You know, sometimes it’s not what you say to people; it’s how you say it.

When Jerry was just a teenager he got into an argument one day with his father. Well, that night as he sat in his room sulking, his mother came down to talk to him. As they talked, Jerry realized he had judged his father wrongly and that he had acted inappropriately. His mother suggested he apologize. Jerry promised to do so the next morning at breakfast, but when he went down for breakfast, his father was not there nor would he be ever again. He had left early that morning to supervise an airdrop in the Alaskan wilderness. His plane flew into a mountain – and Jerry’s father was killed.

For the next few years, Jerry struggled with a terrible burden of guilt – his last moments with his father, and he had wasted them on a selfish tantrum. He could not forgive himself.

Then one day in a church meeting, he listened to a speaker teach him about love, especially that precious love between parents and children. The speaker encouraged the audience to express that love. Well, it was too much for Jerry. He broke down and began to sob. As the people filed out of the room, Jerry was left alone. His sobs became an uncontrollable torrent of emotion, until even his hands and feet became numb. One by one his closest friends came back in the room and spoke words of encouragement to him, but it did no good. There was too much pain and too much guilt over too many years.

Then Jerry became aware of arms encircling his shoulders, and a warm cheek pressed gently against his own. He was pulled into a warm and loving embrace. Kind words softly spoken in his ear penetrated his grief and gradually eased away the pain. He opened his eyes – and looked into the loving face of the speaker who had taught earlier of the power of love, Spencer W. Kimball.

You know, Jerry has long since forgotten the words that were spoken that day, but of the warmth of that embrace and the sincerity of that love, he will never forget.