(Insert interrogation scene with one dark room, one swinging, low light in the center, one man with a heavy fist and loud voice, and one man with a shivering, quivering voice.)
"Where were you on the night of Monday, December 19th, 2011?!"
"Oh! I... I was... I was in my car! Driving! With my companion, Elder Blowers!"
"What were you doing?!"
"Well, our... our appointment had fallen through and we were just heading back to our car..."
(Insert time rewinding noises)
"You know, Elder Blowers, I'm not going to lie - there was a part of me that expected that appointment to fall through. I wanted him to be there, but..." I shivered in the cold night as I approached the car.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I wanted to teach him too. He would have been great."
I opened the car door and got in the driver's seat. Elder Blowers soon got in on the other side. I put the key in the ignition and twisted it. The car shivered to life in the cold, Fort Bragg night, and we pulled away from Jonathan's house.
"Let's see." Blowers said as he opened his planner and pressed the light on in the cabin. "We had planned to go see the Mortons. They live over on Oak Street." In response, I turned around and headed to their home. However, a name of a man who I had never met continued to come to my mind. I couldn't suppress it, so I acted on it.
"Hey, Elder. Where does Robert live?
"Rob? Rob Miller?" - I nodded - "He lives back that way, on Springs Road."
"Alright. I haven't been able to get him out of my mind. We need to go see him." And thus, we sped off. We must have looked comical making two U-turns on the same street, but we needed to see this man - I didn't know why.
A few minutes later (and only one wrong turn!), we pulled up in front of Rob's home. As we knocked on the door, my companion voiced his thoughts: he was wondering if Rob would be home - he never had been before. Quickly, though, his thoughts were answered with foot steps and a jiggle at the door handle. The door swung wide, light flooded the doorstep, and...
"Gentlemen!" Rob stepped out and shook our hands. He and my companion shook hands and exchanged greetings, and then he turned to me.
"Hey! It's good to meet you Rob! I'm Elder Nuckles!" And then came that quizzical look that, really, I'm quite accustomed to.
"Nuckles? Really?" I laughed and said that it was real. We spoke for a moment laughing about some things, and then I explained why we were there. I told him that I felt like we really needed to come see him. His mouth smiled at that, but his eyes betrayed him, even in the dark. I asked him how he was doing and his mouth then matched his eyes.
He began to tell us the situation he was in at that point in his life. This is the part where I got sad. His was one of the stories that hurt inside. Listening to the hard times that he's fallen on really broke my heart. (I don't think that I could ever be a therapist. I think about other people's problems far too much!)
He went on for awhile and I was at a loss for words. Some of those things just hurt. Some of them just sent shivers down my spine.
(Pause the story. Before someone sends angry fan mail (fans! Ha. That's a good one) saying that everyone exaggerates and you need to hear both sides of the story, I want you to know that I know that. However, there is a grain of truth behind everything, and these stories hurt. Now, resume story)
Minutes passed as he told us his stories. Eventually, a break came, and I took the moment to ask him how he was doing spiritually and if he felt he was close to God. He exhaled, looked me in the eye, and stated, "I'm close to God. I know that Jesus Christ is my personal Savior and that he loves me. I know that the two appeared to Joseph Smith and restored their truths."
Now that made me happy.
We continued to talk and he shared a few more stories. and then I shared with him a story from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
He smiled and thanked me. We prayed with him and then left.
As we I watched him close his door, I shivered in the dark night.
(Fast forward to the present, back to the dark interrogation room.)
"What did you tell him?! Go on! What was the story?!"
"It was the hopeful story entitled Good Things to Come."
Enjoy :)
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