It occurred to me while sitting in Church that I included pictures of some of the things we did but really no discussion of the things we felt. So, here's one example: On Tuesday, we had a wonderful fireside talk given by Elder Bednar on the Character of Christ.
His main theme was that Christ's example was to always look out while the natural tendency of us is to look in. He related how even on the cross when He was in immense pain, He thought of the two thieves on the crosses on either side of him.
He also told this story. Once when he was a Stake President, he received an emergency call while in the shower. He wife told him it was an emergency so he dried off as quickly as he could, put on a robe and ran to get the phone. The caller was a Relief Society president from one of the wards in his stake. She informed him that a terrible accident had occurred to three young girls in the stake and that she had received the news that one of the girls had already died. During the conversation, he could tell that this woman was also on the phone with a nurse in the emergency room talking to her at her other ear. He heard the nurse tell the woman that the girl who'd died was her daughter. This woman was a single mom and this was her only daughter but she then told Elder Bednar of the urgency to go to the hospital to identify the girls and then contact the other two families to tell them what had happened before the media or some other 2nd hand source contacted them.
He said he could hardly believe what he was hearing. She had just been told that her only child had been killed in the accident but she was still worried about the other families. And it didn't end there.
On the day of the funeral, the Relief Society president received a call from a sister in the ward who knew nothing of the past week's occurrence. This woman had had a cold all week and no one had brought her a meal or called to see how she was doing. She reamed the president for not remembering her. Then, this Relief Society resident, who had learned to look out, hurriedly made a meal for this unknowing sister and dropped it off to her on the way to her daughter's funeral. She was still looking outwards and not in.
Elder Bednar's last example happened as the sister was at the viewing prior to the funeral. She came up to him and told him what a great job the funeral home had done repairing the damage that had occurred to her daughter at the time of the accident. She said she knew his memories of her daughter were horrible as he had identified her body and that she wanted him to see her now so that his memories would be better. Even in this horrible time of sorrow and grief, this admirable woman was still thinking of others, namely her caring Stake President who had also had a very stressful week.
What an amazing example of looking outward and being an example of Christ. I have thought all week of all the times when I turn my thoughts inward and worry about myself. I want to learn to be more like Christ's example and this Relief Society president and learn to be more concerned with others and be in tune with their needs before mine. What a great story that was!
