After Michael Mercer and I parted company on Friday afternoon and - TopicsExpress



          

After Michael Mercer and I parted company on Friday afternoon and before I met up with Smiling Bob on Saturday morning, I rode west, leaving the coastline area of Portland, crossing Maine, crossing New Hampshire and entering Vermont. I rode to a small town by the name of White River Junction. In the morning, Saturday, I headed north on Highway 89 for a little town called Sharon. Once there, I looked for, found and rode up a country road called, Dairy Hill. At the very end of the pavement, is the long driveway that leads to the birthplace of Joseph Smith. I arrived at 7:30, an hour and a half before it opened. The gate was open so I rode in. Paul serves there, he oversees the maintenance of the property. He sees me pull up and comes out to meet me. He asks where Im from, I tell him and we chat for a while. I find out that Paul is a retired Major for the US Army. After we visit for a while, he says, Youve come a long way, were not open yet, but let me show you a few things. Paul then takes me and shows me the remains of the home of where Joseph Smith was born. Its all but destroyed, all that remains is the hole in the ground and some large flat rocks inside the hole. As he takes me around the grounds, showing me different things of interest, I ask Paul, So how did you get into the Army. He says, Well, my dad was in the Marines, in fact, he turned 21 on the day they attacked Iwo Jima. He was on the landing craft on his birthday. My grandfather was in World War One, and he suffered the rest of his life from the effects of poison gas. I actually have family members that fought in the Civil War and in the American Revolution. But that was not what made me join. I was at a meeting when I was a young boy. The speakers were veterans from different wars our country had fought in. During their talks to us... Paul then stopped talking, clinched his jaws and covered his mouth with his hand, as tears began to well-up in his eyes. He was having a very emotional moment and was trying to recover his composure. I reached out and placed my hand on his shoulder and said nothing. I just let him have his moment. He then began to speak again but now with a broken and very emotional voice. He said, I love my country! My country has done so much for me and I felt this overwhelming feeling that I needed to give back. So I joined the Army. We talked about that for a while and then Paul began talking about all the Savior had given him. And that he felt that same overwhelming feeling that he needed to not only change his life, but that he needed to give back. Paul has done what he could to serve the Lord, by doing what he could to serve his fellow man. Paul then said, I was the first in my family to see the gospel and join the Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.) He said, I was also able to baptize my wife and later on, I was able to baptize my parents. I said, So you were the hinge on the gate that opened the Gospel to your family?! He pondered the comment and then smiled a modest smile, gaving no response.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 12:45:16 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015