In June of 2007, several members of the Rochester Stake went to Fountain, Minnesota to the Root Prairie Lutheran Church to offer assistance; there had been severe vandalism to the church.
Brother Leske’s Letter to the Stake Presidency, June 2007:
I wanted to give a little feedback on the impact of the service those members provided to the Root Prairie Lutheran Church in Fountain. My family and I were able to help out on Saturday morning and it was a great experience for me, Lorie, and the kids. We went away feeling like we had done something significant to help others. What we didn’t realize was the far-reaching impact.
Lorie, as an assistant director of the Rochester Area Girls Choir, was at the Congregational Church in Southwest Rochester the following Sunday morning for their church services. Before the service, she was talking about her experience at the church with the director of the choir and the pastor of the church walked up to join the conversation. He had come to Fountain himself and said, “Did you know, there were 26 Mormons that were there to help out?” Lorie mentioned that she was one of them. He went on to say how inspired he was by the outpouring of love and service that was given by the Mormons and what a fine example of discipleship. He said he was deeply impressed that there were no relationships with members of the vandalized church and yet assistance was given. He spoke about the service that was given by our members in his sermon that morning and used the rendered service as an example of how we as Christians should act towards one another. He stated that no matter what Christian denomination we belong to–Catholic, Lutheran, Mormon, Methodist–that we should all take care of one another in such a way.
It was again a testimony to me that a little service can go a long way. While driving home on Saturday, I found myself thinking that perhaps in some small way the service we provided that morning would help relationships with the members of that small church in Fountain. I had never even considered the impact our service may have had 40 miles away in Rochester.
We had a great time and it was good for the kids. Most importantly, it was just the right thing to do.