The impact of kindness

Lately, I have been thinking about compassion, kindness, and love. This last week Sister Cluff and I had an encounter that shocked us and brought a new level of compassion into our missionary work. We were headed to an appointment when we felt impressed to take a different road. As we headed that direction we had to stop at the stoplight and right in front of us was a Patriot Gas Station and there lying on the gravel parking lot was a man face down. We both looked at each other and wondered if he was even alive! We saw that plenty of people would walk up to him, look down at him and then walk away. The Store Manager even walked by and didn't do a thing. When we arrived we asked around if anyone had called 911 and no one had! The first thing we did was try to get a response from him and then once we had established some form of communication we called 911. The 911 response in Eureka described to us that they would not send an ambulance out regardless of Kenny's situation, they had to send a police unit out first then the police determined if the person's situation was good enough to call an ambulance. While waiting for the police to show up we asked Kenny what had happened to him. At this point in time the Store Manager walked over to see what all the commotion was over a man that had been beaten and was heavily bleeding. The police showed up and immediately they called the ambulance. They then proceeded to talk to Kenny and because of they way he looked like they immediately disregarded what Kenny was saying and officially stated that he was a drunk man. Because of what he looked like they immediately assumed that he was a drunkard. They treated Kenny so cold like he was worthless. After they arrived they dismissed us without saying a word to us. The rest of the night I thought about what happened to Kenny and how there are days that we don't always treat others kindly or love them the way the Savior loves them.
Regarding kindness Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin stated,

"KINDNESS is the essence of a celestial life. KINDNESS is how a Christlike person treats others. KINDNESS should permeate all of our words and actions at WORK, at SCHOOL, at CHURCH, and especially in our HOMES.

Jesus, our Savior, was the epitome of kindness and compassion. He healed the sick. He spent much of His time ministering to the one or many. He spoke compassionately to the Samaritan woman who was looked down upon by many. He instructed His disciples to allow the little children to come unto Him. He was KIND to all who had sinned, condemning only the sin, not the sinner."

In Moroni 7:45 it reads, "And charity suffereth long, and is KIND, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

It continues on in Moroni 7:47, "But charity is the pure love of Christ"

In this video that is portrayed below, there is a woman that tries a civility experiment. It was interesting to see that when we are kind it pays it forward, it continues to incircle others and to help others. No one is perfect, we are all different, we are all unique but we are all children of God who loves us for who we are and wants us to all be Christlike and love others as Christ loved us.

Elder Wirthlin continues in his address by saying, "In the scriptures Jude taught, “And of some have compassion, making a difference.

Who can tell what far-reaching impact we can have if we are only KIND."

Truly, you never know what impact you will make when you are kind. I don't know what happend to Kenny after that incident but all I know is that Sister Cluff and I were meant to be there and where meant to help him. It taught me the measure of God's love for each of his children even Kenny. He loves us all and wants nothing more than our happiness.

"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
John 13:35

 You can Read Elder Wirthlin's talk: The Virtue of Kindness