Friends we meet

I just wanted to share with you about our new friend Tom. We first met Tom over the phone. He called and wanted to know if the new Missionaries could come and visit him. We made an appointment with him and of course it took a little bit to walk around the buildings to find his building and apartment. Tom was baptized in March of this past year. Tom will be 60 years old in March, he is blind. His wife died in 1982 and his little boy died three years after her, he was 5. We had a very nice visit with Tom, he was so very grateful and appreciative of our visit. We shared with him a message out of the Ensign. We made arrangements to pick him up the following Sunday to take him to his new ward as he had moved from ours a couple months previous. We talked to his new bishop to let him know about Tom. He was eager and happy to meet Tom and welcome him into their ward. Sunday Morning we went to pick up Tom and he said he had been up all night sick and that he still was very sick. So we told him we would check back on him later. A few days later, we called and was told by his aid that he was in the hospital. Tom called us and told us that he had been moved to the care center right next door. A few days later we went to visit him. He broke down crying as he had been told that he had full blown aids. That he would not be able to go back to his apartment because he was so sick and wanted to donate all his furnishing to the church. The next two weeks he has been in and out of the hospital. He is so very sick. Tonight we went to the hospital to visit with him. Doug had the strongest impression that we needed to go tonight to share a letter with him that the Shaffers had sent that we received a couple of days ago. It was such a sweet message of love and concern for him. They needed a little more information about his wife before they could go do her temple work for her. Tom cried. He misses her so much. He looks so near death. Doug says that he has seen that look before. We pray that Heavenly Father will be merciful and take him quickly so he can be with his sweet Rose and Pablo. It has been a blessing to us to know Tom for such a short time. He was afraid that the church would not want him any more because of his situation. We assured him that the Lord was mindful of him and this would be his church for ever. He was always so humbly grateful for our visits. We will miss Tom.