Hank Smith:                      00:03                   Welcome to followHIM Favorites. John and I are sharing a single story to go with each week’s Come, Follow Me lesson. John, we’re in Ruth and the beginning of 1 Samuel, you have a story for us.

John Bytheway:               00:12                   Yes, in fact, there’s two verses in Samuel that I really love. One of them, Samuel, speak thy servant heareth, and another one, for them that honor me, I will honor. So President Monson was a mission president up in Ontario, Canada, and he had this one area and all the Elders called it stony Kingston because they’d only had one convert in six years. Nobody baptized there. That was the rumor that went around. Nobody to teach. It’s horrible. He says, I was praying about this dilemma and my wife, Sister Monson, gave him this book to read, A Child’s Story of the Prophet Brigham Young. It tells the story about Brigham Young in Kingston, Ontario. He labored there for 30 days and baptized 45 people. Without explaining it to the mission, he closed the area. Then he started spreading this rumor that a new city was going to be opened where Brigham Young had proselyted before.

                                           01:10                   And everybody speculated about it. He said, letters pleaded for the assignment to this Shangri-La, President Monson said. So he selected a few missionaries, two of them new, two of them experienced. They were chosen for this high adventure. The members of the small branch pledged their support. And the missionaries, yes, speak thy servant heareth, so they go. In three months, it became the most productive city of the Canadian missions. The gray limestone buildings stood still. The city had not altered its appearance, but the change was one of attitude and a label of faith. This talk that he gave this in was about labels. The branch president, this is another part of the story that’s so good. His name was Gustav Wacker from the old country. He spoke English with a thick accent, never owned or drove a car. He was a barber. He loved to cut the missionary’s hair.

                                           02:04                   He wouldn’t accept pay. In fact, he would take all of his tips from that day and give it to the missionaries. And if it was rainy, he called a taxi to send them home. President Monson started noticing it must have been a district that Gustav Wacker’s tithing was way in excess of what he could have been earning and he tried to tell him, no, no, no. It’s no more than 10%. And he said, I love to pay all I can for the Lord. And President Monson said it amounted to half his income.

Hank Smith:                      02:35                   Oh my word.

John Bytheway:               02:36                   They established a home that was a heaven. He said they were not blessed with children, but they mothered and fathered their many church visitors. A sophisticated and a learned leader from Ottawa told me, I like to visit President Wacker. I always come away refreshed in spirit, determined to live ever close to the Lord. So President Monson said, did Heavenly Father honor such abiding faith? Well, the branch prospered. Membership outgrew the rented Slovakian hall, moved into a lovely chapel of their own. President and Sister Wacker had their prayers answered. They served a proselyting mission in their native Germany and later a temple mission to the beautiful temple in Washington, D.C. Three months ago from when he gave this talk. His mission and mortality concluded Gustav Wacker passed away peacefully in the arms of his loving wife. Only one label appears for such an obedient and faithful servant. For them that honor me, I will honor. Two verses from Samuel, but what a great story about Kingston and the rumor about, hey, a place where Brigham Young served and all of a sudden the missionaries attitudes changed.

Hank Smith:                      03:47                   That’s beautiful. The lesson title fits perfectly, My Heart Rejoices in the Lord. That’s awesome. We hope you’ll join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get any of your podcasts. We’re with Sister Lori Newbold this week and she is a joy. She really is. So excited about the scriptures. Then come back here next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.