Comments on: “The Gospel Unites Us All” — part 5

By: Maurine Ward

Maurine Ward — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 07:00:03 +0000

Thank you for this continued story of service and compassion. One of my neighbors is famous for his saying “what goes around comes around.” He always meant this in terms of mean and spiteful actions. In these posts, you have shown how true that statement is when seen by the actions of the Dutch and German saints.

By: kevinf

kevinf — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 17:07:07 +0000

Wonderful end to this series. I had heard about the Dutch members and the potatoes growing up, but did not know about the reciprocation of the German saints. Now if only the Haven's could be this charitable...

By: Paul

Paul — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:12:25 +0000

I had not heard this part of the story before, Ardis. Thanks so much for sharing!!

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 16:00:24 +0000

Thanks, andrew h. I love to make grown man cry, by the way! This picture and the story it tells is really the excuse for all the parts that went before it in the series. This act is not as drastic nor as nearly incomprehensible as the generosity of the Dutch Saints under the conditions in which they sent their aid; it is, however, in its own way, an extraordinary act of charity. It closes the circle, and epitomizes the idea of consecration: there will be no divisions between people, no rich and poor, when we give what we have when we have it.

I’m glad to hear about your FHEs, too. It’s a bonus to me to know that Keepa is sometimes more than a pleasant diversion during somebody’s work day.

By: andrew h

andrew h — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 15:05:03 +0000

Thank you for sharing this Ardis, absolutely beautiful, made me cry. I hope you don’t mind if I use this in our weekly devotional at work on Monday. It is wonderful to see what can happen when the atonement heals hearts and minds and prompts people to Christ like service. Beautiful.

As I read the story, I seemed to remember reading a book about this event in elementary school, not the LDS connection, but the disaster itself (this would have been about 30 years ago). I looked it up. The book is called “When the Dikes Broke.” It is something of a historical fiction novel for youth based on the story of a family that survived the flood. I am pretty sure it is about the same event. All though it has been 30 years it made an impression on me. I still remember that it described how the dikes broke after people had gone to bed for the night. In some areas sirens were set off to try and wake people up and give them a chance to get to safety. Because WW II was so fresh still many people woke up and thought that they were under attack (that is of course if the novel and my memory are correct!).

Thank you again for this series. My wife is from Germany and this has been part of our FHE over the last coouple of weeks!