Changing More Than Costumes

by Lisa M. Grover

Editorial Associate

When you stop and think about it, you realize that you have friends and neighbors whose lives can be blessed by the message of the scriptures—the good news of the gospel and the existence of Christ’s true church on earth today.

Before they began practicing for their road show a few years ago, the youth of the Parker Ward set aside a day to fast and pray. To people who have been in a road show before, that may not seem such a strange thing to do, but they weren’t fasting in hopes of making the best use of their talents, and they weren’t praying for the road show to get canceled.

The road show participants were praying for help and guidance in making the road show a way to build testimonies. Little did they know it would build the testimony of someone who was not yet a member of the Church, and would introduce her to the scriptures.

Lindsay Thiess, a Laurel at the time, invited Roxanne McHugh (who wasn’t LDS) to be in the road show with her.

“We wanted to have the road show be a missionary experience,” says Lindsay. “I knew Roxanne would have a good time doing the show.”

Lindsay was right. Roxanne did have a good time. She also started getting curious about the story she was acting out.

“The story of the road show was about the Brother of Jared. One night after road show practice, I went home and found this Book of Mormon that my brother had ordered from an ad on television when he was 11 because he could get it for free!” says Roxanne. “I read the story of the Brother of Jared, and after that the road show meant a lot more; it started to make sense.”

That complimentary Book of Mormon, delivered to Roxanne’s house three years earlier and put on a shelf, sparked an interest in the gospel that Roxanne couldn’t deny.

“I prayed and knew the Church was right, and I knew that I needed to invite my parents to come to the play,” says Roxanne.

Roxanne’s parents had the same good feeling after watching the road show, and soon Roxanne, her younger brother, Courtney, and both her parents were baptized. One year later Roxanne and Courtney were sealed to their parents in the temple for time and all eternity.

It was a miracle. The miracle all the youth of the Parker Ward, Willow Creek Colorado Stake, had prayed for.

And the miracle continues every day for the McHughs as they read the scriptures, grow in the gospel, and share their testimonies with their nonmember family and friends. Strange as it may seem, Roxanne gained a personal connection to the scriptures while she was singing songs with made-up words and wearing an old sheet dyed and sewed to look like Jaredite apparel. Roxanne learned to really know the people of the scriptures, which helped her know that the gospel was true.

“I have learned to love the scriptures,” says Roxanne, “and that has changed my life.”

Painting Mormon Abridging the Plates by Tom Lovell

Lindsay Thiess (right) thought that Roxanne McHugh might be receptive to the Book of Mormon’s message. (Photography by Craig Dimond.)