by Howard E. Salisbury, Lieutenant—USNR
It has been fifteen months since three of we returned
missionaries started our weekly services at the Naval Training Center at
Millington, near Memphis, Tennessee. The two seamen who were with me were sent
away shortly after we started our meetings and I was left to carry on. In those
fifteen months I have never lacked leaders to assist me, among them always a
few returned missionaries; yet some of our most capable leaders and speakers
have been the eighteen and nineteen year old boys who have made best use of the
opportunities provided by the priesthood through the years. I will testify to this
before priesthood quorums all my life.
Our numbers have grown from three or four to the record
attendance of forty-five who were present to hear Apostle Ezra T. Benson and President
Graham H. Doxey on their recent tour of the mission.
My tour of duty with the navy keeps me in Memphis at all
times except on occasional trips to the Naval Training Center. On these visits I
hold business meetings with five or six members whom I appoint to conduct the
services and contact speakers, etc. In the Thursday evening service I regularly
occupy the last portion of the time to counsel the brethren and instruct them
in the principles of the gospel. The counsel is that which accumulates as a
result of the many visits paid me by servicemen, sailors, marines, and soldiers
at my office in the police station.
A volume could be written about our weekly meetings, because
they are the most inspirational services of worship I have ever participated in,
with the exception of a few notable meetings in the temple.
There is actually something reminiscent of a temple assembly
in these Thursday evening gatherings. I sit at the end of the first bench where
I can see the expression on the faces of thirty-five or forty men in white as
they contemplate with the speakers the principles of the gospel. These boys are
awakening to the fact that throughout their lives they have possessed a. way
which is truly heavenly, and that by traveling that way they are progressing
heavenward.
They are men, speaking generally, who have come from
communities where contrasts in philosophies of life are not so evident as here in
this heterogeneous society of servicemen. The views concerning life which were
formerly taken for granted have ascended to the highest place in their estimate
of values, because the contrast between their knowledge and convictions and the
indifference of their associates is so evident, indeed astounding; a contrast
which many of our Mormon boys have never before been in a position to observe.
They come to the meetings the first time wearing vestiges of
homesickness which bewildered and humbled them in boot camp. They had learned
in the preliminary training that the best palliative is the fellowship of men
who hold the same beliefs and standards as they, and who have come from the
Zion that now shines with a special glory in their imaginations. After that
first meeting they return to gain inspiration and support for the variety of
situations which insistently surprise them. Men without free agency seem so
sensitive to surprise. Initiative and originality are perforce suspended, and
it is with these resources that they are accustomed to arise and meet their problems.
Friendships built on eternal lines are formed among us. At
almost every service we say good-bye to one or two of our members who, five
months before, stood up and introduced themselves to the group. In their farewell
these men, bear their testimonies concerning the values of our worship
together. The nonmember friends whom they bring marvel at this.
[Howard E. Salisbury, born February 4, 1911 in Utah. Died June 21, 1977 in California.]
4 comments:
Thank you for posting this document. I feel very akin to these young boys described here, as I grew up in northern Utah but have since moved to the east coast where things are very different. Hearing their account helps me to put my own into perspective and to have some examples aspire to.
It is accounts like this that help us draw our hearts out to those who have gone before and use their examples going forward.
I'm glad you like it. You have described what I consider the most important thing we can take from history. Sure we can learn cool stuff about the past, but we can also apply it to our present and future.
Howard was my spiritual mentor during my life until his death at his home in Guerneville, CA. I am blessed with hundreds of personal letters and essays he wrote from the mid-sixties until 1977. One day.....perhaps a book with my collection? A great and wise man and a spiritual giant.
Thank you for commenting Lee. I could only know Howard from this one letter he wrote. But you hint at so much more.
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