Shakin' Hands or Shaken Hands

     When I was 18 and working at Glacier National Park, there wasw a Governors' Convention being held at Many Glacier Hotel, my hotel. My friend, Virginia, and I were lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time to meet and shake hands with FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover. Boy did I think I was special!
      Two years later I  was a member of the Church in Missoula. My bishop was L. Edward Kimball. He was different only because he was quite crippled from polio. A few times a year, the ward people were all excited because Bishop Kimball's father was coming to visit the family. He always went to Primary when he visited. I peeked into the Primary room out of curiosity. All I saw was a little elderly gentleman, bald, roundish face, wearing glasses, and smiling. I learned a few years later that "Grandpa" was Spencer W. Kimball, an Apostle of the Church.
     I was so new in the Church that I didnt know how things went. I just knew that every once in a while people would get excited, they would open the doors to the gym and set up lots of chairs. They talked about someone special who would be coming. I didnt catch the name. When it was his turn to speak, the whole audience was quiet, even the babies. This man would talk the whole time without a single note. He told wonderful stories. I didnt find out till years later that this man's name was LeGrande Richards. I wish I could hear more stories now that I know who he is!
     When Jay and I were married and living in Provo, we attended Manavu Ward. In our Sunday School class were two people who seemed to get a lot of respect. One, Anna B ...... was a former General President of the Primary. The other, was a man, short and rather carelessly dressed. He always had an old book of some kind or other and would be reading during the lesson. It was not Scripture. It was in some other language, Greek or Hebrew or Latin or something equally odd. However, he would look up from his book every so often to make a very appropriate comment about the lesson. His name was Hugh B. Nibley. I only knew him as an eccentric member of the Ward.
     A few years later, when Lori was a baby of about a year, we were living in Kansas. We traveled to Farr West, Missouri for a special dedication ceremony at that temple site. There was another Apostle there, Joseph Fielding Smith. I carried Lori and walked up with the rest of the crowd to shake his hand. I didnt really want to bother him, but wanted Lori to have the experience of being eye to eye with a General Authority of the Church. When it was our turn, Elder Smith looked into my eyes with his dark brown ones. I couldnt think of anything to say, but was thinking about Lori. I saw in his eyes the "Oh! I get it" moment, and then he put his hand on Lori's head and smiled tenderly at her.
     The Kansas City Stake Relief Society was invited to sing at a session of General Conference. We practiced often, even though we had to drive an hour each way for every practice. As the time drew near to leave for Salt Lake, the General president of the Relief Society, Belle Spafford, came to listen to us and to offer encouragement. One of the members of the Stake Presidency was Rex Reeve, his wife was Marjorie. They moved to Salt Lake city. Then we began seeing his name as a General Authority
     A few more years found us living in Radford, Virginia. Our stake center was in Roanoke, about an hour's drive from home.. We attended a Saturday Stake Conference where another Apostle was visiting. It was the custom for everyone to stay for lunch between sessions. This Elder sat right across from us at the table. He told us about his grandson, Jody Whitaker, who played Buffy's twin brother on a TV series. I cant think of his name right now, but I do know that it started with a B. I was thinking this was a wonderful life.
     When we moved to Smithfield, I had a wonderful friend across the street. Her name was Melinda Hilden. One of her daughters became engaged to a young man from Salt Lake City, and I was invited to the sealing/marriage in the Salt Lake Temple. The man coming to do the sealing was a little late, but it was a friend of the groom's family, so we waited. We learned that he had just flown in from a visit to Samoa. In walked a very tall man, smiling and apologizing for holding us up. It was another Apostle, Thomas S. Monson.
     The Cook family had an extended family reunion a few years ago. This included five generations. Jay left early, and Lisa and I arrived after having my birthday lunch at the Hotel Utah. As we walked into the church, there was a tall man, being led around by his pinkie by a little girl of about 18 months. He looked up, smiled, and said,"I dont know who she is, but she seems to know where she is going." He looked a lot like Jay's Cook uncles, and we just smiled and went on our way to the chapel. Soon, as the meeting was called to order, it was announced that there would be an extra speaker. Yep! It was this man. He was L. Tom. Perry, another Apostle!
     At the MTC, there is a devotional every week. The one we attended just before we flew to Chile was going to be a live visit. The other one was a broadcast talk by Jeffery R Holland. We wondered who the speaker was going to be. As we listened to the prelude music, the door opened and in walked Elder Russell M. Nelson. How can I be so lucky?
     Now, today, it happened again. We went to work, waited past the appointed hour, and wondered if we would be going home before Sister Burton came. At last they came and we had a very nice time showing them around. There were lots of pictures taken. She held me around the waist for a picture. I told her that I considered this a visiting teaching visit. She said, "And it isnt even the 30th!" I mentioned something about getting used to people with cameras, and she admitted that it is going to take some getting used to.
     I have been so blessed. How lucky am I to get to be in the presence of all these specially called people!!!!!