To love is to inspire

It dawned on me the other day that I could find content for posts from my talks I've given on Sundays over the years.  For the longest time, I used to prepare for my talks by creating a long list of bullet points.  Four or five years back, however, I decided to begin to write out my talks.  I learned that I like this way better, as it forces me to gather my thoughts and prepare in a more focused manner. There have been many things I have left out of my talks, thanks to the fact that I've written the talks down and proofread them (sometimes with Patricia).  Some ideas sound much better in my head then when read out loud.  In this way, writing things down has saved me (and the congregation) more than a couple of times. 

Allow me to share a couple paragraphs from a talk I prepared for last Sunday.  The topic I chose was "How can I inspire others to obey the commandments?"  In preparing for the talk, I thought of all the people in my life that have inspired me to be a better person.  Though I didn't share about George Durrant from the pulpit (time permitted me to only share about 1/4 of what I prepared), I wanted to tell you about him here.

One of my favorite people in the world is Brother George Durrant.  I had read a couple of his books as a young man, and then as a freshman at BYU I enrolled in his Family History class.  

Aside from being the best storyteller ever, and an inspirational teacher of the scriptures, I’ve never met a man who worked so hard at being a friend to everyone he met. On the second day of class, he had brought a camcorder to class, and he recorded each student as we stood up, said our name, and where we were from.  

Over the next couple of nights, he watched these videos at home, and within two weeks, he had memorized all of our names.  When he would call on us in class, he would do so by name.  There were about 80 people in that class, and I don’t think it was the only class he taught that semester.   

Outside of the amazing class periods, I treasure two special experiences with Brother Durrant. One happened at a BYU football game later that semester.  I was walking in the stands with a date, making our way to our seats, and we crossed paths with Brother Durrant.  As he shook my hand, he said: Brother Kammerman, from Simi Valley, California!  I introduced him to my date, we said talked for a bit then made our way to our seats.  

The following semester, I was in charge of planning a fireside for our student ward.  I immediately thought of asking Brother Durrant as a possible speaker.  After class one day, I asked to speak with him.  He obliged and asked that I walk with him to another building as we talked.  I explained my assignment, and asked him if he would speak. He had a prior commitment and couldn’t speak for that fireside.  We chatted a bit more until we came to where we needed to split up.  Brother Durrant looked me in the eye and said: Brother Kammerman, I love you!  

I cannot explain why, exactly; but Brother Durrant inspired me to be a better person.  He made me feel important.  And I'm confident that hundreds of people could share similar stories of how he touched their lives.  Feeling loved is perhaps the greatest motivator toward obeying the commandments (striving for excellence, self-actualization, etc.).

Do I love those that I want to motivate?  Do I act in a way that those people know and feel that I love them?