Missionary meeting

My niece Maddy is serving a mission in Hungary.  Her letter last week, forwarded by her dad (isn't email great?) told of the visit of one of the apostles, Elder Christofferson, with his wife, to their mission.  I want to share a part of that here, with Maddy's permission---

 I also really connected with this story from Sister Christofferson. She had a friend who was a brilliant concert pianist, and studied at the most prestigious music university in the US (my guess is julliard, although she didn't say), and this friend wanted Sister Christofferson to play hymns with her when she went to this friend's house to visit. Well, Sister Christofferson tried to protest, because she doesn't play piano and barely knows a couple of hymns. She said, "your students can play a lot better than me," but her friend insisted. So Sister Christofferson sat at one piano and timidly played the simplest hymn she could, and then her friend started playing on the other piano improving on the hymn she was playing, and all of a sudden it was the most beautiful song she'd ever heard, pretty much. The friend was playing all over the keyboard, and it sounded amazing. She didn't notice any of the notes that Sister Christofferson missed. Well, they finished playing the hymn and Sister Christofferson tried to say that was great, we're done now, but the friend insisted that they should play at least one more. Again, Sister Christofferson tried to protest, but to no avail, and again, the friend covered up all of her mistakes with beautiful runs and chords and the touch of genius. The moral of the story is, there are some things in life that we are not professional in - maybe I'm not the "concert pianist" missionary, for instance, or the profi music coordinator back in my SVU ward, or whatever. But the point is, the Savior is the Master. He doesn't care if we're not very profi. He wants to play with us, and turn our simple attempts into beautiful masterpieces. He wants to bless us with the miracles that come from him taking our best efforts and adding onto them until they become something much more. In the end, I think this is the ultimate message of the Atonement. When our own is not enough, he goes the rest of the way for us, and it is far more wonderful and beautiful than we could have ever imagined on our own.

---Maddy is herself a musician , her instrument is the cello, but she plays piano, so she can identify with this experience in a way that makes it even more meaningful to her.  The Master will indeed weave his love and gifts around our own best efforts of the heart, and create beauty and joy in our lives.

My brother Morgan and his girls last Memorial Day.  Maddy is the oldest, in the blue shirt.

Comments

  1. Don MeyerMarch 22, 2012 at 9:17 AM

    You remind me of a story that I almost remember. Talking about God's will. Different people had different ideas, but the upshot was that we have been given certain talents and abilities, and it is God's will that we use them.

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