the Mennonites. The Herald of Truth, a Mennonite periodical, declared that "[making] the instruments, and [preparing] the clothing . . . other men use in the shedding of human blood" was no different than killing.15 Devastated, the Mennonites decided to emigrate.16

But the Czar was not willing to lose such prosperous pacifists. Therefore, when Mennonites requested passports, they were refused.17 Nevertheless, Alexander resisted further estrangement from his Mennonite subjects. In an attempt to pacify them, the Czar sent General von Todtleben on a special mission to the Mennonite villages.

Concessions

Anticipation must have filled the Hieberts’ hearts with the news that von Todtleben hoped to appease them. Perhaps they would not be forced to leave. When the general reached Alexanderwohl, the Hieberts and the village received him in the meetinghouse. However, von Todtleben quickly snuffed out Abraham and Helena’s spark of hope. He did not extend exemption, only adaptations: all Mennonites choosing to remain in Russia would not bear arms, but they would be assigned civil service as drivers, hospital orderlies, and foresters.18 Moreover, the general eclipsed the idea of emigration with a dark description of America.19 After a final plea for permanence, von Todtleben requested a prompt response and departed for another village. Abraham and Helena must have wept, but they were not alone. Neither they nor their neighbors accepted the adjustments.20 The sun was setting on their life in Alexanderwohl.

Nevertheless, Alexanderwohl was the exception. Dissensions followed von Todtleben from town to town.21 Emigration had lost its appeal. The first to accept the general’s offer were wealthy Mennonites unwilling to sacrifice their possessions.22 Had the rich bolted from Russia, they would have suffered staggering losses. Farms would have sold for only thirty percent of their value.23 Hesitant to forfeit their wealth, the Czar’s proposal convinced the wealthy of "[his] interest in their welfare."24 Other groups followed. Liberal thinkers, including a Mennonite missionary, claimed it would "yet be possible to worship God in spirit and in truth" despite civil service requirements.25 However, a third group, hoping to sell their property without suffering a loss, used the compromise to buy time before emigrating.26 Their hesitation provided an opportunity for the Russians to place several roadblocks in their paths.27

Roadblocks

However, those from Alexanderwohl did not delay. Nine months prior to General von Todtleben’s visit they had requested authorization to leave, but no permission would be granted until the Czar had exhausted his options. Nevertheless, after von Todtleben’s failed attempt to discourage emigration from Alexanderwohl, the villagers asked that he help acquire their passports. He consented. On July 22, 1874, seven-hundred-eighty-six Mennonites forsook Alexanderwohl and fled, 28 but the Hieberts stayed. Perhaps they hoped to follow after several months, but Helena later realized she was pregnant.29 Pregnancy and delicate health postponed preparations to flee from Russia until March of 1875, but after the birth of little Helena, they petitioned the government and received their emigration papers.30 Alexander’s first roadblock was little more than a speed bump.

Other dawdlers were not as lucky. Government officials effected more laws hindering further migration. One, issued in 1874, paralyzed many of the pacifists economically. All Mennonite land owners were issued deeds, and for three years, the sale of estates to non-Mennonites was banned. For example, the Lord Mayor in Altonau31 declared all land sales made prior to the decree illegal. Farms previously sold were returned, forcing many families to postpone emigration.32 A contemporary edict withheld passports from all military aged men and boys.33 Soon thereafter, the Russians compelled Mennonite young men to harvest timber and plant trees while their parents built barracks.34 These roadblocks impeded the Mennonite exodus. Thousands more would have emigrated had obtaining permission to leave been easier.35

However, emigration was not impossible; the obstacles placed in the path of the Russian Mennonites simply became an excuse to stay home. Despite all the controversy and problems created by the government, the Czar’s window remained open several years for dissatisfied pacifists to leave. Moreover, the law detaining draft eligible teens did not prevent families in Russia from leaving. Ship lists from 1874 to 1885 reveal that dozens of young men dodged the draft by retreating to North America.36 Therefore, emigration was imperative only for those who vehemently opposed the Czar’s edicts of the 1870s, as did Abraham and Helena Hiebert.

Home

Thus Abraham, Helena, and their children set their backs to Alexanderwohl, never to return. The night of oppression had fallen, and no lantern of compromise shimmered sufficiently to keep them in Russia’s shadows, nor could any obstacle obstruct their path. They sought freedom, freedom their homeland did not have. Yes, the Hieberts could have stayed with the thousands of others, but not in good conscience. Nothing in Alexander II’s power could placate or dissuade them from emigrating as it did other Mennonites. On July 24, 1875, Abraham, Helena and their family arrived in Kansas. Two weeks later they obtained land,37 and no Czar would be able to force them off it. Here, their children would fall in love and be married; here, their grandchildren would be born; here, they would be buried. The Hieberts had found a new home and future memories.

In dazzling irony, the sun had risen in the west and illuminated the Kansas plains.

Endnotes

1. Abraham Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret Abraham Hiebert Aus Alexanderwohl," trans. Rufus Abraham Hiebert, [photocopy] Holdings of Vernon Marion Pankratz, Tooele, Utah, 6.

2. The village of Alexanderwohl was one of many in the Mennonite colony of Molotschna. Alexanderwohl was in what is now the Ukraine and was approximately sixty kilometers north of the Sea of Azov and eighty kilometers northwest of the port city of Berdjansk. Ben Boese, "Die Andre Kant," [photocopy] Holdings of Vernon Marion Pankratz, Tooele, Utah, 9.

3. David C. Wedel, The Story of Alexanderwohl (North Newton, Kans.: Mennonite Press, Inc., 1974), 15.

4. A detailed list of possessions and their worth is found in Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret," 5-6.

5. Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret," 3.

6. Peter Pankratz is my great-great grandfather.

7. Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret," 6-7.

8. Brothers in Deed to Brothers in Need; A Scrapbook About Mennonite Immigrants From Russia, 1870-1885, ed. Clarence Hiebert (Newton, Kans.: Faith and Life Press, 1974), v.

9. C. B. Schmidt, "Reminiscences of Foreign Immigration Work for Kansas," Brothers in Deed, 451.

10. C. Henry Smith, The Coming of the Russian Mennonites (Berne, Ind.: Mennonite Book Concern, 1927). For further information on the Mennonite situation in Russia, The Coming of the Russian Mennonites is recommended; in it, Smith addresses the conditions of the Mennonite exodus in general terms. The author is also explicit in enumerating all of the reasons the Mennonites chose to leave Russia, military service being the dominant factor. Moreover, his work The Story of the Mennonites (Newton, Kans.: Mennonite Publication Office, 1957) is an encompassing history of the Mennonites as a people.

Several other authors have discussed the emigrations from South Russia in the late nineteenth century and the subsequent settling of the Mennonites in the American Mid-west and Canada. David C. Wedel, in The Story of Alexanderwohl, focuses the lens of the departure to narrate the settling and history of New Alexanderwohl, Kansas; the first two chapters of the work are centered on the emigration of an individual village from the Ukraine.

Presently, Royden Loewen is studying the social history of the Mennonites who settled in North America; his work is concentrated primarily on the Mennonite pioneers after they had crossed the Atlantic and became established in Canada and the United States. His books Hidden Worlds (Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press, 2001) and From the Inside Out (Winnipeg: The University of Manitoba Press, 1999) should be consulted for letters, senate debates, and other items pertaining to the emigration—Brothers in Deed to Brothers in Need. The collection is an excellent resource of primary sources for any historian, professional or otherwise, interested in the Mennonite movement from 1870 to 1885.

Additionally, a study of Russian history during the late nineteenth century may also prove useful in understanding the Mennonite exodus. Two books discussing the life and times of Alexander II are Tsar-liberator: Alexander II of Russia, 1818-1881 (Newtonville, Mass.: Oriental Research Partners, 1983) by N. G. Pereira, and Tsar of Freedom: the Life and Reign of Alexander II (Hamden, Conn.: Archon Books, 1968) by Stephen Graham.

11. Smith, The Coming of the Russian Mennonites, 16-17.

12. Ibid., 22-27.

13. Peter A. Wiebe, "Father’s Diary," trans. David Wiebe, [photocopy] Holdings of Vernon Marion Pankratz, Tooele, Utah, 18.

14. Smith, The Coming of the Russian Mennonites, 45-47.

15. "The Emigration from Russia," The Herald of Truth, September 1876, Brothers in Deed, 305.

16. Benjamin Ratzlaff, Jr., "Obituary of Bishop Benjamin Ratzlaff," The Herald of Truth, January 1875, Brothers in Deed, 212.

17. Eugene Schuyler, "To Hamilton Fish (No. 168), 30 March 1872," Brothers in Deed, 11.

18. Smith, The Coming of the Russian Mennonites, 95.

19. Rev. H.R. Voth, quoted in The Coming of the Russian Mennonites, 94.

20. Wedel, The Story of Alexanderwohl, 29. Although the majority of those from Alexanderwohl left for North America, some did stay behind.

21. Peter Wienss, letter to The Herald of Truth, 22 March 1874, Brothers in Deed, 156.

22. Unknown newspaper, Brothers in Deed, 316.

23. "News from Russia," The Herald of Truth, January 1874, Brothers in Deed, 98.

24. Schmidt, Brothers in Deed, 452.

25. "Missionary" Dirks, "letter from Pankaten, Sumatra, 18 July 1872," Brothers in Deed, 158.

26. Unknown newspaper, Brothers in Deed, 316.

27. "The Disciples of Mennon Simonis," Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 20 March 1875, Brothers in Deed, 226.

28. Wedel, The Story of Alexanderwohl, 29.

29. Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret," 3. When the first wave of Alexanderwohl migrants left, Helena was approximately ten days pregnant.

30. Ibid., 4.

31. Altonau was a town approximately thirty-six miles southwest of Alexanderwohl; Boese, "Die Andre Kant," 8.

32. Abm. Goerz, "Extract from a Letter from Russia," The Herald of Truth, February 1874, Brothers in Deed, 115.

33. Wienss, Brothers in Deed, 156.

34. "My Buggy Ride," McPherson Republican, 1 May 1884, Brothers in Deed, 419.

35. "Our Brethren in the Faith," Brothers in Deed, 307.

36. Brothers in Deed, 151-152; 157-162; 167-178; 186-191; 199-200; 207-210; 237; 242-251; 258; 262; 287-297; 302; 320-323; 342; 347-352;359-362; 383; 391; 395; 403; 411; 423; 426; 429; 434; 442; 447.

37. Hiebert, "Dieses Buch Gehoeret," 9.