March 9, 1975

This has been an unusual day. I was asked by Elder Gordon King (who is finishing his last three months of his mission assigned to the eighth wad) to give him a special blessing. He asked to return to the eight ward because he felt there was special possibilities for missionary work because of the spirit of its members. Therefore, I prepared by fasting and prayer. The blessing I gave him with the Bishop (Fillerup) was informative regarding his activities now and in the future. I was also able to tell him that his calling and election would be made sure. What a frightening—awesome experience to make such a pronouncement.

                                            

I also gave Eric a father’s blessing—he is now going to Salmon Idaho to work on a ranch and it is a major move in his life. Hopefully, his move will launch him on a course that will lead to a life work and hopefully provide a key platform for our family business activities.

I also ordained Ricky to the Aaronic Priesthood. In doing all these things I was physically exhausted  . As the Savior asked who had touched his garment because “virtue had gone out of him” I understand to some degree what he meant. It takes tremendous effort to execute ordinances—blessings—etc with Priesthood power in tune created by righteous living and spiritual preparation.

October 2, 1974

I have spent several hours transcribing this blessing from my tape recorder. I have pondered what it contains and am overwhelmed with gratitude for what it contains and the circumstances under which it was given. I feel that this blessing is meant for Norma as much as for me because we truly share our priesthood and we desire together to be “one” for this family and with our Savior and Father in Heaven who are “one”. My gratitude for the association of my Bishop is immeasurable. I love him more than a brother because in his immense humility and true leadership capabilities as outlined in D&C 121, he basks in the love, guidance, and glory of our Father in Heaven. Every action that I witness is one that brings glory to his Father and the Savior. And so it is that I can receive such a blessing under his hands and know that it is coming from God. The blessing could have been no greater had it come from the President of the Church himself. I say this with the deepest respect and humility because I perceive by the Spirit that this is the order of things in the Kingdom of God.

            We need to have assurance as imperfect mortal beings upon this earth that we are “measuring up” to some measure. I rejoice that my life at this time of my mortal and eternal existence is of worth to my dear Father in Heaven because my love for Him and for the Savior has reached such proportions that were it rejected my plea would be for extinction of my soul because of the devastating, crushing, destructive effect it would have upon my eternal soul and my identity as a son.

October 1, 1974

A special blessing given to me by my Bishop – Edward Fillerup. [Kirk notes in the margin that “This blessing was given to me at my request because of my concern for guidance and direction in establishing a family business]. “Kirk J. Anderson, by the authority of the Priesthood which I bear and by the authority of a Bishop I lay my hands upon your head and give you a Bishop’s blessing. This is a great privilege for me to be associated with one such as you and have the close association we are able to experience, to bear testimony to each other and acknowledge the workings of our Father in Heaven in our behalf. I’m grateful for you and for Sister Anderson, I’m grateful for your family.

            At this time I pronounce a blessing upon your head that you might be invigorated in mind and body and Spirit that the infirmities which are afflicting your body will be rejected that you might be made strong and whole and to receive your full health and strength and go about your affairs as you desire to do. [Kirk notes in the margin that “2 days prior to this blessing I had been in the hospital”] I pray that the conflicting elements pressing your system will be cast off.

            Now I bless you that you might have wisdom that you might have intelligence and knowledge to fulfill your foreordination here upon this earth, to continue to be the great learder that you are. Now we’re conscious of the earth foreordained to be a celestial sphere and everything created hereon has the potential to be a celestial being or celestial person. We bless you that you might indeed fulfill this destiny and that you might be a celestial being and reap the benefits of celestial life during the eternities. Now you have been concerned about your family and about the opportunities the family might have and we know of your concern that they grow up in righteousness, that they love and serve the Lord and we bless you that you might have insight into the lives and workings and thinking of your family that you might be of great assistance in rearing and teaching them to be a righteous and mighty family.

            The Lord is mindful of your desire to serve. He is mindful of your faithfulness and for your great stamina in defense of the testimony of the Gospel, and He is mindful that you do have concern for your family and I bless you and pronounce a blessing upon your head that you will have an insight and be able to understand and be able to help members of you family that you might teach them; bless them; be with them; enjoy them; and be able to help them. Now, you are concerned about a situation where you might be able to help them in a material way that all members of the family might be able to work together. Now, I say to you, Brother Anderson, that if you will be prayerful and think these things out in your own mind and then after considerable pondering, thinking, praying and developing a program which you can present to the Lord He will make it known to you whether you should go into this particular effort. It will probably take serious thought and serious consideration on your part. I am sure that the Lord is not going to reveal things to you without effort on your part. We each have a right to inspiration, revelation and guidance from our Heavenly Father and He will direct us in our own personal affairs and in our own personal desires and wants if we make these things known to him and if we present a possible solution.

            One of the great prophets that exhibited great faith was the Brother of Jared. He asked the Lord in mighty prayer how to take care of the ship that they might have light and he prayed to the Lord to give him directions to know what to do for light, and then he went about pondering this, working it in his own mind, and devised the idea that if the Lord would light the pebbles and stones that he collected that he would have light. He did so and then asked the Lord in faith and in prayer to bless him that he might be successful in this. He was also concerned about air for the ship and the Lord instructed him and gave him a solution to these problems and the Lord said “there had not been one come to Him so great in faith as the Brother of Jared”. This is the temperament that you have. You have the great faith and the great wisdom to acknowledge the Lord in your daily affairs and in your efforts and it is a great test of faith now that you now desire to be blessed and receive a blessing that you might know how to move, how to ponder, and how to work in bringing to pass the things that you desire for you family. I can assure you, brother Anderson, that if you do go to the Lord in faith and a proper receptive mood that the Lord will bless you with solutions to your desires. I bless you that you might continue to be successful in your efforts in your occupation; that you might be able to assist all the people that come to you for help and relieve their suffering. This has been a great thing that you have done to the populace of the world, helping them; assisting them in mending broken limbs and bodies that they might walk and talk and move about, and surely the Lord recognizes your great effort in this area. We bless you that you might continue to be blessed to have the skill, knowledge, and the intelligence to know what to do and how to do it in each particular case. What a marvelous thing it is to be able to assist mankind in this area.

            We bless you as a member of the Bishopric that you might be able to help this ward and to present the proper image to the youth of this ward that you might have the proper rapport, that you will be great and magnanimous, that they will desire to come to you with their individual problems, that you will give them the attention and help and help each one with their testimonies that they might not stray from the true Gospel as outlined by our Savior.

            We are so grateful for you presence in this ward and for your love and for your appreciations and attention to every detail and know that you are blessed for these things. The great test of faith – we know that we will be tested in our fait, in our guidance and direction. We know that there will be moments when we will feel that we are isolated from the Lord and that He has turned His back upon us but it is only that we are being tested. The Lord must test individuals and each person so that He can depend on him that He desires to rise to great heights. You too will rise to mightier and greater stations in this life and in the life to come through your obedience and diligence and desire to serve.

            Be prayerful, pray to the Lord each morning and night and ask Him for His blessings and He will be there, bless you, lift you up, you will be mighty in His sight.

            I pronounce these blessings upon you Brother Anderson, gratefully, humbly, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, Amen.

[No date provided] between May 9 and May 17, 1974

Using the Book of Mormon as a model I am recording thoughts, events, letters and incidents of spiritual significance to me and that I believe will strengthen the spiritual posture of my family.

            I wish to record an incident of great importance to me and the man whose picture appears on the proceeding page – Dr. Helaman Pratt Ferguson. He opened my understanding to new dimensions pertaining to administering to the sick through the power of the Priesthood.

            Br. & Sister Ferguson asked Norma and I to come to their home one Sunday evening after church. After a pleasant visit they informed us that their son was to have another surgery performed on his eyes. The youngster had had a prior operation and there was little medical hope because the boy was not able to “fuse” his visual objects in the brain. I was then asked to administer to young Helaman the next evening. I was grateful to be asked but fearful because of the responsibility and concern.

            After fasting and prayer the next evening I appeared at the Ferguson home to find 2 other close friends there. Again, we visited for some time, perhaps two hours. I must admit that I was becoming restless and irritated because I had arose at 5 AM to teach seminary the next morning and the time was now 10 PM. Br. Ferguson then asked us all to kneel in a prayer circle and each of us prayed individually, fervently, calling upon the Lord in “mighty prayer” to guide us in this administration, that His will be done.

            Br. Ferguson then brought his son from the bedroom to be administered to. He was asleep. In an administration that drained my physical strength a promise was pronounced upon this boy that he would be made “whole” again. A miracle was wrought and the boy was able to see normally. I will never forget in church one morning subsequently that young Helaman Ferguson looked at me and I knew that we knew one another by the Spirit in spite of our age difference.

            I learned that if it is possible that we should estrange ourselves from the world and enter into the Lord’s atmosphere of peace and with a broken and contrite heart and gentleness of soul when we understand to do great things in the Lord’s kingdom then we are ready to really know the Lord’s will. Also, the combined faith of faithful and virtuous saints creates a power of unbelievable dimensions.

Feb 20, 1974

This week we had a wonderful, memorable family home evening. The highlight was a discussion regarding “calling and election made sure”. While I was accumulating material, I came upon a most exciting bit of information that indicates that Bishop David Evans, my great-grandfather had his calling and election made sure in the celestial kingdom when he was a member of Zion’s Camp. I am enclosing the information for perusal by those who are interested. This gives me great hope and assurance that I might do the same – also, it is reassuring to know that David Evans is a member of the Church of the Firstborn and is concerned about his family, including us, on this side of the veil, in helping us to work out our salvation and contribute to the geneaology of this family.

[Pg 54 & 55 are enclosed documents with significant dates/events in the life of Bishop David Evans. It appears that Kirk wrote this sketch and attached it in this journal. It is two pages and includes this on the 2nd page, which seemed a particular interest to Kirk: “Note! Apparently David Evans had his calling and election made sure when a member of Zion’s Camp. Some members of the camp were sealed by the Prophet early but later this blessing was given to all members of the camp – “We were called together again and were sealed up unto eternal life the same as in Kirtland”(from journal of Reuben McBride, BYU Library)”]

PG. 56 – [No Date Provided] Last night I attended Br. Jerry Wilson’s class. The subject was in reference to miracles performed by the Savior and he used as his material the Book of Matthew and Mark. Toward the end of the class I suddenly had a “spiritual understanding” regarding a miracle in our family.

            A few months ago Carol was distraught about school and her ability to learn. At her request I gave her a father’s blessing. In the blessing she was promised that if she would search the scriptures her mind would be cleared of confusion and she would be awakened to the joy of learning. This she earnestly tried to do, but almost simultaneously, Leland began working with Ricky (who has astounded many people in our ward by his knowledge of the Doctrine and Covenants) – and Leland and Shirli in our Family Home Evening created an atmosphere for scripture learning and “scripture chasing”. Since then our FHEvenings have been scripture oriented.

            It was made evident to me that this is the way in which the Lord works and in the case of our family it was by this method that my father’s blessing is being fulfilled. As a result, through promise to Carol, the whole family is profiting.

Feb 10, 1974

Eric and Chris have moved into their new home. This has been a rough period for them. Their home is just right and the appraiser underrates that it’s an unusually fine home. I’m glad to have them close. Eric, Chris, Norma, and I are attending various classes at the Institute. We are learning the Gospel together and it is obviously strengthening our family. Sure we are blessed with the Spirit of Elijah in our family at this time in our mortal lives – a time when we need it greatly to withstand the tribulations of a dehumanizing, pressurized world.

            This week Shirli and Leland’s baby became ill with the “croup” and Leland and I administered to him. He recovered promptly. Again, how grateful I am for the Priesthood in our home and family.

            Last night we attended the “Know Your Religion” series lecture and hear Bro. Mettes – he teaches at BYU in the Dramatic Arts Dept. He was outstanding!! His subject was “When You are Converted – Strengthen Your Brethren” for a two hour talk. My eyes were constantly filled with tears. He was a convert to the church from the Catholic faith and was a Bishop twice before he became a convert – 13 years after becoming a member of the church. I thank God for honest men in the church who are willing to reveal themselves unashamedly that the rest of us might be strengthened.

            As I reflect, I know the precise moment I became converted, truly convered to the church. It was when we were vacationing in McCall and I was reading the life of Wilford Woodruff and lying in the bed in our cabin (in 1963 – 3 years after being an Elders Quorum Pres). Since then my negativism continues to disappear. I long to search for and know the truth and as I learn new truths I am anxious to incorporate them in my life. This is the way it was with Geneology. In May, 1973, I became aware of my desperate state regarding my forebearers. I can’t believe the work that has been done and how much I have been able to accomplish in just 9 months. Rather, how much the Lord has helped me in putting together our records and being of some influence in the ward and our family.

            And so, some 12-13 years after becoming active in the church again, I became converted. Why couldn’t that have happened much earlier that I would not have wasted so much time? I will do anything and go to any length to keep this from happening to anyone in my family and I pray constantly for the true conversion for each one of my wonderful family members. I am enclosing herein a precious letter from Evelyn Schwiermann – whom I taught in Seminary, who is now married and living in Honolulu. Norma and I saw them on our recent trip to Hawaii.

            How grateful I am our lives mean something to someone besides ourselves by “caring” and learning to love – truly love others. I understand why the Prophet Joseph Smith said that his “life was worth nothing to himself if it was not worth anything to his friends”.

[Pg. 52 is an enclosed letter from Evelyn Schwiermann wherein she expresses gratitude for Kirk and Norma’s visit and for taking she and her husband out to dinner. They express that they were “really lifted mentally and spiritually” and expressed gratitude for their conversation as they were able to “talk about personal feelings” with Kirk and Norma and that they didn’t have close friends in HI that they felt they could share those conversations with.]