Years ago, I went to church with a man named Brother Pierce.

He'd been a member his whole life, faithfully attended each Sunday with his family, was always willing to accept a calling,

but he also had a unique routine in church that was impossible to ignore.

Each Sunday, he’d sit down with his family in the same seat of the chapel, put on a pair of sunglasses and go to sleep.

He’d sleep through the entire meeting. Talks, hymns, testimonies—

nothing seemed to get in the way of those perfectly timed naps.

One day I found myself talking to Brother Pierce at his home and couldn’t stop myself from asking him the obvious question, “What’s with the naps?” Brother Pierce explained that he was bored at church.

He had seen and heard most of what he needed for his own spiritual growth.

He made sure to take the sacrament and be with his family as they learned about the gospel. But it was simply more productive to get some shut eye rather than participate. As I listened to him rationalize his stance on church naps,

it was clear Brother Pierce wasn't seeing his own value.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “What would happen if you went to church, and instead of trying to get something, you tried to give something to someone else? Find someone who looks uncomfortable or new or struggling in the gospel and use your experience to help?”

Brother Pierce stared blankly for a moment and then began to see what I saw. A 40-year veteran of the Church with decades of spiritual experiences and a strong testimony of Jesus Christ who was hiding all of it so he could rest his eyes. Brother Pierce was willing to give it a try. He later told me that the next week he walked in with his family as usual, sat down in the same seat and began to put on his sunglasses.

But this time he stopped and sat up and slowly began to look around.

He noticed a mother struggling to settle an argument between her two toddlers. There was a new couple who had moved into the neighborhood he had never spoken to. He also saw a young man sitting alone just staring at the pew in front of him. Brother Pierce suddenly saw opportunities everywhere.

And all he had to do was open his eyes.

As the weeks went on, Brother Pierce sat next to people who he noticed might need something. People who came to church that Sunday wondering if they'd ever come back. People struggling with their faith or feeling as if they didn't belong.

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

We don’t actively love each other right here, right now,

then are we really His disciples?

Let's look around our chapel for those who need us. Others will be blessed. And so will we. As we learned from Brother Pierce,

we don't come to church to take spiritual naps. We come to love.

We come to embrace. We come to give of ourselves to someone in need.