(June 26, 2022, by Bishop Peterson. A send off and a celebration for two long-time Rochester 2nd Ward members. This was after their missionary farewell in church. Donna and Carl Bauer were sent to the Arizona Gilbert Mission where they will serve as directors of a center that does indexing.)
I am grateful for Elder and Sister Bauer.
Elder Bauer does not like the spotlight. Faithfully, he has served at the prison, as housing coordinator, as a member of our ward choir. He’s also been a ward financial clerk, a temple worker, a scout leader, and a ward mission leader. He’s been in bishoprics and high priest groups. When asked, Elder Bauer would be there.
Sister Bauer spent her career working in a laboratory—do we need to say anything more? Perfection. She has faithfully served as Young Women President, temple worker, as Relief Society President, Primary President, and as a teacher in many capacities both formal and informal.
In many ways, this will be just another call in a lifetime of service. Each call is a small stroke on the canvas. But the compilation of those individual efforts—the combined outcome—far exceeds the sum of the parts. We will miss Elder and Sister Bauer and their contribution to our ward during this season, but we will look forward to their return next year.
I feel blessed that there are many Elder and Sister Bauers in this ward. Each of us has the opportunity to contribute to our ward and in our community. Often, we do not know the full impact of our influence.
Such was the case of a young girl in Amsterdam by the name of Anne Frank. Anne was a young Jewish girl who lived during WWII under Nazi rule. For two years her family lived in a hidden room behind a bookcase. During this time of concealment, Anne kept a diary where she recorded her thoughts and experiences.
This book was published 75 years ago yesterday. Anne Frank was born 93 years ago.
Her life was short by most standards, but her legacy was enduring. Of the many lessons we can take from Anne, she teaches this very principle: an enduring legacy.
“How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway… And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness!”—Anne Frank
By our very lives, we create an enduring legacy that can change the world.
When we think of endurance, often we think of it in a torturous context–an endurance race that requires mental and physical stamina; enduring the trials of our lives; holding on with all our strength to complete a difficult task; enduring to the end. But what if we thought of endurance differently. What if we thought of it in the context of the enduring influence we can have in the lives of those around us–that our legacy can endure beyond the time and place in which we stand and benefit the lives of those that come after us—just as Anne Frank’s Diary has benefitted so many in the generations that followed. In this way, “enduring to the end” can mean not just surviving to the end of our life, but also our influence enduring to the end of time.
Through this lens, one way that we can endure to the end is by creating and preserving records for the benefit of God’s children here on earth.
Speaking of the command to keep records, D&C 123:11 states that “it is an imperative duty that we owe to all the rising generation, and to all the pure in heart.”
Some of you may be familiar with the early 20th century explorer Ernest Shackleton and his fateful ship, the Endurance. Shackleton is well known for his expeditions to Antarctica. His most famous expedition in 1915 resulted in his ship, the Endurance, getting stuck in the ice of the Weddell Sea. Over the next 10 months, Shackleton and his crew survived, trekking hundreds of miles over frozen ice and open water to finally reach a remote whaling station. While there is much to learn from this fateful expedition, one of the enduring legacies was the discovery of the Endurance. After more than 100 years, the sunken ship was found earlier this year after repeated attempts had failed.
We found this ship because of the records of the ship’s captain who logged the exact position that the ship went down using a sextant and theodolite—a telescope-like instrument that allowed sailors to precisely measure their position on the globe.
Today when sailors or others find themselves in distress and needing rescue, we use equally sophisticated instruments to put out a distress call. The morse code dot, dot, dot, dash, dash, dash, dot, dot, dot is universally recognized as a call for help: SOS—Save Our Souls.
But this information is not enough. A distress call, an SOS call, cannot lead to a rescue if that call is not accompanied by a record of our location and direction. In this way, our records have the ability to aid in our own rescue.
Similarly, the marking of icebergs in the north Atlantic was a critical tool for saving future voyages. On the night the Titanic struck an iceberg, they had received several warnings of icebergs in the area. As boats and ships observed icebergs, they recorded their location and transmitted that information to surrounding boats. In fact, records for iceberg spottings have been kept for over 120 years. While the warnings on the Titanic went unheeded, how many souls have been saved by these records?
Much like these records, our records have the ability to save souls.
In Alma 37:8 we read, “And now, it [is] wisdom in God that these things should be preserved; for behold, they have… convinced many of the error of their ways, and brought them to the knowledge of their God unto the salvation of their souls.”
Elder and Sister Bauer are about to embark on a mission where they will serve as records preservation specialists.
Elder and Sister Bauer, I got you something for you to take on your mission to help you remember the importance of the work you will be doing.
S.O.S.—Save Other’s Souls
We save other’s souls when we bring them to the saving power of the atonement. I challenge you to look for opportunities and experiences from your mission where you will be privileged to witness and participate in this rescue effort.
Listen to the words of this hymn:
Hymn 133: “Father in Heaven” Verse 2
Filled be our hearts with peace beyond comparing,
Peace in thy world, and joy to hearts despairing.
Firm is our trust in thee for peace enduring,
Ever enduring.