Because of the Messiah in a Manger by Brad Wilcox

Author:Brad Wilcox
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deseret Book Company
Published: 2018-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

2. James Hastings, A Dictionary of Christ and the Gospels (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1908), 2:697.

3. “Feed My Lambs,” Ensign, November 1997, 82.

4. See “Shepherds, Lambs, and Home Teachers,” Ensign, August 1994, 16.

5. One by One (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2017), 66; emphasis in original.

“The Tabernacle Choir on steroids!” That is how one Primary child described what it must have been like to hear the angels sing at Christ’s birth. Other answers were “Like a rushing waterfall” and “Kind of a cross between classical and modern.” Another child just started singing, “Glo-o-o-o-ria in excelsis Deo” straight out of “Angels We Have Heard on High” (Hymns, no. 203). We may never know what the angels sounded like or even how long their praises lasted, but we do know the multitude of heavenly hosts performed for a very small audience—a handful of shepherds “abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8). Those who were at home in their beds missed the heavenly music.

I’ve always believed that some of God’s tenderest of tender mercies come to those who are willing to sacrifice a little comfort and convenience to keep watch over His flock. As we serve faithfully in our callings, I’m convinced that sometimes we get to witness miracles and hear angels’ songs that others miss.

I could write about those who serve in bishoprics, Relief Society presidencies, or as ministering brothers and sisters. I could also write about those who sacrifice to lead and teach young people and children or those who serve in temples. However, this story is about two missionaries who have been blessed to hear angels’ songs.

In 2007, Bob Evers took an early retirement from working as a supervisor at a cement plant because of a brain tumor. Obviously, the tumor was bad news, but for him early retirement was good news. He is a convert and never served a mission as a young man, so serving together with his wife, Kenalou, was definitely on his bucket list. As soon as Bob’s cancer was under control enough for doctors to clear him, he and his wife submitted their mission papers. They were called to serve in Cleveland, Ohio, where they would work in records preservation. Records preservation is the process of preparing and imaging records so they can still be around long after paper copies would disintegrate. It is also the first step in having the records indexed so they can be searched by people worldwide and names can be prepared for the temple.

The Everses learned that people at Church headquarters make arrangements with government, religious, and family history organizations to copy their records. The Church covers the cost and provides the custodians of the records with copies in return for allowing the Church to also keep a copy and make it accessible online. Sometimes records are scanned (at about eighty sheets per minute), and other times they are imaged and digitized (at about six hundred sheets an hour).

When Bob and Kenalou first

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