1 Nephi 21:23


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23 And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers; they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord; for they shall not be ashamed that wait for me.

Quotes for Discussion

In 1947 the cry was raised: “The Navajo’s are freezing and starving.” You remember I’m sure. Truckloads of clothing and food were fathered here in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Utah</st1:place></st1:State> and taken from our Church welfare storehouses for these distressed Indians. Simultaneously, the press took up the cry and warm hearted people of the nation, and particularly of the West, answered the call with bedding, food, clothing, and money. The echoes resounded from ocean to ocean, and a sleeping nation roused itself.

Pictures and stories of want and starvation were printed in newspapers and magazines; pressures were brought to bear upon officials; and the important prophecies began to be fulfilled, and the arms of the gentile nation which had scattered the Lamanites now opened to enfold them, and the shoulders which once were used to into reservations, now squared away to carry these deprived ones to their destiny. Even within the past two or three years, great strides have been made. Education, the common denominator and leveler, is coming to the red man. The clinic and hospital are available to him. Indian children are being born in hospitals, sanitation is being taught, and the sun is rising on the Indian world with the government, churches, and many agencies becoming “nursing parents” to them.

Yesterday tribal people resisted education: today they grasp it eagerly. Not long ago nearly all Indians were illiterate and unschooled; today many in 1956 nearly every Indian child in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region> may have some training. Yesterday Indian children were kidnapped from their parents and forced to school. Today parents beg for school, and children eagerly attend.

Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, Oct. 1956; or The Improvement Era, Dec. 1956, 937

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May I conclude with this experience of my friend and brother, Boyd K. Packer, as he returned from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Peru</st1:country-region></st1:place>. It was in a branch Sacrament meeting. The chapel was filled, the opening exercises finished, and the Sacrament in preparation. A little Lamanite ragamuffin entered from the street. His two shirts would scarcely make one, so ragged they were and torn and worn. It was unlikely that those shirts had ever been off that little body since they were donned. Calloused and chapped were the little feet which brought him in the open door, up the aisle, and to the Sacrament table. There was dark and dirty testimony of deprivation, want, unsatisfied hungers-spiritual as well as physical. Almost unobserved he shyly came to the Sacrament table and with a seeming spiritual hunger, leaned against the table and lovingly rubbed his unwashed face against the cool, smooth, white linen.

A woman on a front seat, seemingly outraged by the intrusion, caught his eye and with motion and frown sent the little ragamuffin scampering down the aisle out into this world, the street.

A little later, seemingly compelled by some inner urge, he overcame his timidity and came stealthily, cautiously down the aisle again, fearful, ready to escape if necessary, but impelled as though directed by inaudible voices with "a familiar spirit" and as though memories long faded were reviving, as though some intangible force were crowding him on to seek something for which he yearned but could not identify.

From his seat on the stand, Elder Packer caught his eye, beckoned to him, and stretched out big, welcoming arms. A moment's hesitation and the little ragamuffin was nestled comfortably on his lap, in his arms, the tousled head against a great warm heart-a heart sympathetic to waifs, and especially to little Lamanite ones. It seemed the little one had found a safe harbor from a stormy sea, so contented he was. The cruel, bewildering, frustrating world was outside. Peace, security, acceptance enveloped him.

Later Elder Packer sat in my office and, in tender terms and with a subdued voice, rehearsed this incident to me. As he sat forward on his chair his eyes glistening, a noticeable emotion in his voice, he said, "As this little one relaxed in my arms, it seemed it was not a single little Lamanite I held. It was a nation, indeed a multitude of nations of deprived, hungering souls, wanting something deep and warm they could not explain-a humble people yearning to revive memories all but faded out-of ancestors standing wide-eyed, openmouthed, expectant and excited, looking up and seeing a holy, glorified Being descend from celestial areas, and hearing a voice say: `Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are...and in me hath the Father glorified his name....

"I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." (3 Nephi 9:15, 18)

This day of the Lamanite brings opportunity. Millions farm the steep hillsides of Andean ranges and market their produce with llamas and horses and burros. They must have the emancipating gospel. Millions serve in menial labor, eke out bare subsistence from soil and toil. They must hear the compelling truths of the gospel. Millions are tied to reservations, deprived, untrained, and less than they could be. They must have the enlightening gospel. It will break their fetters, stir their ambition, increase their vision and open new worlds of opportunity to them. Their captivity will be at an end-captivity from misconceptions, illiteracy, superstition. Fear. "The clouds of error disappear before the rays of truth divine." (Parley P. Pratt, Hymns 269.)

And Nephi's vision is realized: ". . . I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth. . . ." (1 Nephi 14:12.)

The brighter day has dawned. The scattering has been accomplished, the gathering is in process. May the Lord bless us all as we become nursing fathers and mothers (see Isa. 49:23 and Nephi 21:23) unto our Lamanite brethren and hasten the fulfillment of the great promises made to them I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Elder Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, October 1965, Afternoon Meeting, p.71-72<o:p></o:p>

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE> We have many missionaries, both young men and young women, who are called locally and who serve with honor in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Mexico</st1:country-region>, Central America, South America, the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Philippines</st1:country-region></st1:place>, and other places. They have very little money, but they make a contribution with what they have….They work with faith and devotion. Then comes the day of their release. They return to their homes. Their hopes are high. But many of them have great difficulty finding employment because they have no skills. They sink right back into the pit of poverty from which they came….

The Church is establishing a fund largely from the contributions of faithful Latter-day Saints who have and will contribute for this purpose….We shall call it the Perpetual Education Fund…loans will be made to ambitious young men and women, for the most part returned missionaries, so that they borrow money to attend school. Then when they qualify for employment, it is anticipated that they will return that which they have borrowed together with a small amount of interest as an incentive to repay the loan….It will work because it will follow priesthood lines and because it will function on a local basis….Participation in the program will carry with it no stigma of any kind, but rather a sense of pride in what is happening. It will not be a welfare effort. Commendable as those efforts are, but rather an educational opportunity.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, May 200151-52

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>They shall not be ashamed that wait for me<o:p></o:p>

The word wait in Hebrew means hope for or anticipate….Thus, one who waits upon the Lord places his trust in Him and lives in accordance with His will as he or she anticipates His coming. Such persons will have their “confidence wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45), for they will have no unresolved sins to cause them to be ashamed.

Hoyt W. Brewster, Jr. Isaiah Plain and Simple, pp. 203-204<o:p></o:p>

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