|
Timing
Why Now and Not 20-30-or 40 Years Ago?
By
Jilleen Mitchell
As
told to Peggy H. Proctor
When
Pres. Madsen asked Jill to speak in Stake conference about
her “reactivation,” Jill thought it might be more appropriately
termed “conversion” since she, though baptized, had never
really been converted.
There
is no miracle like the miracle of conversion. It
is the great process by which those with responsive hearts
listen to the teachings and testimonies of missionaries
and change their lives… There is no miracle quite like it
in all the world. [Stand a Little Taller, President
Gordon B. Hinckley page 30]
I did
find out in my conversion process that not all missionaries
wear dark suits and a name badge, but they do “follow His
steps.” [1Peter2:21]
We must
not, we cannot sink to the evils of the world--- to selfishness
and sin, to hate and envy and backbiting…You and I must
walk on a higher plane…Our great example is the Son of God
whom we wish to follow. [ibid. page 34]
Why
did I have to wait so long? --In the October issue of the
Ensign Magazine, Dallin H. Oaks, of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, presented a message entitled TIMING.
As I
read his article it made me think of many of the choices
I’ve made in my 60+ years. As I thought back and put his
article to work in my mind it was easy to see how timing
plays a huge roll in our lives.”
There
are obvious things that come to mind: Investing in the
Stock market ---Saying yes to the choice job offer --- Close
calls at the intersection. The list goes on--- A “yes”
here, a “no” there; how important these choices are as we
look back on them--- so obvious now, why not then?
As I
have listened to some bear testimony, they have born witness
of many occasions accepting the still small voice --- and
it has saved lives.
Until
two or three years ago, I never invited the Lord into my
life. I may have heard the still small voice but I never
acted on it. I closed my mind, though the Lord tried on
many occasions, I was too busy with other things. Because
I worked during the week, on His day, Sunday, I did our
wash and then my husband and I played golf, went fishing
or went to visit family or friends. When the home teachers
called for an appointment we were too busy to see them,
--no, never on Sunday. We considered Sunday our day off
and wondered why they didn’t take the day off.
The
only time I saw my sister was at holiday dinners at mother’s
home. We exchanged gifts on birthdays and Christmas, but
often we would drop them off and be gone. When I think now
how important my sister has become to me, I am angry at
myself for all the great times we missed. We were too busy
going in opposite directions to share a little love, and
we only lived across town from each other.
This
sister let the Lord into her home many years before I did.
Her second daughter has become as close to me as my own
daughter, but I hardly knew her until I let the Lord enter
my home.
We moved
to St. George when my husband, Stan, was already quite ill.
This was a good move, though during the first few years
we thought maybe we had made a mistake, I do know that the
move added years to Stan’s life. --The Lord still had not
been invited in. We had some fine Home Teachers and Relief
Society Teachers that were quite dedicated, but the only
time we saw them was one evening a month, --and not every
month.
Nothing
Out of the Ordinary
One
day something happened. It wasn’t anything out of the ordinary.
We were assigned new Relief Society teachers and new Home
Teachers, which happened quite regularly. This time we
met Bob & Gaylie Morehead. Gaylie was assigned to be
my visiting teacher and Bob was our home teacher. They
did all the right things. ---They invited us to church.
She invited me to Relief Society. I had always liked Relief
Society. Over the years I had been a visiting teacher, I
taught primary when my children were young, I was a Cub
Scout leader for quite a few years, ---but never went to
the Sunday meetings. I started going to Enrichment meetings
with Gaylie. She always invited me to church but
I always had an excuse not to go. She would always
ask but didn’t let a “no” get in the way of our budding
friendship.
At the
same time this was taking place Stan had been accepted to
a Pulmonary Rehab program at the IHC Hospital. We were
talking about it one evening when Bob and Gaylie came to
visit. We discovered that Stan and Bob had common problems;
they even had the same doctor. Bob talked to his doctor
about the rehab program and was accepted into the same group
Stan was in. Spouses and caregivers were asked to come
to the meetings so they could help with the continuation
of rehabilitation once the class was over. The four of
us became quite good friends.
Gaylie
was called to be Relief Society President at the Atria,
an assisted care facility. Gaylie talked the bishop into
asking me to be a helper. I accepted, ---but I remember
telling Bishop Taylor that I wasn’t accepting because he
asked me, but for some reason or other I could not say no
to Gaylie.
I fell
in love with the ladies at the Atria and the whole Relief
Society program there and here. I went home after the lessons
each week and talked about them to Stan. He could see how
much I was enjoying these weekly visits to the Atria. Soon,
as I would relate the lessons, he began to talk about them.
I remember during one of the lessons we learned all about
the St George Temple. We were totally amazed to find out
that this temple was the first temple finished in the west.
Stan would say that he would like to go through the temple
visitor’s center as soon as he felt up to it.
Mind
you, Stan and I still did not attend church. It took a
surprise visit one Sunday afternoon, from a rather rowdy
Bishopric, and a small remark that we all laughed about,
to really open our eyes to what we should have been doing
for many years. After the three gentlemen left, Stan asked
me if I had ever considered marriage in the temple. I had
to say honestly that I never had considered it. We talked
a lot that day. We wondered if it were at all possible.
We went to church the very next Sunday. We talked to the
Bishop and he started the ball rolling. Things moved quite
rapidly after that.
We met
many more people that were like Bob and Gaylie. They lived
the gospel every day of their lives and shared it with others
like Stan and I. For two people that were baptized members
of the church you would not believe how little we knew.
We had to learn every thing, even how to pray. Doing it
out loud still comes hard for me.
You
cannot believe how happy my sister was when I called to
let her know that we were taking the Temple Ready Classes.
She and I are the only members of our immediate family who
are active church members. She was with me every step of
the way through happy times and some very sad times and
still is. When she wasn’t here, her daughter Sandra was.
They took Stan and me by the hand and moved us forward.
We learned
to pray, and ask the Lord for his help, and he gave it to
us.
A
Mighty Change of Heart
We learned
about repentance. This was the one that Stan had the hardest
time with. I didn’t know why until much later. It wasn’t
that he couldn’t and didn’t repent, he just had a difficult
time accepting all parts of the process and on the other
hand, that there was not more to it. In his mind he just
thought that his sins were unforgivable. Eventually he did
every part of the repentance process the lesson outlined.
There are eight steps if you don’t remember. We had some
really long talks about this.
Tithing
actually came easy. We thought that would be the hard one.
Hugs were hard; it was something I was just not used to.
I thought everyone just shook hands.
The
word of wisdom was harder for me than Stan. When Stan made
his mind up, it was a done thing. The few times in the
distant past that ward members were invited into our home,
Stan would always let them know somewhere in the conversation
that he enjoyed his beer and cigarettes. I finally told
him I was tired of hearing him brag about it and I was going
to hit him over the head with something if he ever said
it again. ---But once he made up his mind to quit, he never
looked back. He quite smoking July 7th 1988,
but it was already too late. The cigarettes had done too
much damage to reverse the process.
I was
a long time coffee drinker and whenever I tried to quite
over the years I would get these headaches and I just thought
they would last forever so I would start the coffee again.
This time was really quite easy. The headaches went away
in a few days. Prayer does help. We studied the scriptures
together. It was the only project we did together that
we didn’t argue about. The gospel was different. We enjoyed
learning together. We enjoyed all of it.
We were
married in the St George Temple on February 5th
of last year. Stan died September 2nd of that
same year. Talk about “Timing.” That two years of study
and ward activity were some of the best years of the forty-nine
we spent together and the time continues to be good for
me because I know Stan is in a better place than he had
been for a long time. I believe very strongly that my life
would have been very different today without our “conversion.”
I don’t think I would be smiling as much as I do if we had
not accepted the move to St. George when we did. These
will be the years I want to remember when I think back of
Stan’s and my years together. Oh we had good times and bad
times just like most of you, a normal family life. We all
have happy and sad times in life, but Stan and I both became
kinder and gentler people. Even our children noticed the
difference. We finally let the Lord’s time schedule take
over. We invited him in with open arms. Little did we know
that the Lord comes in when you invite in those pesky visiting
teachers, home teachers, and even a member of the Bishopric
or two --or three.
A few
weeks ago in Relief Society, one of the sisters used a pigeonhole
analogy, to make a point in the remarks she was making.
I think back and thank my lucky stars that Bob & Gaylie
didn’t pigeonhole Stan and me. I’m very sure we were pigeonholed
before that time. I am so thankful that Bob and Gaylie
took those 30 or 40 minutes each month to be outstanding
examples of what the Lord expects each one of us to be.
The
Lord's Time Schedule
Dallin
Oaks said in his article: “The familiar observation that
‘timing is everything’ surely overstates the point, but
timing is vital.”
We read
in Ecclesiastes: “to every thing there is a season, and
a time to every purpose under the heaven; A time to be born,
and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck
up that which is planted… A time to weep, and a time to
laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance …A time to embrace,
and a time to refrain from embracing…A time to keep silence,
and a time to speak.
In all
the important decisions in our lives what is most important
is to do the right thing. Second, and only slightly behind
the first, is to do the right thing at the right time.
Stan’s and my timing was way off. I know now that had we
let the Lord in many years ago we would have had a much
different and more fulfilled life. I feel very strongly
that the Lord’s influence would have gone on to our children
and perhaps they would have invited the Lord into their
lives by now. I just wish we had been on the Lord's time
schedule in the early part of our married life than so close
to the end. However, to end on a happy note, our experience
has proven that it is never too late to let the Lord in
to your home and your life.
There
are about 720 hours in every month. A lot of you out there
are visiting teachers and home teachers, and all of us are
neighbors. As you plan your time with each of your families
try not to pigeonhole. Those families are more than likely
the very ones who need that 30-minute block of your time.
You will never know when that very small 30 minutes from
all those monthly hours may trigger some thing that will
put that family on the fast track to an eternal life.
And once again--- as Dallin Oaks would say, and I’m sure
he won’t mind that I make them my words to you-
I pray that
each of us will hear and heed the word of the Lord on how to conduct
ourselves in mortality and set our standard and make our commitments
so that we can be in harmony and in tune with the timing
of our Father in Heaven.
Click
here to sign up for Meridian's FREE email updates.
© 2003Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
|
