Saturday, October 13, 2012

Letter # 2 Tender Mercies for the Grandchildren

Letter # 2
September 26, 2012
Provo, Utah

Dear Grandchildren,

This letter is about tender mercies. Tender mercies are small blessings from Heavenly Father that sometimes go unnoticed, but when you realize the blessings that have come to you, they are amazing.

Tender mercy #1: A couple of weeks ago I worked all day and came home beat. I have been battling a cold and I ached all over, but my feet and calves really hurt. I sat in the chair, kicked off my shoes and said to Grandpa, “If I could just have a massage, I think I would live.” (I have never had a massage before but knew that was what I wanted.)

We were just finishing dinner when Kramer went wild. Grandpa went to the door but no one was there. He scolded Kramer for the false alarm when a little voice came out of the dark, “It’s just me, Phil. I’m sitting on your lawn swings.”

It was LouAnn. Her husband got sick the first part of May and by the end of May he was had died from cancer. As you can imagine it has been a rough summer for her, and she comes to the lawn swings when the loneliness of the house gets to her. I was so tired that I thought I’d drop any minute but she is my friend, and so I went out to sit with her. (Besides that, it got me out of doing the dishes. I haven’t changed much since I was a kid. You don’t try to get out of doing dishes, do you?)

I hadn’t been with LouAnn two minutes before she said, “Lynne, let me massage your feet.”

“What?” I said. “You aren’t going to massage my dirty feet.”

“I want to, come on and put your foot in my lap.”

Well, you haven’t met persistence until you meet LouAnn, she’s persistent with a smile and a cute little laugh. She persisted. I finally I did as I was told. (You should always do as you are told if the “teller” is right. Your parents are pretty much always right. You think about it. Have they ever told you to do anything wrong? I’m just sayin’…do what is right—and mind your parents.)

So, anyway, LouAnn not only massaged my foot but my calf too. I have never felt anything like it. She said she learned how from a gifted chiropractor years before. She worked my foot and leg over until it felt like they only weighed ounces.

“Okay,” she said, “let’s change places and I’ll do your other foot. And she did. I can’t describe to you how much better I felt.

“Why did you offer to do this for me?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” she said, “I just felt like it,” she said.

That is a key word for listening to the still small voice of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes it’s so small you only feel an impression to do something, to go somewhere, or say something to someone. Be aware of those impressions.

Tender mercy #2: Later in the week my cold progressed and I felt truly rotten. I didn’t work for two days even though Meg could have used me. When I don’t go to work Grandpa knows I really feel rotten.

“What do you want to eat,” he said the first day.

“Nothing sounds good, except a chicken dinner.” And that was pretty much an impossibility. I don’t remember what we ate, leftovers maybe. It might have been worms on toast. (Well, I’m kidding about the worms, but just having toast might have been a real possibility.)

The next night he asked again, “What do you want for dinner?”

“Just that chicken dinner,” I said. Instead we fixed tuna fish sandwiches and I thawed some of the homemade tomato soup (the bag that didn’t get poured down the drain. See letter #1).

The next day I had to work, even though I still felt rotten. When I got home, and collapsed in a chair, Phil said, “Guess what? Cindy’s bringing dinner.” And guess what it was? A whole chicken dinner!

I asked her why she did it and she said, “The idea just kept coming to me, all day long, over and over, and finally I said to myself, ‘I can do this!’ and so I did.”

Both LouAnn and Cindy are angels in my life.

Tender mercy #3: This summer, our neighbor, twelve-year-old Timothy was mowing the lawn. Timothy had the feeling he should stop. It didn’t make sense to him but the impression came to him very strong so he stopped the mower. As he looked around he saw a little garden snake right in the path of the mower; if he had continued the mower would have killed the little snake.

Tender mercy #4: We went to the Brigham City Temple dedication last Sunday in a church house nearby. They told us it was as if the church house were an extension of the temple. No one visited before the meeting started like we usually do before a church meeting started. It reminded me when Grandpa and I went to the Mt. Timpanogos temple dedication in October of 1996.

We got to the temple and waited in line. When we were taken into the temple I was so disappointed to see that the people in front of us got the last front row seats. We were seated on the back row! I wanted to cry, but didn’t say anything to Grandpa.

Now I have to tell you this, so you will understand what a miracle this was in my life. My witness of the Spirit is very subtle. When other people say things like, “I felt the spirit so strong in Sacrament Meeting,” the only thing I felt was tired, or cold or hungry. My first real witness (that I recognized) about the Savior came after I was married and had two children! I went on the faith of others and my own reasoning.

So, when President Hinckley came into the room and I had a strong, sweet witness of the spirit, and I knew he was a prophet of God. I could feel a difference in the very air, and I knew angels came into that room with him, maybe even my mother. Maybe she had permission to come and be with me. There I was, stuck on the back row, feeling miserable, and I was given the most wonderful tender mercy. Words cannot explain that feeling to you. It is one of my most treasured memories. If I had been on the front row, maybe I would not have been blessed with that witness.

When you are baptized you will get the gift of the Holy Ghost. I promise you, it is the best gift you will ever, in your whole life, receive. 

 If Heavenly Father cares about a lowly garden snake, my aching feet and legs, and my longed for chicken dinner, and letting me have a witness about President Hinckley, think how much he cares about you, his child. Listen to the promptings. Be a tender mercy in someone else’s life and when those tender mercies come to you, be aware and thank your Heavenly Father.

We love you more than we can express. Be strong and do what is right.

Love,
Grandma Snyder

PS The other night Dad was doing his sleep-apnea-breathing-thing. Not the quiet-sleeping-breathing-thing, the ocean-is-coming-in-wildly-every-three-seconds, breathing thing. I would almost get to sleep and the tide would come in. Thank you Phil. Finally I got up and went into the bathroom and opened my nook and read a chapter in 3rd Nephi. Then I looked up aps and there was Angry Birds, Seasons. After reading the comments I downloaded it—$2.99—and played until 4:30 when I finally got tired. I didn’t clear one single level. Not one.

Since then I read one chapter in the Book of Mormon every morning and every night and if it’s not too late I play one level of Angry Birds. I know the Angry Birds isn’t making my life better, but I think reading before starting my day does.

May none of you get the can’t-get-to-sleep gene, also called the night-owl gene. If you do, take naps.

Love,
Grandma