“As you take the normal opportunities of your daily life and create something of beauty and
helpfulness, you improve not only the world around you but also the world within you.”
― Dieter F. Uchtdorf
For the last few months at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Skowhegan,
Maine, many of the talks given have had to do with ministering. Ministering is helping
out fellow Saints in our ward by visiting, calling, helping or writing to them to see how
they are doing and if they need any help physically or spiritually. For me, it’s a little
different.
I am a member of the Newport ward. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. I attend Skowhegan
because that’s where my son goes. When we moved to our new location I didn’t know the
rules had changed and that it takes more than transferring records from one ward to another.
Now it takes meetings, letters and approval of the Big Three of the General Authority to
have them changed. I am in the process of trying to get my records moved to the Skowhegan
ward so I can continue there, hold a calling, get my temple recommend and take my son to
the temple. Nothing means more to me than being able to attend with him and watching him
grow in the church.
Listening to the talks, the same advice is given each week to minister to the members of the
church. Not being a member of the ward, I have been trying other methods to help people in
our neighborhood. This past weekend was General Conference. I had listened to the two hour
session on Saturday and felt moved to share my message of faith and my love of our Heavenly
Father and his Son. On Sunday morning, I posted a picture of the Boston temple on my
Facebook page and wrote “Happy Sunday everyone! Have a blessed day and know God and I
love you! Time to recharge my spirit!” I prayed that morning to have missionary work come
to me in some form that I might include my son.
On Sunday afternoon, my prayer was answered.
It was the first warm day of Spring and my husband wanted to be outside, as did we all. He,
my son and I went across the road to an abandoned lot and decided to metal detect. It is one
of our favorite things to do together. While we were digging, an elderly woman pulled up
and watched us from her driver’s seat.
I approached her and asked if there was something I could do for her. She asked if the young
man, pointing at my son, would be willing to help her out by doing a few odd jobs around
her yard. I called my son over and he introduced himself. When asked he emitted an enthusiastic
yes! She lived only three houses away. We told her we would meet her with our rakes in hand.
A few minutes later we arrived in her driveway and she was explaining that this was the first
time in her life she was unable to prepare her flower garden for the season. My son and I went
to work immediately raking out the long grass that surrounded the rose bushes. He was careful
to not pull out any of the new growth that was sprouting through the wet ground. There were
many returning flowers pushing through.
While we worked I asked her about the flowers and about her life. It so happened her birthday
is the day after my father’s and they will both be eighty-three this year. She said she had asked
another young man to come by last week to help but he never came. She is very unsteady on
her feet and has trouble using the stairs in her home. With Spring she has much to do but hasn’t
the strength to do it.
We finished with that flowerbed and she asked us to move on the the front yard. We filled
garbage bags full of leaves, grass and sticks. The yard was finished and we put all of her tools
away in her garage. It was then time for payment. When she asked my son how much he would
like to be compensated he told her that there was no need to pay him. He had fun working in the
sunshine.
Still, she insisted on giving him something in return. He walked up to her and held out his arms
and went in for a giant hug. “This is my payment,” he stated.
Smiling and patting his back, she still insisted on a form of payment. Without payment, she said,
there would be no reason he would want to come back. Listening to her she reminded me of my
father. When helping my parents with their laundry and odd jobs, dad is always slipping a little
something in my hand before I leave even though I say it’s not necessary. She moved to her car,
retrieved a ten dollar bill and informed us it was for both of us. She enjoyed our company and
hoped we would come back. When I thanked her for letting us do God’s work that day she started
to cry. I gave her a big hug and said we would be back.
Much like the flowers of Spring it is time for us to come out of the darkness and see the sun. It
is time for us to renew ourselves and our covenants with our Heavenly Father and brush away
the tangled mess of events in our past that we hang onto that try and hold us from our true happiness.
Let us untangle ourselves from the weeds and thorns of our worries and doubts and bring new life
to, not only ourselves, but to others around us. That they may feel the love we have for our fellow
man. That they may see the good works that can be done by helping those around them. Simple
acts of kindness is all it takes.
Had we not been outside that glorious day, the answer to my prayer may have never been noticed.
Had I ignored her and not inquired as to why she was watching us, I would have missed the chance
to befriend her. I would have missed the chance to teach my son the power of doing God’s work. I
would have also missed his chance to show me he is living the gospel by doing the work for another
for the simple payment of a hug.
Brothers and Sisters, since the first time I heard Elder Uchtdorf empower his wisdom on us all with
his “Believe. Love. Do” mentality, I have been trying to put his words into action. I think it was
meant for me because he spoke to us on my birthday, October sixth, with this message. These three
simple words have changed my life for the better.
I BELIEVE in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and the Book of Mormon.
I LOVE them all, my fellow Saints and non-Saints.
I DO the work that is asked of me by God.
By Believing, Loving and Doing we were able to serve not only the woman who loved her flowers
but serve our Heavenly Father. And that is all that is ever asked of us.
