"Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared how Bishop Monson cared for the widows: “Many may know that young Bishop Monson took a week of his personal vacation time every Christmas season to visit all of those eighty-five widows in his ward. Many may not know that for the first several years the gift he would take them was one of the … hens raised and dressed out by him in his own poultry coops.”1
"Bishop Monson recalled how he helped an elderly couple who needed to paint their home: “In a moment of inspiration I called, not upon the elders quorum or upon volunteers to wield paint brushes, but rather, following the welfare handbook, upon the family members who lived in other areas. Four sons-in-law and four daughters took brushes in hand and participated in the project.”2 This inspiration helped the family reconnect and better care for each other."
- in "Ministering to Our Fellow Travelers," Liahona, Jul 2021, p. 37, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2021/07/come-follow-me/ministering-to-our-fellow-travelers?lang=eng
(Footnotes:
1. Jeffrey R. Holland, “President Thomas S. Monson: Man of Action, Man of Faith, Always ‘on the Lord’s Errand,’” Ensign, Feb. 1986, 12–13.
2. Thomas S. Monson, “The Bishop—Center Stage in Welfare,” Ensign, Nov. 1980, 89.
)
