Lift where you stand - 11-19-08

William,

I am very proud of your decision to serve your Heavenly Father as a full-time Missionary. I can't believe how you have grown in just the last few weeks. Our prayers will be with you as we figure out exactly what it means to have a missionary out in the mission field. Last week in Elders Quorum we had a lesson based on the talk "Lift Where You Stand" by President Uchtdorf, the Second Counselor in the First Presidency. As soon as I heard it I thought of you. I thought that it was just the kind of story that would help you know that where you are is exactly where the Lord needs you to be right now. Your choices got you here, and what you do now that you are there will determine the experiences that you have on your mission. I know that you heard this story while you where at the General Priesthood session in October but I thought I would include it for you as a reference.

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"Lift Where You Stand"
by Pres Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Some years ago in our meetinghouse in Darmstadt, Germany, a group of brethren was asked to move a grand piano from the chapel to the adjoining cultural hall, where it was needed for a musical event. None were professional movers, and the task of getting that gravity-friendly instrument through the chapel and into the cultural hall seemed nearly impossible. Everybody knew that this task required not only physical strength but also careful coordination. There were plenty of ideas, but not one could keep the piano balanced correctly. They repositioned the brethren by strength, height, and age over and over again—nothing worked.As they stood around the piano, uncertain of what to do next, a good friend of mine, Brother Hanno Luschin, spoke up. He said, "Brethren, stand close together and lift where you stand."It seemed too simple. Nevertheless, each lifted where he stood, and the piano rose from the ground and moved into the cultural hall as if on its own power. That was the answer to the challenge. They merely needed to stand close together and lift where they stood. I have often thought of Brother Luschin's simple idea and have been impressed by its profound truth.

Tonight I would like to expand on that simple concept, "lift where you stand."This year marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of John Rowe Moyle. John was a convert to the Church who left his home in England and traveled to the Salt Lake Valley as part of a handcart company. He built a home for his family in a small town a valley away from Salt Lake City. John was an accomplished stonecutter and, because of this skill, was asked to work on the Salt Lake Temple. Every Monday John left home at two o'clock in the morning and walked six hours in order to be at his post on time. On Friday he would leave his work at five o'clock in the evening and walk almost until midnight before arriving home. He did this year after year.One day, while he was doing his chores at home, a cow kicked him in the leg, causing a compound fracture. With limited medical resources, the only option was to amputate the broken leg. So John's family and friends strapped him onto a door and, with a bucksaw, cut off his leg a few inches from the knee.In spite of the crude surgery, the leg started to heal. Once John could sit up in bed, he began carving a wooden leg with an ingenious joint that served as an ankle to an artificial foot. Walking on this device was extremely painful, but John did not give up, building up his endurance until he could make the 22-mile (35-km) journey to the Salt Lake Temple each week, where he continued his work.His hands carved the words "Holiness to the Lord" that stand today as a golden marker to all who visit the Salt Lake Temple. John did not do this for the praise of man. Neither did he shirk his duty, even though he had every reason to do so. He knew what the Lord expected him to do.Years later, John's grandson Henry D. Moyle was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve and, eventually, served in the First Presidency of the Church. President Moyle's service in these callings was honorable, but his grandfather John's service, though somewhat less public, is just as pleasing to the Lord.John's character, his legacy of sacrifice, serves as a banner of faithfulness and an ensign of duty to his family and to the Church. John Rowe Moyle understood the meaning of "lift where you stand."

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I hope you will "Lift Where You Stand" William. the Lord has told you that he will lift you up and give you the power to do the things that he has asked you to do. You do not always know the the outcome, but if you will do your best to do the Lord's will, you can be sure that it will be worth it.Again, I love you and I am proud of you. I hope that you are getting the hang of life in the MTC. I am sure that they have a lot for you to do. Put your shoulder to the wheel and push along.Today is the first day of the best two years of your life.

Love,- Dad

19-Nov-2008

-- "It's never to late to live happily ever after."