We are saying goodbye to a senior missionary couple serving with us and soon living in Pleasant Grove Utah. They both grew up and met here in Hawaii. In fact, Elder Scoville enrolled at the university here in Laie before he was a member of The Church. His now wife caught his eye as he was in the registration office. Through her and other’s influence, he joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As soon as he qualified himself, he was called on a full-time mission in the Eastern United States. All of this happened without his parents knowing what had become of him. At the time, they lived in Honolulu. His enterprising father called up the college in Laie, inquired his whereabouts, phoned his mission president and secured permission to visit his son. Elder Scoville was shocked and surprised when his father appeared on his doorstep. His father stayed for several days, went tracking with them, and found out that his son was becoming a better man. From that time on, he and his wife financially supported their son on his mission. They never did join the Church, but they knew that since joining the Church, it had done something profound for their son. Until that time, Elder Scoville had been supported by members of his local stake. Now turn the wheels of time ahead about 15 years as Elder Scoville had married his college sweetheart and settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah. Before Janice and I had met and gotten together, Janice had been called on a mission to Norway and had secured a promise from her biological father that he would support her on her mission. Although he had good intentions, the problems that took his wife and children away from him years before were distracting - enough so that he failed in his verbal agreement and Janice was left without support. She wrote the family she had been staying with in Pleasant Grove asking for help. As a member of the Pleasant Grove Stake, Elder Scoville quickly volunteered to support this unknown missionary in Norway because his mission had made such a profound difference in his life. Again, fast forward the wheels of time to today. Janice and I were eating dinner with the Scoville’s when they related the story of his conversion and serving a mission. Janice then shared her story and the kind people in the Pleasant Grove Stake that helped keep her on her mission. Elder Scoville’s eyes misted up and he confessed that he remembered that event and in helping keep Janice on her mission in Norway. So, after 44 years, a kind and giving man and woman got to meet the “investment” they made so many years ago. The result is a faithful, hard-working mother of 6 who has passed on a legacy of hard work, love, loyalty, high moral character, and devotion. Now, with 22 other persons in our family their investment was well worth it! How rewarding it was for us to meet the couple that “paid it forward” and made a difference in our lives.
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