I've had so many confirmations of the truthfulness of the gospel and the existence of a loving Father in Heaven, but sadly, I didn't have the wisdom to write them down as I experienced them and so many are now lost and forgotten. I'm making a commitment today, though, not to ever make the same mistake again and making good by posting this sweet little story.
A few days ago, Hiram and I went up to Morgan to secretly deliver a plate of Halloween goodies to one of the members of our Bishopric, one Brother Earl Anderson. Our plan was to drive away quickly after, unseen, but we were actually spotted by Brother Anderson while pulling up his street, so pretty soon we were taking a tour of his new home, losing miserably to him and his wife at Foosball, helping him to mow a neighbor lady's yard (really only Hiram helped), and being invited out to dinner at Taggart's. It was really an unexpected and good, fun time. Anyway, amidst our socializing, Hiram and I asked Brother Anderson how it was that he and our bishop, Bishop Hains, happened to know each other, clearly not being in the same ward boundaries, and he told us the following:
When he and his wife were moving from California to Utah many years ago, they were referred to Mark Hains (now our bishop) who is a realtor, and he helped them to find and buy a house. So, they had met and gotten to know each other a little bit through this process, but that was the extent of their relationship for nearly 11 years. At that point, Mark Hains was called to be the bishop of the University 9th Ward and needed to call counselors. He made a list of all the brothers he knew and thought would do a good job and quickly felt good about and called Kenyon Dove (a super cool dude), but he struggled finding another counselor. No one else really clicked, so he prayed fervently for inspiration one night and was blessed with a dream in which he clearly saw a white envelope with the name Earl Anderson printed on it. He had his answer. Now, after 11 years, he just had to make sure that Brother Anderson was still active in the church, which he was, and the result is our totally bad-A bishopric.
We've always really, really liked our bishopric and felt that they were inspired men, but this tale has served to strengthen my tesimony of the Lord and His love for his children. I know that our bishop and his two counselors were called by God to preside over our ward. I love this church!
3 comments:
Good post Ash. Sometimes I start to think Heavenly Father is just aware of us in general groups and not as individuals. This post of yours was such a good reminder that he is aware of us individually.
P.S. So, not that I wouldn't have been checking your blog every minute of every day (because I would have been) but I'll tell you a little secret about how I knew so darn quickly the very second you had a new post -- its google reader. It is free and you just paste in all the blogs of your loved ones and then just check there (like a little email inbox) and it shows when someone has a new posty post. Oh except it can't check private blogs like Megs, so you still have to go there to check up on thems folks.
awesome story. i'm so glad that i get to be on the receiving end of your commitment to record more good things!
and you and hiram are so cool for doing stuff like planning to take surprise treats to people. you are the best at that. and hiram is so nice to always do nice little things that actually mean a lot like taking my plate at dinner or getting me some more water or something like that. i love you both! thanks for your awesome example!
Hah you and I so alike. I picked this blog myself awhile back. But I must change change change my blog. I love you rpost and the way you write my Mashies! I love you way much Meg
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