141003 a story that Rebecca
told at the baptism re Jared’s being saved when he fell out of the car.
(About six months ago our
granddaughter, Abigail Bills, was baptized in this church. Her mother, Rebecca,
told this story at the baptism to remind Abigail that the Holy Spirit is a great help.
Having it brought again to mind I wrote it down.)
I want to tell you a story
about something happen to us about 25 years ago.
Many of you know where we
live. It’s about 100 yards east of here on 3700 N. When this incident took
place we had lived in our home for about two or three years. Our oldest daughter, Rebecca, was a freshman
at BYU living in the dorms and we had seven other children at home, ranging
from our one-year-old baby- Paul, to our oldest, Nephi, 16. As you may know our
house is the first house facing 3700 N. on the right side as you go east along
3700 N. from the chapel. It is the corner house where 250 W joins 3700 North
from the right. Our driveway is on 250 W. The street 3700 N. has always been one
of the main roads that connects North Provo to South Orem. 25 years ago it was much narrower, one lane
each way, with a little bit of the shoulder in some places. But it did not have
the circle which is near the chapel in the road which slows traffic down. It
was a straight three quarter of a mile shot from West of Provo River to
University Avenue and sometimes people went fairly fast. One afternoon Janice
had to take the children somewhere, perhaps to music lessons, and they all
loaded up in our older white station wagon. In this time before strict seatbelt laws, some
of the youngest children were in the back bay of the station wagon. Janice waited at the stop sign until it was
clear for her to turn right onto 3700 N. As she made the right turn headed eastward
towards University Avenue, the back door of the station wagon popped open-it
sometimes didn’t latch properly-and our four-year-old son, Jared, tumbled out
of the open door onto the pavement. Luckily, the first car headed in the same
direction that Janice was driving rather slowly and came to a stop safely away
from where Jared landed. Jared landed
well and scrambled to his feet unhurt.
And with the help of two joggers, went to the side of the road. Janice immediately
stopped to get him. Needless to say we were all very grateful that no harm was
done and that he was very safe. We thanked
God in our prayers.
However, the story doesn’t
end here. In a way, God heard our
prayers and told us, “You are welcome.” As
I said our oldest child, Rebecca, was a college student at BYU attending a
student ward. About a month after this
incident she told us the following story.
She and other students got a ride back from a
church activity to their apartments with several students. One of the occupants
was a women in the ward to whom she hadn't talked with before. In the context of sharing stories about
listening to the spirit, this student related a story that had been told to her
mother by one of her mother’s visiting teacher.
Her mother’s visiting teacher lived in Orem. One
day she had business in North Provo and was traveling east off the Orem Hill
down to the River Bottoms area along 3700 N. in Provo. About a quarter of a
mile before University Avenue- in short just north of where this chapel now is-,
she heard a voice from an unseen source say, “slow down.” She said that she looked down at her odometer
and that she wasn’t speeding but nevertheless she slowed down. She said that at that moment she saw a white
station wagon pull out of the cross street her right in front of her. As it turned the corner on to 3700 North the
back door of the station wagon popped open and a small child rolled out onto
the road. She said that she was startled
but was able to come safely to a stop. She felt very grateful that she had
listened to the voice that had told her to slow down. “Otherwise,” she said “I
might have hit the child.”
As you might suppose, that sister was the driver of
the car that did NOT hit our son Jared. We
were once again very grateful for God’s watching out for us and we were very,
very grateful to know about it.
And now I would like to ask you to join with me in
doing some wondering:
First, which is the greater miracle? That the woman
was warned and listened, thus sparing our son injury? Or
Our coming
to know about it?
And second, what does our coming to know about it
tell us about the nature of the world?
When an honest person looks at the convoluted path
the information took to get to us- three links after the driver- they might
conclude that this could be more than coincidence. It was not as though this
story was making the rounds among everybody in Utah County. Likely, it you never
had heard it outside of our ward. I am grateful
to acknowledge that God wanted us to know that we were being watched over. This was very important to Janice, our children
and me. I look at this as a “tender
mercy” from God. It came at a crucial
time in our lives, reminding us that we are not alone.
At the same time I would like to call attention to
how it was that the information first was communicated from the driver, who
listen to the spirit, to another person. Because if she had not spoken of what it
happened to her, we could never have known. Note, that it was through visiting teaching
that the information came to the mother of the student in our daughter’s BYU ward.
The prophet Alma declared. (Alma 37:6) "Now ye may suppose that
this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple
things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth
confound the wise." Not only did
the driver listen to the spirit’s voice telling her to slow down, but she did
her duty as a visiting teacher. We are so
very grateful to this sister, who we do not know, and may never know in this
life, for both listening to the spirit and also for her doing her duty as a
visiting teacher in visiting her assigned people and sharing her experience in
being guided by the Holy Spirit. In this way, a path of information was started
so that we might know that, in fact, there were angels watching over us.
I have come to believe because experiences like
this that we are being watched over and preserved many more times than we
know. I am grateful for people doing
their home and visiting teaching, listening to the spirit, and the other small
and simple things that people do to make the world better. These accomplish great things.
At the beginning of this dispensation the Lord
directed the Latter-Day Saints to collect the revelations that had come in
bringing forth the Book of Mormon
and establishing the church. The book was given the name the Book of Commandments. As more
revelations were later added to it if became what we now call the Doctrine &
Covenants. The Lord himself gave the preface for the book of Commandments. It is D & C Section 1.
“23 That the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the
weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and
rulers.
24 these
commandments …were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner
of their language, that they might come to understanding.
In president Uchtdorf’s talk
in last October’s general conference: “Lord, is it I” he echoes this thought
saying “In these simple words, “Lord, is it I?”
lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting
change.”
I’ve been asked to speak with
you today about the subject of the plan of salvation and the role of learning
in that plan.
As a physical scientist I put
much stock in the role in our understanding the universe of careful
observations and questions that come from these observations in formulating a
plan for new observations. I have loved Wisdom, knowledge and understanding the
way some people, desire fame or fortune. I know the importance of trying to listen humbly
and carefully to what mother-nature tells us. I know the importance of having
our thoughts hypotheses and favorite theories brought into question.
As a Latter-day Saint, I know
that we can’t do experiments on God and the angels. Our experience is this
regard is more like that of the astronomers who cannot tell the heavens what
phenomena they would like to observe, but instead they must patiently seek and
carefully observe phenomena that is always there, make records of it and share
their experiences with others.
Thus I present to you my
fellow Saints, particularly the children these stories and thoughts:
1.
God and the
angels are there behind the veil where we usually can’t see them ready to help
us. We may think that seeing angels would be a wonderful thing.
2.
We may think that
hearing the voice of God would be wonderful. It can be. But there are many ways
to hear the voice of God. Can you see how we heard God saying, “Yes, I am
looking out for you. And you are welcome that your son was not injured. Try to
be more careful.”? We did not hear his voice like Joseph Smith in the Grove,
but we got his answer through the good people around us.
3.
Little things can
make a big difference in the universe. I especially think of the prayers of
little children. 40 years ago the president of the church, Spencer W. Kimball
asked the Latter-Day Saints to pray that the barriers to the gospel being taken
to all the nations of the world, would come down. The people did pray, women, men and little
children, and to our surprise less than 15 years later the Soviet Union began
to crumble and in its wake missionaries could begin visiting countries in
Europe and Asia that previously they were forbidden to go to. I believe that little children, their
brothers and sisters, parents and friends praying for important things like,
for example, that we have rain and snow, lessening the drought in California
and the West, can have a positive effect.
4.
Sometimes people
think seeing angels and hearing such celestial things is the greatest spiritual
gift. But the greatest gift is the one that we all receive through baptism and
confirmation that is to have the Holy Spirit with us as companion. It is the
one we should esteem the most. It takes much practice to get good at hearing
God’s direction in what is called the “still small voice.” And everyone who is
working on this will tell you that you still can make mistakes from time to
time. But it is definitely worth the
effort. It is one of the reasons we are here on earth.
And that brings us to the
last points.
5.
There is a
Scripture in the gospel of John that the choir just sang and the children will
hear in primary. Jesus taught, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. 17 For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world
through him might be saved.” He that believeth on him is not condemned:”
6.
The President of
BYU, Kevin Worthen, gave a talk in early January where he spoke of the
importance of learning to fail successfully. “Failing is an essential part of
the mortal phase of our quest for perfection.
How we respond when we fail will ultimately determine how well we will
succeed,” (Google it and listen to it if you haven’t heard it.) We have time on
earth to make mistakes and to fail, from time to time, in our effort to become
like God. This is how we learn. The
reason we have time, and can repent and be forgiven, and helped in our
failures, is because God is with us. We
have a Savior. As the prophet Abinadi
said “I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among
the children of men, and shall redeem his people.” (Mosiah 15:1) I bear testimony that this is true!
There are many things to
learn while we’re here on earth and after our time on earth. But the most
important thing to learn is to recognize God’s voice among all the voices that
are in the world. For that will guide us in finding the path that brings us to
the home of the Heavenly Mother and Father. I am so grateful for those who have
taught me and are patient with me as I continue to learn. And I pray that I
will be patient with you also. God is
great, loving and merciful. Of this I bear grateful & joyful testimony in
the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.
