<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <center> <A HREF="bp1.html">the Story</a>  |   the Speakers  |   <A HREF="bp4.html">to Listen</a>  |   <A HREF="https://commerce.bayou.com/celestial-visions.com/orderform.html" target="_top">to Order</a><BR> <BR> <A HREF="http://www.celestial-visions.com">Other Products</a>  |   <A HREF="bp10.html">Contact Us</a>  |   <A HREF="bp11.html">Links</a>  |   <A HREF="bp13.html">Help / FAQs</a>  |   <A HREF="index.html">Front Page</a><BR> <BR> <BR></center> <h2>The Speakers</h2> <h1>Black Latter-day Saint Pioneers</h1> <br> <BR> <big>Randall Silas</big><BR> Brother Silas had attended several churches, but never joined one. He was not satisfied with the doctrine and teachings he had heard. Prior to his baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1992, he had not attended a church for five years. When he and his family heard the restored gospel, they embarrassed it and the entire family was baptized on the same day. In 1994 brother and sister Silas received their endowments and were sealed to their children in the Atlanta temple. Randall Silas was born on August 12, 1965 to William Edward Silas and Magie Lee Crumdy in Poplarville, Mississippi. At the age of 20, he married to Betty Ann Bouie in 1985 and they have 1 son and 4 daughters. He completed high school and is now attending college, majoring in wide-area computer networking. He is currently employed as a Parts Manager for a restaurant supply company. He has served in the following church callings: Ward Mission Leader, Young Men President, Scout Master, Counselor in Stake Mission Presidency, Stake Missionary and Stake High Council. After joining the church, he and his family attended the Hattiesburg Ward. At the time, there was one other black member who attended on a regular basis in addition to a few other black members who would attend occasionally. Currently (2001) there are approximately 14 active black members in the ward in addition to the seven in his family.<BR> <BR> <big>Carrie Webster Cole</big><BR> Sister Cole was baptized at the age of 6 in the Baptist Church and attended church on a regular basis. Her mother was a Baptist and Carrie said that she followed her mother's lead. Carrie was born on April 1, 1935 to Willie James Blakely and Hattie Bell Robinson in a family of two sons and she was the only daughter. She was raised in Whynot, Mississippi where her stepfather worked in the logging industry. Her mother worked as a housemaid and died at the age of 46 in 1962. She completed schooling through the 7th grade. Carrie married Grady Webster in 1950 and they had 2 sons and 4 daughters. The family resided in Ridgewood, Alabama and later moved to Meridian, Mississippi. She and her husband were divorced in 1960; thereafter she was the sole provider for her children, in addition to acting as both mother and father. She worked two and three jobs, (day and night) in an effort to provide for her children. She joined the Pentecostal Church in 1969 and in 1982 became an ordained minister of that faith. She says that she was dissatisfied with the leadership in that church. She was asking the Lord for answers to her concerns when two sister missionaries knocked on her door in 1984. She was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints later that year. She was endowed in the Atlanta temple in 1988. She says that she sat in church meetings for about 5 years as the only black member who was there on a regular basis. Other black members joined, but didn't stay active. Sister Webster has been a pillar of faith in the Meridian Ward and has served in the following callings: Counselor in the Relief Society Presidency, Relief Society Secretary, Nursery Leader, Primary Teacher and Stake Missionary. She says "Whatever I am, I owe to the Lord and my mother.<BR> <BR> <big>Jackie Franklin</big><BR> Sister Franklin had previously never joined a church, however she attended a Baptist Church. She came into contact with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by responding to one of their commercials on television. When the missionaries arrived, they taught her principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and about modern day prophets. She followed the direction of the missionaries and came to know these truths for herself as the spirit bore witness of these things to her personally. She was baptized into the church in 1992 and received her endowments in the Atlanta temple in 1993. She has remained very active in the church and has served in the following callings: Relief Society President, Primary President, Counselor in Young Women Presidency, Primary Teacher and Gospel Doctrine Teacher. Sister Frankiln was born on September 5, 1968 to Clyde and Arthur Jean Jenkins in Laurel, Mississippi. She has two brothers. Jackie completed high school and has also completed two years of college with a business major. She recently returned to college and changed her major to social work. She married Rodney Franklin in 1988 and they have two sons. Her husband joined the church in 1996 and in 1997 her husband received his endowments and were sealed to their children in the Atlanta temple. In addition to being a wife, mother and homemaker, she has also worked in food service for the public school system and as a janitor. She is incredibly faithful in living the gospel and her strongest desire is to work with her family so they may all realize the blessings of the temple in the eternities ahead.<BR> <BR> <big>Lee Radcliff</big><BR> Brother Radcliff was born on March 23, 1924 to Dave and Ozella Walker Radcliff in Meridian, Mississippi. Lee was the only son along with 6 daughters. The family then moved to Chicago. He attended school through the 9th grade and later worked as a welder, foundry worker and farmer. He joined the Methodist Church at the age of 8 and remained a member until he joined the Baptist Church in 1943 at the age of 19. He served in the U.S. Army as a Staff Sergeant from 1943 to 1951 and was stationed in Germany and Japan. Upon his release, he moved back to Chicago. In 1953 he married Fannie Ellis and they had 3 sons and 4 daughters. They were divorced in 1960. He married Cora Adam in 1964 and they adopted one daughter. In 1958, at the age of 34, he was ordained a Baptist Minister and served as Pastor of the Morning View Baptist Church in Chicago. In 1970, he moved back to Meridian, Mississippi. He continued to serve in the Baptist Church but not as a Pastor; he served as Assistant Pastor and fellowshipper for the church. In 1995, his wife had responded to a television ad offering copies of "The Book of Mormon". The missionaries delivered the book to their door and Lee Radcliff invited them in. He said it was different, having these two young men want to teach him the gospel (he being an ordained minister). But, he decided to listen to their message. He says that in doing so, he learned many things. He was baptized into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on June 30, 1995. He was endowed in the Atlanta temple in 1996. He has served as a Gospel Doctrine Teacher. In 1999 he was diagnosed with cancer and has been in and out of the hospital since that time. He remains valiant in the faith and is loved and respected by the brothers and sisters in the Meridian Ward.<BR> <BR> <big>Larry Blakely</big><BR> Brother Blakely and his entire family became members of the Methodist Church when he was 8 years old. As he attended Sunday School and other church classes, he was constantly asking questions of the teachers and ministers about the scriptures and church doctrines, which they could not answer. He then became dissatisfied with the church and visited other churches seeking for answers to his questions. They couldn't answer his questions either. So, he gave up on organized religion. In midst of a personal crisis in 1965, he was brought to his knees and sought the Lord in sincere prayer. He sought the truth. He asked the Lord if there were a true church on the earth, and if so could he be led to it. When he was exposed to the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he asked the same questions that no other church had been able to answer. This time, he received answers to "all" his questions. But, for the answers to be valid, he had to accept that Joseph Smith was prophet, that the Book of Mormon and other revealed scriptures were true. He followed the teachings of the missionaries and sought his answer through personal revelation from the Lord. And as promised, the answers came. He was baptized into church in 1966 and received his endowments in 1997 at the Los Angeles temple. Larry Blakely was born in 1941 to Jim and Lucille Blakely in Winfield, Kansas and has one brother. He was married in 1984 and two sons were born of this union. He is now divorced. He completed high school and one year of college as music major. His career has been centered in the music, recording and audio industries as a recording engineer, record producer and sales & marketing executive. He has served in the following church callings: Stake Missionary, Primary Teacher, Stake and Ward Single Adult Chairman, Counselor in Bishopric, Stake and Ward Executive Secretary, Ward Mission Leader, Stake High Council and Branch President in Laurel, Mississippi.<BR> <BR> <big>BLACK LATTER-DAY SAINTS OF THE PAST</big><BR> Jane Manning and her family walked 800 miles from Connecticut to Nauvoo, Illinois. She writes: "We walked until our shoes wore out, and our feet became sore and cracked open and bled until you could see the whole print of our feet with blood on the ground. We stopped and united in prayer to the Lord, we asked God the Eternal Father to heal our feet and our prayers were answered and our feet were healed forthwith." After arriving in Nauvoo, Jane lived with Joseph and Emma Smith as their housekeeper. She married Issac James prior to their joining the exodus west with the Saints. <BR> <BR> <big>Samuel & Amanda Chambers</big><BR> Samuel Chambers was born in Louisiana in 1834. While yet a slave, he was taught by Mormon missionaries in Mississippi and baptized in a river at night. Thereafter, he had no contact with the church for 30 years, yet remained faithful. After gaining his freedom years later, he and his wife Amanda traveled to Utah in 1870 with a group of colored Latter-day Saint converts. Samuel later returned to Mississippi and brought some of his kin back with him to live in Utah. Samuel and Amanda were very devout members of the church. He paid an honest tithe, lived the Word of Wisdom and would let his fields rot, rather than harvest them on the Sabbath.<BR> <BR> <big>Green Flake</big><BR> Green Flake was born in January 1828 in Anson County, North Carolina, on the plantation of John Flake. He took his master's name and was known thereafter as Green Flake. He was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mississippi River, and he accompanied the Flake family to Nauvoo, Illinois. Several reports indicate that Green Flake was in the first wagon to enter Immigration Canyon. His obituary read: he was a faithful Latter-day Saint, and to his dying day bore testimony to the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, with whose family he lived for number of years prior to the Prophet's assassination.<BR> <BR> <big>The Mississippi Mormons</big><BR> John Brown (who had accompanied Brigham Young east) returned home to Mississippi and began making preparations to start for the Valley of the Mountains in the early spring. In the spring of 1848 they left with eleven wagons, several families and individuals made up of 57 whites and 37 blacks. John Brown states: "every man, woman and child, both white and black, gazed at us with astonishment as we passed their habitations. On May 25th, Brother Heber C. Kimball said, "Brother John, God bless you forever." On the night of October 16, 1848 they camped in the mouth of Emigration Canyon (in Utah) the -- and the next day most of them moved up to Cottonwood.<BR> <BR> <BR> </body>