You have heard the old sequence: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost.  For want of a shoe the horse was lost.  For want of a horse the rider was lost.  For want of a rider the battle was lost.”  You get the idea.  Because a nail was lacking to put that horseshoe on that horse, the war was lost.

The scenario may not be entirely convincing, but small things can be very important.  Having seen the great Australian movie Breaker Morant , about the Boer War in South Africa , I have been thinking of messages that got through and some that didn't.  Incidentally, that movie, filmed in 1979, gives a good picture of the adrenalin-charged emotion that filled the air during the Utah War of 1857-58.

Late 1857 was a time of extraordinary war hysteria.  A wagon train bound for California moved southward through the territory.  The settlers were instructed not to sell their meager supply of grain.  At the Meadows, Mormons and Indians surrounded the wagon train.  A messenger, James Haslam, was dispatched to get instructions from Brigham Young.

Riding at breakneck speed, sparing neither himself nor his mount, Haslam reached Salt Lake City .  When he learned what was happening, Brigham Young wrote a short letter instructing the Latter-day Saints not to harm the emigrants.   Even though he was tired, Haslam turned around and made the return trip as fast as he could.

He arrived at the site a few hours after the massacre.  “Too late! Too late!” the local commander exclaimed.  Except for seventeen children, the company had been killed.

Although other local leaders were also involved, John D. Lee was the only one who was later tried, convicted, and executed for his role in the dastardly work of destruction.  

Anxious to implicate Brigham Young, some have claimed that the letter carried by Haslam was a later invention intended to conceal culpability.  But Brigham's correspondence was written by scribes in letter books, with an onion-skin copy of each letter left permanently in the book.  The letter in question is right where it should be.

We anxiously await a book on the tragic massacre by the formidable team of Richard Turley, Glen Leonard, and Ronald Walker, which promises to be the most even-handed, honest, thorough study ever produced on the subject.

Communications

A huge improvement in the speed of communication was introduced with the telegraph.  Reaching Utah from the east in late 1861, the telegraph made possible quick communication.  Messages could come through almost immediately.  A Deseret News editorial exultantly proclaimed: 

The Overland Telegraph line, by which our city is in daily communication with the Atlantic and Pacific States and the British North American Provinces, is one of the greatest and grandest institutions of recent construction.

Regular channels of communication, including mails and telegraph, were sometimes disrupted by war. During the Spanish-American War, it became important for the United States to get a message to Garcia, leader of the Cuban resistance against Spain .  Regular mail would not work.  No one in the United States knew exactly where Garcia was.

Then someone recommended a man named Rowan.  “He can find Garcia if anybody can.”  Rowan was summoned and given a letter, which he enclosed in an oilskin pouch over his heart.  Landing by night on the coast of Cuba , Rowan entered the heavily forested terrain. 

Three weeks later he emerged on the other side of the island.  He had made his way through hostile territory, found Garcia, and delivered the message.  Describing this feat, Elbert Hubbard wrote a famous essay entitled “A Message to Garcia.”

During World War I some army units on the western front made use of carrier pigeons.  The U.S. Army Signal Corps owned and used some 600 birds.  One pigeon named “Cher Ami” was used to deliver twelve important messages during the Verdun campaign.  Hit by enemy fire during his last mission, a seriously wounded Cher Ami continued flying to his destination.  The result was the rescue of the so-called Lost Battalion, which had been cut off and isolated from other American forces.  For his heroic service this valiant bird was awarded the French Croix de Guerre.

Missionaries and mission presidents in the nineteenth century were often pretty much on their own.  Reports were sent by regular mail, and instructions were received in the same way.  Crisis situations sometimes required faster service, for which the telegraph was used.  But having all decision made at central headquarters was out of the question. The presidents learned to seek the Lord in prayer and make decisions accordingly.  

At the End of the Telephone Line

The second half of the twentieth century has seen the growth of the missionary department.  Assessing needs of the different missions, matching resources with situations, this department is essential to the network of 330-plus missions now operating.  Imagine the problems that arise.  Legal problems, health problems, disciplinary problems.  What a reassurance to the mission president to know that he is not forgotten in his outpost! 

At the other end of a telephone line he finds a calm, reassuring voice.  Having had previous experience in dealing with similar problems, people in the central office muster resources and give wise, informed counsel.

But every single question must not be taken to the central missionary department.  Trained, experienced in their previous callings, understanding principles, mission presidents have primary responsibility over their missionaries.  They have the ability to make most decisions and carry them out.  They have direct access to God through prayer and are entitled to inspiration in their callings.   Mutatis mutandis , the same is true of stake presidents and bishops.

It is not always a question of getting a message from point A to point B.  What if it gets there but no one sees it?  What if it is filed away?   With quantities of reports and memoranda coming in from many sources, it may be extremely important to summarize them or correlate coordinate them with other messages before placing them in the hands of the decision-maker.  If that process takes a few days, or weeks, the stale information may be out of date and effectively useless. 

One thinks of the different law enforcement and intelligence agencies.  If the raw data they gather is not shared, evaluated, and interpreted, how can it possibly be put to effective use?

We are able to send messages to our Heavenly Father.  He also sends messages to us, some of them in response to our needs and requests.  Is there any static interference that impedes the clear transmission of these outgoing or incoming messages?  What can we do to remove this interference?

I Needed to Hear from You

I am imagining a conversation with our Eternal Father that goes something like this.  “Father, I really needed your help, I needed to hear from you, I needed an answer.  Where were you?

“Oh, my son, I heard your cry and the message was sent.

“Oh, no!  I must have missed it.  How was it sent?

 “The way I so often sent the needed messages.  It was stated clearly and directly by my prophet, the president of my church on earth, at general conference in April 2004.  You simply failed to pay attention.” 

Messages of all kinds — how crucial they can be in our life!   Timeliness, clarity, receptivity, comprehension, proper response — such aspects of communication can significantly influence one's personal life as well as the pivotal events of history.