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LIFE & TIMES OF REUBEN LORENZO HILL
  & MARY THERESA SNOW   

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By Theresa Snow Hill. Published by her daughter Cornella Hill in 1997. 
 Hard Cover 8.5 x 11  253 pages. 
 ISBN 1888106263  Library of Congress 97-0067732 
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This author has other books you can read about:  Erastus Snow
  George Washington Hill   Henry Eyring & Mary Bommeli 

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COLLEGE ROOM AT BYU

   PREFACE

These stories from the life history of Reuben L. and Mary Theresa Snow Hill have been written with the sole purpose that perhaps in some way they may influence the lives of their children and grandchildren in such a way that their faith in God will be renewed and strengthened.  Click photo for full image.

It is hoped that the mistakes they have made, the reader will profit by; and it is hoped that the wonderful blessings that followed them as the result of following the still small voice of their guardian angels along with the promptings of the Great Spirit of our God, the Holy Ghost, will be noted and dwelt upon as the years of life go on.
    This is not a story of the family as a whole. Each member’s life would fill another book as large as this one. If it looks at times as though one or another member comes into the picture more than others, it perhaps happens that particular person entered the whole family scene a little oftener.
    It is in some ways an autobiography of the author coupled with that of her husband as related to and observed by her through the years. Anyone knowing these two persons, especially their own children and their own brothers and sisters will find much that is lacking, much told from a different light than they themselves saw it; but isn’t that the law of psychology, no two people living apparently the same experience really see the same incident in the same way.
    It is hoped that the hearts of their children will be turned toward these two persons from whom they derived their very existence with a discerning love, that their minds will be keen and just in their observations of the lives as thus portrayed.

William Snow & Emily Eyring, Theresa's parents.
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Most of all it is hoped that each of their children will come nearer to their God, will live better Latter-day Saint lives, that is live closer to the principles of the everlasting Gospel of our Lord as revealed to man through not only the prophets of old but that revealed in its fulness to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Their counsel is: "Read the word of God daily in some form, from some scripture; if not actually from a book, read from the pages of your own mind. Be slow to judge the leaders of your day ordained by God. Follow Reuben, your father’s counsel in that regard especially. Be ever found active in the Church that your faith may grow, not depreciate; live your religion day by day, hour by hour, that your joy and happiness may be full."

Mary Theresa Snow Hill

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COLLEGE ROOM AT BYU

It was the year of the Lord 1910 when two young students sat alone in the College Club room of the Brigham Young University studying. Reuben, the young man, noticed with interest that his companion whom he had known only a few short weeks by sight, was also studying the theology lesson of the morrow. The textbook could not be mistaken, for it was the Pearl of Great Price, a small thin book containing more, much more of the precious truths concerning man and God than almost any other book in existence. It answers the ever burning question in man’s heart: "Wherefrom do I come? Why am I here? Where do I go from here?    
    As Reuben read the next day’s assignment, the wonderful story of Abraham, prophet and scientist, he covertly watched his companion and the play of expression that showed with what interest she read the enlightening lesson. This was the first real opportunity that Reuben had to be in a position where he could address this young lady alone.
    As she closed her book and went to open the large book at her elbow, Reuben interrupted her, "Do you think Dr. Brimhall will be able to cover the whole Book of Abraham tomorrow?"
    "No, I don’t see how it would be possible. I was just thinking that Dr. Hall here had written two huge volumes on the psychology of adolescents and I would wager he has not said as much as Abraham has told us in one paragraph of his fascinating story. This story makes me feel so little in this great universe of ours and yet motivates me so strongly to make this earth life meaningful. I am sure if I read every word Dr. Hall has to say in these two huge volumes the knowledge gained will motivate me little in comparison."
    "Those are my sentiments exactly, Theresa. There is one paragraph that I prize above all of the choice ones in our lesson because it mentions it in my blessing given me when a small boy by Patriarch Evans of Utah Stake.
    "‘Now the Lord had shown me, Abraham, the Intelligences that were organized before the world was, and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones. And God saw these souls that they were good and He stood in the midst of them and said, These I will make my rulers for He stood among those who were spirits and He saw that they were good and he said unto me: Abraham, thou wert one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born.’"
    Theresa marveled at the way he repeated it without looking at the book at all.
    "What did your blessing say about that, Reuben?"
    "The patriarch told me, Theresa, that I was among the number of whom He told Abraham He would make His leaders, that I was chosen before I was born. Do you wonder I have memorized that passage? It stands and will continue to stand, I hope, between me and any temptation that may come in my way to do other than what God designs I should do."
    Just then the janitor entered with his mop, warning them that they should leave. Theresa picked up the two large volumes to replace them on the Library shelves next door to the study. Reuben followed her with his eyes and spoke to himself in a prophetic utterance, "That young lady will be my wife someday."
    As the young lady returned, Reuben handed her books to her saying, "Theresa, I live over in Springville and I peddle my bicycle to and from our farm each day, but this evening I must remain until seven for chorus practice. May I walk home with you? I would like to talk over tomorrow’s lesson with you."
    "Reuben, that would be lovely, but I live quite some way from the campus, would you have time?"
    Taking her books from her arms, Reuben expressed some of the thoughts that had been running through his head as he had been reading their lesson. "Theresa, I feel that you and I were together in that premortal existence, that we studied together, worked together, we listened together as God our Father in His glorious intelligence explained the mysteries of the life He had lived back beyond the time of our remembrance. We listened as He told of the many worlds He had created and stood awed as He pointed them out to us whirling throughout space."
    "Oh Reuben, you make it all sound so real; just like I have liked to visualize it when I have read the story of the pre-existence in the works of Orson and Parley P. Pratt. Our Father seems so real as we read of His telling us there that our physical bodies here would resemble those spiritual ones we had there. You remember the story of Jared’s brother, when the Lord touched the white stones and made them shine as lights for their boats? Jared’s brother was so surprised that Christ’s fingers were like ours. Then Christ told him that was His spirit finger, for His spiritual body was in the very likeness of his physical body to be."
    "Yes Theresa, when I get to wondering of the majesty of God’s plans, of the greatness of His millions of creations, when I see the myriads of stars, some in the process of creation, some inhabited as ours is by others of God’s children, my heart almost stands still in humility at such wisdom and power. It makes me feel that I don’t want to waste a minute of the precious time allotted me here in learning everything that can be learned on this earth about the earth itself and the people living on it."
    "Oh Reuben, do you think that, too? I wonder often if it is wrong to let my imagination picture the spiritual experience we had before we came here. The Prophet Joseph Smith certainly received revelation enough for the keenest imagination to base its imaginings on and give credence to them. What did that wonderful celestial world look like? Where is it and how did we get here? That knowledge must not have been necessary to our life here, so God did not tell us. We do know that it was at least one of the places where our Father and Mother resided. We know we could see Him in all His wondrous glory. We would hear Him instruct us. We could hear other celestialized beings who had lived on earths such as ours was to be, perhaps Gods in their own right. Orson Pratt explains that we had a long experience in that world and we know from modern revelation through Joseph the Prophet that we were born as spirit children through our Heavenly parents, both Father and Mother."
    They had reached Theresa’s gate and Reuben handed over her books saying, "Oh, I wish it weren’t so late, but it is almost time for practice; I will surely have to sprint. Theresa wonderingly watched her new friend as he sprinted out of sight down the sidewalk northward toward the University then she slowly made her way into the house.

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