FAITH IS SPOKEN HERE #2

This is the second story from the talk "Faith is Spoken Here" by Betsy Nagel given in the 2006 Women's Conference at BYU

2. Express our faith through service to others (Beverly)
I remember attending church for the first time in Philadelphia. It was fast day, and one woman spoke of attending the temple in Washington, D.C., the day before. I remember thinking her face was glowing and she was perfectly beautiful and I wanted to get acquainted with her. After the meeting she came up to me and introduced herself. She was the RS president and noticed I was new. I noticed that up close she wasn’t that perfect. Who is? She looked tired, her hair was a little out of place, her make-up was gone - but she still had that shining countenance.

Over the next few months I became well acquainted with Beverly as I served with her in the RS. She spent every waking moment attending sweetly to her large family or to sisters in the ward, many of whom lived as much as an hour from where she lived. She loved to read, sing, and play the piano, but rarely indulged in these activities for lack of time.

On her birthday I decided the best present I could give her would be a day off, so I offered to tend her pre-schooler while she had a day to do what she wanted. I felt so proud of myself for thinking of such a generous present! When she returned late in the afternoon I couldn’t wait to hear what she had done with the time. Imagine my disappointment when she told me she had spent the day visiting a couple of sisters who lived in the most depressing place I have ever seen. It was called "The Philadelphia Home for the Incurables." It looked as bad as the name sounds. It was an old gray stone building with so many trees around it that no grass could grow. It smelled bad. It was dank and musty and not air conditioned. I had visited these sisters a couple of times with Beverly and couldn’t think of anyplace worse to spend time.

When she told me of her day I was obviously disappointed. "But I wanted you to do something for you," I protested. "Betsy, you don’t understand. I did it for me. That was what I wanted to do and I don’t usually have enough time to do it." I was humbled and realized why she had a shining face. I remembered Alma’s words to the brethren of the church. "Have ye spiritually been born of God? (Alma 5:14) "Can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances?" (Alma 5:19) Remember the primary song, "If you’re happy and you know it – then your face will surely show it."

Today Beverly continues to sing her song of faith through service as a temple worker in the DC temple, getting up at 3am every Saturday to make the drive from Philly to Washington. And yes, she still has a shining face."