A Marvelous Work and a Wonder

Two weeks ago, as we were about to take the stage for another Improvables performance, Parker came back to the green room and told us that his brother Keenan had suffered an accident while riding an ATV and, as a result, had broken both of his legs.

This has to be some kind of joke, I remember thinking. Keenan had, ironically, recently played the character "Legless Larry" on stage during a show, moving himself around using only his arms.

But this was no joke. Keenan had indeed broken both of his legs and was undergoing surgery to have a metal rod inserted into one of those legs as we were taking the stage. This would have been a painful and tragic occurrence in anyone's life, but add to that the additional fact that Keenan was scheduled to enter the MTC just under three weeks after this accident. Many of us, myself included, feared that his missionary service would end up being postponed for several months.

Fortunately, that wasn't the case at all. Keenan was a quick healer in the hospital, being discharged after only a couple of days of recovery. He continued to make further progress after that and began to walk with a cane.

Two nights ago, he again took the stage for his final Improvables performance for two years, a mere two weeks after his devastating accident. Though he needed to use his cane to get around, he put in another fantastic performance. Then, this morning, Keenan delivered his scheduled farewell talk at his ward in Centerville, with his plans for heading into the MTC this Wednesday and then going on to serve in the mission field in New Zealand still intact.

As I sat through today's meeting, the thought occurred to me more than once that I had witnessed some sort of miraculous event in Keenan's quick healing over these past two weeks. The Lord truly does watch over His work and those who labor in it. The sacrifices made and the blessings received by past, present, and future missionaries are nothing short of "a marvelous work and a wonder" to me.

Testimony Bingo, or: More Thoughts on the Straight and Narrow

To paraphrase the immortal Forrest Gump, life is like a Millstream Ward testimony meeting: You never know what you're gonna get.


I thoroughly enjoy fast and testimony Sundays at my ward, because there are certainly no dull moments to be had. For example, there was the time that a speaker came up to the pulpit and declared, to the horror of many people in the congregation, that - I kid you not - "90 percent of all sacrament meeting talks are worthless."

But I digress.

Recently, a friend introduced me to the concept of "testimony bingo." The idea behind testimony bingo is that you predict, prior to the meeting beginning, who's going to bear their testimonies, using a makeshift-bingo card (i.e. the back of the program) to keep track. Essentially, if you take into account the many people who seem to bear their testimonies each month, you might easily come out with a winning card.

At this past Sunday's monthly testimony meeting, I set out to give testimony bingo a try. But something funny happened: Many people who hadn't borne their testimonies in a long time found the courage - and it does take courage - to walk up to the pulpit and speak what was in their hearts. Further, I actually found myself paying attention and listening to them. And, as a result, I found myself enjoying the meeting very much.

The idea that was reemphasized to me through this experience was that you basically get out of the gospel whatever you put into it.

This brings me back to my post from a few weeks ago about enduring to the end and trying to stay on the straight and narrow path. I asked the questions: Is it enough to pray and read the scriptures every day and attend Sunday meetings? Or do we have to be even stronger than that?

Many of you posted comments on the matter or otherwise opined on the subject, and I am grateful to you for your thoughts and ideas. "All of the above" factor in, I think.

In addition, the answer I've come up with is: Yes. We do need to be even stronger than that. We can go through the motions of praying and reading our scriptures daily and attending meetings, and if our hearts and minds are not in the right place, it profits us very little. We need to strive to become converted on a daily basis. The little decisions do matter just as much, if not more, than the big decisions.

And that's all I have to say about that.

A Life Wirth Emulating

Last week, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles passed away at age 91. This is already news to most of you, presumably, but I just wanted to write a few words about this good man.


During his final years, Elder Wirthlin would often visibly struggle to deliver his general conference messages. (Regardless, I hope I'm doing that well if I make it to 91.) The rumor was that this was because his eyesight had gotten worse and it was harder for him to read from the teleprompter.

Whatever the reason, one image that I think will always stay in my mind was created during one of Elder Wirthlin's last talks. During this talk, he began to shake and wobble. At first, I feared that something serious was taking place, like a stroke. (I later read that it was due to his knees becoming locked together.) It was obvious that he was having a hard time giving this talk, yet he kept right on speaking. (His topic, which I suppose was no coincidence, was on enduring to the end.) Elder Russell M. Nelson soon stood up and held onto his colleage in the Twelve, supporting Elder Wirthlin as he gave the rest of his talk. My mom and I watched this on TV together, and we could not stop crying. I will remember the courage that Elder Wirthlin showed in these few minutes, and I won't I forget the important lesson I learned about the true sense of brotherhood and love that exists among the members of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Though his delivery struggled, Elder Wirthlin's talks were pure gold. For my birthday last year, some of my siblings chipped in and bought me Press On: Messages of Faith, Hope, and Charity, a collection of several of his messages as an Apostle. I read through this book during a particularly difficult time in my life that came not long after, and the words and counsel from Elder Wirthlin gave me added strength to face my trials that I sorely needed.


I also got to meet him on two occasions: once at a Missionary Department social, back when I worked at the Church Office Building, and again at a University of Utah football pep rally, where he came and spoke about his days as a running back nicknamed "Speedy" during the 1930s.

The title of Elder Wirthlin's final general conference message, "Come What May, and Love It" serve, I think, as a fitting epitaph to his life. He had his share of Fridays, but his Sunday, and a well-earned rest, have come.