However, despite that, I would like to focus for a moment on something that seemed to have taken center stage throughout this week; service.
This week seemed to be filled to the brim with service! First, on Tuesday, Elder Proffit and I joined Elders Wengreen, V, Mangrum, and Corpus in doing some basic yard work at this one less-active member's house. What we didn't know, in going over to this house, was that the man we were going to be serving owned his own miniature ranch, with a few sheep and chickens, and his 'basic yard work' was anything but basic. He had us digging up the metal frame his old fire pit had sat in (which was about four feet underground!), digging out all of the trash and weeds that were in the pit he was going to use as his new fire pit, pulling trees out of the ground and planting replacements, cutting down all the limbs of his large globe willow tree, and mowing the excess alfalfa that had started to grow in his 'ranch area'. All the while, we had to be careful not to hurt the chickens that ran around like...well, like headless chickens.
After that, we found ourselves on Thursday raking leaves at the house of an elderly couple known as the Adams. This job called for all six of us Elders to band together again, as this was a very large yard, with a lot of trees. We were working for probably three hours, raking the leaves into piles easily waist-deep, and then bagging them up in large trash bags, and slowly dragging the bags out to the curb, where Brother Adams later moved to the trash cans. This was probably the worst work we'd done yet, because the temptation to act like five-year-olds one last time, and just wreck havoc with the leaves, was so very, very strong. Not only that, but so many of the leaves were probably no larger than the tip of my pinkie, so it made it terribly back-breaking work trying to rake them all into a pile large enough to pick up and place in the trash bag!
After raking on Thursday, Elder Proffit and I had even more yard work to do on Friday, as a less-active/non-member family, the Dahlens, asked us to work on their yard with them while their house was getting painted. Brother Dahlen gave me a leaf vacuum (not a leaf blower) and had me suck up all the leaves that were spread across his backyard. Once again, this took a lot of work, especially because the suction on the vacuum wasn't all that great, and it took me several rounds to suck up all the leaves and toss them into the trash bag. Meanwhile, Elder Proffit dug up a garden full of weeds, picked up any of the apples that were on the grass that the worms hadn't gotten to yet, and cut away at the grass that was starting to climb up into the gardens throughout their backyard. So, by the end of that day, we were absolutely exhausted (on the plus side, Brother and Sister Dahlen took us out to a sushi place afterwords as a form of thanks).
As if that wasn't enough, Elder Proffit and I, with the help of Elders Wengreen and V, went over to a member's house, Brother Wheeler, and helped him in painting his fence on Saturday. We did all of the first coat, and had started on the second coat by the time about three hours rolled along, and we realized we had to go. We promised to help him with the rest, however, later this week. Then, that night, we helped the Elders Quorum President, Brother Seeger, and the other Elders in the ward prepare and run the Halloween Truck-o-Treat held at the Church Building. We acted as the muscle, setting up most of the tables and chairs, helping members set up the stoves and pots for the dinner soups, and moving the soups out to the buffet tables. Later, we helped run the games they had set up in the different classrooms, Elder Proffit and I working at the cup pyramid game. Over and over, we'd build up the pyramid with solo cups, and over and over it would get knocked down by one of the footballs we gave the kids that wanted to play. Who knew it could be such stressful work, both for the body and the mind?!
However, the highlight of this week when it came to service was perhaps the most random, and the most wonderful, moment of service I have ever experienced. We were driving home from Timnath, the other Elders had picked us up in the van, when all of a sudden, Elder V told us that he needed to buy more food for the week at the Walmart up ahead. At first, I was a little ticked off that he didn't buy his food on Monday, when we are supposed to buy our groceries. However, I decided to just let it pass, and we stopped at the Walmart for a short while, and he bought his groceries. Then, as we returned to driving down the road, we saw a car stuck in the center of the road, angled in an odd position, with two men standing behind it, trying to push it. The battery had died, and the driver was stuck in perhaps the busiest street in our area. So, Elder Wengreen pulled up beside them and asked if they needed help. One of the men, who looked eerily familiar to David Tenant from Doctor Who, told us they'd be happy for any help we could provide.
What happened next could only be described as a scene out of an inspirational movie. Instantly, all four of the doors on our van slid and swung and slammed open, and all four of us bust out of the van and ran to the car. We grabbed onto the end of the car and started pushing it out of the road and towards the library parking lot. There were so many of us pushing, that the car's weight seemed no more than a feather, and we ended up needing to run while pushing, otherwise we'd get left behind. Then, once we'd maneuvered the car into the safety of the parking lot, all four of us Elders then stepped back and ran back across the field that stood between the road and the library, seeing as our van doors were all still wide open, on the busiest street in the area. I can only imagine what was going through that driver's mind when we showed up. Just in the moment of her deepest despair, a black van showed up with four well-dressed men sitting inside. They offer their help, and with their combined strength, they push her car out of danger's reach. Then, when all is good and safe once more, the four men disappear into the night, as if they'd never even been there at all.
Awesome, right? If this week has taught me anything, it has taught me the power of service, and the joy that it brings into our hearts. As we were driving away from that last scene, the work of pushing the car still fresh in our arms, legs, and minds, not one of us could keep the smiles off our faces. My friends, we have not just been called and sent to this world solely for our own benefit. It is true that much of what we need or want can be given by and through the means of this world. But, my friends, these means can only give a temporary feeling of satisfaction for our wants and needs, and the way they give it is always in a selfish way. However, as the scriptures state often, Charity, the pure love of Christ, the willingness to give all that we have and all that we can into the service for others, is a thing that transcends the grave, that lasts for all of time and eternity. Charity is the way to have permanent joy and fulfillment in our lives, for the more we honestly and whole-heartedly serve others, the more like Christ we become, and the more we are able to feel the joy He feels for us each day of our lives. My friends, I ask that together, we strive to end each day of our lives, starting with today, with the feeling of wondrous joy that we were able to give our all in making someone else's day better. This may seem hard, but serving others can come in many different ways, and many of them are easy for us to do in our regular lives. Find the way that works for you, and it shall make your life truly glorious.
This I say, in the name of the Only Begotten Son of the Father, yea, even Jesus Christ, Amen.
That's all I have for this week! Talk to you all again next Monday!
--Elder Z.S.Weber
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