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Show Years of Fulfillment 249 Knight, author of a narrative of her journey from Boston to New York when unattended travel by a woman over such distances was unheard of; an unknown descendant of Edward Taylor, a minister of Westfield, Massachusetts whose imaginative poems of devotional meditation were not discovered by the descendant until 1937; Mrs. Noyes, witness to the courtship of Judge Samuel Sewell, a widower, and the widowed wife of Major General Waitstill Winthrop; Mrs. Spottswood, wife of a colonial colonel who related William Byrd's (colonial governor of Virginia) account of a reception at her elegant home; and Sarah Pierrepont, the wife of Jonathan Edwards, who read some of his letters to her. The selections were chosen to describe various aspects of the life of women in America before the Revolution. Madelyn's principal job in Crestmoor Ward, however, was serving as the weekly Gospel Doctrine Sunday School teacher, a class that was intended for all adults in the ward. These class presentations involved a knowledge of the scriptures (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price), church history, sermons and writings of church authori ties, and the attitudes of those in the class itself. When he was in town, Harold attended the class, and there was often a provocative and witty interchange between teacher Madelyn and pupil Harold that was a delight for class members to observe, and was a stimulating learning experience as well. Lesson topics and guides were planned a year in advance by members of the general board of the Deseret Sunday School Union in Salt Lake City. An outline was usually prepared, and occasionally a text was furnished. Some latitude was permitted the teacher, of course, but church authorities expected the teacher to be "orthodox"-not play loosely with agreed-upon Mormon doctrine. The yearly lesson topics for the years 1949-61 included "Glad Tidings to All People"-essentially New Testament; "Teaching of the New Testament;" "Why Religion," from a manual by Dr. Lowell L. Bennion; "The Gospel Plan," from a manual by Dr. Gerrit de Jong; The Old Testament; Christ's Ideals for Living by Obert Tanner; An Introduction to the Gospel by Lowell L. Bennion; Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage; the New Testament; "Living the |
