Book of Mormon Panel

I went to my friend Vicki’s house today and in her front room is the most beautiful carved wooden panel I think I have ever seen. She allowed me take photos of it. She also told me the story about its origin.

Panel- Full view

Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery receive the Aaronic Priesthood from John the Baptist

Joseph Smith receives the Melchizdek Priesthood from Peter, James and John

The Salt Lake Temple

Joseph Smith sees God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ in the sacred grove.

Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life and the Iron Rod

The ocean voyage to the Promised Land (America)

Christ appears, as promised, to the people of the America after His resurrection

Her father, Samuel Wilson Black, was raised in a home of strong anti-Mormons. They believe that all Mormons were riff-raff and needed to be driven out. His predecessors bragged they had driven Joseph Smith and his followers from Missouri. As luck would have it, he met Vicki’s mom, Dora Boyce, an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (she was waiting for a missionary), swept her off her feet and the eloped! Dora immediately became inactive to avoid contention in her marriage. Nearly 20 years later when Vicki was about 8-years old her little brother was killed. It rocked Dora’s world to its foundations. She remembered she had a church once. They lived in Sun Valley, California (in the San Fernando Valley). The only church building Dora knew of was in Burbank so she and Vicki went off to church. They found out what ward they really belonged to and started attending that ward. Samuel was none too happy with this turn of events. He didn’t want Dora to go to church nor take the children with her. But that didn’t stop them from going. He remained unsupportive for quite some time and wouldn’t let the children be baptized. Vicki wasn’t baptized until she was 16-years old. Only then it was with the proviso that she couldn’t go to BYU (and marry one of those d___ Mormons). As you have guessed, she not only ended up going to BYU but met her husband there. But by the time this happened though, Samuel had softened and liked Vicki’s new husband. At about this same time that Vicki left for BYU Samuel and Dora moved to Corning, New York to work for Corning Glass. It was there that they ultimately meet Elder John Bailey (say BY-lee) from Sydney, Australia. He was just the latest in a long line of missionaries whom had been fed and entertained by the Blacks. One evening after a wonderful dinner Elder Bailey looked at Samuel and said, “Brother Black, you will never know the hardship you have caused your family by your stiffneckedness! Then Elder Bailey was absolutely mortified that he had said such a thing to this man who had just fed him dinner! But that was what it took for him to admit that he’d known the church was true, but having driven so many stakes, he didn’t know how to back down. He was baptized in 1963 by his new son-in-law. But a bond had been formed between Bro Black and Elder Bailey. Now Brother Black became as adamantly for the church as he had been against it. As part of this whole process Samuel felt he needed to make a penance for his anti- Mormon years. He was a gifted wood worker and carved this beautiful wooden panel. Each pane is carved from a single piece of wood and then set into the larger frame. The detail is exquisite. The tree limbs that surround many of the panes have been carved so the separate from the background. I was so moved by this labor of love. As an aside, Elder Black was introduced the H&R Block company while on his mission in New York. They didn’t have anything like that in Australia. So he went back home and started a similar company. Today he is a millionaire. He saw this beautiful panel and asked Brother Black to make one for him and he would pay him (between $20,000-25,000). The Black then used that money to finance their own mission to Baton Rogue, Louisiana.