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Show AN EXCITING LIFE Dreams Are Kept on Ice Its i been was a 13 years since Marilyn Kruse staring with and wide-eyewonder at the pretty girls In glamorous costumes, gracefully skating with an ice show. Marilyn, now 20, remembers what it was like to be a little girl with a big dream. She is now a performer with Holiday on Ice As she skates in the chorus line, she wonders how many little girls in the audience would give anything to be m the show Becoming a member of the Holiday on Ice cast would have seemed like an impossible dream for most girls who had not learned how to skate by the time they were 16. But Marilyn was determined not to let go of her girlhood dream. Believing she could still reach her goal, she got a part-tim- e job and enlisted the services of a professional skater when she w'as 16. She has come from being a rank amateur to being a member of one of the most outstanding ice shows within four short years I started taking lessons from a professional skater, and he encouraged me to continue. Once I got onto the ice, I loved it. No one had to tell me to keep practicing, she said. Marilyn, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs Theodore Kruse of the Edgchill Ward, Hillside Stake, in Salt Lake City, believes that any goal worth having is worth pursuing with everything youve got. She described herself as being rather awkward when she was in high school, and she said she had several friends who didnt believe she would ever learn how to skate. Some even laughed at her open-mouth- d dreams Her however, family, Marilyn Kruse, and other 20, enjoys skating in the chorus line with Holiday on Ice. friends expressed their faith and belief in her ability to reach Iwr goal. She explained that her older s'ster was the one who had introduced her to ice skat13 ing when she took to her to ice show all sister same up This stayed years ago. night to complete a costume for Marilyn to wear at an audition with Holiday on Ice "She put so much time and effort into the costume, I telt I had to do a good job, Marilyn said. Some friends and ward leaders expressed concern that Marilyn might drift away from the church after she joined Holiday on Ice Although her travels do make regular chore1 attendance impossible, she feels she has found many positive elements and that she isnt losing sight of the gospel. The show is exciting, but the excitement of the church wi'J never wear out, she sad I know the gospel is everlasting and 1 intend to have it remain a part of my life learned that the gospel is the same no matter where you are, and that youre aUays welcome to attend a branch or ward anywhere. Whenever Marilyn arrives in a new area, she calls the bishop of the ward and introduces herself. Quite often the bishop arranges to have someone give her a nde to church Some of her friends in the cast sometime visit church with her. She's interested in letting her associates know about the church, but she's hesitant to force the gospel upon them. If they have a question about the church, or wonder why I dont smoke or drink, thats an opportunity to introduce them to the church, she said Some of my friends in the show had never heard of the church until they met me. Being different makes it easier to make fnends. Marilyn may feel a physical separation from the church and its members, but she seldom feels completely isolated from the gospel I read a lot, and I find that just about every church book I read helps me immediately, she sad. Te W6rnoW'Finds,: Family, New Church, Home Continued from page 13 Taise Abdurrahman lived under an assumed name and m constant fear for more than 20 years. She was afraid to tell her true story for fear no one would really understand, and she might be imprisoned or even put to death. She made many friends during those Mormon 20 years Among them were missionaries She was baptized in Tainan on July 28, 1954 She still .was not known by her true name, nor dared she tell her story to anyone. Finally, m 1971, Pres Malan R. Jack-so- n of the Taiwan Mission, gained her confidence, and she related the story as it had happened. From that day, an effort was made by many people to assist Sister Abdurrahthe m man necessary obtaining documentation to leave Taiwan and to go to Turkey, where her family had finally settled This permission was finally obtained in November, 1973. The Chinese government issued an exit visa for Sister Abdurrahman on Dec. 28, 1973. With these documents, a plane ticket was purchased for Sister Abdurrahman to fly to Istanbul to jom her family. In all of this, she states that her only hope was the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the love and concern of the members of the church. In a final conversation with Pres. Jackson just before her departure from Taipeh, she said: I pray that Mormons everywhere are the same as those in Taiwan who have helped me to return to my family. Her family will help her make a new Ife here in Istanbul. The family took on the Turkish name of Yildinn, and so will Sister Abdurrahman. It was a long journey for Taise Abdurrahman Yildirin, but it is now over. Conversion Changes Newsmans Life Continued from page 4 done. This was our custom knew I and it would be difficult Brother Ruchatz recuperated in the to stop, he said. Then an interme for pital, Sister Ruchatz continued to study esting experience that strengthened his with the missionaries. testimony happened while he was covFor three months I studied very ering a news story in Poland. hard. I was impressed by the Doctnne I had been thinking about the church and Covenants and the modern revelaI decided to try not drinking with the and tions to the world today. other newsmen. I left my fnends and When my husband returned from the started to dnve my car through the dark hospital he had not had the spritual exstreets of Warsaw. I was not fanulia" periences that I had enjoyed, for I had with the city and made a wrong turn stiong ffilings that this was the true which resulted in an accident When the church. I had prayed for several months police arrived they immediately wanted and had received a testimony, I knew it to see if 1 had been dnnking. There was right. would have been a very severe penalty if When I told my husband I knew this I had been intoxicated I was so happy was the right church and that my that I hadnt taken a drink that night and this came to me as a testimony of what I prayers had been answered, he was very should be doing. The police were very uncritical Now we had another hard time when the missionaries returned, but I derstanding and even assisted in arrangements for my car to be fixed," Brother was a missionary in my own home. We Ruchatz said. attended Sunday School, the missionaries taught the lessons find eventually, he, too, Smoking was another challenge but was converted or gained a testimory of there, too, ! gamed a testimony I knew the truth, said Sister Ruchatz how my wife felt and I knew 1 should stop, but it had been a habit for a long But, I was a newsman and was given time. One Sunday morning as I was fill to smoking and drinking with the boys WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 2, 1974 14 CHURCH after the job was hos- - 0 ing my pipe with tobacco, it was as though a hand reached forward and knocked the pipe from my hands Tobacco went all over the floor. I tried again, this time succeeding, but the pipe did not taste good to me. It was the last pipe I ever had," he said. Sister Ruchatz had also been a heavy smoker, but with a strong determination and the help of the Lord, she had overcome her habit some months earupr. Petra, their 15 year-ol- d daughter had watched the process oi conversion of her parents with great interest, had listened to the lessons of the missionaries, and had experienced long conversations with her mother. She had gained a testimony and all three members of the family were baptized. To Petra it was an interesting experience, for her fnends were astonished to find how she felt about religion, They asked many questions, and I soon found they had a great respect for me I told them about not smoking and m a society where most of the kids smoke I have helped several of my fnends to give it up, Petra said. Now Sister Ruchatz is a Sunday School teacher and, Primary and I love to go with the missionaries, that is the most inshe said. Brother teresting work, Ruchatz is now a member of the Berlin Stake high council. Last May, Brother and Sister Ruchatz and their daughter went to the temple m Switzerland and were sealed. They also visited the Oakland Temple on a trip to California. Last year he covered the world chess championship in Iceland, and used another member of the church, Andreas Now VanHerwarth, as his sound man when I am on the job and someone offers me a drink or asks me why I dont smoke, I simply tell them that I want to die ealthy "Things seem to be going better for me than evor before I seem to be at the right place at the right time. People are so helpful, and I dont seem to have as many problems as I had before," he said We see things in a better light, ard that seems to be true for my camera also," Brother Ruchatz said smiling. 1 |