Why I Believe, Love and Do

“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.