A CHANCE ENCOUNTER?

It seems quite impossible that two people raised 2000 miles apart by good parents--good but not church-going-- would meet in a little town in Southern Illinois as adults. It seems even more unlikely that they would have joined the Church of Jesus Chirst of Latter-day Saints independently, but within a year of each other. Circumstances in both lives made this important meeting impossible until September of 1972. Mary Kaye Potter came from Brigham Young University to teach at Southern Illinois University in the physical education dept. Timothy Frank Lyon was quietly working on a doctorate in outdoor education. A social event in the home of John and Verna Anderson brought them together for the first time. Many wonderful talks, hikes and walks led to an engagement in the Spring of 1973. A wedding in the Manti temple followed that year on September 14. This year will mark our 35th wedding anniversary. We choose to celebrate by serving a full-time mission for the Church, which has made all of our family relationships seem so rich and dear. Our faith is deeper, our commitment to each other more lasting. We cherish the promise of an eternal family and long to be worthy of it. We have four children, Ben, Anna, Matthew, and Elizabeth have married loving spouses. By September, we will have 8 grandchildren: Levi, Natalie, Sam, Seth, Ellie, Madeline, Abby and Spencer. It delights me to consider how my life has been blessed as I took the most important step of my life...to be baptized in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love my Savior, the Prophets, and the restored truth. I know that the heavens are opened and God speaks to His children through a Prophet of God. Today that Prophet is the man, Thomas Spencer Monson. I know that to be true. I could never have even imagined that my searching for truth as a teenager would have been rewarded in such a powerful way. I am most grateful.