From Grandma C. C.:


When Grandma C. J. wrote in your last newsletter about our amazing youth, it reminded me of some examples of amazing youth in our ward. 

Our Bishop wants our ward members to focus more on service.  For the past two Christmas seasons, instead of having a ward party, our ward has "adopted" the Murray Care Center. This care center was originally chosen because it was close by and two of our ward members' elderly parents were residents there.  Our Activities Committee visits the Center and obtains a profile on each of the residents.  Families in the ward "adopt" a resident and buys a few gifts. 

On a Saturday morning early in December, all the ward families meet at the Church for a simple breakfast and a short program the youth have prepared.  Then everyone gets in their cars and travels to the nearby Care Center to visit their adopted resident and give them the gifts.

These stories are about 4 of our deacon-aged boys.

(1)  As I passed the open doorway to one of the rooms at the care center, I witnessed the sweetest scene.  One of our deacons was sitting by the bed tenderly holding the hand of the elderly woman in the bed.

(2)   The parents of twin deacons in our ward were going to be out-of-town on the scheduled Saturday Christmas visit.  They asked if we would take their twins and their gifts to the festivities that morning.  As we arrived at the care center, I asked the twins if they would be more comfortable if I went with them to make the visit.  They replied, "Naw, she's our lady---we can handle it!"

When I asked them on the way home how the visit went, they said the lady was bedridden and so weak, she could hardly talk.  They said, "But we found if we put our ear right next to her mouth, we could hear what she was whispering."

I was very proud of our young men that day!

(3)   Also, we have a 90-year-old man in our ward whose wife passed away 3 years ago.  Since that time, one of our deacons (whose family had "adopted" this older couple) sits with this elderly man in Sacrament meeting each week and holds his hand.