Living in Debrecen, Hungary, was an aged member of the Church, Johann Denndorfer. Born of German parents, he, as a young man, went to Berlin in 1910 to seek work. There he not only found employment, but also, more significantly, he discovered the Church. Following World War I, he returned to Hungary and remained a lone voice for Mormonism during the next forty years.

During the time freedom was curtailed in Eastern Europe, Patriarch Walter Krause travled from Germany to Hungary to pay a home teaching visit to Brother Denndorfer. He later reported to me that when he arrived and introduced himself, Brother Denndorfer said to him, "Before I shake the hand of a servant of the Lord, I first wish to pay my tithing." He then retrieved from a hiding place the tithing he had accumulated during the more-than-forty-year period. "Now I feel worthy to shake the hand of a servant of the Lord," he said.

Very early one morning,while I was serving as president of the Canadian Mission, I received a telephone call.
As I answered the telephone, the person calling said to me, "Are you the president of the mormon Church?"

"No," I replied.

She then said, "Are you president of the Mormon Church in Canada?"

"No."

Somewhat frustrated, she said, "Well, are you the man responsible for the two young men who come door-to-door with the message of Mormonism?"

I replied that I was, and she curtly stated, "Then get them off my back! We have had no peace in our home since these two young men called at our door. My foolish husband believes their message." She mentioned to me that her name was Rogers and gave me her address. I told her that I would respect her wish that the missionaries not call at their home, but that if Mr. Rogers wanted to continue his study of the truth, he could do so at our own residence on Lyndhurst Avenue. I then felt impressed to say to her, "Mrs. Rogers, you're not able to accept the law of tithing, are you?"

She responded, "How did you know? How did you know?" She went on, "Why, of all the foolish doctrines, to think that those of us who can't get by on one hundred per-cent of our income could get by on nine-tenths. I can't buy that nonsense!" She then slammed the receiver in my ear.

As I returned to bed, Frances asked, "Who was that?"

"Some woman who doesn't want the missionaries," I replied.

I forgot about the incident. About two months later I was attending the fast and testimony meeting of the Tortonto Branch, there to bless our newly arrived child, Clark Spencer Monson. The branch president said, "We have a number of ordinances today-- some blessings, some confirmations. We would like now to invite the members of the Rogers family, seated on the front row, to each one be confirmed a member of the Church." Instantly the name Rogers flashed through my mind. I looked at the red-headed woman sitting on the front row. As I did so, I wondereed, "Could this be the Mrs. Rogers who telephoned at two A.M.?" As though we were communicating one with another, Mrs. Rogers' eyes met mine, and she nodded her head affirmatively.

Following the ordinance work and the condlusion of the meeting, I went forward to congratulate the Rogers family. I said toher, "Could you possibly be the Rogers who telephoned me early one morning?"

She said, "Yes, President Monson, and tithing pays."

I replied, "Tithing does pay, just as the missionaries have declared." I was happy to help confirm her a member of the Church.

I recollect very vividly a circumstance that occurred in the days of my childhood. My mother was a widow, with a large family to provide for. One spring when we opened our potato pits, she had her boys get a load of the best potatoes, and she took them to the tithing office; potatoes were scarce that season. I was a little boy at the time, and drove the team. When we drove up to the steps of the tithing office ready to unload the potatoes, one of the clerks came out and said tomy mother: "Widow Smith, it's a shame that you should have to pay tithing." He said a number of other things that I remember well, but they are not necessary for me to repeat here. The first two letters of the name of that tithing clerk were William Thompson and he chided my mother for paying her tithing, called her anything but wise and prudent; and said there were others able to work that were supported from the tithing office. My mother turned upon him and said: "William, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. Would you deny me a blessing? If I did not pay my tithing I should expect the Lord to withhold His blessings from me; I pay my tithing, not only because it is a law of God but because I expect a blessing by doing it. By keeping this and other laws, I expect to propser and to be able to provide for my family."

Though she was a widow, you may turn to the records of the Church from the beginning unto the day of her death, and you will find that she never received a farthing from the Church to help her support herself and her family; but she paid in thousands of dollars in wheat, potatoes, corn, vegetables, meat, etc. The tithes of her sheep, the tenth of her eggs, the tenth pig, the tenth call the tenth colt-a tenth of everything she raised was paid. Here sits my brother, who can bear testimony of the truth of what I say, as can others who knew her.

She prospered because she obeyed the laws of God. She had abundance to sustain her family. We never lacked so much as many others did; for while we have found nettle greens most acceptable when we first came to the valley, and while we enjoyed thistle roots, segoes and all that kind of thing, we were no worse off than thousands of others, and not so bad off as many, for we were never without cornmeal and milk and butter, to my knowledge. Then that widow had her name recorded in the book of the law of the Lord. That widow was entitled to the priveleges of the House of God. No ordinance of the gospel could be denied her, for she was obedient to the laws of God, and she would not fail in her duty, though discouraged from observing a commandment of God by one who was in an official position.

This may be said to be personal. By some it may be considered egotistical. But I do not speak of it in this light. When William Thompson told my mother that she ought not to pay tithing, I thought he was one of the finest fellows in the world. I believed every word he said. I had to work and dig and toil myself. I had to help plow the ground, plat the potatoes, hoe the potatoes, dig the potatoes, and like duties, and then to load up a big wagon box full of the very best we had, leaving out the poor ones, and bringing the load to the tithing office. I thought in my childish way that i8tlooked a little hard, especially when I saw certain of my playmates and early associates of childhood, playing round, riding horses and having good times, and qwho scarcely ever did a lick of work in their lives, and yet were being fed from the public crib. Where are those boys today? Are they known in the Church? Are they prominent among the people of God? Are they or were they ever valiant in the testimony of the truth in their hearts? Are they diligent members of the Church? No, and never have been, as a rule, and most of them are dead or vanished out of sight.

Well, after I got a few years of experience, I was converted, I found that my mother was right and that William Thompson was wrong. He denied the faith, apostazed, left the country, and led away as many of his family as would go with him. I do not want you to deny me the privilege of being numbered with those who have the interest of Zion at heart, and who desire to contribute their proportion tothe upbuilding of Zion, and for the maintenance of the work of the Lord in the earth. It is a blessing that I enjoy, and I do not propose that anybody shall deprive me of that pleasure.

What does it mean to obey the law of sacrifice? Nature's law demands us to do everything with self in view. The first law of mortal life, self-preservation, would claim the most luscious fruit, the most tender meat, the softest down on which to lie. Selfishness, the law of nature, would say, "I want the best; that is mine." But God said: "Take of the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks." (Deut. 12:6) The best shall be given to God; and the next you may have. Thus should God become the center of our very being.

With this thought in view, I thank my earthly father for the lesson he gave to two boys in a hayfield at a time when tithes were paid in kind. We had driven out to the field to get the tenth load of hay, and then over to a part of the meadow where we had taken the ninth load, where there was "wire grass" and "slough grass." As we started to load the hay, father called out, "Now boys, drive over to the higher ground." There was timothy and redtop there. But one of the boys called back (and it was I), "No, let us take the hay as it comes."

"No, David, that is the tenth load, and the best is none too good for God."

That is the most effective sermon on tithing I have ever heard in my life, and it touches, I found later in life, this very principle of the law of sacrifice. You cannot develop character without obeying that law. Temptation is going to come to you in this life. You sacrifice your appetites; you sacrifice your passions for the glory of God; and you gain the blessing of an upright character and spirituality. That is a fundamental truth.

The Story of a Generous Man: One day on the street I met a friend whom I had known since boyhood. I had not visited with him for some time, and I was interested in being brought up to date concerning his life, his problems, and his faith, therefore I invited him to go to a conference in Utah County with me. He drove his fine car (the make of car I was driving had not been received into society at that time). He took his wife and I took mine.


At the conference, I called on him to speak. I did not know what it might do to him, but I thought I would take a chance. He made a fine talk. He told of his trips to the East, how he explained the gospel to the people he met, and how grateful he was for his heritage. He stated that his opportunities in the world had been magnified and multiplied because his father and mother had joined the Church in the Old World.

As we drove home, he turned to me and said: "My, this has been a wonderful conference. I have enjoyed it."

...I thought to myself, he had enjoyed it because he himself had participated. I was glad he had. Then he said: "You know I have heard many things in this conference, but there is only one thing that I do not understand the way you do."

I said: "What is it?"

"Well," he said, "it is about paying tithing." He thought I would ask him how he paid his tithing, but I did not. I thought if he wanted to tell me, he would. He said: "Would you like me to tell you how I pay my thting?"

I said, "If you want to, you may."

"Well," he said, "if I make ten thousand dollars in a year, I put a thousand dollars in the bank for tithing. I know why it's there. Then when the bishop comes and wants me to make a contribution for thye chapel or give him a check for a missionary who is going away, if I think he needs the money, I give him a check. If a family in the ward is in distress and needs coal or food or clothing or anything else, I write out a check. If I find a boy or a girl who is having difficulty getting through school in the East, I send a check. Little by little I exhaust the thousand dollars, and every dollar of it has gone where I know it has done good. Now, what do you think of it?"

"Well," I said, "do you want me to tell you what I think of it?"

He said, "Yes."

I said: "I think you are a very generous man with someeone else's property." And he nearly tipped the car over.

He said: "What do you mean?"

I said, "You have an idea that you have paid your tithing?"

"Yes," he said.

I said: "You have not paid any tithing. You have told me what you have done with the Lord's money, but you have not told me that you have given anyone a penny of your own. He is the best partner you have in the world. He gives you everything you have, even the air you breathe. He has said you should take one-tenth of what comes to you and give it to the Church as directed by the Lord. You haven't done that; you have taken your best partner's money and have given it away."

Well, I will tell you there was quiet in the car for some time. We rode to Salt Lake City and talked about other things.

About a month after that I met him on the street. He came up, put his arm in mine, and said: "Brother Smith, I am paying my tithing the same way you do." I was very happy to hear that.

It has been, and now is, the desire and the objective of the Church to obtain from fast offerings the necessary funds to meet the cash needs of the welfare program. We can, we ought, and we must do better. If we will double our fast offerings we shall increase our prosperity, both spiritually and temporally. This the Lord has promised, this has been the record.

When men, women, and children are honest with God and pay their tithes and offerings, the Lord gives them wisdom whereby they can do as much or more with the remainder than they could if they had not been honest with the Lord. Many times they are blessed and prospered in various ways—spiritually, physically, and mentally, as well as materially.

BYU 21st Stake Goals
STAY ON THE PATH - 1 Nephi 8:20
1 - Study the scriptures each day and read each month's Ensign, seeking to develop spiritual strength & wisdom
2-Pray vocally with sincerity and faith each morning and night, and always have a prayer in your heart.
3-Keep the entire Sabbath day holy, attend all church meetings, and renew your spiritual covenants.
4-Magnify your church callings, fully sustain all others in their callings, and help build the Kingdom of God.
5- Pay tithes and offerings, manage money wisely, avoid materalism and needless debt, and be self-reliant.
6- Attend the temple frequently, keep all temple covenants, and work to unite an seal all members of your family.
7- Earnestly seek to find and love a righteous companion, and worthily prepare to create a strong eternal family.
8- Keep your mind clean and virtuous, and avoid all media that offends and drives away the Spirit.
9- Treat your body as the temple of your spirit, dress modestly, avoid immoral behavior, and maintain good health.
10 - Organize yourself, establish proper priorities, and find way to do good and serve others.

While tithing is paid with money, more importantly it is paid with faith.

The law of tithing is simple: we pay one-tenth of our individual increase annually. Increase has been interpreted by the First Presidency to mean income. What amounts to 10 percent of our individual income is between each of us and our Maker. There are no legalistic rules.