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Episode Date: January 4, 2024

This episode delves into 1 Nephi 1-5, exploring the theme of Tender Mercies, featuring Elder David A. Bednar's impactful talk, and sharing a missionary's intriguing experience in Africa with a Utah Junior Jazz jersey.Thanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignAnnabelle Sorensen: Creative Project ManagerWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Hello, my friends. Welcome to Follow Him Favorites. This year, we are doing stories to go with each week's lesson. I'm Hank Smith. I'm here with John, by the way. John, this week, we're looking at 1 Nephi 1-5. There's a verse at the very end of chapter 1 that says, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are upon all those whom he hath chosen because of their faith to make them mighty. Hank, this is a wonderful idea. And I think people might remember that Elder David A. Bednar gave a talk about tender mercies once.

Since then has become our vocabulary in the church to talk about, wow, that was a tender mercy, something that happened that was unexpected and so helpful, you know. Yep. It was 2004. So almost 20 years ago, Elder Bednar was a brand new apostle giving his very first full talk in general conference. Six months earlier, when he had been called as an apostle, he had been ready to bear his testimony on the Sunday afternoon session, right? John, can you imagine getting that call on Friday? Hey, by the way, you're going to be an apostle for the rest of your life too. You need to speak to the whole church in two days. He said it was just about his turn to stand up and speak for the very first time in general

conference when president Monson announced arrest him. Now, Elder Bednar said if he could have chosen any hymn to be sung before his first talk in general conference or his first testimony in general conference, he would have chosen his favorite hymn. Hymn number six, Redeemer of Israel. He said, but the hymns are chosen long in advance, right? You can't run up to the organist in general conference and say, hey, can we change it up? He said, so imagine how I felt when President Monson announced that the choir and congregation would stand and sing hymn number six, Redeemer of Israel. And I remember Elder Bednar said, some may count this experience as a nice coincidence. He said, but the tender mercies of the Lord are real. He was sending Elder Bednar a personalized message. I've collected story after story after

story. I just love these stories, these personalized blessings. You can see the Lord as it were. I thought I might tell you one, and it's about my friend Parker B. Strong. Elder Strong got his mission call to Africa. He was very excited. And he said when he got there, it was pretty incredible. It's like camping, boil your own water and wash your own clothes. Right. And he said for the first couple of weeks, it was just really adventurous and fun. But then it kind of hit him that this is going to be a long time. This is not a short thing. Apparently, when you get on the bus in this specific place where he was serving, it's very common for people to hand you their stuff to hold while you're on

the bus. So if I come onto the bus and I have a lot, I just kind of hand it out to people and they hold it for me while I go on this bus ride. He said he got handed a goat, a live goat. And it's just kind of staring at him. Can you imagine? Right? Breathing on your leg. Where am I? Like, what am I doing?

I'm from Utah. As a good missionary does, he went to the Lord and said, I'm really struggling here. Can you help me out? And he did what you would think a missionary would do. And that is he just got to work. President Hinckley, right? Forget yourself and go to work. So he went to work. Well, at one point, a couple of weeks later, I think he's teaching a lesson. I think it was in a park somewhere. And he said, my companion was doing the teaching, I think, because Parker's still working on the language. When a kid walks by in a Utah Jazz jersey,

it's a junior jazz jersey. And Parker said, that's my team. He said it was just something from home. A wow moment, like, oh, thank you. I just needed to see something from home. Apparently, as the kid is walking away, Parker sees something else on the Jersey. So he said, Hey, come back, come back. And so the kid came back and Parker said,

he turned the Jersey inside out. And there in a 10 year old's handwriting is Parker be strong. It was his Jersey, John, that he had had as a junior jazz player when he's in fourth or fifth grade. And then when he was done with that, he had donated the jersey and it had ended up in front of him as a missionary. Incredible. In Africa. What are the chances? Right? As Elder Bednar said in his talk, some might count this as a coincidence,

but I testify with Elder Bednar that the tender mercies of the Lord are real. Don't you love it, John? Yeah. It's like the Lord saying, I know exactly where you are, Parker, and I put this kid in your path. That's pretty cool. So when the desert industry says our donations bless many nations. They really do. They'll send those things all over the world. And this one goes to his area. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Absolutely incredible.

And John, this is just one of how many stories that we have heard, we have experienced. And you can see the Lord is at work in our lives. That's what Nephi was going to show us. Yeah. The tender mercies of the Lord are real. If you have a tender mercy story, go to our website, followhim.co and type it up for us and send it to us.

We'd love to hear from you. Then join us next week for Follow Him Favorites. We'll share another story that goes with that week's lesson. Awesome.