To Catch A Thief

As a young man, Brother Vern Crowley said he learned something of the crucial lesson the Prophet Jospeh had taught the early Saints in Nauvoo when he told them to "love others, even our enemies as well as friends."
This is a good lesson for each of us.

After his father became ill, Vern Crowley took responsibility for running the family wrecking yard although he was only fifteen years of age.
Some customers occasionally took unfair advantage of the young man, and parts were disappearing from the lot overnight.
Vern was angry and vowed to catch someone and make an example of him.
Vengeance would be his.

Just after his father had started to recover from his illness, Vern was making his rounds of the yard one night at closing time.
It was nearly dark.
In a distant corner of the property, he caught sight of someone carrying a large piece of machinery toward the back fence.
He ran like a champion athlete and caught the young thief.
His first thought was to take out his frustrations with his fists and then drag the boy to the front office and call the police.
His heart was full of anger and vengeance.
He had caught his thief, and he intended to get his just dues.

Out of nowhere, Vern's father came along, put his weak and infirm hand on his son's shoulder, and said, "I see you're a bit upset, Vern. Can I handle this?"
He then walked over to the young would-be thief and put his arm around his shoulder, looked him in the eye for a moment, and said, "Son, tell me, why are you doing this? Why were you trying to steal that transmission?"
Then Mr. Crowley started walking toward the office with his arm around the boy, asking questions about the young man's car problems as they walked.
By the time they had arrived at the office, the father said, "Well, I think your clutch is gone and that's causing your problem."

In the meantime, Vern was fuming.
"Who cares about his clutch?"
He thought.
"Let's call the police and get this over with."
But his father just kept talking.
"Vern, get him a clutch. Get him a throwout bearing, too. And get him a pressure plate. That should take care of it."
The father handed all of the parts to the young man who had attempted robbery and said, "Take these. And here's the transmission, too. You don't have to steal, young man. Just ask for it. There's a way out of every problem. People are willing to help."

Brother Vern Crowley said he learned an everlasting lesson in love that day.
The young man came back to the lot often.
Voluntarily, month by month, he paid for all of the parts Vic Crowley had given him, including the transmission.
During those visits he asked Vern why his dad was the way he was and why he did what he did.
Vern told him something of their Latter-day Saint beliefs and how much his father love the Lord and loved people.
Eventually the would-be thief was baptized.
Vern later said, "It's hard now to describe the feelings I had and what I went through in that experience. I, too, was young. I had caught my crook. I was going to extract the utmost penalty. But my father taught me a different way."

Howard W. Hunter -A More Excellent Way -April 1992 General Conference

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

There was a murderer on the loose, and she was targeting couples. Married couples. Only she was escalating, in her killings. At first she had focused on married couples who had been married for years. But then she decreased the years. The couples had been couples for less time. Six years. Four years. Two years. A year. Six months. 3 months. their wedding day, the day before the wedding, engagement. first dates. It was getting to the point where if a guy looked at a girl either one or both were liable to be on her hit list.
So we came up with a plan. We as in Shawn and Jules from Psych. They set themselves up, to become her target. Which happened.
I ran like crazy to Kikay's car and jumped inside. Only I couldn't remember what keys to press (like laptop keys) to lock the doors. I could only remember ctrl o. But it seemed to open the doors, but I thought we were safe enough as Jules jumped into the car and there was no sign of the crazy lady. Until we started driving. Then she popped out of the trunk and stood in the back of the cab (now it was a truck) like a crazy person hair streaming in all directions. It was terrifying! Because we were basically trapped. She was going to kill us.

Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D