Family Heritage from a Hymn

As I count my blessings of testimony and legacy of membership

in the restored Gospel that is the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, I often revert back to

the favorite family story of conversion that is the headwater

for the Glissmeyer clan, my "born to" lineage.

When I came across this worn and tattered music recently
in our family collection of memorabilia,

I wanted to share it in a post about our family legacy.

There is a hand-written inscription to my grandfather

August Glissmeyer, who had a wonderful voice, sang with

the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and also soloed in congregations

around the Salt Lake Valley. It was his father Heinrich who

first was touched by this hymn in a far-away village in Germany,

as described recently by my brother Eric Glissmeyer 

(also a noted vocal soloist) in these paragraphs:

Heinrich Glissmeyer

"The hymns certainly can build faith and testimony as evidenced in the life of my great grandfather Heinrich Glissmeyer. He lived in the small town of Egesdorf near Hanover, Germany. One day while walking home from the coal mines where he worked, he passed a small home. He paused to listen to a hymn that was being sung within the house. The words of the hymn sank deep into his heart. They spoke of an Eternal Father in Heaven, and of a wise and glorious purpose for being here on Earth, and of our eventual return to the embrace of our Heavenly Parents. The name of the hymn – ‘O My Father”.

Heinrich Glissmeyer

After standing there for a time, he noticed that people began to come out of the house. Among these was a friend who worked at the mine with him. Heinrich later asked his friend what was going on in the house, and came to discover that it was a cottage meeting of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Eventually Heinrich joined the Church, along with his wife and children, and some of his siblings and their families. Many lives were affected because of a powerful hymn and the effect it had on my great grandfather. As you can imagine, ‘O My Father’ has a special significance for my family."

An interesting coincidence occurred as I attended the MTC

this week that ties this hymn into an interesting spiral.

As I relaxed in the Admin. Building hallway

between dinner and the Tuesday night devotional,

I was aware of an energetic "district" of young sister missionaries

who were chatting and visiting in front of the world map which is

a favorite group or companionship photo op spot. Suddenly I heard

someone say "Sister Glissmeyer", and my attention was riveted.

I took the chance to stand, locate this Sister [Kaylie] Glissmeyer,

who comes through the same heritage line of Heinrich -

and chat briefly. We all are cousins of one level or another.

There we were together, committed to serving to share the Gospel

which all those years ago began our connection to

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

The restored Gospel of Jesus Christ makes it a small world.

"Hold Fast That Which Is Good"

Yesterday I had the opportunity to deliver a "farewell" message

to my local ward (congregation). Using inspiration from

my woodworker son, I borrowed one of his hand wood working tools

and used it to introduce my theme.

I include just a "taste" of my presentation here, beginning with

the description of the Hold Fast iron tool:

The Hold Fast is a traditional hand woodworking tool. 

It consists of a round iron shaft curved into a hook at the top 

that ends in a pad or foot. 

It is used in conjunction with a traditional woodworker’s bench 

which has a series of holes bored through top. 

A pair of Hold Fasts are placed in selected holes 

which are already relatively closely fitting. 

The wood component to be shaped is placed between 

workbench surface and pads. The curved top is pounded 

by a wooden-head mallet, which action secures 

the Hold Fast in place, holding the wood so that it can be 

further shaped and refined with the actions of other hand tools, 

including bit & brace drill, chisel or hand plane.

The Hold Fast and Wooden Mallet tools have been used by 

craftsmen for centuries. For so long, in fact, that it is NOT 

a stretch to think that Jesus, the Carpenter of Galilee 

would have been familiar with them.

Two New Testament scriptures refer to the Hold Fast:

Hebrews 10:23 In letter to Hebrews, Paul is reminding them 

of Jesus Christ’s mission, sacrifice & atonement. 

His exhortation is “Let us HOLD FAST our faith.”

1 Thess 5:21 in letter to Thessalonians, Paul is encouraging 

them [and us] to live as saints would live, 

He wrote “Prove all things; HOLD FAST that which is good.”

There are many “good” things to HOLD FAST: 

being kind and showing acceptance, serving others, 

forgiving quickly, being humble and acknowledging 

our mistakes and weaknesses, expressing gratitude, 

responsibly using the Earth’s resources, 

taking care of one’s own space.

For my presentation, I considered all good things as attributes 

of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Father’s Plan for [our] Happiness.

After outlining that Plan in a brief way, I quoted from

Elder D. Todd Christopherson's Oct 2018 General Conference talk

titled "Firm and Steadfast in the Faith of Christ" to introduce

the "If so, Then what" concept about how we can demonstrate

our acceptance and belief in the Gospel.

I referred to two scripture instances plus another from

early Church history that show the "Hold Fast" commitment: 

1) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego and their reliance

on God's protecting power that could save them from

punishment in the fiery furnace for holding fast to their covenant 

to worship only the God of Israel, and not the King's golden idol;

2) the Army of Helaman young men warriors who hold fast 

to testimonies taught them by their “mothers” and other women 

of influence in their lives that if they did not doubt, 

God would deliver them;

3) Mary Elizabeth (15 years) and Caroline (13 years)

who rescue newly-printed Book of Covenant pages that mob

has thrown out of Church printing office as they attack it

in Independence, Missouri in summer of 1833.

I finished by recounting "Hold Fast" moments from my own life,

including the journey that led us to the Office Specialist mission

calling in the New Hampshire Manchester Mission of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,

and my testimony of the love of God and my Savior that is

so often demonstrated in my own life, helping me to

"hold on" to Gospel principles and do my best to stay

on the covenant path.

Good Timber

I have enjoyed living in proximity to 

my wood worker (furniture-building) son

for the past few years as he has been seriously following

his life calling to improve his skills and build his body of work.

Cory is a craftsman, but also a philosopher, 

and a voracious reader on widely varied topics.

Luckily for me, he regularly shares what he has learned

and what he knows about wood - many things 

about which I had no idea: how wood grows, what happens in

good years and bad, environmental forces that impact how

the wood looks and acts, which woods are hard enough 

for certain applications, what happens when it is cut fresh,

changes that occur while in the curing barn 

or shop, about how wood "moves" all its existence long,  

and much more.

 Above is a "simple" shallow bowl that Cory turned earlier this year

from Ambrosia Maple. "Opening up" the wood as this process does

reveals so much beauty, it is rather breathtaking!

Striations are enhances when "plain" natural oils are applied,

and the light seems to penetrate beyond the surface.

For this bowl, the craftsman decided to provide more contrast

on the bowl's rim as an accent, so he applied "heat" to the rim

edge by forcing handfuls of turning shavings with pressure to

the bowl's rim by hand as the lathe spun.

Friction heated the shavings to the point that it

actually BURNS the "permanent" color on.

In contrast to the "refined" surface of the Ambrosia Maple bowl

is this "spalted" and wormy Hackberry bowl (below) 

that Cory turned a few years earlier.

Spalting refers to the affect caused by a fungi, either while

growing or after it has been felled, which affects the coloration and

often makes it especially sought after by wood workers.

This bowl also has a surface feature: irregular holes 

created when boring insects attacked the live tree, 

that actually pierce through to the interior, as can be seen

with this inverted position image below.

The insects attacked the tree first, which lowered its defenses

and allowed the fungi to take hold.

Very interesting to look at, because of its imperfections.

Discussing what makes wood "attractive" often brings to my mind

a phrase that I associate with post-crisis evaluations in my own life:

"At least I am getting my money's worth from mortality."

Cory shared a poem with me a few years ago, entitled

"Good Timber" 

by Douglas Malloch 

that is likewise illustrative on this topic 

(four stanzas worth the read!):

The tree that never had to fight

For sun and sky and air and light,

But stood out in the open plain

And always got its share of rain,

Never became a forest king

But lived and died a scrubby thing.

The man who never had to toil

To gain and farm his patch of soil,

Who never had to win his share

Of sun and sky and light and air,

Never became a manly man

But lived and died as he began.

Good timber does not grow with ease:

The stronger the wind, the stronger trees;

The further sky, the greater length;

The more the storm, the more the strength.

By sun and cold, by rain and snow,

In trees and men good timbers grow,

Where thickest lies the forest growth,

We find the patriarchs of both.

And they hold counsel with the stars

Whose broken branches show the scars

Of many winds and much of strife.

This is the common law of life.

* * *

Thank you, Cory, for teaching me about

the nature of struggle and survival!

Time is passing quickly, and we have one week to prepare to leave 

(plus evenings of two weeks of training). 

We will be addressing our home congregation in 

Lehi Thanksgiving Ward at noon on May 19th. 

Looking forward to expressing our feelings about

 why will be serving as senior missionaries for 18 months, 

and why it is so important to us.