The most wonderful aspect of what we do here is service to
others. As Latter-Day Saints we are
taught over and over again that service to others (starting with your own
family members and working out from there) is the very heart of the gospel of
Jesus Christ. It is our goal to
establish Zion which is a society
where every man voluntarily seeks the interest of his neighbor.
Amazement is the typical reaction when people of the world
occasionally become aware of members of the Church who are actually trying to
love their neighbors as themselves. We
have witnessed several examples of this recently, one of which happened in a
hospital in Paterson.
Sister Sheryl gained her own personal witness that the
Church is true and was baptized many years ago.
However, her struggle with smoking made her feel "impure" and
she stopped attending. When she moved
from New York to New
Jersey the Church became unaware of her
location. About three weeks ago she was
diagnosed with cancer throughout her body.
Her husband, who is not a member, called the Paterson
branch president (President Bria) who called us. Soon Sheryl was being visited by branch
members, various missionaries, and members from the ward where her home is
located. President Bria and another
priesthood leader gave blessings to both Sheryl and her husband.
On our first visit we met Rosemarie who is a member of the
hospital staff. A few days later our
branch Relief Society President went to visit for the first time. As she was looking for Sheryl's room she bumped
into Rosemarie and asked directions.
Rosemarie said something like, "Are you another Mormon? There have been so many and they don't even
know Sheryl. There was even a couple
from California. I think I want to join your church!"
Matthew 5:16
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