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August 7, 2002 Elder Cook speaks on Perpetual Education Fund REXBURG, Idaho– Elder Richard E. Cook, former member of
the Second Quorum of the Seventy and current financial director of the
Perpetual Education Fund, talked about the importance of the Perpetual
Education Fund in the BYU-Idaho devotional Tuesday. The fund, which LDS Church President
Gordon B. Hinckley announced in the April 2001 general conference, both cares
for the poor and helps prepare others for leadership in the Church as it
grows outside of the United States. Elder Cook shared a film explaining the
Perpetual Education Fund that included people sharing first-hand experiences
with the fund. “We propose a
plan, a plan which we believe is inspired by the Lord,” President Hinckley
said in the video. “We shall call it the Perpetual Education Fund. From the earnings
of this fund, loans will be made to ambitious young men and women, for the
most part returned missionaries, so that they may borrow money to attend
school. “Then, when they qualify for
employment, it is anticipated that they will return that which they have
borrowed, together with a small amount of interest designed as an incentive
to repay the loan. With good employment skills, these young men and women can
rise out of the poverty they and generations before them have known. They
will better provide for their families. They will serve in the Church and
grow in leadership and responsibility. “They will
repay their loans to make it possible for others to be blessed as they have
been blessed as faithful. As faithful members of the Church, they will pay
their tithes and offerings, and the Church will be much the stronger for
their presence in the areas where they live.” Elder Cook said, “The Church has a
solid history of taking care of the poor.” He cited examples of Brigham
Young’s leadership in encouraging the Saints to stand by each other in
helping each other escape the exterminating order in Missouri. Later, after
the prophet Joseph Smith’s martyrdom, President Young proposed that in
migrating to the Rocky Mountains, “We take all the Saints with us to the
extent of our ability, that is our influence and property.” Elder Cook said, “As a result, we have
no indication of anyone who was left behind because they had no means to get
to Utah.” He also referred to the Perpetual
Emigration Fund, in which money was loaned to members abroad, primarily in
England, who had no means to get to Utah. It was a revolving fund; as the
money was returned, it was reloaned to the next family of worthy Saints to
permit them to emigrate. By the end of 1855, almost 22,000 members had been
helped, and by 1870, an estimated 50,000 had been helped. “Given the scriptural and historical
foundation of the program, it is little wonder that when the Perpetual
Education Fund was announced, it literally resonated with the Saints. . .
. Everywhere we go, the Saints
respond with warmth and enthusiasm, with favorable sentiment and general
goodwill,” he said.
Elder Cook was called to the Second Quorum of Seventy in April 1997
where he served until October 2001. During that time he served in the Asia
Area Presidency. Prior to his release from the Quorum, President Hinckley
asked him to act as the financial director of the newly formed Perpetual
Education Fund, where he has been serving since August 2001. Devotionals are broadcast live on KBYI 100.5 FM Tuesdays at 2 p.m. and are rebroadcast Tuesdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. Next week’s devotional speaker is Elder J. Ballard Washburn, a former member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. # # # |
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