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Show BE Thomas L. Legler found success with I silenl partner j NEWS Service the Reiyluus Pre-3and tt i UriVd News Editor Legler of ClearFlorida found success with a silent partner who simply said Ask and you shall receive, knock and it shall be opened unto you." Tom Legler has found satisfaction in a life that required struggle, decision and hard work. He has enjoyed success in his family, in the Church and in his business. I once asked my mother if the day of my birth was a dark and stormy one. I asked tnis during the dreary davs of my young manhood when the stiuggle to make a livelihood against the surging economic tides of the depression were testing my mettle of endurance. She answered, No, the day was fair and shining although you were born in the evening. Mr. Legler has always had a concern for security. lie has always want ed to succeed. He lias been successful and attributes Thomas water, LeRoy OBy rC? Their Fruits L his part-1- die silent part- to it with ei'-hi- that ner mother a h i m 1 1) his told o 11 t when he was very young. This partner only wants It) or la tier rent. He wants a worker, one who is dependable and faithful He will send no tills. He likes a humble partner, one who will obey instructions," his mother told him. Tom Legler tixik his mother's advice. It is a easy one, pay a full Wisdom as simple formula, but not an lie said. If a person will tithing, obey the Word of required by 'ho Lord and then work hard, he can be a success. When I say woik, I don't mean just from nine to five. Then they must have patience, it will take time for success. Mr. Leglers life has centered in Florida, though for 18 years he lived in Phoenix. Ariz. My mother joined the Church with her family in the late 1890s. When mother and father married in 1902, they settled in Tampa, Florida, then a city with a population of about 25,000. She was the only member of the Church of record in the city. The area was hostile to Mormons but met its match in the strength of my mothers character and her testimony of the Gospel. My father was an agnostic of parentage of the age of 'free thinkers and at times remonstrated with my mother about believing in God who could see her suffer w it h Hie poor health which was her lot and cross to bear," Mr. Legler explained. Almost the earliest memory I have of anyone nil, or than my own family was two Mormon eiders in long frock coats, derby hats, and (lie perennial umbrella hooked over one arm. For about tin oo months oacli winter two elders weie assigned to Tampa. This was about 1912. They would leave in the spring for fear of malaria. In 191(1 the Tampa Branch was started. It was really only a Sunday School. I was 18 years old before I know there was more than Sunday School in the Church. We knewr very little about Clmrcli organization. The elders would visit us and we would Swiss-Germa- n m-- i n . n.' ) The Methodist Magazine, an historic journal founded by John Wesley in 1778. has ceased publicaa victim of rising cost. tion with its August issue Simultaneously, reports appeared in the London secular press that a group of Methodist business- men. preachers, scholars and wriieis was preparing to take over publication of tiie magazine and it again in October under a new format. These reports were denied by a spokesman for tiie Methodist Publishing House, responsible for publication of the e journal. Hidden Sermons PoOnox's Complaint If vnu pick up a copy of ef Valiev uf die Dolls" at a public library in Cocoa. Fla. von mav well lie aide to take a bio. tlier from d.o sicarn heated passages to lead a -- hoi t sermon. meb-Jv- 's qu;etly placing religion-- , lea dels in sexy as the books rest on die shelves ot binaries dimugnou! die Cape Kennedy aiea. Says (.'buries E. Huber, din dor ot die Cocoa Li brary: It's a sneaky way of cteeping up behind you diets carry la ief serand socking it to on." The mons and Bibieai quotations. Poilnoy" and "Dolls" have been tiie favorite targets, lie : Churches Exchanged Roman Catholic and Methodist eongi egaiioiis in North London district of Kentish Town are exchanging church buildings. The two are the Catholic chinch of Our Lady Help of Christ is ns, which accommodates .TOO people and the Kentish Town Methodist rhapel, a Gothic structure holding 800 worshippers. They are a quarter of a mile apart. Tiie Catholic church lias become overcrowded because of an increasing congregation while the Methodist church has a dwindling membership. Our Lady Help of Christians has bought tiie Methodist structure for $108,000 and sold its buildings to tiie Methodists for $29,000. tiie Group. I FLA. xs.ros r and the Magazine Dies have the sacrament in our home," Mr. Legler recalled. I was baptized in 1916 when I was eight and my father was baptized the following year. He gained a testimony of Joseph Smith and often quoted from the Doctrine and Covenants And no flesh shall be safe upon the waters. He felt the submarine caiiqMign durwas a fulfillment ing the war of 1911-1of this statement. It led to further investigation and ids conversion. He was active in the Church from that time fonvnrd and held several positions of responsibility during the early formative years of the Church organization in central Florida, Mr. Legler said. At the proper ages young Tom I.cgicr was ordained a Deacon. Teacher and Pi iest. As a young man he was called as a missionary to the Southern Stares under Pres. Charles A. Caliis. . brand; chape! was built in Tampa ami the Church continued to grow during the depression years even though some members had to leave Tampa to find employment. MacDill Air Force Base was built in tiie area in 1910 and with it came a big influx of LDS boys who were serving in the Air Force. This proved to be a great boost for the branch at that time and continues to be so to this day. Our branch had been like tiie tide of the sea. going up and down, but now we have a stake with eight wards and four branches." Mr. Legler explained. Mr. Legler has been a businessman all of his life. His success has been in the insurance business. He has been associated with the American Bankers 8 CLEARWATER, SHUEICHES J M. HESLOP Church Florida Member Thrives On Work 1? ITBIEEl ' BY fnrrqiwr have always tried to stay close to the Lord. When I had important decisions, as moving from Florida to Arizona and starting over again. I found it very helpful to go down to the branch chapel all alone. I would sing a hymn or two and ask my Father in Heaven to inspii e me in my decisions. I followed that inspiration and everything has worked out well, said Mr. Legler. In 1965 tiie Legler family moved Keeps Pledge includBecause of tiie generosity of American-the first ing a good many Michigan lesidcnts Negro major of I'ayotte. Miss., will be able to live town. up to his pledge to rebuild Ids' poverty-strickeCharles Evers, brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers, told a Detroit newspajier that he received more than $89,000 in donations during August. Spea ri leading the drive in Detroit was tiie Michigan Catholic. archdiiHosan weekly. Several weeks ago. in a break with ptecedont. the Michigan Catholic editorialized on its limit page, lcquosting - back 'o Clearwater, Florida, and again established their home. Two years liter Mr. Legler was bishop of the Dunedin Ward. I enjoy helping people, but my i pal jov is teaching. Recently Bishop Legler was released and is now teaching the Gospel Doctrine Class in Sunday School, and the Mutual Interest class. We have been talking about finances in the MIA class. I have told them that tiie first thing about finances s is to live on of their income. We have talked about budgets, banking, credit and all phases of personal and family finance and it is proving to lie very helpful to tiie class members. Bishop Legler lias maintained an interest in genealogy. Whenever I visit a city I check tiie phone directory for the Legler name. There aren't many hut I have found some distant cousins. Last summer a family from Switzerland came to visit me. They have stmt 7.00(1 names since our visit and copies of all these names have been sent to tiie Genealogical L- money foi Mr. Evers. Church Fires There weie eight huge loss idamage of S25II.009 or iiirn'e) church fires in die I'.S. during 1968. accmd'iig to the National Fire Protm lion Associa- nine-tenth- tion. To'al damage of these it rcpoi ti'd in Boston. In majoi dies was S'T 6.V.0()(I, the pioeodiag voor. Nl'lA records show, there were five huge io-- s clmrcli fires, with total damage of $'2.1sl 621. For die first dmi- in many years there was not major die in a Catholic chinch coming under lie' oo !oonto - -- gory. Dialogue Gains An Atlanta-baseSouthern Buphsi ilomo s. Boatd oilicial who led tiie way on he laptist ide for an historic three-dameeting of dialogue between Baptist and Jewish scholars said that the conference was a major step in dissolving stereotypes and misunderstandings which have eiuraeteriod both faiths. "I think these old images were demyiliologied. said Dr. Joseph R. Estes, secretary o! die department of work related to mm evangelicals. i -- y ibrary Mr. and Mis. Legler have four children: Air Force Capt. Thomas LaMar. Antone Benton, a law student; Paul I.eRoy, attending BYU, and Deborah, a high school student living at home. WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 1, 1969 CHURCH-- 11 iimii"Tiiii mj. |