Service

Dan has been in the Bishopric of the Little Valley II ward for two months now. As he has had increased opportunities to speak publicly, I am hearing new stories from his life that I have never heard before. When asked to speak about service, he told the story of when he went to work on the Stake Beehive Farm in the Nashville stake as a youth. They had run out of protective clothing but he still wanted to help, so he buttoned up the cuffs and neck of his collared shirt, put a net over his face and went forth to help retrieve the honey from the busy honey bees.
Suddenly he felt and heard a bee frantically buzzing and stinging under the back of his shirt. Instinctively he panicked and tried to free the venomous bee from underneath his shirt. He bent over and grabbed the tails of his shirt and ripped if off his head to avoid further stings from the attacking bee as he ran from the hives toward freedom. What was left when he got far enough away and could no longer hear the buzzing of furious bees were just the tightly secured cuffs from his shirt and a few bee stings!
The moral of this story is make sure that you are prepared with the “whole armor of God” when facing a hive of bees and more importantly it is to always be willing to serve when asked and do so willing and make it fun. We have enjoyed being able to spend many hours thinning and picking peaches and apricots at the Hurricane church fruit farm and helping at the local cannery. We make a game of the situation, enjoy in lively conversation and make new friends as we enjoy the blessings of service. You can throw a few hard unripe apricots at an unsuspecting coworker or share lives experiences as you work side by side and help the hours pass far too quickly. So what if you have to arise before dawn on a Saturday morning or don a hairnet and gloves in high fashion. Service always brings more blessings than the sacrifice offered.