Shining Moments: Quiet kindness
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Clyde and Eleanor Rhodes were abruptly awakened and ordered out of bed in the middle of the night by a young man high on drugs. Yet in the face of danger, their concern was more for his welfare than for their own.
"That's the way they are," said Joe L. Johnson, president of the Ohio Columbus Mission.Elder and Sister Rhodes of the Barron Ward, Duluth Minnesota Stake, had been serving as a missionary couple in the Marion Branch in Marion, Ohio, less than six months when a young man broke into their home in January and ordered them out of bed.
He told them several times that he had something to do they weren't going to like. But before he could act, Elder Rhodes began teaching the gospel. "His heart was softened as the Spirit took over," explained Gilbert Crawford, president of the Marion Branch.
The young man had broken into the Rhodes' home while trying to escape police after burglarizing a home across the street. After nearly a half-hour of talking with Brother and Sister Rhodes and hearing the gospel, the young man stood up and left without causing an incident. Police apprehended him several minutes later.
Elder and Sister Rhodes, despite being victims of a frightening crime, spoke in the young man's behalf during a court plea hearing - telling the court that counseling would do him more good than imprisonment.
It appeared, said Sister Rhodes, that the young man was more likely to hurt himself than he was to hurt them.
Regarding the forgiving nature of Elder and Sister Rhodes, Rhonda Burggraf, Marion County assistant prosecutor, said, "It seems to me like they feel some type of attachment towards [this young man] and they want to see him get better.
"In this case, I think they have gone the extra mile."
During sentencing, the judge remarked how fortunate the young man was to have found such "charitable victims," and reduced the sentence to treatment at a half-way house and parole, instead of 20 years in prison.
More than any sermon, the quiet kindness of their example has "opened eyes of many people," said Pres. Crawford. "Doors have opened and people are becoming aware of the Church because of this act of kindness."
