In an effort to revitalize the 1,500-acre Church welfare farm at Nephi, Utah, members in 1997 alone donated more than 8,000 hours replacing fences, filling ditches, repairing irrigation lines and restoring buildings.
Among those who worked tirelessly was 82-year-old Heber C. Taylor, a retired farmer and heavy equipment operator who is a member of the Levan 2nd Ward, Nephi Utah Stake. Painful arthritis had all but disabled Brother Taylor, making it necessary for him to undergo three hip operations. The medical procedures left him able to walk, but only haltingly and with the help of a cane.
But this didn't stop him from volunteering one day a week at the Nephi farm.
"Some days, we'd work all day repairing sprinkler pipe," Brother Taylor recalled. "Other days, I'd drive tractor and haul hay or plow the fields."
Having served as a bishop for eight years, Brother Taylor has an appreciation for the welfare program. "Most of what we grow doesn't stay here," he said. "The grain in those fields there could end up feeding a family whose house has been destroyed in an earthquake on the other side of the world. Most of us here just feel real fortunate that we don't need this grain to feed our own families. It feels good knowing it's going to help someone else."
As to why so many members sacrificed so much time during the year to volunteer on the farm, Brother Taylor replied in his typically taciturn way: "We're just Mormons. It's a good thing to do."
The fact that he's well past his 80th birthday doesn't seem to slow Brother Taylor too much. "After you pass a certain age, most folks think there's not much you can do," he said. "But when I come here and work on the farm, it makes me feel good to think I might be doing some good for someone else." — Neil Newell, Welfare Services
The first in a series showing the principles of welfare service at work. Illustration by John Clark.
