"As the Savior’s latter-day disciples, we come unto Him by loving and serving God’s children"
This talk was given by Elder Robert D. Hales and I found myself eagerly listening to his words.
"Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel was in the hospital recovering from open-heart surgery when he was visited by his five-year-old grandson. As the little boy looked into his grandfather’s eyes, he saw his pain. “Grandpa,” he asked, “if I loved you more, would you [hurt less]?”1 Today I ask a similar question of each of us: “If we love the Savior more, will we suffer less?”
No matter what your beliefs, this talk about service is priceless, especially in the world we live in today. I love the idea of serving others. I actually love serving and doing things for others. I love teaching the children in Primary and hearing their voices sing. I love helping neighbors and friends. I love doing service where it is needed without having everyone else know about it. Service is not a competition. It is love in action.
He talked about parents, whose grown children are lost, and how they cannot pray free agency away. That is so true. I find in my children, things to love about them no matter what path they have chosen. I believe that is my job as their mother. To love them unconditionally and to help them when they need my help and care.
He told stories and talked about love and acceptance.
One of the greatest testaments to love that I have personally witnessed happened when I used to work in a nursing home long ago.
There was a woman who had Alzheimer's. It was so far advanced that she could not straighten her limbs and was bedridden. She could not speak or do anything at all for herself. Her husband of over 50 years came every single day. She could not eat by herself and had to be tube fed. Nevertheless, he made her favorite foods and ground them up in a blender so that they could be put in a syringe and she could have the foods that she had made all her life.
In the two years I worked there, he only missed one day of coming and that was because he was ill. He washed her face and her hair. He talked to her constantly. He loved her in both word and deed.
She did not even seem to know he was there, but he did. He served her every single day until she passed away after 10 long years with that disease. It brought tears to my eyes to witness that kind of love. It made me long for that in my own life.
Often, when we follow the Savior's teachings, it is not glamorous work. It is hard work. Changing diapers, making meals, getting no sleep, running on the ambulance late at night, having people yell at me because they want something that I do not have. But service, when done with the right attitude, is simply love in action. It is bring Christ into our hearts and sharing Him with everyone around us. It is learning to come follow Him.
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