My Inspiration

Last year, I lost a very dear friend.  She was an incredible woman who taught me so much and was a greater influence on my life than she could possibly know.  I was 13 years old when I first met Lois Hulme.  She and her husband Phil had recently moved into our ward, and she enlisted my dad to help her with her computer and her printer.  She was currently in the process of printing one of the seven books of genealogy that she wrote and compiled during her lifetime.  Lois offered to pay me about $20 if I would come to her house and help her collate her new book.  Jumping at the chance to make any kind of money, I accompanied my dad to her house where I spent several hours collating pages upon pages of one of her newly-printed family history books.  Once this project was complete, I believed that any future contact I had with Lois Hulme would be limited--she would just be another old lady in the ward.  Oh, how I was wrong!  I never could have anticipated the influence that this woman would have on my life over the next 15 years.

After hearing me plunk out a hymn on the piano with only my right hand in a Young Women meeting one Sunday, she immediately decided that she was going to turn me into a pianist.  Suddenly I found myself (not under my own volition) at her home where she began to teach me to play hymns (with both hands).  Soon I found myself playing the piano while she played the organ during sacrament meeting.  Then she had me playing the organ, singing solos, leading the music, and even put me in charge of the ward choir on one occasion.  But she didn't stop with me.  Sister Hulme had a reputation in our ward, and all of the youth knew that it was just a matter of time before they too would be plucked up by Sister Hulme and taught to play, sing, or lead.  And she did all of this for free.  She never once charged anyone in our ward a dime for any music lesson.  Sister Hulme was an incredible example of service and of sharing her talents.

But Sister Hulme did not just influence me musically.  During the countless hours that I spent with her over the years during music lessons and as my visiting teaching companion, she taught me about the importance of family history and its significance in the eternities.  She told me so many stories!  She would talk and talk and talk about her ancestors.  And I loved it.  I have thought for many years now, that if I could be just the tiniest bit like Sister Hulme when I grow up, I would feel like I accomplished something great.  I have felt inspired by her for many years to work on my family history, and during the last three years I have begun to do just that.  I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm excited to start the journey.