One of my favorite stories about a modern-day 'feeding of the five thousand'!
"A young Relief Society sister in a stake close to the Mexico City Temple told me a sweet story I would like to share. I'll call her Maria, although that's not her real name. Maria was given the assignment to head a committee that would prepare and serve a breakfast and a lunch for several visiting General Authorities, including President Gordon B. Hinckley, an Elder at the time, who were coming to their temple for a special meeting. Maria's bishop cautioned her to be conservative, because they had no excess funds to waste. She and the other sisters planned well, and Elder Hinckley and the others thanked them for the delicious meal. After the meal was served, the sisters congratulated themselves on their good planning because there was only one tiny scoop of eggs left over. The lunch went so well, and after everyone had eaten, there was only a small amount of barbequed beef and a few beans covering the bottom of one pan, a few rolls, and a small bowl of salad left over. Just when Maria was thinking how well they had managed, the bishop came in and asked if they could possibly feed some brothers and sisters coming in to do their temple work. Their bus, which had come all the way from Guatemala, had broken down and the people had been without food for two days. Maria was overwhelmed with the need and explained to the bishop that they only had a small amount left, in accordance with his instructions to prepare only a conservative amount of food. The bishop told the sisters just to to the best they could and left. The sisters barely had time for a quick prayer as they added some water to the barbeque and the beans for putting them out. As the first brother came in, he loaded his plate, and Maria was horrified that one person might take most of the food for himself. She nearly asked him to put some back for the others but felt restrained by the Spirit to say nothing. The sisters stood there and watched as four busloads of brothers and sisters came through that line and were all fed. No one seemed concerned at all by the almost-empty containers, in fact, they seemed not to know that the containers were almost empty. Every time they scooped up the food, the scoop came up full - even though they could hear the scoop hit the bottom of the pan. The sisters who had prepared the luncheon stood and watched all of this in amazement. Maria said to me, "We were so overwhelmed and awed by this miracle that rivaled the feeding of the five thousand, we could hardly speak."
There is a principle in this story. When the lord fed the five thousand, he did not create it from nothing; he had a few pieces of fish and a loaf of bread, and he multiplied what he had. When He fed the hungry saints in Mexico, He didn't snap his fingers and create something from nothing. As the song in The Sound of Music says, "Nothing comes from nothing." This tells me that the Lord can bless us with our needs, whether they are emotional, spiritual, or physical needs, if we obey the commandments and do what we can do. If we will prepare, if we will pay our tithes, if we will obey the counsel of our prophet to buy and store what we can afford, we can feel comfortable asking the Lord to make up the difference."
No comments:
Post a Comment