September 21-I really liked this talk a lot and i wanted you all, if you haven't already, to read Mikes talk he gave in stake conference. It truly is amazing how the Lord works within us and uses us to bless the lives of others. Here is a story from the talk.
Grandma Self
-Visiting Teacher
I remember
the first time my Mom was called as a visiting teacher. We lived on a farm in an area between two
small towns, Romney and Springfield, West Virginia. There were 27 members in
our area so Dad would hold home Sunday School for our family and the other
members who lived nearby. The closest
Branch of the church was in Cumberland, Maryland about 25 miles away. One day a
sister came from the branch of the church in Cumberland to call my mom to be a
visiting teacher. She was assigned to visit several sisters in our area. My mom had never driven a car and Dad took
the only car we had to work each day so it would not be possible for her to
drive to deliver the messages in person.
At that time
the Relief Society sisters received a magazine each month called the Relief
Society Magazine which included the message they were to share each month. Since Mom had many chores to do each day on
the farm and six children to take care of, it was always later in the evening
when she would find the time to sit down and begin to write out by hand the
entire message to send to one of the sisters on her list. Since she had 4 or 5 sisters to contact it
would mean she would sit for long periods for several nights writing out each
message in its entirety. There was only
one 40 watt bulb on the ceiling in each room.
I can remember the difficulty she had reading the small print in the
little magazine.
One of the
messages she mailed each month went to the home of a sister whose husband would
not allow her to have any contact with the church. She was not even permitted to say the name of
the church to anyone or to speak of it.
She could not mention the name of God or Jesus Christ. So this sister had requested her message be
sent to her next door neighbor who would keep the message for her and would let
her read it in her home. Years passed
and my mom continued to send her message to her neighbor not knowing if it was
ever read.
It was about
40 years later that Mom learned the rest of the story. She acquired a book called “The History of
the Church in West Virginia”. One day as
we were reading the book together we read a story of a woman who could not have
any reminders of religion in her home.
The story was told by her son. He
said his mother was a very good woman who never used bad language, was patient,
never drank coffee or used any substances.
He said she was good to her neighbors and loving to her family and she
respected her husband’s wishes and never mentioned God nor religion. After she and her husband died the next door
neighbor shared with the son the story of how each month a letter would come
from a woman over near Romney. She would
give the letter to his Mom and she would read and reread the messages. This woman did not know the name of the
church or the woman who sent them.
The son said
he began to look for the church that had meant so much to his mother. He went from church to church trying to find
the one. One day in his search for her
religion he went into a church and as the congregation began to sing he
immediately recognized the music. It was
the same piece his mother played on her piano.
He had asked her many times what it was because when she played it, she
played it with so much feeling, but she would just smile at him. He said as he listened to the music in the
church the spirit came over him so strong that tears flowed down his face as he
realized he had found something that has meant so much to his Mother. The hymn was “Come Come Ye Saints” a hymn he
found out could only be found in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. Her son became a member of the
church that meant so much to her.
Now 40 plus
years later, my Mother sat with tears streaming down her cheeks as she realized
how much her sacrifice in writing out those messages, when she was tired, and
in dim lighting, had meant in bringing a
bright ray of light into the life of this good woman.
Brothers and Sisters we
answer the Savior one sheep or lamb at a time.
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