by Ivan E. Bird

I grew up in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints—through my father I am the fifth generation and through my mother the third generation. I have a wonderful heritage through not only my parents but also through many priesthood members and Church school teachers, as well as many other tried and true followers of Jesus Christ.

I was reared in Pittsburg, Kansas, and attended the Pittsburg Branch until my seventeenth year. At that time our family moved to a farm near Houston, Texas County, Missouri. There was no branch of the Church near where we moved. We were sixty miles from Ava, Missouri, where the nearest branch was located. There was no way we could get to services that far away. We had no car—and not even a team of horses for the first two or three years.

At first I missed the services of the Church, but with the activity of moving to a farm, getting accustomed to new surroundings, and trying to find work enough “to keep the wolf from our door,” I soon settled into a routine that had no place for worship.

However, after a couple of years I started attending the Baptist Church in the community. I enjoyed worshiping with those good Christian people. In another couple of years, I subscribed to The Saints’ Herald. Then came a renewed desire to fellowship with the Saints of God.

One day after a new issue of the Herald came, I was reading the news section on the back page. I saw that the Southern Missouri District had held a district conference and that Elder Lester Bronson of Summersville, Missouri, had been elected district president. We were registered in the Southern Missouri District, although we hadn’t attended church in any of its branches. But Summersville was only twenty-five miles from where we lived.

My father sent a card to Brother Bronson, and a few days later we received an answer. There were six families living rather closely together south of Summersville They were attending a community Sunday school in the Bell Schoolhouse about four miles south of town. Brother Bronson sent us directions to the meeting place as well as the times when services started.

By then we had a car. We drove to the community Sunday school the next Sunday and met the Saints in the area. We were told that Sacrament services were held the first Sunday of each month in the homes. My mother, my sister, and I started attending the Sacrament services. We could not afford to attend more often; although gasoline was only ten cents per gallon, it was harder to get enough money to buy a tankful of gas then than it is now at a much higher price.

I had partaken of the emblems while attending church at Pittsburg; but when our family moved, I no longer had that opportunity. I shall never forget how the Spirit of God flooded into my heart as I took my small portion of the wine for the first time in years. I began to see things in their true light, and God’s purposes for my life took on new meaning. In less than a minute after I had partaken of the wine, I wanted to get to my feet and tell those present that this wonderful experience had come to me. However, I had a great fear about standing before people and saying anything. Even now, forty years later, with considerable experience, I still must overcome some fear as I stand before even a small group of people assembled for worship. It was a miracle indeed that I even wanted to bear my testimony at that time. A prayer service followed the Sacrament service, and I availed myself of the opportunity to share.

I suppose I had taken for granted my partaking of the emblems in my earlier years. But after eight years of not being able to partake, I realized what I had been missing.

Christ commanded, “This do in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). We are admonished to partake often and worthily of this blessed ordinance. I have come to understand that God gives commandments for a purpose. He does not command just to give us “busy work” or something to do; but they are for our benefit. There is a reason, a purpose, for each commandment. When Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4), He meant just that—every word, every commandment. Can we leave even one out and still inherit celestial glory?

“This do in remembrance of me” is as essential to salvation as the commandments to believe, repent, and be baptized. Jesus Christ explained: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life” (John 6:53-54). As we partake of the Lord’s Supper worthily, we receive spiritual food that feeds our souls and brings understanding of God’s purpose for us.

We need the ordinance of Sacrament. We need to partake worthily. If we do not avail ourselves of this opportunity, we may well die spiritually.

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