Elder L. Tom Perry

About a year and a half ago now I was invited to sit in the President's Box at LaVell Edwards Stadium for the BYU v. Texas game. Multiple general authorities were going to be there, and I was all to excited to go. After buying a new outfit for the occasion I spent hours getting ready. I wanted everything to be just right. When I was satisfied I walked to the Hinckley Center to wait for the rest of my Student Alumni crew that were also invited. It was starting to get cloudy, but I paid little attention to it. I just turned my phone off when the flash flood warning went off and shoved it back in my purse. As I walked with the group to the stadium the dark clouds started rolling in. Fast. Right when it was mentioned that we should maybe walk faster the storm began with water coming down in sheets as if we were stuck directly under a waterfall. By the time we got to the stadium water was up to our ankles, and there was no hope for our hair or outfits. We walked in quickly to try to escape the view of our beloved leaders as we rushed to the bathroom. We dried off with paper towels as best we could and went back into the box keeping our heads down. I had invited Julie Anne to come with me, and we stayed right by each other. As time went on, we got colder and colder. We sat shaking, huddled together, waiting for the game to start. We got up to get some food and stand by the heaters. At that point a man that stood like a tower looked down at us. He spoke to us, and after seeing the look on our faces he smiled with his eyes twinkling. He said that we looked rather cold. We nodded and smiled. Julie went to get more caramel corn and talk to Elder Holland, but I stayed there. That man told me that his wife had been given a blanket, and she wasn't even wet! He then proceeded to offer me his coat jacket, one that was so long I probably could have worn it as a dress and with shoulders so broad Julie and I could have fit in it. I said no but thank you because I just could not imagine taking it. To this day I wish I had. That man was Elder L. Tom Perry. He was the member of the twelve present that night that not only went out of his way to talk to us instead of ignoring us like others did, but he was the one to offer the jacket right off his back to a shivering girl. He looked down at me but not on me. I learned a lesson that night. I learned that being Christ-like can be something so simple as offering to share your jacket. It can be smiling and twinkling your eyes at someone. It is loving. Elder Perry passed away today, but I will never forget the lesson he taught me that night.