A member of the Tulsa 5th Singles Branch ran into bales of trouble on Interstate 44 as he traveled to a branch sports activity. Members of the branch, for single adults ages 18-33, are drawn from the Tulsa Oklahoma Stake and Tulsa Oklahoma East Stake.
Robert Stenson, the branch's elders quorum president, came upon a semi-trailer that had accidently dumped its load of hay bales onto the shoulder of the highway in Tulsa, Okla.Gary Tyseka of Las Animas, Colo., was transporting the hay by truck to Amarillo, Texas, when it broke loose.
Brother Stenson drove on to the meetinghouse and told other members of the branch that someone needed their help. He, along with Judy Raines, Brian McDonough, Kay Lavato, John Briley, Marna Colbert, Joy Ness and Chris Havens left the activity and drove to the scene of the accident. Working together on a job that took most of the evening, they were able to load the hay back onto the truck and get Mr. Tyseka on his way.
But before he left, Brother Stenson offered a prayer and asked a blessing on Mr. Tyseka in his travels. The missionary-minded Mormons also presented their new friend with a Book of Mormon.
In a letter of appreciation from Mr. Tyseka to his helpers he wrote: "By the way, the prayer that Robert said after we had gotten done restacking the hay was beautiful. And I would like to thank you very much for the Book of Mormon and the verse that you had underlined truly says it all, `When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.' (Mosiah 2:17.)"
He stated that as he continued his journey, he felt that he was traveling with God at his side.
He related that after the group had restacked the hay, there was one spot that was leaning and he worried that it might fall again, although he didn't mention it to his helpers. He drove about 100 miles before stopping for the night to rest. When he checked the load the following morning, he couldn't see anywhere that the load was leaning. "It was as if someone had restacked that part of the load while I was sleeping," he wrote.
He concluded his letter: "Thank your parents for raising such wonderful children into such fine young adults, God for giving you wisdom far beyond your years and the Mormon Church for teaching you how to use it wisely. Once again I say thank you so very much for your help."
