[Teachldsseminary] Judge Not

[Debra Woods Hamilton]

Here is some more background on that story from Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/glurge/stanford.htm

One of the things that can make us stop and think is to hear conversion 
stories - one never can tell who is really ready to hear the gospel, it 
can surprise you.  Sometimes the least likely candidates.  I know the 
missionaries were shocked when I told them I thought maybe I'd found the 
church I was looking for after the first lesson I had with them - I'd 
been so antagonistic till then.  I was baptized within a month, over 30 
years ago.  It might be nice to get some stories from converts in your 
own ward.

Best wishes,
Debra Woods Hamilton

Don & Dee Yeager wrote:

> 
>"I'm looking for stories or examples about not judging. If you have a
>favorite..."
>
>Here's a favorite I received from a friend a few years ago.  The author
>is given.  I don't know the printed source, but I think the story could
>be easily checked out.
>
>You Just Never Know
>Malcolm Forbes
>
>A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun,
>threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston, and walked timidly
>without an appointment into the Harvard University President's outer
>office.
>
>The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks
>had no business at Harvard and probably didn't even deserve to be in
>Cambridge.  She frowned.
>
>"We want to see the president," the man said softly.  "He'll be busy all
>day," the secretary snapped.  "We'll wait," the lady replied.  For
>hours, the secretary ignored them, hoping that the couple would finally
>become discouraged and go away.  They didn't and the secretary grew
>frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it
>was a chore she always regretted.
>
>"Maybe, if they just see you for a few minutes, they'll leave," she told
>him.  He sighed in exasperation and nodded.  Someone of his importance
>obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, but he detested
>gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.
>
>The president, stern-faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple.
>The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year.  He
>loved Harvard.  He was happy here.  But about a year ago, he was
>accidentally killed.  My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to
>him somewhere on campus."  The president wasn't touched.He was shocked.
>"Madam," he said gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who
>has attended Harvard and died.  If we did, this place would look like a
>cemetery."  "Oh, No," the lady explained quickly.  "We don't want to
>erect a statue.  We thought we would like to give a building to
>Harvard."  The president rolled his eyes.  He glanced at the gingham
>dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building!  Do you have any
>earthly idea how much a building costs?  We have over seven and a half
>million dollars in the physical plant at Harvard."
>
>For a moment the lady was silent.  The president was pleased.  Maybe he
>could get rid of them now.  The lady turned to her husband and said
>quietly, "Is that all it costs to start a university?  Why don't we just
>start our own?"  Her husband nodded.  The president's face wilted in
>confusion and bewilderment.
>
>Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, traveling to Palo
>Alto, California where they established the university that bears their
>name, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about.  You can
>easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they
>think can do nothing for them or to them.
>
>
>Dee
>AZ
>
>
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