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Show 343 mistake one of the finest young men it's been my privilege to work with." Several men nodded, and there were grunts of approval on both sides of the table. Lorin felt his eyes mist up. "I want to second everything President Dyer said," Sorenson said. Lorin was startled to hear his companion's voice. "I don't know if everyone knew this, but Elder Hood refused his mission call the first time because he felt he wasn't ready and accepted the call later even though he was older than most missionaries. Most missionaries probably wouldn't have accepted the call at his age. He's been an absolutely tremendous companion, and I just want to say that even though I'm his senior companion Elder Hood has always been like an older brother to me." The room was silent. Lorin wanted to look at his companion, because Sorenson's voice had been thick with emotion, but he was afraid they would both cry if they made eye contact. It was nearly over. The mood of the room had softened since the branch president's testimonial. They asked Lorin to repeat the part ahout her hand on his wrist, since that had seemed to be the turning point, and the part about stroking her knees while she was crying the second day. There were a few more questions, and then everyone had run out of things to say. The tape recorder whirred on, slowly. The mission president shuffled together the documents in front of him and tapped their edges into alignment on the table top. "All right, Elder Hood, if you'd like to just take a seat out there in the auditorium, we'll call for you in a few minutes." The bright but worried smile with which he had greeted Lorin was gone, and he now looked serious and even unfriendly. Lorin stood up and nearly fell when he found his knees didn't work, but Sorenson caught him, with an arm around his shoulders. With his companion's help Lorin stumbled out |
