On Tuesday, July 27, BYU–Hawaii had the privilege of hearing from both Brother and Sister Checketts at a weekly devotional.
Brother and Sister Checketts centered their talks on kindness.
Sister Checketts spoke first and told of her experience of moving Hawaii for Brother Checketts job. She was worried about leaving her family and comfort zone. After moving here, Sister Checketts got a job on campus as an English tutor for international students. She told of the kindness she was shown by her students, making her feel comfortable and enjoy her new life in Hawaii.
Brother Checketts continued Sister Checketts remarks by relating kindess to the gospel.
“As I thought more about kindness I looked up in the Hymn book the word Kindness to see what Hymns might inspire me. I learned that no hymns are referenced to kindness, but rather to the songs under Love and Serving. It struck me that that definition describes exactly what kindness is, serving with love,” said Brother Checketts.
Brother Checketts quoted 1 Nephi 19:9 which states, “And the world, because of their iniquity, shall judge him to be a thing of naught; wherefore they scourge him, and he suffereth it; and they smite him, and he suffereth it. Yea, they spit upon him, and he suffereth it, because of his loving kindness and his long-suffering towards the children of men.”
He also shared a story that President Uchtdorf has previously shared on kindness of two brothers who owned a field and worked it. These brothers Abram and Zimri, divided the field and harvest equally. As the harvest came to a close, Zimri, could not sleep because he felt that it wasn’t right that he was getting the same amount of harvest as Zimri who had a wife and seven sons to feed when he only had himself. As a result he took one third of his harvest and put it with Abram’s harvest. That same night Abram felt that it wasn’t right that he was getting the same amount of harvest as Zimri as he had seven sons to help him work and Zimri did it all himself. As a result, he too put one third of his harvest into his brother’s harvest. In the morning they realized their piles were still the same so the next night they went to repeat their acts of kindness and found each other doing the same thing.
To conclude, Brother Checketts asked Sisters Duerden and Catahan to perform the song, “His Hands.”
“Listen for the phrases sermons of kindness, filled with selflessness, His hands would serve His whole life through, and then because of Love,” said Brother Checketts.