On the stage was a chair

with a small radio.

The principle switched on the radio

We then heard the voice of

President Franklin D. Roosevelt

As he announced that pearl harbor had been bombed

the United States was at war with Japan

All at once our future was uncertain

We did not know what was ahead

would we live to get married and have a family

by the time we graduated from high school many of our classmates had

marched away to war

some of them never to return

against the certainty that I would be drafted

I joined the air force

soon I was in Santa Anna California

for pre flight training

I had heard about patriarchal blessings but had not received one

J. Rowland Sandstrum

was the ordained patriarch living in the Santa Anna stake

he knew nothing about me

And had never seen me before

But he gave me a blessing

you shall be guided

through the whisperings of the holy spirit

and you shall be warned of dangers

on a flight to guam

we became lost due to a typhoon in the central pacific

“something's wrong, were off course. Lets turn”

I remembered the words of my patriarchal blessing

That told me if I would heed the warnings from the holy spirit Heavenly Father will

bless me so that I might again be united with my loved ones

I would be blessed to return from the war

if I kept the commandments

and if I heeded the promptings of the Holy Ghost

at that moment

I received a prompting

To hold our present course

“hold it just a minute”

by following that prompting

our crew landed safely

at a U.S. occupied airbase

With all that is going on in the world with the lowering of the

moral standards you young people are being raised

in enemy territory

But I promise you

That you'll be protected and sealed from the attacks of the advisary

if you will heed the promptings that come from the Holy Ghost

The gift of the Holy Ghost

if you consent

Will guide and protect you

And even

correct your actions

He is a spiritual voice that comes in your mind as a thought or a feeling

Take hold of your life and

order yourself to be better

You will be watched over and protected

that you yourself will know

by the promptings of the Holy Ghost

which way to go

I promise you that it will be so.