Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #12 - Elder Rudd Helps Save a Mission

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            On Monday the 18th, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin called me about conditions he had found in the Corpus Christi Mission. He wanted me to go there as fast as I could and try to straighten out the problems. I tried to call Elder L. Tom Perry, who was my first contact in the Twelve, but could not reach him. I immediately arranged airline tickets and flew to Corpus Christi.

            Upon arrival, I was met by President G____ F____, who was a splendid man, but who looked haggard, worn, and very unstrung. We had a very good talk and then drove to McAllen, Texas, to meet with the stake president, Tim Olsen. We also visited in Harlingen. I had the opportunity to visit with seven very depressed and discouraged elders who were just waiting around for President F___ to decide whether or not to send them home. I immediately told him not to send anyone home and not to hold any more disciplinary courts [now “membership councils”] on missionaries.     

            During the next three days I toured the entire mission with President F___. I found many serious problems among the missionaries. Apparently, the president had lost control of the mission and was now in a very distressed and depressed condition. I felt very sorry for him and his situation. He was not sleeping very well and he had lost any ability to relax. Altogether there were 189 missionaries in the mission, and I interviewed at least 55 of them. By the time I was ready to go home, I knew what the problem really was and that something serious was taking place in this fine part of the Lord's vineyard. I had a good, honest talk with President F___ on the way to the airport, outlining some things he could attempt to do to turn the mission around.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #11 - Elder Rudd’s Opinion of the Biggest Eating General Authorities (of His Day)

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            Among the General Authorities I traveled with, I discovered that many were capable of doing a really thorough job at the dinner table. However, after some degree of thought, I have concluded that the biggest eater among them was Elder Alma Sonne, with Elder Sterling W. Sill as a close second. Those two were magnificent at the dinner table. Neither one was bashful nor willing to quit until the food was gone. They made everyone feel good. On the other hand, I was a rather poor eater and embarrassed myself, as well as many people, with my inability to do justice to the lovely meals that were provided for us over the years.

            On one occasion, Elder Sonne and I were assigned to a stake conference in Cheyenne, Wyoming. While flying to Denver where we would rent a car to drive the rest of the way, Elder Sonne mentioned a place between Denver and Cheyenne where "they sell the best steaks in the world," and where we would stop and order a great big steak for our lunch. He described in minute detail the restaurant and quality of steaks served there. After talking about it a good part of the flight, by the time we got to Denver, I was close to starvation.

            After renting a car and proceeding on to Cheyenne, Elder Sonne proudly continued on in detail about the marvelous steak we were going to have. I finally told him we needed to stop now and eat, because I didn't think I could last. I was starving to death just listening to him. But he was intent on getting to his favorite steakhouse. And, indeed, when we finally arrived an hour later, the steak we were served was a masterpiece.

The "Radical Orthodoxy Manifesto" Bunk and Baloney

By Dennis B. Horne

            I get very tired of having to do step by step or even line by line refutations of the nonsense that comes from the Givens’ et. al. Yet here we are again. When I first skimmed it, red flags went up everywhere and I was again grateful for the spirit of discernment and the guidance of prophets. Quotations from the document are followed by my refutations:

“This polarization [and contention of the world] is driving members of the Church to spiritually dangerous extremes, tempting some Latter-day Saints to reduce fidelity to knee-jerk traditionalism and others to abandon fidelity for worldly philosophies.”

            We have always had weak and ignorant members of the Church, in various quantities, foolishly camping in dangerous extremes (until they get excommunicated). That is nothing new. From Godbeites to Snufferites, even the elect are being deceived.

            “Fidelity” is (later) defined as “We are loyal to Jesus Christ and His Restored Church and submit to His divine authority by sustaining and following the local and general leaders of the Church”—which sounds great until you realize how those truths are being defined and it suddenly falls apart.

Jana Reiss Needs to Have Her Temple Recommend Pulled

 

By Dennis B. Horne

             I have thought for years that Jana Reiss, a dissident blogger that the Salt Lake Tribune unfortunately and foolishly reposts, should have her temple recommend pulled (and also receive membership restrictions or loss). Her loud public criticisms of the church she is allegedly a member of, and of its leaders, should have long ago been cause for forfeiture of temple privileges.

            Now, she has again loudly and openly declared her opposition to paying tithing in the prescribed method, and one must be a full tithe-payer  as defined by the Church to hold a temple recommend. She states in her column for all to see:

 

            The short version of all this is that while I am still a full-tithe payer, I have not paid a dime of it to the church in 2020.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #10 - Some of Elder Rudd’s Thoughts on Difficult Welfare Issues

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

 

            I had a rather interesting meeting with L____ W____ who was one of the directors [in the Welfare Department]. I told him I was greatly distressed with the treatment we were giving to our Deseret Industries workers. It sometimes seemed to me like we were in the business to make money, which was not the way it should be. We talked over basic concepts, and before we were through, he reversed the policy on cutting hours and furloughing some workers when sales were down. I felt that we ought to keep our people busy regardless of how we were doing financially—I still do.

 ***

            A rather sad thing happened in Welfare on the 24th. 'Two of our top men flew to an eastern city and fired our area manger there for some stupid thing he had done with Church funds. I was greatly distressed. Bishop Burke Peterson of the Presiding Bishopric heard about it and spoke to me. Bishop Peterson met with President Hinckley to talk about the situation. President Hinckley ruled against firing the man and commented that what the manager had done was, indeed, stupid, but that we should not fire good people for being stupid. So we brought the man back on the job, transferred him to another place and let him carry on for several more years as a valuable employee. I was very grateful for the attitude of Bishop Peterson and President Hinckley.

 ***

            Brother Edwards had worked closely with the First Presidency for a number of years and had been their personal financial advisor. He had also been the stake president in New York City several years earlier. I knew him to be an exceptionally important man. I had met him on several occasions so I felt we should make his trip pleasant. His wife was the sister to Camilla Kimball (President Spencer W. Kimball's wife) and was a lovely and delightful person. Their visit, which took four days and much of our time, was well worth it. I drove them to see the Waitomo caves and some other beautiful areas of New Zealand.

            We enjoyed Brother and Sister Edwards' visit. They were both 80 years old, but were bright and intelligent. A number of years ago, he had been hired by the First Presidency to make an audit of the entire welfare program—why we were in it, what we were doing, and so forth. His report was very negative and upset Harold B. Lee, Henry D. Moyle, and Marion G. Romney, and me. If the Brethren had followed his suggestions, we probably would have closed down the welfare program. He was a financial man, and welfare was not making money. Anyway, welfare survived, and I still had great respect and good feeling for this fine man and his wife.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #9 - Elder Rudd Corrects Some General Authorities

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)  

             [Editorial Note: I was able to question Elder Rudd and learn the (deceased) names of the fine general authorities he found himself correcting (which is a nicer word than rebuking) on these exceedingly rare occasions. I inserted them in bracket. Most modern readers won’t recognize those names. Elder Rudd told me that almost the only reason he was able to correct these good brethren without fear of reprisals was because President Lee covered his back. Any time one of the brethren didn’t like something Brother Rudd did and got after him for it, he would call Elder Lee and let him know, and Elder Lee would make sure nothing happened to Brother Rudd. These were the years before Elder Rudd became a general authority himself, and was serving on the church welfare committee.]

            One of the powerful General Authorities [Elder Thorpe B. Isaacson] with whom I traveled was a very interesting man. He was high strung and was easily upset, but he always treated me with great dignity and honor.

            I enjoyed being with him very much, but on one trip, out of the state, we were stranded in the airport because our connecting flight to another city was cancelled. I remember my friend raising heck with the man at the check-in stand. I was standing next to him when he lost his temper and began to berate this poor man who was checking us in and who had nothing to do with the cancellation. The situation became so bad I walked away because I did not want to be so close to this man who had raised his voice so loud that everyone in the airport was watching.

Learning Doctrine and Hearing Apostolic Testimony from Elder Marion G. Romney

 

(Prepared by Dennis B. Horne)

            Note: the below material is my Christmas present to all those who admire Elder Romney and love his teachings and testimony. Hear them below, all messages given before he entered the First Presidency.

            Elder Marion G. Romney, who passed away in 1988, has been called an apostle’s apostle. He was one of the greatest of their number, according to those who knew him best. One of his associates among the general authorities said that, “President Romney was much greater than most people knew.” There is no question that Elder Romney, through faith and righteous living, received marvelous spiritual experiences and manifestations (that he did not describe in detail) during his ministry. These continued until the day came that he could testify, albeit indirectly, but with little question for those with ears to hear and hearts to understand, that the Lord Jesus had personally shown Himself in very deed to this pure and humble apostle (listen to the final minutes of the last talk in the below list to see what I mean.)

            Highlights from the below audio file conference talks include his apostolic acceptance speech (that was actually video and is superb); his April 1953 message when he became almost upset with those church members who taught/teach the false theory of evolution instead of the true doctrine of the origin and mission of Adam; and those select and special occasions when he humbly but forcefully bore his special witness of Jesus Christ—his language was persuasive and powerful and convincing, as was the Spirit that accompanied his testimony.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #8 - Elder Rudd’s Reminiscences about President Joseph Fielding Smith

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            In May 1959, I went with President Joseph Fielding Smith and his wife Jessie to a stake conference in Kanab and across the border to Arizona to dedicate a small chapel.

            Following a long day of meetings, we began our drive home. After we had been driving for a while, the aged President Smith said he would like to drive. I was willing, but "Aunt" Jessie, as we called her, was absolutely positive that he should not drive. She had already told me earlier that if he asked, I was to tell him no.

            The two of them had quite a little debate; both were kind but very hard headed and insistent. When I could see that the debate was going nowhere, I made one of the great mistakes of my traveling experiences. I said, "Let's vote on it." Immediately, she voted that he should not drive, and he voted that he should. Which left me in the middle with the deciding vote.

            I turned to the back seat and looked at the very anxious look on his face. She, on the other hand, was giving me all kinds of signals. I finally gave the following vote: "I want the two of you to know that I have tried to live the gospel and sustain the Brethren. I have had a lot of experience in the Church; and I know the worst thing I can do is tum against the priesthood. I vote that President Smith, as the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, drive if he wants to." After all, it was his car and he should be familiar with it.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #7 - Some Stories about Glen Rudd’s and Tom Monson’s Friendship

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            [Editorial Note: Brother Rudd reminisces about earlier days in his life when he became friends with a man who would become the President of the Church.]

            Once a month, all the bishoprics in our stake met with the stake presidency in a lengthy meeting, after which almost everyone was most anxious to go straight home.

            But Bishop Thomas Monson of the Sixth-Seventh Ward, a young fellow of only 22 or 23 years of age, was never anxious to call it quits. Frequently, at his suggestion, we would go get our wives and end up in the local ice cream parlor to enjoy a sundae or banana split and visit about the interesting things we were doing.

            I always marveled at Tom's capacity to keep going. After those long stake meetings, I was usually ready for bed. However, those little visits together at the ice cream parlor were worthwhile and payed off greatly for each of us.

***

            The “Monson Building”

A Walk Through Time with Elder Bruce R. McConkie

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne) 

            Note: This material constitutes my Christmas present to those who admire Elder McConkie and rejoice in his gospel teachings and testimony.

            At the October 1946 general conference, 31-year-old Bruce McConkie sat down at the Deseret News press table to take notes to be published the next day in the newspaper he worked at. He was soon tapped on the shoulder by Brother Joseph Anderson, clerk of the conference, who asked him to meet with President McKay. Brother McConkie instantly knew what was wanted. He met with Pres. McKay in the general authorities room in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, were he was interviewed and called to become a member of the First Council of Seventy.

            Then conference started and the Brethren began speaking. Brother McConkie had to concentrate on the messages to take notes because he was feeling so flustered by the call. He wrote: “During the meeting I could not look around. . . . Pres. George F. Richards was one of the speakers, and I took the notes necessary to report his sermon. It was on the divine law of love. It calmed my nerves somewhat to be forced to concentrate on the sermon and make notes for newspaper quotation.”

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #6 - Some of Elder Glen L. Rudd’s Experiences with President Henry D. Moyle

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne) 

            [Editorial Note: President Henry D. Moyle was an apostle and counselor in the First Presidency. He became acquainted with Brother Rudd through extensive church welfare work. President Moyle was a very wealthy, high-powered, opinionated, strong church leader. These wonderful men came to have great affection for each other as the below accounts indicate; President Moyle loved and trusted Brother Rudd. These items are largely self-explanatory:] 

            President Moyle was the second chairman of the General Welfare Committee. He conducted most of the committee meetings and was in that position for seven or eight years, until he was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve.

            He continued as chairman of the General Welfare Committee even as an ordained apostle. President Moyle was a great man who had tremendous talent. He was one of the most successful lawyers in the state of Utah and had a lot to do with building three oil refineries. He was a very powerful political figure in the state of Utah. I fell in love with Brother Moyle and he was exceptionally kind to me. I was honored to be his friend and was able to get in to see him any time I needed to. As a member of the First Presidency he would call me into his office just to visit. He was particularly pleased with what I did at Welfare Square in remodeling and building new buildings.

It’s Good to Be Right and Have the Truth Come Out

             Back in April of 2018, when the critical and slanderous publicity machine was at its height, I wrote the below blog post. Today’s news items beautifully proclaim my views to be correct. Denson was nothing but a publicity and money-seeking con-woman. She made up a sensational lie to get money, but even her own lawyers quit on her when they realized she was a sham and a liar. And then some of her rabid anti-Mormon supporters also found she had duped them and turned on her.

            But the sad part about all of this is that the result of her con won’t receive near as much publicity as did her false charges and claims. So people who aren’t paying attention will still think things happened that didn’t. But at least the truth has come out for those paying attention. Denson used the Metoo movement and other anti-Mormons, who were glad to be used. But now they all look like the fools they are.

Using Publicity to Criticize the Church: Some Perspective for Viewing Recent Events

By Dennis B. Horne

“This is an insult, especially, to women who have gone

through something like that [sexual assault] and really have been hurt.”

—McKenna Denson’s ex-husband (Arizona Republic) 

            When accusations and denials of sexual assault are flying around in reporter’s stories, when sex and religion (especially Mormonism) are mentioned together, a media frenzy can result. The international “Me-too” movement has inadvertently created the perfect storm, offering an irresistible opening for various individuals with manipulative and unscrupulous motives, to take advantage of it and milk it for all it is worth. 

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #5 - Some of Elder Glen L. Rudd’s Experiences with President Harold B. Lee (Part 2)

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

  [Editorial Note: Part Two. Most of the below accounts are self-explanatory for Latter-day Saints. Elder Harold B. Lee was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and President of the Church who had a wonderful, righteous influence on Glen Rudd’s life. They had many adventures together while serving in the Church and Brother Rudd learned a great deal from him.]

            In April 1957 while visiting a stake conference in Santa Rosa, California, with Elder Harold B. Lee, the stake president announced the opening hymn and that a Brother Bybee would offer the opening prayer. As Brother Bybee passed us, Elder Lee nudged me and said, "That man baptized me." I said, "What did you say?" and he repeated, "That man baptized me." At that moment Brother Bybee began to pray and when he was through, I turned to Brother Lee and said, "You said he baptized you" and Brother Lee said, "Yes, why?" I asked, "Well, you can remember that?" and he answered, "Certainly, it was only fifty years ago. Anyone can remember something fifty years ago."

            I don't know the accomplishments or wealth accumulated by Brother Bybee, but I doubt if he ever did a single act as important and far reaching as performing that single baptism in a little pond on an Idaho farm for an eight year old boy who one day would become the Prophet of the Lord.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #4 - Some of Elder Glen L. Rudd’s Experiences with President Harold B. Lee (Part 1)

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            [Editorial Note: Most of the below accounts are self-explanatory for Latter-day Saints. Elder Harold B. Lee was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and President of the Church who had a wonderful righteous influence on Glen Rudd’s life. They had many adventures together while serving in the Church and Brother Rudd learned a great deal from him. One of these reminiscences teaches us that sometimes church members don’t do as well as they ought, which is simply a part of our probationary mortal testing, with repentance always possible. Those wishing to gain some precious insight into Elder Harold B. Lee during this time period may want to copy and paste the following link into their browser, and watch him speak in the April 1952 general conference. This rare 11 minute recording has Elder Lee sharing some sacred details of how he obtained his special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.]

             While I was on the General Welfare Committee, I traveled with Elder Harold B. Lee to Idaho to reorganize a stake. We had no sooner taken off into the air when he told me I was going to have a new experience that I had never had before.

            When I asked him about it, he told me I was going to reorganize a stake. I said, "Brother Lee, I know how to help you do that, but you have the power and authority to do it. I'm a good usher and will help bring the brethren in and out so you can interview them."

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #3 - Brother Rudd Works with Various Brethren (Part 2)

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

            My assignments to stake conferences continued until I was called to be a mission president in 1966. As I look over the list of the Brethren I have traveled with, it is hard to keep from telling a story or two on all of the Brethren. They were great men. I am not amazed, but absolutely thrilled to know that the Lord plans well ahead as to whom he wants to run the Church. Each of these men comes into the leadership of the Church, takes his place, and does his work in his own way.

            I want everyone who reads this book to know that my testimony increased constantly by the privilege and opportunity I had of rubbing shoulders with these men. They were great to travel with. We shared rooms and experiences over a good many years which was a great blessing to me. The one thing I learned over and over, week-after-week is that the Brethren are the greatest men that the Lord has on the earth.

Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd #2

 (Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

Brother Rudd Works with Various Brethren (Part 1) 

            [Editorial Note: The below excerpts from Elder Rudd’s autobiographical writings share interesting experiences he had working with various general authorities. Perhaps they would not be found in a formal correlated church manual, but they do provide a glimpse of the realities of the long, hard, and inspired work done by the Brethren in their ministries. While some of them may raise an eyebrow or give pause to ponder or wonder, they can also be very faith-promoting and refreshing.]

             In May of 1971, I was assigned with Elder Howard W. Hunter to attend the stake conference of the Denver Stake in Colorado. We flew over together and upon arriving, began our interviews to select a new stake president. We were a little slow interviewing together so Elder Hunter suggested that he go in a different room and we would each interview separately. I was instructed that if I should find someone that he should meet, we were to immediately get back together.

Introducing a New Blog Series and the First Installment - Remarkable Experiences in the Life of Elder Glen L. Rudd

 

(Compiled by Dennis B. Horne)

             I herein introduce a new interesting and inspirational series of about 37 blogs. Elder Glen L. Rudd’s life was very unusual and filled with marvelous experiences and people. He traveled and worked closely with over eighty general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He came to know many of them well and some of them became close personal friends. He knew Elder Matthew Cowley and President Harold B. Lee especially well.

            Elder Rudd was a very able recorder of the events he participated in or witnessed and he also had a great memory. He prepared several autobiographical or life history-type manuscripts, filled with his experiences. He had them printed and distributed to his extended family and friends as widely as possible. His motivation for doing so was to strengthen the faith of others. He wanted to uplift and bless as many people as possible, and sharing the edifying events of his life was one way he sought to do it. Those who read the blog posts in this series will quickly see what I mean and just how remarkable many events in his life were.