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| Dad's mission photo - 1946 |
I thought you might like to know the ‘rest of the story’. In Dad’s autobiography, he talks about the Lawson family that he met while serving in the New England States mission in 1948. The family welcomed Dad and the many other missionaries who
followed, into their home. Even though the Lawsons never joined the church,
they were extremely impressed with Dad and his companion. Their son, Laurie,
was only about 3 when Dad and his companion knocked on their door while tracting. Years later, when Laurie was
considering where to attend college, his parents encouraged him to go to BYU
because of their love and admiration for Dad and the other Mormon elders that
they had met over the years. In 1971 Mom and Dad
received this letter from Laurie.
July 1, 1971
Dear Brother and Sister Brown
A number of years ago, I don’t know exactly when, but
I’d guess about twenty, an Elder Brown came to our home in Orange, Mass. He and
his companion had a lasting effect on our family even though none of us were
baptized. Ever since then the Mormon elders were always welcome in our home and
still are. It was many years later that I found myself in Provo, Utah as a
freshman at BYU. I was a non-member when I entered BYU, but I was baptized
before I graduated in 1967. Now I am
preparing to enter the temple of the Lord in Salt Lake City to be married for
time and all eternity.
I believe that I could almost say with absolute surety
that if Elder Brown had not knocked on our door those many years ago that none
of this would have happened…
I just wanted to thank you for influencing my parents
the way that you did and I also wanted to let you know that your missionary
efforts weren’t wasted on our family.
With love and appreciation,
Laurie Lawson
I had always
wanted to know what ever happened to Laurie and his family. I was curious to
know if Dad’s influence almost 75 years ago was still bearing fruit today. For some reason, I felt prompted to bring
Laurie’s letter with us on our mission.
As I was re-reading it the other day I again had the impression to try
and get a hold of him. With a little luck, I was able to get in contact with Laurie, who by the way is now living in Columbia, Missouri, not too far from Independence. I
asked him what he had been doing since he joined the church and how had Dad’s
influence, so many years ago, changed his life. I told him that I wanted my
family, especially our future missionaries to know that we can bless the lives
of others, and sometimes not even know it. This is the email that he sent me
this week.
Dear Elder Brown,
I’m amazed that you found me after all these years. I must have
written that letter about 45 years ago while attending BYU as a graduate
student.
I’m not positive of the exact year your dad and companion knocked on our
door in our small and provincial town of Orange, Massachusetts. It may
have been 1948 when I was 4 years old.
For approximately the next 50 years we had dozens of elders staying in
our home in Massachusetts while they tracted our area. We had a large New
England type house and my mother always had a spare bedroom for the
elders. She loved them all and treated them as if they were her
boys. Mom was an excellent cook and so the elders were well fed during
their stay with us.
My parents never joined the Church, but all the years I was growing up
in their home they frequently reminded me that they wanted me to be like the
elders. By coincidence, during the time I was sending out applications
for college admission, we had two Elders staying with us. One of them had
attended BYU his freshman year before going on his mission and he was preparing
to return and had a BYU catalog that he gave to me and suggested I send in an
application. I did and was accepted. That was 1962. I joined the
Church during my junior year and graduated in 1967. I returned to
BYU 3 years later as a graduate student and married my wife in the
Salt Lake City Temple. I graduated with an M.S. degree in Botany and
Zoology in 1974.
We have three
children and ten grandchildren. My oldest son (Bjorn), served a mission in Switzerland. My oldest grandson (Bjorn’s
son) just received his mission call to England/Scotland. He will leave in
January and go into the mission home in England.
During our 5 year stay in North Carolina I served as a counselor in the
Kannapolis Ward Bishopric. During our 8 year stay in Germany I also served in the serviceman’s ward bishopric.
Bjorn and his family live in Niceville, Florida. Bjorn is a Podiatrist
serving the Military at the Air Force base there. He and his family are
very active in the church having held numerous positions in the many wards
they’ve attended.
My daughter (Pirijo) and her husband (Donny) graduated from BYU. They have two girls.
Both are active in our ward.
My youngest son (Pehr) is now living in Tucson with his wife and three
children. He is no longer active in the Church, but he was taught gospel
principles in our home and he is a wonderful person; a good son, a good
husband, a good father, and a good provider for his family. We are very proud
of him.
I hope I’ve met your expectations in my letter and I think it would be
fun to meet while you are still in Missouri.
Laurie
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| Laurie Lawson |
We just never know what influence we
have on others. What is interesting to me is that Dad wrote in his missionary journal that
they tracted out the Lawson family only about one month before he left to
return home. He must have made an amazing impact on that family in just a few
short weeks. I guess I should not be surprised.
Sometimes, serving here, I have wondered
if I really am making a difference in the lives of some of the people we work
with. I am grateful for reminders like this, that sometimes the seeds we plant,
are not harvested until years or decades have passed. Dad’s influence on me and
others is eternal. For that, I am so grateful.
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