INSPIRATION

THE HAPPIEST DAY

The following is taken from the book, To The Rescue, the Biography of Thomas S. Monson, by Heidi S. Swinton, page 384:

At a 1975 stake conference in Modesto, California, with the assignment to divide the stake, Elder Monson realized that more than ten years earlier he had attended a conference in that same area.  He tried to remember the name of the stake president back then and it came to him: Clifton Rooker.

He said to the current stake president, as the meeting was about to start, “Is this the same stake over which Clifton Rooker presided?”

The stake president responded, “Yes.  He is our former president.”

Elder Monson stepped to the pulpit and asked, “Is Clifton Rooker in the audience?”  There he was, far back in the cultural hall, hardly in view of the pulpit.  Elder Monson felt inspired to make the invitation, “Brother Rooker, we have a place for you on the stand.  Would you please come forward?’  With every eye watching him, Clifton Rooker made that long walk from the rear of the building right up to the front and took a seat at Elder Monson’s side.

Later in the meeting, Elder Monson called on Brother Rooker to bear his testimony, “to give him the privilege to tell the people, whom he loved, that he was the real beneficiary of the service he had rendered his Heavenly Father and which he had provided the stake members.”

When the meeting concluded, he asked Brother Rooker to join him in setting apart the two new stake presidencies.  Brother Rooker responded, “That would be a highlight of my life.”  The two proceeded, placing hands on the head of each person and embracing one another when the work was finished.

The next morning Elder Monson received a phone call from Brother Rooker’s son, who said, “Brother Monson.  I’d like to tell you about my dad.  He passed away this morning; but before he did so, he said that yesterday was the happiest day of his entire life.”  Elder Monson recorded, “I thanked my God for the inspiration which came to me in the twinkling of an eye to invite this good man to come forward and receive the plaudits of his stake members, whom he had served, while he was yet alive and able to enjoy them. 

Of all the blessings Elder Monson treasures in his life, he has said that one of the greatest is “that feeling which the Lord provides when you know that He, the Lord, has answered the prayer of another person through you.”