Trent Toone: Lessons in Christ-like service

The snow was beginning to fall more heavily across northern Utah within the afternoon of Friday, Jan. 12, when my father called me with an issue.

“How would you wish to go on a rescue mission?” he said, a touch of adventure in his voice. 

He informed me of a neighbor sliding off the road on his drive home from work. The neighbor contacted my parents with an urgent request to return pull him out. 

My initial response was not valiant — couldn’t another person help this man? The very last thing I desired to do was leave our warm home and drive out into the oncoming snowstorm. But I knew my 70-year-old father was committed to going regardless of what, and my mother wouldn’t be joyful if I let him go alone, so off we went.

Despite high winds, low visibility and icy roads, we positioned the neighbor, and with the help of a Utah Highway Patrol trooper who arrived on the scene, we successfully pulled the person’s vehicle back onto the road. 

I got here away from the experience with a repentant heart and grateful for my father’s stalwart example. Most essential, the experience taught me in regards to the Savior.

“Service opens a window by which we understand the life and ministry of Christ,” taught President M. Russell Ballard, then acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in April 2018. 

Jesus Christ got here to serve, because the scriptures teach, “at the same time as the Son of man got here to not be ministered unto, but to minister, and to offer his life a ransom for a lot of” (Matthew 20:28).

An opportunity to do higher got here two days later as more snow dumped on northern Utah. The decision was made in our stake to cancel Sunday worship services so members could help one another dig out. This time my heart was prepared.

Armed with shovels and snowblowers, my oldest son and I teamed up with others within the neighborhood to filter several driveways of neighbors and the elderly in our ward. The gratitude we saw of their faces made all of the aches and soreness worthwhile. 

We can have lost some feeling in our hands and feet from the cold, but our hearts were warm with the joyful, peaceful feeling that comes with serving others. We also rejoiced in the method, and I appreciated the prospect to bond with my son and other brothers within the ward. 

I’m grateful for good people like my father who without hesitation are at all times willing to sacrifice comfort, time and resources to go to the rescue of others.

When we’re willing to serve others for the precise reasons — chiefly “the pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:47) — the reward is nice and we feel true joy, as Church President Russell M. Nelson has taught:

“Our best joy comes as we help our brothers and sisters,” the Prophet said in his October 2019 general conference talk “The Second Great Commandment.”

“Giving help to others — making a conscientious effort to care about others as much as or more than we care about ourselves — is our joy. Especially, I would add, when it shouldn’t be convenient and when it takes us out of our comfort zone. Living that second great commandment is the key to becoming a real disciple of Jesus Christ.”