One Good Turn


A friend told me the following:


It was late afternoon and I was driving my pickup and hauling a group of horses, on my way to a hunting expedition in a remote area. I had taken on this traveling adventure by myself, planning to meet with others when I got to the campsite. As I rounded a turn, I saw a car pulled over to the side of the road with a flat tire. The elderly woman, beside the vehicle was trying to use a jack.


I pulled over to give her some help and she seemed very grateful, thanking me again and again for stopping. We got the spare installed and soon she was on her way again. As I continued in the truck, I was congratulating myself mentally for helping her. About five minutes later the horse trailer began to shake terribly and I pulled over once more. The trailer had also developed a flat and now I was the one in trouble.


It was beginning to get dark and the horses were jittery from the jostling. I couldn’t risk taking the four horses out of the trailer for fear that they might get away from me and yet the jack for the trailer was not meant to handle the weight of four moving horses and the trailer weight as well. It was before the time of cell phones and even if I would have had a cell, in that remote area, it would probably have indicated ‘no services available.’


The road I was stuck on was seldom traveled, so the chance of someone stopping to help me was unlikely. I thought to myself, ‘God, I have just helped someone else, now I need your help. Would you please assist me?’ After that short prayer, I felt inspired to use the jack anyway. As the jack lifted the trailer, I could see that the biggest problem would be jittery horses.


They would move about and the weight was shifting from side to side. The critical point would come when I had to put the spare tire on. For only a moment, I would have the flat tire off and only the jack holding the trailer up. If the horses moved too much during that time, the jack could fall, not only causing the trailer to fall over but possibly crushing me. I began to sweat profusely.


I got the spare tire ready and tried to find something I could place under the axle to catch the trailer in case the jack slipped. A log, a big rock, anything, but despite desperate searching, I could find nothing. I decided to rely on God to help me. I got the jack just at the right height, the lug nuts ready and was ready to move. I again asked for divine help, this time to prevent my own nervousness, for I was shaking badly, even though the outside temperate was about 75F.


I let out a long slow breath and began talking softly to the horses, trying to get them to calm down as well and then gently pulled off the old tire, moving it under the axle. As quickly as I could, I then put the spare on and after a bit of adjusting got the lug bolts aligned through the spare tire hub holes. Frantically, I threaded two lug nuts into place followed by those remaining and finished properly installing the spare.


When the process was over, I began shaking again, but smiling and then dropped to my knees and thanked God profusely for his generosity in saving his unworthy servant. The horses had remained still when they needed to. Some may say that it was all a coincidence or that I got lucky or both, but I know where my strength lies and have seen it in many like situations in my life. Since then, I have often wondered, ‘What might have been the outcome if I had not helped the woman, just before, with the flat tire?’

UNFORGETTABLE LEADERS


A friend told me the following: Two distinct meetings with General Authorities have had a massive impact on my life. The first occurred when I was nineteen and on my way to my mission. A series of events permitted me to meet in person, Elder Bruce R. McConkie. I was immediately struck with how large of a man he was, both physically and spiritually and after talking to me for a moment or two, he said, “Elder, you have been called on a mission and will testify before many that the Gospel is true. As you do so, you must have a deep, abiding, faith that the Church is true as well. Remember that you are shaking the hand of a man who has the Seer Stones, the Urim and Thummin locked at home in his vault.” His eyes locked on mine as he said this and I could feel the strength of his words through his handshake. A moment later he left the building.

The second also happened years ago. Full time missionaries were interviewed annually by a General Authority. When I served as a missionary in South America, I was privileged to meet with, then, Elder Spencer W. Kimball. During our interview he asked me what had been my biggest challenge as an Elder. I mentioned my challenges with the Spanish language and how the Church was growing so fast that we often could not find adequate Priesthood leadership to run the branches and wards. I had been serving as the Branch President until we trained someone to take my place. Elder Kimball asked me to meet him, the following year, when my mission was over, at the Church Office Building. I was to let him know the details of how I solved my mission challenges.

After I was released as a full time missionary, I dropped in one day, at his office and asked his secretary for an audience with him. She mentioned that he was not in his office that day and wondered if I would like her to call him at home and make some arrangements. I was thrilled that she would even suggest that possibility. Subsequently she phoned him at home and he agreed to see me at his home within the hour. She gave me his street address and directions to get there and I was on my way.

I pulled into the driveway of a very modest, unassuming home and recognized his wife, Camilla, puttering out front in the garden. We talked briefly and she called, “Spencer…you have a visitor!” We spoke concerning my mission and then he asked, “Young man, what are your plans for the rest of your life? I mentioned my plans for schooling and marriage and asked if he might be available to marry us in the Salt Lake Temple at a specific time. He checked his calendar and agreed. I left his home weeping for joy!

When the day arrived, at the Salt Lake Temple Sealing Room, he asked my mother to set on my left, and my wife’s mother to sit on her right, with the two of us sitting in the middle. He then asked us to let go of each other’s hands and hold the hands of our mothers. “Before your marriage, you have confided private thoughts to your mothers or your parents, but today is different. Let go of your mother’s hands and hold each other’s hands. Now when you have private thoughts to communicate you tell each other only, for your closest relationship should be with your spouse.” I’ve never forgotten that.

I saw Elder Kimball three more times before he died and on each occasion, he would seek me out to give me a big hug and ask me how I was doing. I’ll always remember him as a warm, concerned, loveable, genuine man, ever ready to help.