--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Jesse N. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 7 published: 1920-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Smith, Jesse N., "Dedicated to My Sons," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 7 (May 1920): 590.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2307unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2307unse start_page: 590 end_page: 590 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1920-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2307unse publication_year: 1920 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1920, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Dedicated to My Sons 590 IMPROVEMENT ERA once and for all, is that such a thing is impossible and, if I may be permitted to use a current paradox, it is "unthinkable." Nor can other churches, as churches, come into this Church. Their members can come only as individuals, one at a time, for the door is narrow, the door that leads into the kingdom, and they must come one at a time through the gate of baptism, to receive the laying on of hands for the bestowal of the Holy Ghost and to be made members of this the Church of Jesus Christ. — That is what this Church verily is the Church of Jesus Christ — and in the spirit of frankness and without intolerance, and basing my remarks thoughtfully upon the claims made by churches, sects, and denominations generally, let me say that this is the only Church of Jesus Christ upon the face of the earth. I rejoice in the privilege of membership therein, with you my fellows, and pray that we may honor it and magnify it, that we may be entitled to a place in the Church beyond, the Church of the Firstborn, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Dedicated to my Sons By Jesse N. Smith The following was recently found by Silas D. Smith, among the papers of the late Jesse N. Smith, his father, who dedi- cated it to his sons, directing their attention to the following indications of a good wife: She should be healthy, and well grown; more comely than beautiful; not old too early; with eyes that never deceive; arms strong enough to proudly bear a child of two years. Hands large enough to play the piano, soft enough to smooth a pillow for the sick, and strong enough to handle a switch when it becomes necessary to correct her forward boy. Her feet should be quick to do a kindness; her ears likewise quick to hear a mother's counsel, a husband's wish, a child's cry; but slow to listen to the flattery of the idler, or the affairs of others which do not concern her. Her tongue should be slower than her ears, but able to praise without flattery, to reprove with- out wounding, and to give comfort without guile. She should possess the innocence of a girl, without her ignorance and af- fectation; a man's firmness without his obstinacy; and a wom- an's mildness and patience, without her cunning.