Rescue Mission

I’m skiing down Wedding Ring at Sundance, onto the part that’s usually icy, beyond the bowl you can see from the lift. I’m cruising down, but I see a lone ski pole. Huh? I look another 100 yards down, and a man has crashed (he hit a rock; no shame there) and lost a pole. (Go figure.) So I yell down to him, “Do you want me to get this for you?” He nods, I grab it, ski down, hand it to him, and pass on.

That was stupid. Is there any reason on this earth he might be hoping to just stay on that steep, icy hill, eyeing his pole, with no desire to do anything but stare at it? Or maybe hike back up to retrieve it? Nope. Of course he wanted me to perform the simple service of going like 1 second out of my way to pick up his pole!

For some reason, I’ve remembered that ever since it happened, and I think it’s because I feel so dumb for asking a person if I could get him something he so obviously needed. Do you really have to ask permission to perform any slight act of service? I think not. In fact, offering service, without a solid promise or guarantee, might not even be whole-hearted. As Elder Rasband said in his Conference talk today, “Let me know if I can help” is no help at all.

He used the example of coming upon a drowning person. Would we ask him if he wanted or needed to be rescued? Of course not. The same principle applies to every situation for every person experiencing any difficulty or trial. We don’t need to ask; we just need to do. My goal is to be more aware and service-oriented.

And as long as we’re talking about Conference, it was awesome. Elder Rasband was my favorite talk (I’m always partial to any talk with any mention of my beloved Primary Children’s) and I also loved Pres. Eyring and Elder Anderson. Did you know that conference is translated into over 70 languages? I think that’s amazing. I love General Conference! Even if it means getting up at 6 am on Saturday and Sunday.