I Can Sleep When the Wind Blows!

Dear Friends and Neighbors: 

            As many of you know, I know how to sleep.  I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, anyplace.  I love sleep!  Unfortunately, it happens sometimes when I am presiding in our sacrament meeting and sitting on the stand or in an MTC Devotional.  I wonder if I have Narcolepsy!  Yes, I love to sleep—it is one of my favorite activities and entertainments.  Is it an evidence of my advancing age?  The fact that I have to get up a couple of times in the night may be the cause of my day-time droopy, dreary, dopey drowsiness!  

            Normally, I get to bed here in the MTC by 9:00 p.m. or 9:30 p.m.  I require all missionaries to be in bed with lights out and falling asleep by 10:00 p.m.  There are really only three rules of which I absolutely demand of missionaries here in the MTC:  1)  Stay with your companion—always! 2) No one is allowed to stay up after 10:00 p.m. 3) No one is allowed to stay in bed after 6:00 a.m.! (The time for retiring and rising is slightly different in this MTC than the time required in the mission field for a few good reasons). 

            The only time I begin to get upset with the missionaries is when I find out that they are staying up beyond the 10:00 p.m. hour.  This dreadful disobedience to my command has the potential of requiring me to stay up late!  Some of you know that my mantra and motto has been during my life, “A Day Without a Nap Is a Day Wasted!”  I have wasted a lot of days, especially here on this wonderful MTC mission!  Sleep is important to your health and happiness.  You need to read Sister Taylor’s words on the attached, “I Can Sleep When the Wind Blows!” 

Love,

George & Debra Taylor

I Can Sleep When the Wind Blows

Each morning I arise at 6:00 AM to extend a greeting to the missionaries over the MTC intercom by saying, “Good Morning Elders and Sisters, Rise and Shine!”  Usually I get to the other building by going down the front stairs, but since we had another typhoon and it had rained so hard, I thought that I would take the back stairs.  After climbing down three flights I found the bottom landing flooded with water.  I had already mentioned my concern about this specific entrance as having a potential problem to the contractors; my concerns were not addressed but ignored.  I felt disappointment and anger.  I have seen many things that could be avoided or prevented by immediate and timely action.  Instead of applying the adage, “measure twice and cut once,” I see a lot of cutting but not very much measuring: too much effort, too much time, so much energy is spent on redoing and cleaning up messes.  I appreciate repentance, but wisdom, prevention, and obedience seems to provide a better way.

As I looked at the open door, the missing thresholds, the water and mud in the newly remodeled building, I remembered a story I had heard long ago that impressed me.  Today I ask myself, “Can I sleep when the wind blows?  Or, do I put off tomorrow what I should do today? Am I prepared in both temporal and spiritual affairs?  You’ve probably read or heard the following story which is a good lesson. 

Years ago a farmer owned land along the Atlantic seacoast. He constantly advertised for hired hands. Most people were reluctant to work on farms along the Atlantic. They dreaded the awful storms that raged across the Atlantic, wreaking havoc on the buildings and crops.

As the farmer interviewed applicants for the job, he received a steady stream of refusals. Finally, a short, thin man, well past middle age, approached the farmer. "Are you a good farm hand?" the farmer asked him. "Well, I can sleep when the wind blows," answered the little man. Although puzzled by this answer, the farmer, desperate for help, hired him.

The little man worked well around the farm, busy from dawn to dusk, and the farmer felt satisfied with the man's work. Then one night the wind howled loudly in from offshore. Jumping out of bed, the farmer grabbed a lantern and rushed next door to the hired hand's sleeping quarters.

He shook the little man and yelled, "Get up! A storm is coming! Tie things down before they blow away!" The little man rolled over in bed and said firmly, "No sir. I told you, I can sleep when the wind blows."

Enraged by the response, the farmer was tempted to fire him on the spot. Instead, he hurried outside to prepare for the storm. To his amazement, he discovered that all of the haystacks had been covered with tarpaulins.

The cows were in the barn, the chickens were in the coops, and the doors were barred. The shutters were tightly secured. Everything was tied down. Nothing could blow away. The farmer then understood what his hired hand meant, so he returned to his bed to also sleep while the wind blew.