love one another

“Love one another

As I have loved you

Love one another “

This was the theme of my younger son’s mission. He asked his six year- old sister to play this hymn and sing it for his farewell.

This theme can be found in other New Testament scriptures and in the Book of Mormon.

John 13:34  “ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”

John 15:12- This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Mosiah 4:15 But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

We have been encouraged to learn to be better ministers to our families, friends, and others around us this year, and have been learning ways we can do this. I love going out to my front garden when I know my friends are coming over and cut the dead flowers off the rose bushes because, knowing them, they will just start helping. Sunshine, fresh air, good conversation, and the smell of roses; what better way is there to spend a happy hour.

My husband and I just got back from our first real vacation in four years. We went on a river cruise from St Louis Missouri to Nashville Tennessee. The ship, a paddle wheeler, was full of older couples like us. The staff consisted of young adults just out of high school to early twenties.  It was fun to see the interactions between the generations. The young people were learning to care for and about others; and the others, mostly grandparents were enjoying being served and cared for by such happy people. Little things happened like holding doors open; hiding a favorite desert for someone at their table so they wouldn’t run out; learning about families and difficult experiences to give encouragement; helping hands for the unsteady going down the gangplank; pushing a wheelchair for an exhausted traveler; encouraging the youth to hang in there and don’t quit a hard job early though they thought they couldn’t follow through.

On the last day hugs and good byes filled the dining area.

Even the adults were anxious to help each other. Though strangers at the beginning of the trip, there were groups of friends at the end of the week. One woman didn’t know how to send text messages on her new I phone. We took care of that. One man fell in the parking lot. It took twelve people to help him up again, but they accomplished it. One person wanted a picture of a superb quilt but didn’t have a camera. Another took one and emailed it to her. Another found an implement to hold Hor d’oeuvres together that she thought she could use to teach crafts to some the people with dementia that she worked with. Every day, every meal everyone brought theirs to her.

There are hard things you can do like helping towns after a hurricane

There are simple things like when my son-in law makes sandwiches for the homeless in the park he practices in.

There are kind things, like waving to or smiling at neighbors on the street. What can you do today?