{"id":2871,"date":"2004-02-10T10:31:12","date_gmt":"2004-02-10T17:31:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/?p=2364"},"modified":"2024-01-26T14:51:04","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T21:51:04","slug":"have-everything","status":"publish","type":"speech","link":"https:\/\/speeches.byu.edu\/talks\/f-melvin-hammond\/have-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"We Have Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"
My dear brothers and sisters, I consider it a great privilege to be with you today. What a wonderful opportunity it is to be with my friend and colleague President Cecil Samuelson and his dear companion, Sharon. It is such a blessing to have Sister Hammond with us. When we were young, just the touch of her hand caused my heart to beat wildly. And, you know, honestly, it still does. Which leads me to this little story:<\/p>\n
An honest seven-year-old admitted calmly to her parents that Billy Brown had kissed her after class.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did that happen?\u201d gasped her mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t easy,\u201d admitted the young lady, \u201cbut three girls helped me catch him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seriously, Bonnie has been my spiritual inspiration since that day long ago when she encouraged me to go on a mission for the Lord. Today I thank her for that and for the many other times that she has prompted me to do my very best for the Savior. I humbly proffer my love to her, before all of you. Would that each of you could find such incredible happiness as we have found together.<\/p>\n
After a day at school in late fall many years ago when I was a 15-year-old boy, my mother and I were returning to our ranch home. Mother taught at the school, and she had waited for me to finish basketball practice. As we drove up the dirt lane that led to the house, to our horror we saw a large plume of smoke curling up from the roof\u2014the house was on fire! We jumped from the car and ran across the yard toward the house. At that same moment my father, who had been working in the field and had seen the smoke, arrived on the scene. He ran to the front door and kicked it open. Flames that had been trapped inside leaped out. There was no way to enter. The fire had already engulfed the house.<\/p>\n
As a family we stood silently and watched as the flames devoured the stricken building. First the roof fell straight down into the basement, causing a great burst of bright sparks to fly over the yard. Then the walls, one by one, toppled over into the same hole. In 30 minutes it was over. Only a tiny wisp of smoke rose from the ashes of what had been.<\/p>\n
The nearest neighbors came to offer their help. They kindly took us to their home for the night. There were no extra beds, but with plenty of warm blankets and pillows, a place was made on the floor for us to spend the night.<\/p>\n
I lay on the floor unable to sleep. In my mind\u2019s eye I saw the flames consuming the house and everything that was inside of it: clothing, beds, furniture, priceless pictures, documents\u2014nothing was saved. It was more than I could bear. The tears slipped from my eyes, and I sobbed aloud out of desperation and despair.<\/p>\n
Nearby lay my mother and father. They could not close their eyes. Far into the night they had whispered about the loss and what they could possibly do to recover. My sobs caused Mother to rise from the floor and make her way to me. She knelt beside me, took me into her arms, kissed me, dried my tears, and reassured me that everything would be all right.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, Mother, we have lost everything,\u201d I cried. \u201cWe have nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere, there, my dear son,\u201d she replied as she patted my face. \u201cYou do not understand. We still have our family. Not one of us was hurt in the fire. We have our dear friends and, most important, we have the Church and the gospel. Don\u2019t you see? We have everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
That following Saturday night the tiny community had a party at the town hall. Everyone came from miles around. They brought presents of every kind: clothes, food, blankets, furniture, hundreds of dollars. One sweet family offered a small vacant family cabin, rent free, for the rest of the winter. It was an outpouring of love and generosity like nothing that had been seen before. Why, I had more clothes than I had ever had before in my life. And we survived that winter in spite of the tragedy.<\/p>\n
The years passed, and I had become a man with a family of my own\u2014a beautiful wife and six wonderful children. We had settled in Rexburg, Idaho, where for many years I taught at Ricks College (now BYU\u2014Idaho). We had built a house on the east bench, above the city.<\/p>\n
My parents had moved to a small town nearby\u2014Sugar City, Idaho. They had built a lovely little home and were very comfortable. Then it happened. A dam built on the Teton River burst, and millions of gallons of water poured out of the reservoir, flooding the peaceful communities below. A wall of water 10 feet high rushed through the valley, sweeping away everything before it. Several sawmills were located in the valley, and the water picked up thousands of logs that became battering rams, crashing into buildings and literally causing them to explode with their terrible force. The cattle, horses, sheep, houses, and everything in the path of the raging water were gone. The water pushed a cloud of thick dust in front of it, and many of the animals trying to escape suffocated before the water engulfed them. Nearly every home in Sugar City was destroyed and washed away. Thankfully a warning had been sounded in sufficient time for almost all the people in the valley to get safely to higher ground.<\/p>\n
Sister Hammond and I were out of town attending meetings in Boise, Idaho. When word of the flood came, we drove the five hours back to Rexburg. It was midnight when we arrived. All of the highways were closed. We came in over the dry farms on dirt roads. No lights were to be seen in the valley. Everything was in darkness. Only the moon shone brightly, and its reflection could be seen for miles on the now still waters left standing on the valley floor.<\/p>\n
As we drove into the driveway of our home, five different families rushed outside to greet us. They had come because their houses were completely gone, vanished in the muddy water. My mother had put a few personal items into a small plastic basket and carried them with her as she and my father fled from their home. For the second time in her life everything of material worth was gone. There was no shelter and no food. All of them were weeping. They were so sad and so afraid.<\/p>\n
We spread blankets as beds all over the house. After kneeling together in solemn, tender, humble prayer, everyone found a spot to lie down for the remainder of the night. There was no sleep that night. From the darkness could be heard the pitiful lowing of the surviving cattle. In the early morning hours I heard the muffled sounds of someone weeping. It was my heartbroken mother. I quickly arose from my bed and made my way through the hall into the room where she lay.<\/p>\n
I gathered her little frame into my arms. I kissed her sweet face and whispered my love for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, Mel,\u201d she cried, \u201cwhat are we to do? Everything that we had is gone. We have nothing!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is all right, Dear. Don\u2019t be afraid.\u201d And then I remembered what she had lovingly taught me so many years before. \u201cMother,\u201d I whispered, \u201cdon\u2019t you remember? Why, we have everything. Our family, our friends, the Church, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have everything!\u201d<\/p>\n
And she remembered. We wept together, and tears of sorrow became tears of gratitude.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes,\u201d was her reply, \u201cwe still do have everything! Everything that is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
And so my message for you today, dear students, is that the things that matter most in our lives are our family, our friends, and the Church and gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the few precious minutes remaining I would like to impress upon you the importance of each of these. Will you consider them with me and place them in the context of your own lives?<\/p>\n