It is with great pride that the Editor announces that this newsletter has won the prestigious Frijoles Negros Award for "messy but meaningful" news reporting. The Frijoles Negros Award is given every three years to that publication coming closest to the vision of the award's founder, José José de la José, in fostering the ideals of his grandfather who once said, "I have just eaten three pots of frijoles negros, does anyone have any paper?"

Because of this great honor, this newsletter (formerly known as The Servant, The Herald, The Star, The Missionary Newsletter, The Deseret News, Close Cover Before Striking, The Texas Blabber, and The Journal of Veterinary Medicine) will henceforth be known as the Award Winning Newsletter.

On November 15,1995, Elder Joe D. Ashurst will enter the Missionary Training Center in preparation for service as a Spanish speaking missionary in the New Hampshire, Mansfield Mission. His mission farewell was celebrated in a special program held on October 29. The meeting was a great inspiration, with the missionary approaching the podium from the door on the left wearing a dark suit, muted red tie, new black shoes, and just a hint of cologne. He sat demurely as his family lavished him with well deserved praise while his parole officer sat fidgeting in the audience. On cue, Elder Ashurst rose and delivered a tremendous sermon on the importance of the missionary effort and the role he plans to fill in the furtherance of this great work. He explained the great need in the church for Spanish speaking missionaries in every one of the domestic missions, citing comments from all of the latter-day prophets in support of this point. Some in the audience compared this sermon with the great address given by King Benjamin to the Nephites. It is of even greater significance that this great oration only took 31 seconds to deliver. Brevity is always a hallmark of a great missionary.

The response to last month's issue of this newsletter, The Journal of Vetetinary Medicine, was overwhelming. Several touching stories were sent to the Editor about large animals, pets, and even insects that have figured prominently in missionary life throughout the church. One interesting twist has been that several of the animal articles submitted by missionaries could have just as well been printed in the Recipes section of the newsletter as in the Faith Promoting Animal Stories section. Go figure!

One account that bears printing here was sent in from Brazil about the Amazonas Catfish. This fish is a close cousin to its rare American counterpart, Catfish Mississippius. It is significant that this fish has always been present whenever a baptism was held in the Amazon River. On most baptismal occasions the Amazonas Catfish swims just close enough to the baptismal candidate to verify that the immersion was total before swimming back into the main channel of the river.

On one occasion it was reported that a particularly large specimen of Amazonas Catfish not only verified the validity of the baptismal ordinance, but it was subsequently caught in the folds of the candidate's skirt and captured. Elder Russell M. Ballard of the Council of the Twelve does not think that these fish have any particular authority to direct that the ordinance be repeated in the event immersion isn't deemed total. Other people aren't so sure about that.

The following is a reprint of a letter that appeared in the Liahona - The Elders Journal on May 5, 1914. The Liahoha was published in Independence Missiouri and was an official publication of the missions of the church.

Will someone please tell me where can go next Sunday and hear a real old fashioned sermon about hellfire and brimstone and the way of escaping from it? I am so tired of this new fashioned, rock-a-bye-baby kind of preaching with a few oratorical loop-the-loops. I want to hear a man who knows the terror of the Lord as well as his love, who shakes the wrath of God in the sinner's face with one hand while he holds out to him God's mercy in the other. I want to hear a preacher who really believes there is a Devil and that he is a powerful adversary.

I believe there are plenty of preachers who can do this if they would only turn themselves loose and speak out what they think.

- J. E. H.

The Editor wishes to apologize to the thin-skinned chowderheads who wrote to complain about the tasteless article from the July, 1995 issue of this newsletter, The Texas Blabber, wherein the Editor was reported to have gone off to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil with his secretary, Trixie, for less than honorable purposes.

New Englanders have long been known to be short on words. President Charles Hobbs of the Manchester, New Hampshire Mission proves this painful point with the recipe he submitted for New England Baked Beans. Here is his famous recipe: