"WHO HAS NEED OF THE PHYSICIAN?"

        One weekend when I had no Church assignments, I decided to
attend a sacrament service in a local ward.  I took my seat in front on
the stand and watched the people gather.  A few of the people who came
in I knew; most I did not.

        Just moments before the meeting started, I saw two missionaries
come in through a side door with a woman--a very worldly-looking woman.
It was obvious that she was new to the group because she looked
apprehensively from side to side and had to be guided to her seat.  She
was dressed in faded jeans and a tight sweater, and her face was heavily
made up.  Her dark and hardened countenance seemed to reflect a life of
sin that was frightening to contemplate.

        I couldn't help but wonder who would be successful in influencing
the other--she the missionaries, or the missionaries her.  Immediately
following the service, I sought out one of the missionaries and spoke
with him privately about the woman he and his companion had brought
to church.  My initial question was:  "Elder, where did you meet that
worldly woman?"  My tone of voice was Pharisaic, inferring that he had
brought to church someone who was unworthy of the privilege of
worshiping with our group.  The missionary bristled a little bit, stood his
ground, and replied,  "Elder Asay, who has need of the physician, the
sick or the whole?"  (see Matthew 9:9-13.)

        Well, he had backed me into a corner.  How could I question or refute
what he and his good companion were attempting to do for someone who
was spiritually sick and in desperate need of help from Christ,  the Great
Physician?

        All I could say in return was:  "Be careful!  Make certain that she
doesn't tempt or contaminate you."

        Time passed, and I almost completely forgot the incident.  But some
months later I attended a fast and testimony meeting in the same chapel.
The crowd was much the same as before;  some I recognized,  some I
didn't.  One woman entered alone,  walked down the aisle,  and seated
herself near the front of the chapel.  She sat quietly,  meditated,  and
waited for the start of the meeting.  She was dressed tastefully and her
face reflected a special saintliness.  In fact, she was beautiful.  There was
something familiar about her,  but I couldn't be sure whether I had ever
seen her before.  No one in the congregation seemed to worship as
intently as she did during the service.  She seemed to sing and pray with
all her heart.

        It was a fast Sunday.  The bishop bore his testimony and then invited
others to bear theirs.  The beautiful young woman was the first to respond.
She stepped to the pulpit and began to speak.  Among other things she
tearfully told of how the missionaries had literally fished her out of the
gutter, encouraged her to repent, and introduced her to members of the
Church and to the fullness of the gospel.  It was then I realized she was
the woman dressed in jeans that I had seen in church with the missionaries
only a few weeks before.  A miraculous transformation had taken place
through the efforts of two dedicated missionaries who looked upon the
woman not as she was but as she could become.
 

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