The seeds we plant...

A week ago, Eli rose early and logged into a Zoom call, where he witnessed a baptism in Louisville, Kentucky. He was able to participate, though virtually, in the joy of that day, as his friend Tom entered the waters of baptism.

This story began eight years ago, when Eli (Elder Webster) was serving in the Arkansas Little Rock Mission, which includes parts of Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. One day a ward member called Elders Webster and Hadlock and asked them to come help his childhood friend, who had just relocated to Memphis, move into his new house. I should point out that this wasn't just any ward member; this was the amazing Brother Floyd, who worked tirelessly alongside the missionaries serving in the Memphis area and kept tabs on all the others in the mission as well. If a P-day rolled around and we moms hadn't heard from our kids by mid-afternoon, our go-to guy was Brother Floyd. All we had to do was shoot him a message, and within a few hours, he would track down our missionaries and find out why they hadn't emailed. Every six weeks on transfer days, Brother Floyd always had all the deets on who was transferring where. With his help, we moms knew where our kids were headed almost as soon as they did.

The missionaries love Brother Floyd and they love to serve, so they cheerfully agreed to help his friend move. They put on their work clothes and headed right over. They liked Tom immediately; he was a kind and generous guy with a fun sense of humor. As they finished helping him move in and were about to leave, Elder Webster discreetly (or perhaps non-discreetly) placed a copy of The Book of Mormon on his dining room table.

And that was that.

For awhile.

At some point, Tom agreed to take the missionary discussions, and Elders Webster and Hadlock were excited to teach him. As they studied together, their friendship with Tom grew although he did not choose to be baptized at that time. In March of 2014, when Eli finished his two years and was headed home, Tom posted a message on my Facebook page, "Eli's comin', hide your heart, girl." Eli was way too young to have even heard of Three Dog Night, let alone this song, but I was well familiar with both, and this message made me so happy!

And that was that.

For awhile.

For eight years, actually.

Then just over a week ago, Elder Hadlock called Eli with the best news: Tom was getting baptized! He and his wife had left Memphis and relocated to Kentucky, and thanks to modern technology, both these former missionary companions, the ones who helped Tom move into his house in Memphis eight years ago, were able to zoom into the baptism. 

The seeds we plant.

All three of my missionary sons had challenging times on their missions, times when they felt like they weren't making a difference, like they weren't accomplishing anything. But that was never the case. They may never fully know the fruits of their labor, but the seeds they planted were good seeds, and the Savior will handle the rest.

Congrats, Tom.