(Written for the Cascade Ward High Priest Book of Testimony)
My name is Gordon Emil Hansen. I have lived a great many years here upon this earth and have seen many things. New inventions and great progress has been made during my lifetime. I shake my head in wonder to think of it all. And through all this change, one thing stays constant: my testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know the gospel to be true. I find it a privilege to be a member of God’s church here on the earth. I know that he has led and guided me.
As I look back on my life, I have found it difficult to recall specific times
that would be termed “spiritual experiences.”
Our family has always been blessed with the things they needed. We have found happiness as we have lived the
commandments. My life and the lives of
family members have been spared on various occasions. We know for a surety that
the Lord watches over us. But because of
His quiet and constant care, my life’s experiences do not necessarily come with
all the fanfare or miraculous surroundings that create a memorable spiritual
experience.
I know that a prophet leads
and guides this church under the direction of Jesus Christ. Most of us never get to come in contact with
the prophet any more because the church is so large. When I was a boy, the church was small enough
that the prophet would attend our stake conferences. As a young man I had become involved in the
Boy Scouts of America Program. I went
further than any of my friends or other boys in my ward. No one really encouraged me, but I thought it
was important. When I was about 15 or 16
years old, President Heber J. Grant came down from Salt Lake City and presided over our stake
conference. The Scouting Program was
near to his heart and he pushed it hard whenever he could. He wanted to encourage young men to become
involved in the Scouting Program because he knew it would give them good
practical skills, confidence and self mastery.
To encourage the young men in our stake to become scouts he asked the
stake president to choose a young man from the stake who was a Boy Scout to
come up and sit on the stand with all the leaders of the stake and those
visiting from the General Presidency and auxiliaries. The Stake President asked that I come and sit
on the stand. It was an impressionable
experience for me. It was the first
time I had ever been that close to the Prophet of the Lord. It was a great honor because I knew that
this man talked with God and was chosen by God to lead our church. There was no
doubt in my mind, even at that young age, that he was the prophet of the
Lord.
I have a testimony of the Law
of tithing and of Sacrifice. I know that
the Lord opens the windows of heaven when we obey this commandment. I chose teaching as my occupation, I taught 6th
grade and I loved it. Now, we all know
that school teachers don’t make much money.
And even with our small income we
were able to raise 4 children with testimonies of the true church. Most of them went on to college and all of
them married in the Temple
to good spouses. This is because we paid
our tithing. I have always believed in
doing what the Lord asks us to do, even if it seems impossible. Our family was never very rich and sometimes
we didn’t always have the nicest things.
But the Lord took care of us.
I believe the Lord helps us
help ourselves. He helped me see how I
could supplement our income by painting and wallpapering houses at night. This was difficult but I believe he gave me
the energy and stamina to work two jobs.
Near to Christmas I was asked by a wealthy man to come and do some
painting in his home. It was just what
we needed so we could have the money to give a decent Christmas to our young
family. I worked hard on that home and
it looked good with a fresh coat of paint.
But I found that the doors looked dingy, they needed another coat of
varnish. It didn’t seem so at the
beginning but next to all that new paint they paled in comparison. I asked the man if he would be interested in
having me varnish all of his woodwork.
He agreed that it would be good.
I purchased all the supplies and worked hard to get it done. When the job was complete the man said that
he would pay me for what we agreed on at the beginning. But he would not pay me for any of the
varnishing because it wasn’t what we agreed upon at the very beginning when I
contracted to do the job. This despite
the fact that he had agreed for me to do it verbally and he knew I had
purchased all the supplies with my own money.
My wife and I were so disappointed. We knew that no one would be hiring me to do
any more work with Christmas so close.
No one would want their house torn up during the holidays. Soon after I
returned home with my small earnings, someone from the church came to collect
our building fund donation. At that time
we were trying to build a new ward building.
Everyone had worked on it. My wife had painted and I had varnished all
the woodwork in the Relief Society Room. To help cover the building cost each
family in the ward was asked to donate approximately one-thousand dollars to
the building fund which we did in installments.
Men from the Elder’s Quorum were asked to go and collect the donations
from the members and here they were at my house. Where was I to get the money for the building
fund? I opened my wallet and took out
the amount I had just earned which we were going to use for our children’s
Christmas and all the other living expenses our family had—all the money in my
wallet. I gave it to the men and my wife
and I prayed that we would somehow make it through.
The next morning, bright and
early, we received a phone call. Someone
wanted me to come and work on their house.
We never dreamed anyone would call so close to Christmas. Here was the job that would bring the money
we desperately needed. The Lord always
takes care of those who give him all that he requires.
I have a testimony of
service. I know that the Lord desires
that his children love and serve one another.
Sometimes it is difficult to always know how we can serve. I love service opportunities and I have felt
very grateful that I have always had callings to work in his church. I have never lacked for opportunities to
serve. I look at other men that go
without callings and I feel badly for them.
In my prayers at night I thank the Lord for allowing me to serve
him. Right now I count it a true
blessing to have three great callings in our ward and stake. Even without a calling, I have always loved
to serve. I thank the Lord for that I
have abilities to help those in need.
The Lord has always helped me find ways to serve others, to fix things
and make things nicer.
I have had the opportunity to
serve in various leadership capacities.
For 14 consecutive years I served in different bishoprics as a counselor
and also as the bishop of a ward. I know
it was difficult for my family to be without me for long periods of time and to
sit alone at church. But I also know
that the Lord blessed my family for their sacrifices.
Being the bishop of a college
ward was a fun challenge. We grew to
love the students as we’d have them out to our home for various activities and
firesides. Most of them were far from
home and needed a father to go do with problems and wanted a family atmosphere,
we were happy to stand in.
On two
different occasions we had members of our ward that wanted to serve missions
but just couldn’t come up with the funds to do so. When a person wants to serve a mission and
needs resources it falls on the bishop to help them find a way. There is a sequence a bishop takes. First you go to their parents. In the case of these two students, either
their families were not members of the church or they were very poor and could
not support their child. Next in the
sequence you would check with the extended family and then the ward family. In each instance no financial support was
available. It was very important to each
of these potential missionaries that they have the opportunity to serve. I sensed that acutely because I myself never
had the opportunity to serve a mission due to WWII and I had always wanted to
do so. Therefore, my wife and I pondered and prayed about it. We had already
sent both of our sons on missions in earlier years. And as I said previously we never had much
money, but when we felt impressed that the Lord intended us to help and support
these missionaries we knew in our hearts we would be financially stable. Even though we struggled we felt the hand of
the Lord in our lives helping us along.
We never wanted or went without.
Instead we felt our blessings overflowing. We grew to know and love these two
missionaries. Each has gone on to lead
great lives and raise good families.
Their missions help to cement their testimonies of the Gospel.
I have a testimony of the
Priesthood. I know it is the power of
God on the earth. I feel it a privilege
to hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. I
have had the privilege of being asked to give family members priesthood
blessings. It was difficult, because I
worried that my speech wasn’t perfect and that my grammar might be wrong. Speaking has never been my strongest point
and so any time I am asked to speak be it a talk in sacrament meeting, teaching
a lesson, giving a prayer or blessing, I have always been rather nervous. Nervous or not, when I’m asked to, I always
do it.
One granddaughter recalled
that I gave her a grandfather’s blessing before she departed for the mission
field. During the blessing I was
impressed to bless her that her smile would have an effect on certain people and
it would help them want to know more about the gospel. This blessing about her smile was different;
it wasn’t one of the regular things people are blessed with. It stayed with her and would come into her
mind now and then when it was difficult and smiling didn’t come easy. There was a time when she worked with and
taught a husband and wife for five months.
When she left the area the couple had yet to be baptized. She knew the woman was ready, but didn’t want
to get baptized without her husband, and he didn’t want to give up his lifestyle. Many months later my granddaughter was transferred
back into that same stake and saw the man she had taught for so long. He had been baptized received the priesthood
and had the chance to baptize his wife.
He then told my granddaughter that many times he wanted to send the
missionaries away; he wanted to tell the sisters to never come back. But the thing that had stopped him was the
smile of my granddaughter. He knew there
was something behind that smile and he needed to find it. It made him look all the harder after she was
transferred out of the area. So often we
don’t find out how the blessing we give play out in the lives and salvation of
others.
In my life I have always made
it a point that the Church comes first and it has always come first. My wife and I desired to live good and
righteous lives so we could set good examples first for our children then for
our grandchildren and now for our great-grandchildren. I want them to know that I know that the
Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and is the only way to find Eternal Life.
