Finding peace and joy in service

Mindy asked me to blog about an amazing experience that I had last Sunday. I taught the lesson in Elder's Quorum on President Eyring's message in the Ensign entitled, "Exhort them to pray." I noticed shortly after announcements were made that our Stake President had decided to join us and was sitting in the back. Although I was a little nervous teaching the lesson with him there, the lesson went very well and the Spirit was there in abundance. I appreciated the scriptures that President Tu added to the lesson and his comments. During the lesson, a signup sheet was sent around for two people to volunteer at the hospital sometime that afternoon. I was surprised that at the end of the lesson only one person had signed up. It was my home teaching companion. President Cook asked me if I would go with him. I said I would and we planned to go around 12:30.

When we arrived at the hospital, I asked Taylor if it was okay if we said a quick prayer. I prayed that we would have the Spirit with us to meet the needs of those that we met with in the hospital. I specifically said that the Lord is aware of each individual need and asked that he would allow His Spirit to guide us. Since this was the first time that Taylor and I had been to this hospital, we approached the front desk and spoke to the volunteer. Immediately we were met with adversity. It's amazing how this happens so often when you are on the Lord's errand. The world always wants to get in the way. I know why this happens and I remember it happening often on my mission. The volunteer said that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was not on her list of people approved by the chaplain to visit patients. She said, "You guys are not on the list. You will have to come back tomorrow and talk with the chaplain." Normally, I'm not a very assertive person and it's something that I've struggled with my whole life. In many instances I would have ended up walking out for fear of causing a fuss. Since Taylor and I were in tune with the Spirit and since the Lord knew there were people in need that day, we continued to ask questions. We were both very bold with her while remaining polite. I told her that this is something that our church does all of the time and I would like to see that list. I immediately noticed that we are listed as the Mormon church on her list and it became clear that this was a simple misunderstanding. I told her that we are also known as the Mormon church and that it says there that everyone is approved that comes from our church. To my surprise she continued to resist and said that our names aren't on the list and we will need to come back tomorrow. Taylor and I looked at each other and it was then that I offered a silent prayer in my mind that the Lord would tell us the things that we should say to overcome this hurdle. I then told her that I would like to speak to her supervisor so that we can get this straightened out because people will be coming from our church each Sunday. She reluctantly called her supervisor and her supervisor said she would be down right away.

While we were waiting to speak to the supervisor, the woman behind us in line asked us if we were missionaries. We told her that we used to be and now we are in the Elder's Quorum in our church and we're here to help some of the patients. She told us that her daughter was in the rehab center a few blocks away and she needed a blessing. My mind was called back to the prayer that we offered just moments before and I thought, "she was led to us." We got the address and room number where her daughter was staying and I also got the lady's name and phone number. The supervisor arrived and apologized for the misunderstanding. We signed a confidentiality agreement and got our badges. They gave us a list of patient names and room numbers. I'm assuming these are people that when they were admitted into the hospital they checked a box that said they had an affiliation with our church. There were eight names and we ended up visiting seven on the eight. We administered the sacrament to a couple who had just had their first child. A woman who was recovering from surgery also received the sacrament. Some of them just wanted our prayers. One lady just needed some encouragement and words of peace.

When we arrived at one woman's room it was clear that the mood was somber and the relatives in the room were distressed. We spoke to a woman named Marge and she told us that her sister had two strokes and she was probably going to be a vegetable. She was very old and Marge started to cry as she told us that she told the doctors to stop the medicine that was keeping her alive. She then walked out into the hall and started to weep. I put my arm around her and told her that the Lord is aware of her and knows how hard this time is for the family. Taylor talked about his father dying when he was eighteen. He said that it's only hard for those of us left on earth. The people who go to the other side are much happier than they could ever be here. She seemed to take some comfort in that. I felt impressed to share a scripture in Alma chapter 40 which talks about what happens to our Spirits when we die. After sharing that scripture I bore testimony of the truthfulness of that scripture and that Heavenly Father loves all of His children. She said, "I hope that it's like that." I said, "Marge, I know that it's like that." After we were done at the hospital we traveled to the rehab center and gave Dorean's daughter a priesthood blessing. The family seemed at peace when we left and I'm so glad that we were able to participate in that.

This experience that I was blessed to have last Sunday was not by chance and is not unique to the experiences that many members of our church have had and will continue to have if they are faithful. Dorean told me before we left that this was a result of Divine Providence. I told her that just minutes before she approached us, we had prayed that the Lord would show us those in need. She started to cry. One interesting thing to note, is that Dorean is not a member of the church. Her daughter is but hasn't been active for many years. Heavenly Father guided her to us and we were put in her path.

This experience was one of many testimony buidling experiences in my life. I hope that I can have many more experiences like it. There is no greater feeling than the feeling you get when you are serving God's children. I know he cares about each of us. I know that his Son Jesus Christ Atoned for each of us so that he can have a perfect understanding of what we go through in this life. He felt everything that we feel. It's because of this that He is able to be our perfect advocate with the Father. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.