However, during one of these commutes, as I passed the Beck Street exit
and approached the merge, I had an urgent prompting to get into the right lane.
The feeling was so strong and sudden that without thinking I immediately
checked my blind spot, turned on my signal and moved to the right. Just as I
passed the divider between my lane and the merging traffic, I saw a white
pickup truck pulled off to the side of the road with a well-dressed man
standing beside it.
I have made it my habit through the years to try and stop to
help stranded motorists, so I pulled onto the shoulder, noticing to my relief
that the problem was a flat tire, the only automotive problem I am qualified to
address. I was sure that I had been led to help him, so as he approached my car
to talk to me I prepared to respond affirmatively to his request for my help.
But, as I rolled down my window and we began to speak, he said he had things
under control.
Now, I knew that the Holy Ghost had told me to stop. I
wanted to say "look, you prayed me here or God led me here to help you, so
let's get on with it!" Eventually he consented to allowing me to help him
change his flat tire and we approached the truck together.
Several notable things about his situation were soon
apparent. First, he was dressed in a white shirt and tie, not the best outfit
for car trouble. Second, he had not changed a flat tire before, or at least not
in a long time or in that truck. He wasn't familiar with the location of the
spare tire or how to remove it from the truck. He looked up the location of the
jack and tire iron in his owner's manual, and I lay on the ground under the truck
to obtain the spare. Third, he did not have a cell phone with him and had no
way to call for help.
As we began to remove the lug nuts together, he revealed
that he worked at Church Headquarters in the translation department. In fact,
he even knew some of the Italian translators I had met on my mission, which was
delightful to me. He was running late getting back to work.
We removed most of the lug nuts without particular
difficulty, but the final nut seemed impossible to remove. First I tried, then
he tried, then we tried together, but with no luck. The tire iron slipped off
the nut when too much pressure was applied.
One of us had a flash of insight, and I retrieved my jack
and tire iron from my car. In order to remove that last lug nut I had to raise
my jack under his tire iron, and he pushed it toward the wheel while I jumped
on the end. Together, we finally got the nut loosed. I lifted the new tire and
we tightened it on. He was soon on his way back to Church headquarters, and I
to school. I was filled with the comforting glow that only comes from
fulfilling an assignment given by God.
Several lessons can be learned from this story. First, we
need to stop focusing so much on getting
where we are going and focus more on what
opportunities are around us. If we are too absorbed in what is coming to us
on our phones or through our earbuds, what is on television or what needs to be
done at home or at work, we may miss the prompting to serve when it comes. We
need to be looking out the windows as we drive through life. We need to be
willing to slow down and shift into the right lane so we are available to help.
Second, we need to react quickly when the Holy Ghost gives
us direction. If I had waited even a couple of seconds to follow my prompting
it would have been too late. The truck appeared so suddenly that even if I had
seen it I would not have been able to pull over in time without that bit of
advance warning. Pay attention when a
prompting seems urgent.
Third, we need to have the Holy Ghost with us. We have all
heard these words of Winston Churchill:
“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”
To those who follow Christ, these special moments come much
more often than once in a lifetime. If there is anything preventing you from
answering that call when it comes, decide to stop it now. Live worthy
of the promises you and the Lord made to each other.
Fourth, there is no feeling quite like that of knowing that
you have been an instrument in the Lord's hands to bless one of His children in
need. We may speak blithely of virtue being its own reward, but there are truly
blessings only known by those who heed the call to serve when given by the Holy
Ghost to one who is prepared. Remember when we answer a call who it is that is
doing the calling, and give credit to Him for the good that you are able to do
knowing that the opportunity to act is his blessing to you.
My friends, we need to drive in the right lane of life. There are so many broken down
lives at the side of life's road. I don't know much about the life of the man I
helped that day, but I like to think his earnest prayers for someone - anyone -
to help are what led the Lord to allow me to be that someone for him. All of us
have people in our lives - a family member, a friend, a school or work
acquaintance, or even a stranger - who are hoping or praying for deliverance
from loneliness, from self-hatred, from busy lives and overwhelming
circumstances, from physical and emotional trials. There is someone only you
can reach, only you can help, only you can lift. Pray to see the opportunity to
serve when it comes. You may be called on to do something significant that
requires your resources of time or money. Or it may be something small - a text
or a note, a sincere hug, or a detour on your way home.
I will share one more story. More than a decade ago we were
living in an apartment in South Weber and I was working long hours as a nurse
in Bountiful .
We had a neighbor and friend who lived in a nearby unit with her husband and
two small children. While we lived there her husband become seriously ill and
after several months passed away unexpectedly in his sleep. This was, of
course, a very difficult time for our neighbor and she was soon caught up in
arrangements for her husband's funeral.
During this period I was returning home very early in the
morning after an unexpectedly long shift at work. It was after 1 am as I neared
the South Weber exit and, as I left the highway, I felt a strong prompting to
go see this neighbor. I initially resisted this impression because of the hour,
but resolved to go to her apartment.
To my surprise, the apartment lights were on. I knocked on
the door and discovered my neighbor gathering photographs for the funeral. Her
sister was there also, offering help and support. We exchanged pleasantries and
she asked my opinion on some photos. At length I told her that I felt prompted
to offer her a Priesthood blessing. She welcomed this suggestion and took a
seat in her front room.
The Spirit was thick in the room as the Lord blessed her
with knowledge of her husband's continued spiritual presence and love for her,
and gave her counsel and comfort for the difficult time ahead. I know that
blessing was what she needed right then. I don't know if anyone else would have
been in a position to give it then, in the middle of the night. I can't express
the gratitude I felt to my Heavenly Father for the privilege of sharing that
experience and being able to convey His promises in that ordinance.
[This is a lightly edited version of a talk I am giving in church later this morning.]
