Monday, February 11, 2013

Brian Taylor's letter, February 10, 2013


Hello, again
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Brian L Taylor
8:21 PM (9 hours ago)
to me
Dear Elder and Sister Scott,
        I'm just a little bit envious of you.  I know there are challenging
times, but each of us has a frequent opportunity to make a difference
in the lives of some special person.  I had my turn yesterday--four
people, two hours on the phone.  Wonderful feelings!
                I heard a couple of experiences today that carry a good message.  I
hope they will be useful for you.  The first involves a less active
female member who was asked to prepare a pan of "funeral potatoes" for
the family of someone she didn't even know.  She accepted the
assignment, but all the time she was working on the project, she was
grumbling to herself, thinking how much she hated the assignment.
Then a few weeks later she attended the funeral of an aunt who was
VERY inactive in the Church.  As is usually the case in an LDS ward, a
lunch was prepared for the survivors.  This time the food was a lovely
spread!  The tables were attractively set,,, the food was just
delicious, and it was obvious that even though the departed one was
hardly known in her ward, the Relief Society had pulled out all the
stops to make the meal fit for the Savior.  Seeing how lovely the
service was for her inactive aunt, the visitor did a little
introspection and came up with the decision that she would never
complain again when asked to perform service in the Church,
                The second story involves a missionary who was serving ;a mission in
Alaska.  His sister, who was the only LDS student in her high school,
sent word to her brother, that their football team had been invited to
go to China to play one of the teams there.  Since the sister was one
of the cheerleaders, she had been invited to go, also.  The missionary
was really concerned that his sister would be traveling with all those
non-LDS people.  When she phoned him and asked if he could get
permission from his president to meet his sister briefly at the
Anchorage airport, he half-heartedly made the request.  The mission
president weighed the circumstances and finally agreed to let the
missionary and his companion meet the sister.
                When the missionary and his companion arrived at the airport, they
found that the football team and cheerleaders had already arrived.
His sister spied him, ran and literally flew into his arms.  After
their initial greeting, the sister introduced an acquaintance on the
football team to her brother, since she had to leave for some
cheerleader business for a short time.          Unacquainted with LDS
missionary work, the football player asked about the missionaries'
activities and got a brief, but wonderful explanation about their work
and their message.  Then the sister returned and soon had to join her
group for the next leg of their journey to China.
                After the missionary returned home, the sister's football friend
came to call on her.  Her brother was horrified when his sister began
dating the young man and soon announced that he had asked her to marry
him.
Then one night when the young man came to pick up the sister for a
date, he began asking the missionary about some questions he had about
the Church.  In short order he requested baptism before the marriage
date arrived.
                Fast forward--after the couple was married, they went to the temple
as soon as possible,  In time they had six children.  All four of
their sons served missions, as did one of their daughters.
Unbelievable!
                What can we learn from this experience?  Just this:  When we pray
to the Lord, we need to listen to the promptings of the Spirit.  If we
heed the Spirit's promptings, we need never be afraid of the results.
                Have a great week!  I intend to work on it, also.
Love, Grandpa Taylor

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