Remember the Name

I absolutely LOVE my last name!

GARNER

It means to "gather or collect."

It is becoming a more popular word in everyday language. But this isn't why I like it.

My name is one that is pretty common in the valley and up here.

Because my grandpa worked in church education for MANY years, many people know him and our family. This means that no matter where I go, people hear my last name and ask if I am somehow related to him.

I am so privileged to say, "Yes I am."

(One time, the person then said, "congratulations!" I wasn't sure what to say to that,

but it helped me realize how ever grateful I am to have a good name!)

Usually the conversation is then followed with a memory of him.

I treasure these moments.

I love to hear stories about him.

I love to be reminded of him.

He passed away 2 years ago today.

Hardly a day goes by that I am not reminded him.

There are still days where I wish so badly that I could sit down with him and ask him a question and hear his advice. I still always wonder what it would have been like to take one of his institute classes. I miss his gentle way of teaching and leading. I truly was SO blessed to have 20 years with him and I look forward to the day when I will see him again!

...Until then, I have a name to live up to.

Here is a story that I absolutely love:

When George Albert Smith was in his later years he had the following experience:

“I became so weak as to be scarcely able to move. It was a slow and exhausting effort for me even to turn over in bed.

“One day, under these conditions, I lost consciousness of my surroundings and thought I had passed to the Other Side. …

“… I saw a man coming towards me … and I hurried my steps to reach him, because I recognized him as my grandfather. … I remember how happy I was to see him coming. I had been given his name and had always been proud of it.

“When Grandfather came within a few feet of me, he stopped. His stopping was an invitation for me to stop. Then—and this I would like the … young people never to forget—he looked at me … and said:

“‘I would like to know what you have done with my name.’

“Everything I had ever done passed before me as though it were a flying picture on a screen—everything I had done. Quickly this vivid retrospect came down to the very time I was standing there. My whole life had passed before me. I smiled and looked at my grandfather and said:

“‘I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed.’

“He stepped forward and took me in his arms, and as he did so, I became conscious again of my earthly surroundings. My pillow was as wet as though water had been poured on it—wet with tears of gratitude that I could answer unashamed” (George Albert Smith, Sharing the Gospel with Others, 1948, p. 111).

It's one of those stories that makes you think...

What have I done with my name?