Remarks By - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Patriarch Rulon J. Sperry
There's a beautiful spirit here today. I hope the few moments that I occupy this position that I might be able to control my emotions. The passing of Lester is nearer to my heart than most people think.
I was going back in my mind to the time when I first met Lester and I concluded that it was about thirty-eight or thirty-nine years ago, when we both attended the missionary school or evening class that was held in connection with the L.D.S. University. It was customary to hold these classes before the missionary home was created. We both had a desire to go on missions for the Church so we attended that class and there we became acquainted. And the association has become very close and has endured until now.
We went to the mission field in different missions. Upon our return shortly after the World War, the First World War, he was home first and had gone into service. I was held in the mission field for about four years. The day that I got home, he heard about it and called at my home, and this association was renewed and the next few years were very happy ones.
1921, Yellowstone National Park.
Left to right: Lester Glade, May Green, Rulon Sperry, Lucile Green, William Birkenshaw.
We were together a great deal in our social activities and in church. We went on several trips together. Probably the most outstanding one to Lester was when we went to Yellowstone and at Mammoth Camp he met a missionary friend of his, May Green, who later became Mrs. Bryant Hinkley [sic]. She said she had a niece that she would like to have him meet. So later we went over to the Hotel and there Lester met the sweet girl who later became his wife. From that time on during the rest of the trip there seemed to be a new light in Lester's eyes. It was not long after that when I returned that he started courting Lucille [sic] and our association together was very happy and pleasant. The young folks today call it double-dating, but that's what we did for several years. And then when they decided to marry, Lester honored me by asking me to stand by his side at the wedding reception. We later moved into this Ward and for twenty-eight years we have resided in the same Ward.
Our paths have crossed many, many times, in joys and in sorrows. We have been on many trips together, many outings, many social functions, sat in church together, and the association has been very sweet indeed. I can truthfully say that in all the years that I have been associated with Lester, that I have never heard him say an unkind word. I have never heard him use the name of the Lord in vain, and I have never heard him tell a story that was not fit to be told in the presence of ladies. Now that was the kind of a character Lester Glade had. I can truthfully say that I have never seen or been acquainted with a more Christ-like personality than Lester Glade. He was honest, he was true, he was devoted, he was generous. He possessed all the fine qualities that a real Christian should possess. One of the Apostles of old said; "True religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this" : To visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unspotted before the world. If anyone has more nearly lived up to this, I don't know who he is.
Rulon Sperry's talk to be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment