Special Blessings of Tender Mercies

Picture of the week

Being on a mission gives you the opportunity to reflect on your life to this point, especially for me and it being such a significant event that I have looked foreword to for such a long time. Recently one of the other couples (Elder and Sister Farr) was telling us about their  early dating days. This got me thinking about your Mom and my time of dating and when we got officially engaged on June 30, 1968. I think my children all know the story, but probably not the grandchildren, so now is a good time to share it.

Side stepping for a moment, I want to mention another thought. In the past ten years we have lost significant loved ones-not only our four parents  to old age,  but an adult son in the prime of his life. Since then, my knowledge and understanding about ministering angels really being a part of our lives has grown significantly.

Another side thought is about my life spent feeling sort of "less than others" in the church, maybe even a little guilty, that I never had the opportunity to serve a mission when I was young.

So, back to the night of our engagement, we went to dinner and dancing at the sky room at the top of Hotel Utah (now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building). It was all so romantic and I had this little box in my suit pocket that I really had no idea what to do next with or exactly how I was going to pull this off. We finished eating and decided to walk around Temple Square.

During the summers at that time, there was a musical production of Promised Valley going on at an  outdoor  production area just east of the temple. So we heard this music going on in the background - but I was not focused on such things. We ended up sitting on a stone bench in the garden area just to the south of the temple. When we were finished with "the small talk" I decided it was time to do it. I got down on one knee, reached into my breast pocket, pulled out the little box and held it in front of her and asked her to be my wife forever.

At "that precise moment" the choir and full orchestra began the finale of the play which was loudly singing the Hallelujah Chorus and the full lights of the Salt Lake Temple came fully on (they must have been dimmed before that) at the same time.

We have told this story to friends and family numerous times and the story always ends with laughter and wasn't that amazing. Some people might have thought that we embellished the telling to make a good story - but it really happened just like that.

So today, as I sit in my little house in the middle of the woods reflecting on my life and contemplating the tender mercies I have been blessed with - it suddenly hit me that the timing of the proposal was a tender mercy from my Heavenly Father trying to tell me that what I had just done was what I was supposed to be doing and he was pleased with me.

I think now that he was also telling me that it was ok that I wasn't going to serve on a mission at that time, but instead marry my sweetheart and begin a wonderful family. Looking back on it now, I wish I had had a better understanding of the tender mercies in my life.

My hope for all of you is that as you consider your life, at whatever age, you can be more aware of these special blessings of tender mercies and those efforts of ministering angels that can bring you joy and peace throughout your life.
Love, Dad

Oh the memories - how many boots did I have to buy for my sons to go to winter camp! (love, Mom)