The Third Son

Early this morning I received a message from Angie Morrill, a client of mine from years ago in Richfield. This is what she said:

"I just came home home from a wonderful adult session of adult stake conference about missionary work, and I had to write you a quick thank you note.... many years ago I tagged along with you and Karla to lunch at the Pastry Pub after a training and you shared a story about living in Germany and taking your young family a significant distance to attend stake conference and you spoke about the many blessings you received from doing that.....anyway I had grown up in a completely inactive somewhat anti Mormon home and my husband grew up with a very faithful mother and a father who is an ambvilant but supportive regarding church..Brandon served a mission and we were married in the temple, but stake conference Sunday was always  a "day off" until that conversation many years ago with you in the Pastry Pub.....anyway you really made an impact on my life that day...and I haven't thought about for years until tonight....thanks...."

"I came home and Brandon and I talked about your story and the example we wanted to set for our kids and since that day 10 plus years ago I think we have missed 1 stake conference."

I was moved by her story, and this was my response:

"Thanks for sharing that, Angie.  Just yesterday we also had stake conference here in the Molino Stake where we are assigned to attend. It is clear across the city in a very poor area, and the wards in that stake really struggle. Yesterday there were meetings scheduled for all adults beginning at 3:00 pm and continuing until 7:30 pm. The BYU football game began at 1:30 pm, and we had three other missionary couples, good friends of ours, gathered in our apartment to watch the game. They all planned to go out to dinner after the game as well. Mary Ann can't speak the language and doesn't understand anything in these meetings, so sitting through 4 and a half hours of unintelligible talking would be very difficult for her. I have to confess that I was sorely tempted to skip these Saturday meetings and enjoy the time with our missionary friends. Nonetheless, we decided to do our duty and attend the meetings to set a good example for the struggling members of our assigned ward. So we left our friends watching the game in our apartment and headed across town to our stake conference. It was hard for Mary Ann, but as always, we were spiritually blessed for our efforts. Elder Kevin Duncan, our area president presided, and he taught us for a good part of the meeting. He told us the parable of the two sons, the one who said he would go and did not and the other who said he would not go, but then went. He then changed the parable to add a third son who said he would go and went with full purpose of heart. He asked us all to raise our hands and commit to always be the third son or daughter.  How grateful I was for having made the right choice to fulfill my duty yesterday.  There were very few members of that struggling stake in attendance, and the streets around the chapel were filled with people and vendors as some big celebration and concert was going on "in the world."  I know that when we do as we have covenanted to do, we are always blessed, even if in ways we don't recognize. May God bless you for your righteous desires and choices."

I concluded the convesation with this final thought:

"As I have thought about Elder Duncan's parable of the Third Son this morning, I have realized that the third son in the parable is Jesus Christ.  He was the son who said, "Here am I, send me."  An then He came and did always that which pleases His Father.  And even when faced with the overwhelming agony of the suffering He was called to bear, which caused Him to cry out saying, "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me," He said, "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done."  Elder Duncan was really asking each of us to covenant to be like Him."

May we all be the Third Son--always willing to go and do the will of Our Father, and always keeping the covenants we make with Him.