Sister Benson and I had the most spiritually satisfying
experience this week attending the Frankfurt Temple with Sister Sabine Moser
(age 53), her sister Regina, and her mother, Sister Rügner. Sister Moser had been a totally inactive
Church member since her early teens. She
had a very difficult life, having been a heavy smoker since and ending up with
numerous illnesses and multiple health problems, including diabetes, frequent
seizures, near blindness, allergies to numerous foods, and confinement to a
wheelchair when she leaves her small apartment.
She cannot leave home without someone to help her with her
wheelchair. And she is constantly tethered
to a urinary catheter, which causes nearly constant pain. Of all the people we have known with health
problems, she seems to be right at the top of the list of sufferers. A real “Job” (from the Old Testament) in our
day!
About our second or third Sunday in Church in our Stuttgart
German Ward, our bishop said there was a totally inactive sister in the ward,
who had numerous health problems resulting in learning disabilities, who needed
to be taught the Gospel. Would we please
teach her the missionary discussions? He
told us we would have to go very slowly due to her multiple health issues. We agreed to teach her. When we first met with her in her tiny
apartment, things were pretty much the way the bishop had described. We needed to go very slowly, and we were not
always sure she was understanding what we were teaching her. We often needed to stop and let her change
positions on her couch to help alleviate her pain. On a couple visits, she literally started to
have one of her seizures, and we had to almost carry her to her couch before
she hit the floor. Sister Benson, in her
inimitable way, found something that really soothed Sis. Moser’s nerves and
helped her relax: Spiritual music. Louise always had a primary song or hymn that
she played her from her iPad or that we sang to her. (That’s why she put so much pressure on me to
get her an iPad before we left home.)
Spiritual music has been Sister Moser’s medicine whenever she felt
extraordinary pain or difficulty.
After we had visited her weekly several times and taught her
more of the missionary lessons, we challenged her to give the closing
prayer. Although somewhat fearful, she
gave one of the sweetest, most childlike prayers, we had ever heard. We could see her begin to awaken to the
truths of the gospel. It was like a veil
was being removed from her eyes, and she could see the love of the Savior for
her and her faith began to grow stronger.
We discussed Alma 32, where he taught us about faith as a small seed
that we need to give room to grow, and that we must water and nourish. Again, Louise, in her wonderful way, bought a
small home garden kit and helped her plant basil seeds, which Sis. Moser lovingly
watered and cared for. She told us she
loved fresh basil, and that Sister Benson knew just exactly what she would
like.
By this time, our visits became longer and longer each time,
and her mind opened to many questions she wanted us to answer, questions she
had not thought about since she was a child.
She did remember the melody of several primary songs that we either sang
or played for her. The Spirit had
entered her heart, and she wanted to know everything. She began to attend sacrament meeting whenever
she could get someone to drive her with the wheelchair to the church building. Her mother did not have a car, and we were
not allowed to take anyone in the mission car except for fulltime
missionaries. An auto insurance thing! Sabine lived about a 15-minute drive from the
chapel and was able to attend only sacrament meeting a number of times. On one Sunday, Sabine had a violent reaction
to the sacrament bread of all things. It
turned out that it contained a bit of soy, to which she is allergic. She needed to be wheeled out of sacrament
meeting to take something to counteract the soy.
During this past winter, Sabine became quite ill with
pneumonia. She spent a week in the
hospital and had x-rays and scans done to determine the condition of her
lungs. It was learned that she had three
mysterious spots on one lung, and the other one was partially collapsed. Lung cancer was the suspected culprit,
combined with a very weak system!
However, her doctor said she would probably not survive surgery or even
a biopsy. It was determined that three
months after the original x-rays, she was to come back for more x-rays to see
if the spots had grown. We understand
that our dear friend Sabine believes she is not a candidate for a long life on
earth. In fact she told us she thought
she would not be alive a year from now, and would we please help her get her
affairs in order.
Due to Sabine’s condition, it was necessary to have a
special, private temple session for her.
There were only seven people in our ordinance room this past
Tuesday. The temple officiators were
Bro. and Sister Löscher from our Stuttgart Ward, who had taught her the temple
prep lessons. Sister Benson and I served as the witness
couple, and Sister Moser was there with her sister and mother. It was a glorious, once-in-a-lifetime
experience. Sister Moser wanted to get
as close to the film screen as possible so that she could see the film better,
given her poor eyesight. It was a very
small ordinance room, and the front of her wheelchair almost touched the kneeling
cushion of the altar. We were all sitting
in the Celestial Room when Sabine was wheeled into the room. There were tears and hugs of love and
gratitude all around. It seemed like
heaven! No, it was heaven! And we
had the most unusual privilege of sharing it with sweet Sabine Moser and her
family.
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