LDS Podcast "Latter-Day Lights" - Inspirational LDS Stories

Feeling the Spirit through Transformative Miracles: Larry McCally's Story - Latter-Day Lights

• Scott Brandley and Alisha Coakley

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What happens when faith and perseverance meet extraordinary generosity?

Former missionary and devoted #LatterDayLights fan Larry McCally reflects on how his unwavering faith and trust in the still, small voice of the Lord have guided him through numerous trials. Faced with the pivotal choice between serving a mission or joining the Air Force, Larry couldn’t have imagined that this decision would set the stage for countless miracles that would shape his life’s journey.

Larry’s story is a testament to humility, resilience, and service, as he recounts his remarkable acts of kindness and divine interventions. Led by the Spirit at every turn, he reflects on his success in teaching, converting, and baptizing numerous individuals, while also supporting families in need in life-changing ways.

Despite facing setbacks—whether it was the devastation of a house fire, or working with a difficult companion—Larry’s faith remained his beacon of light. Let his story remind us that while life may bring its share of sorrows, the Lord is always present, offering His wisdom and strength in even the most trying moments.

*** Please SHARE Larry's story and help us spread hope and light to others. ***

To WATCH this episode, visit: https://youtu.be/6N6IYZjcQb0

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Scott Brandley:

Hey everyone, I'm Scott Brandley.

Alisha Coakley:

And I'm Alisha Coakley. Every member of the church has a story to share, one that can instill faith, invite growth and inspire others.

Scott Brandley:

On today's episode we're going to hear how the Lord has prepared the path for one man's life by providing many little miracles throughout his journey. Welcome to Latter-day Lights. Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of Latter-day Lights. We're so glad you're here with us today and we're really excited to introduce our special guest, larry McCally. Larry, how are you doing? I'm good.

Alisha Coakley:

I'm good Good good good well, thanks so much for reaching out to us, larry. Before we started recording, you shared something with scott and I. You might be one of our biggest fans, I don't know. You've listened to like almost every episode that you've been able to get your your ears on yes, and I will continue until I get to all of them oh, I love that so much.

Alisha Coakley:

It just like warms my heart, makes me so happy because we've had so many awesome stories and, after talking to you on the phone a little bit about yours, I'm really, really excited that, um, you're on the other side of the the microphone now. I guess I'm excited that you're going to be able to share your story, because it's a pretty good one. I like it. Before we get into that.

Scott Brandley:

That's an interesting thought. Can you give us some feedback? I mean just for other people that might be watching. What are your thoughts on our podcast? Just curious.

Larry McCally:

I love your podcast. There's some times that I work at a plant down here in Columbus, montana, where it's called Montana Silversmith, and I grind buckles. I'm the grinder that does all the finish work on the buckle to get it ready to be sent out to everybody. So it goes to the buffers after me, but I do the grinding and get the flash off. But anyway, when I sit there and listen to those podcasts, there's times that I got tears running down my face and I got to stop and wipe the tears away because the spirit is so strong. That's what's amazing and that's why I chose to come on, because it is amazing how the spirit just touches me and has always touched me and been in my life and the prophet's task is to really be guided by that special, still small voice and I've been listening and listen through you and other ways and it's just really strong. When I listened to your podcast some are a little silly, but I throw some- humor in there though, right yeah.

Larry McCally:

Most is so touching that I just want to be a part of it for a moment.

Alisha Coakley:

Well, we're excited to officially have you a part of our family, our Latter-day Lights family, and to have your story be one of those stories that hopefully will make someone else just really feel the spirit and maybe even cry a little at work. I'm always I'm all down for crying at work. I think that's a great place to do it.

Larry McCally:

I'm a ball baby sometimes too.

Alisha Coakley:

There you go. Well, before we get into your story, larry, do you want to tell us just a little bit more about you, who you are as a person and what you you know?

Larry McCally:

where you live. I'm Larry McAuley, I'm 74 years old and I live in Columbus, Montana. I've been married to one woman for 52 years and we have five children four boys, one girl the girl was the last one and we have 20 grandchildren.

Alisha Coakley:

That is an expensive Christmas.

Larry McCally:

Yeah, we have to limit it. It can't get too out of range yeah, I can imagine. We do it by families now.

Alisha Coakley:

It's the only way yep, that's a good way to do it. Who did? We have yeah, we had someone who had, uh, oh gosh, who was it was uh, was it fred dodini? Who had? How many people did he have in his family? 30 or 40 grandkids or great grandkids or so? Anyway, it was a ton. And I was just like, oh my gosh, I can't even imagine. I think they pick families now. So I don't think they buy for everyone, but they pick families or something. But that's a legacy, that is awesome, larry.

Larry McCally:

Thank you.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah Well, aside from your, your job, what?

Larry McCally:

do you like to do for fun? Well, do you want me to go back a little bit? I was born in Portland Oregon, oh and. But I live in Montana now and I was born in Portland Oregon in 1950. And we're not. We'll get into the story, but anyway, I've served a mission. I've been active in the church all my life, Well, since I was 1961, so I was 11 years old, Okay. Very cool, I'll get deep into that in a minute.

Alisha Coakley:

All right.

Scott Brandley:

Well, why don't we let you jump right in? The time is yours, so where does your story begin?

Larry McCally:

My story begins in Portland, oregon, at the County Hospital up on the hill. So everybody knows where that is. It knows Portland. There's a lot of hospitals there. But I was born on July 6th in 1950. And 11 days later my wife came in. Or her mother came in and my wife was born 11 days after me. What? At the same hospital. Yes, yes, wow. Her sisters knew my sister. They were best friends. We never met until after she had graduated from high school and that I had graduated from high school.

Larry McCally:

So I was raised in the city until I was six or seven years old, in the city of Portland, and I love being there, a lot of friends, and I thought I was pretty happy. I know that we had the missionaries come by our house once and mom knew they had made an appointment to come back because they had talked to mom. And then mom didn't want to talk to him so she sent my sister she's three years older than me Sent her to the door and said tell the missionaries that I'm not home and to go away. So she did just that my mom's not home and she wants you to go away.

Larry McCally:

That was our first introduction to the church and that was the end. That was the final one at that moment. But dad and my oh I got to back up. My father was also born in Portland, oregon, and that I better start the story with him, because a lot of it's based around him. He was a byproduct of a teenage girl who became pregnant and lived in Walla Walla, washington, walla Walla, washington, and her family sent her to Portland to have the baby, to stay with an aunt until the baby came and then to immediately adopt my father out. So our last name truly isn't McAuley, and I won't say the other name because that family may get upset, because it truly happened. I've seen the adoption papers and we've dug deep into it to find out what happened.

Larry McCally:

But because of that and because of what happened and how the birth was conceived, my father had a birth defect, so he was born with retinas that didn't grow. So he was almost half blind when he was born and he lived his entire life out never having a driver's license. But he could see enough to drive a tractor, he could see enough to get around, but mom always had to take him. Well, his adopted mother and my mother didn't get along. They were rivals, matter of fact, so much rivals that the police would be called by then. Be, my mom would be turned in for not changing diapers often enough and she was trying to get custody of my sister. She didn't want me, she didn't like boys, she only wanted my sister. And she called the police every step she could go. And then, mom, they moved across town and thought they'd get away from her, and then she bought the house two doors down from us.

Alisha Coakley:

Oh my gosh.

Larry McCally:

And I'll never forget my mother going to dad get her away from me. We can't take it anymore. So dad went 30 miles outside of town, about 10 acres, with a small house built on stilts, little stilts, three feet high. And he bought that house no running water, it was a three-bedroom bedroom and it had no insulation, it was just a shack. It did have a well and it had 10 acres and dad was excited that he could then do some farming to make some more money. So he bought the place in 1956 and proceeded to plow it and before we moved out there and planted two acres of strawberries. And the strawberries that he planted were actually the wrong kind for that area and he didn't know that, but he had a great crop on the first one. And then we moved out there in 1957.

Larry McCally:

It was right after school I had finished my second grade and I'll never forget being pulled out of there, out of Portland, and moved out there on the farm and I was mad and I didn't want to and I rebelled all the way, so much so that I didn't graduate. I didn't pass third grade. They held me back, so I had third grade twice. We moved out there that dad started adding onto the house to get a bathroom on and started to um add to the house and put in more strawberries. He plowed up more strawberries and away we went. We thought everything was going to be just perfect and they came out. Friends of his came out to build little outhouses and they had the saws running full steam and the electrical shorted and the house caught on fire and we lost everything Our clothes, everything was gone. Mother and I and all of us kids had gone with my mom to pick up my grandfather to come stay with us for the summer. And as we were driving, the fire trucks passed us and I'll never forget mom goes. I hope those are not going to our house. And as we turned the corner down the country road, we turned the corner and saw that it was our house. I saw my mom and dad broken. I remember that how hard it hurt and they didn't have a clue what they were going to do. A man came from town and said I have a house that is available, but it's very small, it's one bedroom.

Larry McCally:

We moved into Molalla, oregon, where we lived there for about a year and a half, maybe two years, because dad tried to raise up some money. We went to the Methodist church at that time and they raised up $700 for us and with the $700, they had poured a foundation and started to build a new home for us. He built it at my. You got to know my great grandfather was a carpenter by trade and he taught my father and me to learn to build things out of next to nothing and out of whatever you can find. We built my grandfather and I literally built a chicken coop out of pallets and we'd go to town, pick up a big truckload of pallets, come home, tear them all apart, straighten all the nails and then start building. And we built a 50 hen chicken coop together and it was awesome skill and I've always carried that skill. Learn to make do with what you have. Well, dad, before we started building, I better back up a little bit.

Larry McCally:

We are moved into that one bedroom apartment or house and dad was writing to and from work with a guy that was LDS and he kept telling me about the gospel and he asked permission, if they could, he could send the missionaries over. And I didn't know that happened. Mom didn't even know that happened. He just caved in and said sure, fine, go ahead. And I was going to school at that time in third grade, and I had a friend I'd just gotten to know and loved him. His name was Steve Aldridge and we'd walk to school together, talking all the time, and one day he goes would you like to go to primary? And I said what's primary? And he told me and I said, well, sounds like fun, let's go.

Larry McCally:

So it happened to be on a Thursday and during the week then, and so I went home. I was home and getting prepared to go when a car pulled up in the driveway and mom goes car just pulled in the driveway, who is it? I looked out the door and said mom, I have no idea, it's two old people in an old Ford. I'll never forget seeing that picture of that Ford driving up our driveway. And she says what are they doing here?

Larry McCally:

And dad was in the back room and he comes out and says, oh yeah, I told them they could come. So here they were and we I finished getting dressed in my best attire that I had and I said bye mom, bye dad. I started to run out the door and the lady my dad. I brought them in the home and she was sitting there beside the door. She grabbed me by my arm. She had a hold of me solid and she says young man, you need to sit down. We have a lesson teacher, family and your dad gave us permission to be here, so sit down. She was very firm with me.

Larry McCally:

I pulled my arm out of her hand and I said leave me alone, I'm going to primary. Her face hit the floor. I mean okay, and the way I ran out that door she wasn't going to stop me, I was going. So I caught up with Steve and we got to go. We read, went to church.

Larry McCally:

And the minute I walked in the door, I knew I was home. I knew that that was the place that I was supposed to be. I remember our times going to the Methodist church. It always felt like an empty hole. It never felt right, and the minute I went to primary, I knew I was where I was supposed to be.

Larry McCally:

Well, lessons went on. The elderly couple started teaching us and it was going well, except my father could not stop smoking cigarettes, and it went along. They asked us to get baptized and mom said we're not getting baptized without dad. She refused and said no and she put her foot down. Meanwhile, dad was getting the house fairly underway and the missionaries were also helping us to build the home. They got the foundation down, they got a floor down and they started putting up walls.

Larry McCally:

And then they had to leave and they had young missionaries come in, several, one after the other, teaching us and helping us build the walls, and dad still would not quit smoking. And it went along for several missionaries I can't tell you how many. I was too little and I just sat there and going what? I want to be a member of this church. And mom said no. Well, one set of missionaries it had to have been four or five in Young elders came and said listen, it's time for you to make a decision.

Larry McCally:

And the ward wants you to be a member of the, wants you to join the church. So we, he said, we're going to have a special fast. The whole ward's going to fast. And it was then a branch became a ward several wards actually now came a ward, several wards actually now. But it became uh, it, it. They were going to do a fast and then and then afterwards have a close on the fast at our house. Those that wanted just the missionaries, would come and do a close on the fast. So they did, and by that time we had walls in this and a roof on, and I'll never forget we had no walls inside, except for we had cardboard stapled on the walls for walls instead of sheetrock.

Larry McCally:

Wow so yeah, we were divided by cardboard and I'll never forget. We kneeled in a circle. The missionary said the prayer first and then he asked my dad to pray and my dad started praying and he cried and then he got. He ended the prayer and he grabbed his cigarettes, he wadded them up, he handed them to the missionaries and said schedule a day for us to get baptized. So we were baptized. We were introduced to the church in 1958 and we joined in 1961.

Larry McCally:

But it took a lot of missionaries a couple of years before we finally and I realized what it had to be is my dad had to get humbled. He was a very prideful man, oh, and I didn't tell you the part that humbled him even more His whole strawberry crop, all three acres, got an aphos and was destroyed and he lost everything. So financially he was ruined.

Larry McCally:

The siding on the house was called overlap or shiplap, not really shiplap, but it lapped and it had tons of knot holes in it because he could get it really cheap and we could see out through the walls and the wind would blow in and the roof. That had no money for roofing and the roof was made of zinc sheets that he got from work that were being disposed of. They told him he could have all he wanted. They were going to go in the garbage and they were four by four sheets of zinc and he nailed them on and sealed them with tar. And boy, when it rained in Oregon you would hear the rain just patter like crazy and I to this day love to go to sleep with that sound of rain on a tin roof.

Larry McCally:

So we lived with that roof. We finally Dad, got some money for sheetrock and we took down the cardboard. But we had cardboard for many, many years. But anyway, going back to here we are we're in the church, we got baptized and the whole family got baptized. And it was all because my father was humbled and Heavenly Father had to step in and humble my dad with the loss of the crops, even the potato crop he planted. After that. He couldn't find a market for it so he just plowed them under and we used to run through the field and pick up potatoes and just eat them like apples.

Larry McCally:

But I had fun growing up. It was great growing up on a 10 acre farm and helping my dad all we could as we were going along and I'm I'm getting into. Oh, as I went along in life and joined the church, I started telling everybody about the gospel and I baptized my very best friend who joined the church. He's not active today but he did join the church and I got. I was just turning 16. I got to baptize him into the church.

Larry McCally:

And then we had. We had another young man that I was teaching and others too. We're we're we ran as a group those that were LDS about seven of us, you know. We convinced him the gospel was true and he did join the church also. So we had a really fun time. Even though we're a small group, we're all LDS and held out and ran together. In 1969, I was attending a church dance and I ran into my wife to be then. She was there with others and I had just had a girlfriend dump me. So I was ready to try to move on and I was dancing with every girl that was there, including her. She thought I was the silliest crazy guy in the world and she really didn't want any part of me.

Larry McCally:

but she started dating me and we started dating and a long life went and I finished up high school dating and a long life went and I finished up high school, and that's when Vietnam was really, really big. When you get out of the, you're out of school they're ready to take you as soon as they can.

Larry McCally:

And I I uh filled out the missionary mission paperwork in July, right after I graduated in June of 1969. And I filled out the paperwork, my bishop and I said I don't think we have time to make this happen. I got the army I know they're breathing down my neck, they're coming and he's going. Well, let's do it in a hurry. And at that time our stake was 30 miles the opposite direction from where I was working. So I had to make special arrangements to move, to switch and drive 60 miles to get to it. So anyway, I finished that. I got with the stake president and he looked at the paperwork and says it's all wrong, take it all back to your Bishop, have him redo it and come back and reschedule another appointment. And I said there's not enough time for that to happen.

Larry McCally:

Meanwhile my wife and I were getting. We got engaged, or my wife to be. We got engaged and we we're. I'm planning on not going to the army, I'm going to join the air force. And I um went into the air force. I was going to go to the air force but they called me up for my induction physical. So in September of 69, I went for the induction physical, I was classified a one and they said and they said you're going to get your orders in 30 days, you're it, you're coming. And I said no, I won't, I'll go to the Air Force first. So I talked it over with my fiance then and I said I want to join the Air Force and I want to get married before we do so.

Larry McCally:

We made plans for that to happen in late September and meanwhile my stake president or my bishop, who loved me so much fixed the paperwork, told the stake president to sign it and to send it in without me coming back for the interview. And he did, and I didn't know it. And lo and behold, here came a mission call and that year David O McKay was the prophet. And David O McKay went to the brethren and said we have to call more missionaries now. At that time the mission home was downtown Salt Lake, just down from the temple, just a block and a half away, and he said we've got to call two extra sets of missionaries for October, november, december. And the way they were able to do that it was closed for one week for cleaning and then filled with missionaries. Then cleaning, missionaries, clean, they said missionaries, before they leave have to clean and we're just going to keep going missionaries every week for all of October, november, december.

Larry McCally:

I got my call and it said two weeks to show up and I used to work late. Yeah, two weeks to show up in Salt Lake. I hadn't gotten my military papers yet, but we were ready to get married and I was ready to go down to the Air Force and sign up not go in the Army. And I'm going. I came to work and my mom says look what came in the mail. It knocked me for a loop. Oh yeah, wow. When I read it my mom looked at me. I think I broke her heart because she just said to me you're not going, are you? And I said I have no idea what I'm going to do and I walked out into the field.

Larry McCally:

Our 10 acres in the pitch black night. It was one o'clock in the morning and I got on my knees and I pleaded with Heavenly Father what should I do? Go forward with my plans with my to-be wife, or go on a mission? And after about an hour and a half in the field, or go on a mission? And after about an hour and a half in the field kneeling, I felt like I should go. But I can't go without my wife Judy's permission. So I got in my car and I drove, woke her up out of bed, showed her the call and said I think I should go. What do you want me to do? She said I think I should go. What do you want me to do? She said go.

Larry McCally:

So my mom loaded us up in the car and away, we went to Salt Lake and when we showed up, judy, my wife went with us. She cried all the way down and crawled all the way back with my parents. But I went on my mission. I entered the mission home and I said we have a serious problem. I know the orders are in the mailbox at home and they're drafting me and I gave them my card and I finished the meeting so that we had that day and they said we'll get back with you tomorrow. The next morning they walked in with a new deferral card, said I was E1, missionary deferment and no longer A1 and you can go on your mission.

Scott Brandley:

I about fell off my chair.

Larry McCally:

I couldn't believe they have that kind of power to stop and they did. That was the first, one of the biggest. There's been many steps has helped me in my life and that's one that is the biggest ones I can't believe. I got to go and, uh, I was called to texas south mission and I served in san antonio, houston, beaumont and south of that to freeport, um, port, arthur, all kinds of little towns around about there, but Houston two or three times.

Larry McCally:

But one of the problems that I have in life is that I'm dyslexic and I can't read well, I can't process it or make comprehension of it. So we had to memorize 112 pages of dialogue, had to memorize 112 pages of dialogue and no, it's 96 pages of dialogue, 112 scriptures, and I couldn't get it. And I went through several zone leaders and district leaders are all pounding on me telling me I got to get it. I got to get it. It took me almost six months and I'll never forget the one that I had was a drill sergeant. I swear the way he treated me was a drill sergeant, beating on the bed. He treated me was he was a drill sergeant, beating on the bed, screaming say it again, say it again and beating on the bed and I couldn't get it. And when he left I was so broken I said I got on my knees and I told Heavenly Father, if you will help me memorize this, these scriptures and dialogue, I will learn to teach by the spirit and I will never they will never know that it's memorized dialogue. I promise I'll make that happen If you'll help me. Well, it just came together. It all started to come and I started to beat in my head. Everything came out. I was getting it word, perfect and fast, and the miracle just happened. It just came to me and I was overwhelmed by the love of my Heavenly Father for me and, first of all, letting me go on a mission, getting me baptized, letting me go on a mission and now, all of a sudden, my brain's working like you can't believe.

Larry McCally:

I went on and taught. I'd like to share a couple of the stories. We had a couple in Houston. They were the DiCarlo family and they had two small children and a husband and wife, and she was eight months pregnant and we taught them. They were a golden family and they were just unbelievable. And this is a funny story, because, eight months pregnant, what do you do? Well, it happened to be a big baptism. They said yes, and the light of the gospel was really burdening them. And she says to me Elder McCally, I want you to baptize me, and my companion was to baptize her husband. So I said okay, big baptism at the stake.

Larry McCally:

The font was leaking. I mean it was going down fast and I went to who's conducting. I said you need to move her up. She's I mean, she's big, how am I going to get water is leaking. By the time I entered the font it was below my knee, just to the bottom of my knee, and I'm going. I looked at her and I said, okay, we're going to do this once. You're going to have to trust me completely. And I showed her how I had already practiced, with holding my arm and hands. And I says I'm going to put you on the bottom of that font and I'm going to see the water wash over you. And she said, okay, so she did and we went down. I'll never forget. I'm looking and watching the water and it's up and over. And the witnesses looked you made it, brought her up out of that water.

Larry McCally:

It was a golden family. So in love with the gospel and our heavenly father in Jesus Christ. It was amazing, wow. Another great experience I had was the Mitchell family. That was in 1970. The Mitchell family in San Antonio, texas. I was with a companion that broke every rule there ever was and he had like three weeks left and I was put with him and he was I. I swear to this day I'd punch him. I never saw him again.

Scott Brandley:

He was downright.

Larry McCally:

Yeah, he was down downright mean and I'll I'll share everything he did. But he liked to burn cockroaches legs off with matches and a lot, and listen to their squeal, the big ones, oh yeah, cockroaches, legs off with matches and listen to their squeal, the big ones, oh yeah. And he would never pray and I always had to read and he had and he, and if I prayed he'd lay on the floor and look up at me and so my eyes, I could feel him there. He'd go. You peaked, you peaked.

Larry McCally:

He acted like a little child, but one of the big rules he one of the big rules he broke was we had to have 25 tracks a day. Go out tracking. We pulled up on a street. He always drove. I could never drive, he wouldn't let me.

Larry McCally:

Pulled up on a street and said this is our first time out tracking together. He says you're going down that side, I'm going down this side of the street. I said we can't do that. We're supposed to stay together. No, you get down there and you get 12, I'll get 13 or you get 13,. But you were going to get this done and we're going. And then we're going to the mall and go shopping. He's going to go look at things at the mall, and that's.

Larry McCally:

He did that every day and I I said no and I wouldn't do it. I walked with him. He's walking to his side of the road in Houston that was in San Antonio, texas and he's walking this side of the road. I'm walking to my side, I'm not walking to mine, but I'm walking right behind him and he turns around and punches me right in the middle of the chest and says get your butt over there and get your 12. And I said that's against the rules. And we started to argue and I'm telling you, the spirit poured in me In a way you can't imagine and I sat there and said what? Go, do what he wants. Are you crazy? I said that and the spirit said no, do it. Yes, people are watching. They're seeing you fight. Don't do it, go to your side, do yourself, follow this out.

Larry McCally:

So I did, went down my side and at the very end of the road, of the street, it was all houses. There was a house that had a chain link fence and I walked inside and the screen door was open, or the screen door was closed, but the door was open and there was music playing and I felt that overwhelming spirit that somebody was there and I knew it was there. I knew somebody was there. My heart was just burning with they wanted the gospel. So I walked clear around the back to see if she's in the garden area or something in the backyard or doing something. No one was there. I walked back in the front and knocked again. Nobody was there. So I left, we finished out, I got my 12., he got 13. And we left and went to the mall. And they did that every day. We never went back. He got worse, he got meaner and I actually grabbed the keys and drove to the mission home and walked into the mission president's office.

Larry McCally:

Either he goes home or I do, and somehow that mission president convinced me to get back on the saddle and get back and finish it out. He had two weeks left by that time and I wrote it out. I have no idea how I told the mission president my spirituality is gone, I am broken, I don't know how to go. Well, he knew how Give me a greenie out of Salt Lake real fast. And he did as. That elder went home, he gave me a greenie and he then made me district leader. But I had to go from a spiritual low to a spiritual high immediately. I could not let this greenie down as he was coming from directly from salt lake. His name was elder zollinger and I guess they're big in salt lake duke construction, but uh, ron Zollinger. And he was a great elder. He's a lot taller than I was.

Larry McCally:

But when he came we were going through different cards. We used to get a lot of cards from Salt Lake City. Where it's a referral card, it's in Salt Lake City. I'm sure they still do something like that. And we were going through all the referral cards and we were done what are we going to do the rest of the day? Well, we've got to go tracting. And he says well, isn't there any more referral cards. I says no, that was the last one. And he's driving and I'm going and a spirit hit me. I mean it hit me like a ton of bricks. Go to that house again now. So I did.

Larry McCally:

I told the elder, elder Zollinger, go up here, turn left, turn right, pull over there, pull up to this house. He goes where's the referral card? Where's the referral card? You're playing games with me, I know you are. What's going on. And I said no, it told me to come here. He said no, it didn't. I said yes, it did, I promise you. We knocked on that door and the exact same was there. The door was open, the music was playing and she came. The sister mitchell came to the door and I felt her spirit and I knew we offered to come back and teach her and her entire family. They were not there at that time, the rest of the family wasn't. She gave us an appointment. We came back, we taught the family. There was three children, um, two boys and a girl, and we we baptized the entire family, brother and sister Mitchell. They were so on fire about the gospel and the lessons went beautiful all the way through it. After we finished with them, they invited their uncle to come take lessons. He got baptized. Wow, he said you've got to teach my nephew. And he brings his nephew over to the house to teach the gospel. And he was baptized. And that's how the spirit I know I felt that spirit guide and direct me and help me every step of my mission, every step of my life. If you listen to that still small voice, it will. It will lead you.

Larry McCally:

We had a young, a young woman in Port Arthur, texas. She was in high school and her boyfriend was in high school and he introduced her to the gospel and they were devout Methodists and she wanted to take the lessons. Her father told her she could have the lessons but she was never going to get baptized, not as long as she lived in her house. I'll never forget that incident where we finished all the lessons and she wanted to be baptized, not as long as she lived in her house. I'll never forget that incident where we finished all the lessons and she wanted to be baptized so badly and her name was Cindy and I think her boyfriend was John and he wanted to baptize her and she went to her dad with all her heart and said, dad, please, let me please? And he told her absolutely not. And she told us no, dad's telling me no. I said would you let me have a chance? And I said she said yeah, if he'll talk to you. And I said I'll come over tonight. And I was senior companion.

Larry McCally:

My little younger companion sat down and I said let me go talk to your dad. She went back and introduced me to her dad in his little room in the back and he said there's nothing to talk about. I said well, let me just take a minute with you. And I'd fasted with my companion. I both fasted before we went and I sat down with him and I said your daughter is changing and you're seeing those changes and you can't stop those changes. Look how beautiful she's becoming, how much how close she is to God and Heavenly Father and how she's praying and following and doing such great with her life. And he's going. He just looked at me. I said she has grown to the point where she needs to be baptized, she wants to join the church.

Larry McCally:

And I don't remember all that I said. I can't tell you that. All I know was he looked at me and said okay. I watched his heart soften with all the things that I said to him and he said okay, when I walked out, his daughter could not believe that he had said yes and she held him and said thank you, and we arranged the baptism. They finished high school, he went off on his, her boyfriend went on his mission and they came back and it's been years since, but I believe they had. They came home, they got married immediately or right away and they had four boys last time. I knew, right away. And they had four boys last time I knew, and it just, it's just again.

Scott Brandley:

There's how, Heavenly Fathers walks in our lives.

Larry McCally:

I was in 1971, I had a Miller family and this one will set everybody back a little bit. We're tracting in an apartment complex in that was in Houston and they were going and they're two stories. So we're going up and down stairs and knocking on doors. We had knocked on, no one's there and we walked around the corner of the front of the building and looked down the alley and there's a guy back there working on his car. I happen to be I didn't tell you that part.

Larry McCally:

I've been in the automotive world all my life, since the time I was little when I burned up my dad's truck and had to fix the motor, replace it, to the time I built my own car in high school. To the time I worked for a dealership for 12 and a half years and then I went to work for General Motors for 30 years. Automotive has always been my life and I'll get a little more into that later, but not right now. This family, brother Miller, was working on his car and he was mad at the car and we walked up, says how are you doing? He says I can't get this. I worked on this for more than two hours. I can't get it to run. And I got to get to work and I said would you let me try? He said, fine, here. He threw a screwdriver, handed me the screwdriver and I knew exactly. I knew exactly what to do, not that I'm Mr Expert, but I knew the spirit, said do this immediately. And I did, which was adjust the points, all I had to do. And then he, I said, now start it. It started immediately. Wow, he stood there in awe and said I can't believe it. I've spent two hours and it wouldn't start. You do it in two seconds. This is impossible. We told him who we were and asked if we'd come back and teach them. We made the appointment, we showed up. He has two little children, two little girls they're only like three and a baby 18 months, maybe a year old baby, and Sister Miller and Brother Miller are just awesome people and they're just acceptable, accepting the gospel right all the way, reading the Book of Mormon.

Larry McCally:

And after the first, after the first guy came back for the second, do you have a testimony of this, of Joseph Smith? And they go. Well, that's a good, nice story. But no, we don't have a testimony of it. On the second discussion, you go into the Book of Mormon and they came back on the third. Have you read the book? We read quite a bit of it, but it's a really good story. We really like it. That's all we heard from them. It's a good story, we really like it. But no, we don't have a testimony, and both would say that we don't have a testimony.

Larry McCally:

Now, I didn't tell you this part on the first lesson, as we my companion was a younger companion and I'd walked out the door of their apartment and was upstairs apartment we felt the spirit walk out the door with us. I've never felt that before. I've never felt it since it literally walked out the door with us and stood on the porch. I mean, we didn't see it standing there, but we felt it. We're going, no, get back in there. No, I didn't say anything to my companion on the first one.

Larry McCally:

On the second one, when it happened again, we stepped, we said goodbye and challenged him to read the Book of Mormon and do the thing. The second one it went out the door with us and I started down the stairs and I stopped and I looked at my companion. Do you feel what I'm feeling? Yeah, the Spirit walked out the door with us. I felt that the first time I said I didn't say anything to you because I thought I was crazy and he said it just won't stay in that room and we couldn't figure out why room and we couldn't figure out why.

Larry McCally:

We went back for the third, the fourth and we're ready for the fifth discussion, which was the plan of salvation and the three degrees of glory, and we went to start the lesson and each time the spirit would walk into that room and pour out like you can't believe, they loved it, they loved the lessons, but they had no testimony and they weren't progressing for baptism.

Larry McCally:

They didn't want to consider baptism, they just want to hear what we had to teach them. But on that last we're going for the fifth. Brother Miller stopped me and said I need to speak to you, to me directly. He said would you come with me? And we went into their bedroom and there he stood on the side of the bed and he closed the door and he had his head hung down and he said you sit there and stare into the floor. And pretty soon he raised his head a little bit and he said Elder McCallie, you guys are so wonderful. We love what you're teaching us and it's so great. But you got to know we're not married, we moved in together years ago and have two children, but we're not married.

Larry McCally:

We moved in together years ago and have two children, but we're not married. You keep calling us brother and sister Miller, but we're not married. And I said whoa, now I know what's wrong. But I didn't know what to do. I had to go home. I said let me talk to my mission president. I called my mission president, said what am I supposed to do with this? They're living together. They've been living together for three or four years. They're not married. He said well, it's easy Finish the lessons, get them married this coming week and baptize them the next. I said we can do that. He said yes.

Larry McCally:

So we made the appointment to go back and we went back in the room and I said Brother Miller, I need to speak to you directly. And we went back into the room and I said Brother Miller, you need to fix this and you're the only one that can. And he says you need to do what's right for you, for your wife or sister Miller I called her sister Miller then and I always did anyway and your children? I says you need to get married. He said okay, what do I do? I says you just get her to say yes, we'll handle the whole thing. I got the bishop ready to set everything together. He's going, okay. He walked out that room, walked over to Sister Miller, got down on one knee and said I love you with all my heart, would you marry me? And she just bawled and said yes, I will. And we said let's get everything arranged. We'll come back later. And we did anyway. We've got the bishop, we got everything going. They were married that Saturday.

Larry McCally:

We finished the lessons and after that moment, every time we left the apartment the Spirit stayed in the room. We felt it. My commandant and I discussed it every time. It's just amazing, it stays in the room. And their testimonies came to them right then and there we actually baptized, married them that week and the following week they were baptized. But before they were baptized we had the final interview and it's at this moment that I knew that my promise to Heavenly Father had been fulfilled.

Larry McCally:

Brother Miller was sitting there on the couch. I'll never forget that. He looked at me and says Brother McAuley, sister Miller and I have a question. We're not stopping, we're going to get baptized. It was just before they were baptized. He says we have a question. I said okay, don't worry, we're going to get baptized. We're having an argument over.

Larry McCally:

We can tell your companion has got the dialogue and he's reading it and it's memorized or it's memorized. We can tell your companion has got the dialogue and he's reading it and it's memorized or it's memorized. We can tell he's memorized. But I told her yours is not memorized, it's coming directly from your heart and from the spirit. And we have a bed and uh, I bet I told her flat out yours is not memorized, yours is true from the heart. And I said, well, I can promise you it is true from the heart. And I said, well, I can promise you it's true from the heart, but it is memorized. And he goes. She said, see, I told you. And they went on to get baptized and married. And it was amazing and I'll share one quick one.

Larry McCally:

When they first went to the first meeting, I was so worried. The ward that we went to was why we call the crybaby ward Lots of babies and crying, and I was so worried that they wouldn't feel the spirit in that room within the sacrament meeting. And I was so worried I was telling the bishop we got to keep it quiet, we got to make it right. We got to have just perfect for them. And the more I tried, the worse it got. And I'm sitting there listening to all the crying and we get done and we're out front and I'm not going to say a word because I thought it was horrible and they go. That was the best meeting I've ever attended. That was wonderful. That spirit was so strong and they were so full of it I mean full of the spirit that they just they loved every minute of it. So you know, we hear what we want to hear and I didn't need to. The Spirit spoke to them and guided them and taught them.

Alisha Coakley:

And it was the right thing to do so.

Larry McCally:

I learned a very valuable lesson that if you're not living the gospel principles, if you're not living the Ten Commandments, the Spirit won't always stay with you. It will leave, and in this case it needed to leave so that they would do the right thing. So that was one of my super miracles that I had.

Alisha Coakley:

Wow.

Larry McCally:

Yeah, I loved my mission. They actually got. They asked me to go home a few weeks early and I said no, no, no, no, don't do that, don't send me home early, even though I, my wife and I, were engaged and we, we, I, it was right. After that they want to send me home early. I said no, I want to finish my mission. So they left me, they let me stay. I want to go to the clear, to the end, which is the end of October, and my wife, my wife, to be sent a letter to me, cause I'll get tacos, no wife, and don't buy phone, just talk letters. She said well, when you come home, do you want to get married? I said yep, set the date. We were married. Two weeks after I got home. Wow, idaho Falls temple.

Larry McCally:

And believe me, it wasn't without challenges, we challenges. Her mother had an older car and she loaded up everybody that could go. We drove from Portland, oregon, out to Idaho Falls. Her car, the power stream pump broke off and fell into the engine and we said we can't deal with it now. We got an appointment to go into the temple, so we went in, we got married and after we got married, freezing cold in November November 16th was the day we were standing out front taking pictures and shivering and freezing cold, and we, after we got married, I put on my dirty clothes and went down to a wrecking yard and got another power stream pump and a bracket and I lifted her car up and fixed it and putting her mother back on the road and we stayed there for our honeymoon. So that was.

Larry McCally:

that was the beginning of our marriage. Wow, and it was amazing. We've had a great time with, now, five children. So but but you know, life is a journey I go. Life is actually a rollercoaster ride Lots of twists and turns. You get on, you can't get off. It's twists and turns, ups and downs. You can get flipped upside down lots of times but you can't get off you got to ride it through.

Larry McCally:

Well, I'm going to go on with a little bit more here. My brother died, my mission ended. I got married. We had a child 11 months later. My wife wanted a child, a boy real quick, or a child real quick. We had a boy, and then we had another boy two years later, and then we always wanted them spaced apart, so every one was two years or three years apart. And but my along the way, my brother was having oh, I didn't tell you my parents, they had five children. Also, they had a girl and four boys. It was my sister, three years older than me.

Larry McCally:

My brother was one year younger than her and then came along me and dad said that's it, no more kids. Of course we're members of the church then, and we joined the church at that point. After that, and no, no, no, there was one more seven years after me, and that's when we were being introduced to the church, and so he was there as a baby, and then dad said absolutely no more. And we had well joined the church. And nine years after him. So I have a brother that's 16 years younger than me, living in Texas, and dad's dad didn't believe it. He says no, she's not pregnant. She's just, she's not. Well, my baby brother came and so we we had a family of five doing that, and so we had a family of five doing that. But my brother was joined. He was rough. The fourth son, which was Jeff Jeffrey McCally, he was fighting with dad all the time.

Larry McCally:

That was the one that was in the middle, seven years from me, and my wife and I were fully married, had two kids, and dad showed up at our door and says I can't take him anymore, you get him. And we about fell off our chair. What we live in? A little bitty home, 700 and some square feet, and we haven't got room. So we had to make room in a garage for him to be there, because dad wouldn't take him back home and he got himself into some trouble.

Larry McCally:

He was 16 or 17. Maybe he's 18. No, he's 17. He was 17. He said. He came to me and said the only way I can straighten up my life is if I join the military. And he said but I won't join the military without your blessing, I won't do it. So we had long talks. I bought a set of scriptures for him, I got his testimony back about the gospel and he was on the right track. And I said and the spirit said, let him go. So I let him go. I told him okay, you've got my blessing. I don't like it, but I'm told to let you go. And he joined the military. He was really getting strong in the church. He was going to church every chance he could. He found a young lady that he fell in love with and he got married. She happened to have two children and he had a baby on the way when there was an accident in training at Fort Bragg, north Carolina, and he drowned.

Larry McCally:

And I, like you, Alisha, with yours, it broke my heart. I got mad, I got angry. I told the Lord I want to know why, or I'm not paying tithing anymore. And I took that position for a long time. And when I finally got over it and humbled myself and told Heavenly Father I was sorry, I went to my wife and said it's time for us to pay that tithing. She goes too bad. I've already been doing it. I've been doing it behind my back the whole time and I didn't know it, but it was hard, good for her, yeah.

Larry McCally:

So Heavenly Father never gave me my real answer why he had to go, but it hurt so bad. I just didn't want to. I didn't want to go on for a while and I realized I was just depriving my children of a life they're supposed to have with their father that's supposed to be doing the right things and growing in the gospel with them. So I put myself back together and we went on with life. And I still don't have that answer. I still wonder why I had to go. I know that it was. I don't remember what year it was, but it was a few years ago.

Larry McCally:

Well, his son had been born and he was 32 years old and he was down in the dumps in Medford, oregon. He had lost his job, the house was in repossession, he had no, he was not married and he took his own life and I had just buried my older brother and I didn't go into much about him. He was shoved off a slide when he was 12 years old and he had brain damage and he ended up with severe seizures and then later a broken back from falling and he was quadriplegic. He could move his arms, but he's, I guess, not quadriplegic. He could blow the arms, he could move his arms, but he'd stayed in an institution all of his life since I was about 16 years old.

Scott Brandley:

Wow.

Larry McCally:

So that was real hard on the family as we grew. But I was down there, he had passed away and I went down to do the funeral with him. And then I got a call that next day don't go home. My nephew, my other brother's son, had killed himself. So I drove down to Medford, Oregon, and got the bishop and said I was a high priest, Can I conduct the funeral? He said absolutely, and I put it together for him and for his mom.

Larry McCally:

And his wish was that he be cremated and that his ashes be spread with his father. So that was back. His dad was buried up in Moala, oregon. So we held another service for the McAuleys up in Moala at the funerals at the site and buried his ashes with his father. So yeah, life comes with tragedies, hurt, heartache and sorrow. That never goes away. But you know the Lord's there and we'll all someday understand it completely. Well, life gets a little more. I'm hoping I'm not going too long on you guys.

Scott Brandley:

You're good, you're good.

Larry McCally:

I lost my mother due to congestive heart failure. She was 68 years old. You expect that it just was a part of life. I loved her, always watched over her, took care of her. My parents were deep in debt. I'll go into that one. I was very deep in debt, so much so mom was paying one credit card off with another credit card just to make the payments, just kept digging a hole so deep she wasn't ever going to get out of it. So I took charge of their finances. I sold the 10 acres and sold the house, and Mom and Dad were really mad at me and I took the money. What we had left after we paid off all the debts.

Larry McCally:

I got with a member of the church just before the house closed. I got it all done and I had a house built for them, a small ranch, that fit their needs. Mom was in a wheelchair because she had diabetes and she had one leg gone, and so I made it a wheelchair ramp and I made everything perfect for them to fit their needs and they moved into that home right after we closed on the other one, and dad, mom, both lived there. Dad had very limited eyesight, he had a seeing eye dog and they lived their lives serving others in their ward. Like you can't believe. Mom drove people everywhere that needed a ride to the doctor, needed a ride for groceries. Mom and dad served. My father ended up serving two stake missions and serving as a Lions Club president. Don't know how he did that because he can't see, but they helped him along the way and he used to collect papers and walk with a C&I dog to pick up papers and collect them and sell them for the money for the Lions Club.

Larry McCally:

And my mother and father lived their lives serving others and helping everybody that they could, no matter what it took, and by putting them in that home I had a small mortgage on it for them. They were able to keep up with that and no more debt. And mom I mean mom promised no more debt and she did. She honored that and they stayed above float. I helped whatever we had to help with, but they lived out their lives very happy and very joyful until Mother passed. Dad wanted to live on his own for a while and soon my sister was living close by 15 miles away, but she watched over him and said Dad can't do it. So we had a big family meeting, and the family meeting was Dad has to go and assist the living. Well, had a big family meeting and the family meeting was dad has to go and assist the living. Well, with a blind man and a seeing eye dog, they don't go and assist the living and no living would take him.

Larry McCally:

And I and he, dad, had a heart attack as an anxiety heart attack. But the doctor said he had less than a year to live. And my brother says I can't take him. I got small children and I said, well, I can't take him because I work for General Motors and they move me all the time. And I left there, my wife and I prayed about it and my wife looked at me and says bring him home, door home. Well, we didn't have enough room. But I felt this little small voice tell me there is room. We have a three-car garage. Take the back half off and build an apartment. So I got up, crawled up in the attic and I crawled back in there in that space and I measured it off and then I sat down and I blew the blueprints, just the way I envisioned them, the way the Spirit said this is what it's supposed to be.

Larry McCally:

And I built that home, a little apartment over our garage, and had staircases from our house into it that we just matched, and it had a living room, a bedroom, a nice big bedroom. It left his queen, because he loved a queen bed, and a bathroom and a full kitchen and since he was blind, I put up rails so he could walk around and hold on to rails and get around, and I put up day rails and night rails that let him pass between rooms so as at night he'd be confused because he had dementia and he'd get confused He'd see a thing and he would walk from room to room and he'd go and you'd love to hear him. He goes. Well, I got to go to the bathroom. I wonder where this rail goes. And he'd follow that rail and goes. How did you know? I wanted to go in here. He gets down to the restroom and he walked back out. He goes. I wonder where this rail goes. I'll find out. And he'd go, oh right, to my chair. It's exactly where I want to go. I don't know how it does it. It was hilarious to listen to him because he had to mention he would lose his short-term memory, but he had long-term. He could tell jokes and wouldn't quit. So it worked out perfect.

Larry McCally:

I hired a contractor, of course that you can tell we built it. I have a contractor that says I'll do it, and he took my little blueprint not blueprint, it was just a drawn out piece of paper and he took it down to an architect and they drew that thing up and it was approved by this county and they we built it fast. And then then, when we were done building the house, I had extra money left over $5,500 left over that we didn't need. And I told my wife I got this extra money, what am I going to do with it? So I called my brother and told him I says I got this extra money and the Spirit's telling me to mail the money to his old ward down in Molalla.

Larry McCally:

And I said that's what I'm going, that's what I want to do, I just want your permission because it's all family. And he said I agree with you, do it. So I picked up the phone. It was a Sunday and I called the bishop down in Oregon. We were living up by Seattle then, so that's quite a ways away from Moalala south of Portland.

Larry McCally:

And I said to the bishop I said, bishop, this is Larry McAlley. I want you to know that in the construction of Dad's home we had $5,500 left over and we don't need it. And the Spirit is telling me that I am to mail that money directly to you, and I don't know what for and I don't know why, but I will send the checks going now and you'll have it on Tuesday. And he's bawling, he's crying and I'm going. What did I do? I mean, he is just crying and it takes him a while to bring his composure back and finally he goes. Larry, sorry, you don't understand.

Larry McCally:

We just finished today a special fast for a two-year-old girl that has a mother that's a drug addict and the grandparents are members of our ward. That's a drug addict and the grandparents are members of our ward and they've constantly going to Portland to pick up the little two-year-old girls living in boxes on the street and then they have to give it back to their mother as soon as she gets sober. And she had been back and forth like six or seven times.

Larry McCally:

And she's only two years old and we had a special fast that we could find the money to pay for the lawyer's fees so the parents could get legal custody. And he said that is the amount of money we needed, wow. And he said they had gone to the stake and the church says I'm sorry, but we can't get involved. It's the right thing to do, but we can't do that. We can't get involved in a legal matter between custodies, between parents or grandparents. We can't pay legal fees for that.

Larry McCally:

So he'd been turned down by Salt Lake and by the stake, of course, and they said no, we're sorry, but and they they knew that it was going to continue they constantly get a call by the CPS or the, the whoever they are, the police or whatever, to come get the little girl, girl, her mother, stoned out of her mind. Come get her. We're going to put her, lock her up for a while and get her detoxed and then do it. And she'd do it again. And we sent that money down and our grandparents got full custody of that little girl.

Larry McCally:

So my testimony to all of you is we listen. That's still a small voice when that whisper comes and you hear it, you absolutely listen to it, you don't hesitate. And, um, it was amazing, they said that little girl became the heartbeat of the ward because everybody looked over her, everybody loved her, everybody wants to grow and become a young woman and to move on. Um, it was amazing hearing the stories of what was happening for her being able to stay with her grandmothers full time and her mother could never come drag her out again.

Larry McCally:

So, that's still a small voice, does amazing things and it has never stopped in my life. That's still a small voice, as I told you told me to go on a mission, told me to do everything I've been doing. We lived our life out in 2008. General Motors was crashing, remember. The market crashed and General Motors was in trouble and they offered me a package that I could leave if I wanted to, with full everything. Here's your retirement package. Here's how much money you'll get per month. You can leave and you'll have this much to live on if you want to leave.

Larry McCally:

And I was only 50 some years old, 58 years old, if I remember right. I looked at my wife and I said what are we gonna do? Well, lord opened the door. Let's take it. I don't know where it's going to lead. And I didn't know where it was going to lead. So I took the retirement package and everyone was shocked. I did. And so there I am in November of 2008 and no job and, and I was happy, we had enough money to live on and we were doing fine. And along came the Bishopric meeting that I was in, council meeting there and they said we have a problem here, that we have a family with a seven-year-old girl living in a double wide trailer with his. It would be, it was. It's a family a husband and wife he was. The husband's parents were the ones caring for them. He was a quadriplegic.

Larry McCally:

Her husband the boy was the man a quadriplegic. The man was a quadriplegic, and so the husband and wife were doing their best, living with his parents trying to make a do in a double-wide trailer, with him being completely quadriplegic, and they're trying to lift him and carry him and just breaking their backs and caring for him. And they had paid a contractor some money, quite a bit of money, but not enough to do the whole thing. But he said he would do it, but he never did it. For over two years they hadn't been able to get a house started. I said, well, I got nothing to do.

Larry McCally:

The Lord told me to jump on this road, and I don't know what I'm doing it for, but that looks like what the Lord wants me to do and I felt the prompting to do it. So I jumped into the middle of it, starting in January of 2009. I jumped on the contractor and I asked for his help and I said we need to get it going and I'm going to stand here. I'm not going to be here, I'm going to be here every day until his house is done and I'm not leaving. And he goes, okay, and he sent his crew up there and they started construction and one thing led to another.

Larry McCally:

I organized lots of parties, work parties. We did the siding, we did all the caulking, we did a whole bunch of other things and we moved them into their home. And the contractor came right through. He really jumped on then because I was pushing him. He built that house with rails in it that his wife could lift him out of bed, take him into the shower, take him into the kitchen, take him into the living room, put him in bed and everything without ever having to pick him up.

Larry McCally:

And a big shower that he could just be wheeled into and cared for, and they moved into that house in June of 2009. The church came out. The church magazine came out One of the magazines or paper, I don't know which it was and did a whole article on it, and it was amazing how I watched the Lord throw everything together for that family and it was.

Larry McCally:

I'm going. What a journey this has been for me. That's awesome that the Lord trusted me to make something happen for them, that they couldn't get done for two years. Well, we went along and guess what? October conference came with President Monson. He said if you can retire, retire and join, go on a mission. And I said to my wife that's what we should be doing. We should go on a mission, but we need to get a house first. We need. We already own property in Montana. We wanted to be where my kids were and three of my kids were. Two of my kids were living here then and we had already owned five acres up here that my son convinced me to buy next to him. So we said, okay, here's what we're going to do, here's the plan. As we prayed about it, we thought about it go to Montana, build the house, take us three years and then we'll go on a mission. Okay, that's what we're going to do.

Larry McCally:

So I got over here and got with a building contractor and got the plans that we wanted and we laid them all out and I got hired them to do it and they started building our house and all I wanted them to do. I said here's the plan you are going to build the. Do the foundation framework, tie vecket, hang my windows and doors, hang my outside windows and doors and get out of my way. Oh, rough in the electrical, that's it. Just rough it in and get out of my way. I'm taking on the rest. And I would go to bed at night going what did I get myself in for? How do I do this? How did I do that? And I'd pray about it and the next day I'd have the answer. I'd get up and do it exactly the way the spirit told me to do it. And everything went like a dream.

Larry McCally:

The contract came back like three or four months, about three or four months after I, he had turned it over to me and said he said can I walk into your house? Yeah, he came out for a problem that they had done and he came to fix it. And he goes, comes back out and said Larry, I can't believe this. Well, how'd you do this? He's, I fully expected to hear a phone call from you every day for the rest of my life. And I said I just made it happen One step at a time.

Larry McCally:

We were told that we couldn't build the house in less than a year we started in. He started in April, I came down in July and we moved in in October. Wow, now by December of that year, I'm in precipice meeting and our ward mission leader goes. Guess what? All these missionaries flying out here, all the sisters and elders, we need places for them. And they want to put a set of missionaries in Columbus, where I live. And he goes, and he happened to be my contractor. He goes and the McCalligs have the only house that they can live in and I'm going. I had built the top part.

Scott Brandley:

Oh no.

Larry McCally:

The basement. We didn't plan on finishing, we'll leave it in studs. Oh no, nothing. And my wife and I were just finishing up a bunch of things that we're doing and we had to run into Billings and I had to grab just some saw blades real quick, run into Lowe's. And I went running into Lowe's because we had to run to one of our grandkids baseball games that he had going in high school and he promised we'd be there. So we were. I said I'll tell my wife, stay in the car, I'll run real quick. And I ran and I said, oh, you take this and return it. I had some returns, so you return, I'll go get the stuff and we'll get right back out of here.

Larry McCally:

As I'm running through Lowe's, if you can imagine, went through the door and they have all those displays on your left usually, and I felt the spirit say look left and I said nah, I scratched my head, said no, I didn't hear that. And I kept on going. I grabbed my blades and stuff that I needed and I come running back. And I was running and the spirit said stop immediately. It didn't say immediately, it just said stop. That's all I heard was stop. I stopped. I said what do you want? And then it said look right, there was a kitchen cabinet being torn, kitchen being torn out, one of the displays in Lowe's. You've been into Lowe's You'll see those displays. One's been torn out. Contractors there ripping it out, taking it down. And I go, they're stacking it up and I looked at them. I said what are you guys doing? We're putting in a whole different display. What are they going to do with these? They said well, they're going to sell them. He says where's the manager? And he points her out.

Larry McCally:

I go up to her and says you're going to sell those. Yeah, I says I want to buy them. She says, well, let me check, see what they want for them. She comes back. It's $1,000. I was great, I was excited and I'm not serious, I'm dead serious. I'm making the story up.

Larry McCally:

The spirit said no, offer her 600. And I said okay, I said 600. She looked at me and said okay, if you have it out of here tonight, I said it'll be out of here. I promise I have to get back to the baseball game, I'll have it out of here. So she said 600. And then I ran it through and I had the Lowe's card gets 5%, so I ended up paying $570 for it. Wow, on top of that, they rang up the bill. It said it was $9,600 discount. The retail price was $9,600. Every piece fit exactly where it's supposed to be in our house and we had a full kitchen and everything functional. We moved missionaries in in January of that would have been 2014. And we had sisters for two years and elders for another six months and it was amazing. The sport was so strong in this house. It was just you could. Oh, it was amazing watching them grow and all the ones that came and left and everything.

Larry McCally:

It was just unbelievable spiritual experience that never you could not imagine. Well, things changed in our lives. My wife's health fell and she wasn't able. We weren't able to go on a mission. I ended up with quad bypass surgery and got through that fine. That was nine, that was 10 years ago and but my wife's health still not returned. So we can't serve a mission, but that was our mission for the missionaries. The apartment goes on more. One more step goes on. My grandson got himself into some serious trouble legal and the judge says nope, we're keeping him incarcerated and he goes, unless you will take full custody of him. My wife and I said yeah.

Larry McCally:

So he granted full custody to my, to my wife and I, as the court proceedings were going together and he had to pay the price for what he had been gotten into and the trouble he was in. And that lasted a year. The end of that year the house was vacant and the downstairs house it's a full house. Downstairs it's three bedroom, full kitchen, full bath. It's a full house. It's 1,800 feet and we lived 1, 1800 up and 1800 down. So anyway it ended up empty just for a month or so.

Larry McCally:

And I get a phone call and it's my daughter who was living in alaska. Her husband and her both had didn't have their job seasonal ran out. They couldn't find any other work. They were going. They couldn't afford the heat bills for the winter. They had to get out before winter hit. And they called and said would you know? She called and says we were, we're on our way to his parents that live in Seattle. We're going to stay with them for the winter. But the spirit won't stop telling me to call you. She said the spirit has told me twice and now the third time and I told my husband to pull over and stop. I have to call you. She gets on the phone and says that's what's happening. Can we stay with you? I said yeah, it's open.

Alisha Coakley:

It's available.

Larry McCally:

Come on. So they came and the minute she came, the spirit actually told me it's time for her to start a family. They have not even planned a family yet. I said you have a roof over your head, you have a place, Start your family. We have three.

Scott Brandley:

We had four beautiful grandchildren that are living here with us now that we get to see every day.

Larry McCally:

Caitlin is seven, little Aiden is five and little Mason is two. And we had a little Madison Aiden is five and little Mason is two and we had a little Madison. But during COVID in October of 2020, she was still born at eight months pregnant. We lost her, but it hurt and we got to have a little wake here at the house and hold her in her arms and have the funeral. And what's very interesting was both Grandma, me and me and my wife and my daughter and her husband were grieving so much over the loss. Our pain was so great that we couldn't hear her. And you say, well, we just wanted to hear her and know what it was like. And all we knew was my oldest son, who lives in Billings, north of Billings. He came to the funeral, of course, and after the funeral he walked up to my daughter, heidi, and said Madison came to me yesterday in my office. I didn't see her. I heard her voice and I heard her. And then I said I first thought I didn't hear anything, and then I heard her again and the little voice said Uncle Joe, would you tell mommy that I love her? And after he said that I realized that we were in so much pain that we couldn't feel her love that she wanted to share with us. And so that's a lot of my story and there's more that I could go on for hours. I just, I just feel the heavenly father in front of me. Every step of my life. I feel that spirit telling me I have another step to go.

Larry McCally:

I did retire. I'm going to go back a little bit. I retired in 08. I retired, general Motors did call me back after I finished that house and I went back for five more years after 11 months off. And I went back five more years working for them and I said in 2013,. That's when we came here that we had to build our home and go on a mission. And then I was off, retired for three years, finished everything in the house, and I'm sitting there bored, and that still small voice said go to work. And I said before I don't need the money, go to work at least for three years. Now it's been five. I go okay, fine, I'll go to work for three years. So it's been five. I go okay, fine, I'll go to work for three years. So I went down to Montana Silversmith because it's just 10 minutes from here.

Scott Brandley:

And.

Larry McCally:

I get out and come home and I don't have to. It's really quick drive. So I just did that. They don't pay a lot, but it's good enough. And I said, now just save the money. And I put all the money, and I put all the money away and then when COVID hit and other things hit, for my kids I had three kids that went through some real financial needs.

Larry McCally:

I had all the money they needed, wow, and I'm going now. I know why you told me to go to work. I wouldn't have had it. I didn't have that, but I had enough to take care of my sons that really had to have a helping hand.

Alisha Coakley:

Wow.

Larry McCally:

I got on my knees and said thank you. Now I know why you wanted me to go to work. So I have listened to that still small voice to go on the mission, to do all the things I've done, to the stories I've shared with you. It is amazing life, amazing journey, a roller coaster ride up and down with lots of tears, lots of hurt.

Larry McCally:

But through the hurt, heartache and sorrow comes joy, comes happiness and love, and it's all part of the journey. And I know that I'll go back a little bit when we're living in Seattle. I was teaching primary. If you don't mind me taking this time a minute.

Scott Brandley:

I was teaching primary.

Larry McCally:

If you don't mind me taking this time a minute. Yeah, I was teaching primary and I loved it. I always ask every class I want you after we had several lessons together, we got to know each other and we get on prayer and I tell them I want you to go home tonight and I want you to get on your knees by your bed and I want you to ask Heavenly Father if he loves you. Every single class that I had came back and said he loves me and one year I'll never forget. Have you ever heard Afterglow? If you haven't listen to their music.

Larry McCally:

Yeah, they're good. There's some songs that just absolutely rip my heart out and bring the spirit into the room so fast I get overwhelmed and tears come to my eyes. And I took a couple of songs. I know I shouldn't have done it, but I bootlegged them and I copied them onto a CD and I gave three or four songs off the CD to each of my kids and primary and I had one student boy and boy. And life went on. They loved the songs. They said it was great. I said play. I told, I challenged them to play one of the songs before they go to bed at night to invite the spirit into their room and then say your prayers. And they did it and I'll never forget.

Larry McCally:

I never heard more anymore, no more stories, except for one. I had the parents of the boy, one of the boys that was in my class. They said he's now 17 or 18, 17. And he was 17 because he was ready to graduate. But she said every night we hear his hard rock music just rattling our house as he goes up to go to bed. And then it was tears in her eyes. The music stops and that CD starts and the spirit just enters the home and he ended up going on a mission and I know he got a temple marriage. I don't know what he's doing today, but it was amazing. We change lives by touching people's hearts and bringing the spirit into their heart. And the spirit has been in my heart in my life, all of my life. It's my best friend, guiding and directing me. And there was one more I was going to share, share. Oh, what was it? Oh, we'd moved awards. We'd moved awards. I'm teaching primary again. I'm loving it.

Larry McCally:

And in my job with General Motors, one of the things that I had to do was accident investigations. So if a customer got in an accident not a serious one, it was a death we did death. Then I got called out and I was called out to Wenatchee, washington, and I had to drop what I was doing immediately and get there. It had already happened. It happened the night before.

Larry McCally:

It's all cleaned up, it's all gone, but I'm to get pictures, I'm to get newspapers, I'm to glean everything, interview witnesses if I can just pull all the information so that if a lawsuit comes, we've got it all. We got everything we need to know, clean and fast, and it's fresh. So I'm up there doing the whole thing and I pulled up in Wenatchee and I immediately grabbed all the papers and I went to my hotel room because it was late at night by the time I got up there and then I started reading the paper and this reads I'm getting back to the primary class, I promise it reads Stephen Otley, member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died last night in a accident he proceeds the death of his father who died in a tractor rollover accident on their farm, and he's and his mother's left the widows left with no other children, and I just started to cry.

Larry McCally:

They said he was a valedictorian, he was the president of the french uh speech speaking club and he was the. He was the president of a high school senior class president and he was there and went at you for the big festival they had and they have. All the high schools present a queen, a princess, and then one becomes the queen. His school, which was Quincy Washington, she was to become the queen and he was to crown her and he did. He got there, he did the whole thing. Friends took him because he had no ride. So he had friends that took him in a brand new blazer that his dad had and they came back to pick him up at midnight, him and another gentleman named John, and they started out of town.

Larry McCally:

Three friends that had left him till midnight and came back and picked him up were in town and down by the park drinking and were drunk. And as they got in the car they noticed that they were drunk and John was in the front seat, steve was in the back. They pushed him into the very back of a blazer, a full-size blazer, and there was no place for him to sit in the seats. They were all full. So they started out of town. They swiped some cars, tore mirrors off and they pulled up to the last light in town before you head out on the main drag, and the light was red and they slammed on the brakes. They come to a screeching heart and John, who was also LDS, jumped out, opened the door and jumped out and said Steve, come with me, come with me. And the boys in the back pushed him back into the back of the vehicle and said he, john, just nothing but a big chicken, sit down. And they pushed him back and Steve tried to get out and they stomped on the gas. The door slammed closed and Steve, within less than three miles, the vehicle flipped and rolled corner to corner. Steve was thrown.

Larry McCally:

The only one who died was Steve. He was thrown from the vehicle because he wasn't seat belted in the vehicle, landed on top of him and I just wanted to cry and I was crying. Well, that ended. Life went on, and now I'm back teaching primary. I told this story to my class and told them that they need not to cave to peer pressure, and that was my lesson to them. Don't cave to peer pressure. Do what the spirit tells you to do. Listen to that still small voice and when it says to do whatever you do, you do it. Don't hesitate, because choices of other people in life can make and determine what you end up in life with.

Scott Brandley:

Like.

Larry McCally:

Steve lost his life because of the choices others had made to drink and he couldn't get out. So careful what you do and make sure that others aren't making your choices for you. The little girl I don't remember her name, I just remember they're all impressed with the story and another one I'm not going to share right now. But life went on. It was a month later and we're having class and she had gone away. I knew she was on vacation. She came back and she goes.

Larry McCally:

Brother McAllen, that story you told us of Steve, he's my cousin and we were vacationing. We went up to his mother, who's my aunt, and I told her the story that you told me and she said that was absolutely true. She said no one's ever talked about my son that way and told the real story of what happened to him and she said thank you. And my aunt said to thank you. It's amazing, those little miracles like Dusty Smith you had on. Look at those little miracles, and he's the one that prompted me to do this, because those miracles keep popping in my life and we need to recognize them and understand that. Our heavenly father, yes, there's hurt, heartache and sorrow, but there's also a lot of joy, happiness and love and we got to share it and we've got to listen to that still small voice to guide and direct us life. I wrote here that light. I am grateful for the journey of life and all that I have felt. I've always felt Heavenly Father walking in front of me and preparing my journey.

Larry McCally:

My wife and I, we were married about 15 years, maybe 18. And we had struggled. We've always had a struggle. My wife, like you, she lives with some baggage. She carried from a small child and she had a fever of 105 and it wiped out a lot of the memory. But all of the pain is there and we've struggled.

Larry McCally:

And I went to the Lord several times. I can't take it anymore, I want out. And I prayed and prayed and prayed. I said I want a divorce, I want out, and I prayed about it and I stood up. One day I got dressed, I got show showered. She walked into the shower. I got standing beside the bed buttoning up my shirt, getting ready to go to work. And I'm not kidding you, I know what it's like for Joseph Smith to have a vision, one. The room disappeared completely and I watched my wife walk up. I did not see his face. I'm not telling you that. I knew that it was Jesus Christ and it was in a far distance. But I watched her walk up to him and he put his arms out and pulled her to him and I watched the pain that she had carried as a child and carrying the pain of me and our struggling marriage. He pulled it out of her.

Scott Brandley:

And.

Larry McCally:

I watched the joy and the peace enter into her and Heavenly Father said you are to stay with her, otherwise you won't have your family and my son was there in the vision with his family and you won't be a family if you decide to end this. And he said your job was to protect her, care for her and let help her carry that pain till the time I can take it out. And I said okay, and the room came back and I was standing in front of my bed and I immediately told my wife oh, my goodness, I'm sorry, I will stay with you no matter what. And I am sorry for doubting that we could make it, because we made it and I will never quit and I never have. So there's so much to share. There's some others, but I won't do all of them.

Alisha Coakley:

But thank you for letting me share.

Larry McCally:

Stop sharing so I can stop crying. I'll tell you that when I listened to, you can cut this out, but when you listen to the young man that deals with sex offenders and my wife, I had to have her listen to it because she carries all of that pain that he talks about the victims have my wife carries it and you carry it I know you do and it's hard, it's hard, it's hard to have a marriage.

Alisha Coakley:

It's very hard to have a marriage.

Larry McCally:

But I can tell you, I promise you, that they will come when Christ will wrap his arms around you and all of it will leave. I testify of that. I saw it and I cannot deny it. It happened, it happened in just a second, but it was beautiful. I my heart goes out, oh man. I got to quit.

Larry McCally:

We took in a girl. We took in a girl way back when we only had two children and we loved her and their family was learning the gospel and we weren't teaching them, but they learned the gospel, they got baptized and she was our dream little girl. She always watched our kids babysit our kids and we knew something was off in her life, but we didn't know what. We took her and loved her and cared for her and when she graduated high school she came to live with us. For a while my wife and her couldn't get along very well. Off and on they thought, and now I know why they were both carrying the same baggage.

Larry McCally:

This little girl. She's now well, she was born on my birthday, but 16 years younger than me. She had a birthday yesterday. I text her and I always text her every year and uh, but she had been through so much hurt, heartache and sorrow from that that she never married, she could never marry, and she's lived her whole life and I, I, just I prayed to the heavenly father to fill her full of joy till the day you can pull that pain out, because she can't stand it. The pain is so great in her, it went on for so long that it became a part of her and it's horrible to see the pain that you went through. But we carried her through and helped her live her life, and then we had to let her go with her family, of course, and let her go on live her life. And then we had to let her go with her family, of course, let her go on with her life. So that's why I say you and I have some paths that have crossed and the same things.

Larry McCally:

That's happened, so I will end there, but thank you for letting me share One more quick thing. While I was on my mission, in my electric bill came this it's called the beginning of a new life. I don't have to read it, I know it, I read it. I say it to myself every single day. It was called this is the beginning of a new day. It came on my electric bill and when I did it, the Spirit said keep it. And I kept it all my life. I still have it to this day.

Larry McCally:

I cut it off the bill that comes, and it's just a quote, and it says God has given me this day to use as I will. I can waste it or use it for good, but what I do today is important because I'm exchanging a day of my life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever, leaving in its place something that I've traded for it. I want it to be gain not loss, good not evil, success not failure, in order that I shall not regret the price that I've had to pay for it. And that is the something that led my life, all of my life. You're always exchanging today. Let God be part of that day you exchanged. Let the Spirit guide and direct you. It's my testimony to you in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Alisha Coakley:

Amen.

Scott Brandley:

Wow, larry, you are an inspiration, my friend man. I just felt the spirit the whole time you were talking, whole time you were talking, and I just feel like fortunate just to spend this time with you and to be just a tiny part of your, your story, now, to be able to share this with other people. Thank you so much for having the courage to come on here and share that oh, for sure for sure.

Larry McCally:

Thank you for letting me, because I've shared with a lot of people. I've done it in testimony meetings, I've done talks but nothing's like this with you and being able to put it all together. It's just been a wonderful journey of life and if it ended tomorrow, I'm totally happy with what Heavenly Father has given me and done for me. It's amazing, and I know I'm not the only one. I'm just an average Joe. I got a degree in automotive business management. That's it. I ran a successful business. I ran with General Motors, got several awards and several things. You got my name on a board up in Detroit for something I created. But I'm nothing special. But I know that God loves me. I know it, and every night I get on my prayers and say, okay, what's next in the journey? I still got something left in me. I want to know what the next journey is.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah. One thing I loved about your story is that it reminded me of a lot of things that I've forgotten over my life, like little memories came back of little miracles that have happened throughout my life and like, like little memories came back of of little miracles that have happened throughout my life and even my mission. I remembered as you were talking.

Scott Brandley:

I remembered teaching a discussion to to a couple that I totally forgot about, but your story reminded me of them and like, just it's amazing, if I need to write, write in my journal, I need a journal because, you just forget how many times god blesses you and he puts these little miracles in your life, but if you don't write them down, you forget them oh, thank you, larry, you're, I'm just gonna invite you back.

Alisha Coakley:

I mean, you say you have more stories. We we can have a part two for Larry McAuley.

Larry McCally:

Oh man, I cannot deny Heavenly Father in my life. I just can't Wow. From the visions of every step of my life.

Scott Brandley:

Thanks.

Alisha Coakley:

You are.

Alisha Coakley:

I'm having a hard time looking at the screen because I have salt in my eyes now oh sure I'm trying to hold it back because the spirit's really strong inside of me that all of this is true, I promise oh man, yeah, I don't even want to add anything to it, just because I feel like everything that you shared was just so beautiful and the spirit was with you from the start to the finish, and I just want to thank you for reaching out to us and for being not only a loyal listener but now you know, being absolutely one of my favorite guests to come on here.

Larry McCally:

Okay, I got two quotes. I got two quotes I got to end with. Let me do two quotes.

Larry McCally:

Sometimes someone comes into our lives without even knowing how much they have touched our heart. They leave footprints in our hearts that last forever and leave a love that never goes away. We should always thank that one that left those footprints in our hearts. And then I live by this law. It's very short.

Larry McCally:

Every day, live life doing simple acts of kindness on a daily basis to show the ones you're around that you care, that you love them and surround them with the care that you have. So simple acts of kindness on a daily basis to prove that you show that people you care. And I do that with my wife. I conduct every day simple acts of kindness and, even though she don't want some of them, I do the dishes or I do this. I make sure I do something and more than one simple acts of kindness on a daily basis. I even do it at work, where everybody gets a simple acts of kindness from me of some sort. And I was, I'm, I'm on a new project. I'm helping a family get their house going again, get it up, and he's building it all by himself and we got a new guy down to work and I asked him if he had helped young guy and we went up and he won't let me get on the ladder.

Alisha Coakley:

He says you're not getting on the ladder. I'm doing it and he's scared of heights, but he's running up the ladder.

Larry McCally:

We're getting it, we're getting the work done, but we set for a break and he pulls out. He always chews and and I'm always on him I says I want you to be here longer than me, so please stop chewing. And he's only like 24 years old, oh wow. And he pulls out a can and he pulls the lid off and he said Larry, you'll be proud of me, it was nicotine gum. Oh, that just happened Saturday. I said I am proud of you. That's awesome. So simple acts of kindness can change everything. So, live your life to the fullest, make every moment count. That's it. I'll quit, I'll shut up. I never stop because I'm so full of stuff.

Larry McCally:

You've inspired me, larry, so well, thank you for letting me be a part of this.

Alisha Coakley:

Yeah, thank you so much for joining us and for listening and sharing your story. We just man, like I always tell Scott, you know the for me, when I, when I cry my makeup off or my cheeks hurt, that's a sign of a really good show.

Scott Brandley:

And like both. I'm like oh, my jaw needs to be massaged, because I was just smiled through so much of your story and if I wasn't smiling I was crying. So thanks a lot, Larry, but it was just awesome.

Alisha Coakley:

I'm so excited to just kind of hear from our listeners, to see what they thought of your story, what stood out to them the most, and you know, I just I want to thank all of our listeners, you know, larry, for being so loyal and for all of those out there who we haven't been able to talk to or hear from yet.

Alisha Coakley:

This show for me has, um, has definitely helped so much to not only build my testimony but to remind me of the truth that I already have in my life and the things that I've already been privy to, and just to show me how much the Lord really is aware of each and every one of us and how how important it is for us to love each other the way that God loves us, and so how important it is for us to love each other the way that God loves us.

Alisha Coakley:

And so, um, I, just I, I love that I get to be a part of this and I love that our listeners are making it possible for us to get these stories out and to touch the lives of of those all over the place, and I just want to encourage our listeners. Guys like, please, please, please, do your five second missionary work. Hit that share button. Share Larry's story. Comment on it. Let us know what you thought, what your favorite parts were, and if you have a story to share, like Larry, definitely reach out, let us know. We would love to, you know, to add more voices to the show.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, and I would say I would add to that it might feel scary to share something religious on your social media, but this is like the least obtrusive way that you can do time right. If there's ever going to be a way that you can share the gospel in a low-key, high spiritual way, it's probably hitting the share button on Latter-day Light.

Alisha Coakley:

So, build up that courage.

Larry McCally:

I share your program with everybody.

Scott Brandley:

I can yeah.

Larry McCally:

I hit like on everyone.

Scott Brandley:

That's a great way to do it, perfect.

Larry McCally:

Thank you for doing what you do. I hit like on everyone Perfect Thank you to what you do, because it is a way to get the spirit and the light out there. Well, thank you.

Scott Brandley:

Yeah, awesome. Well, thanks again, larry, and thank everyone for tuning in. Let's share this, let's get Larry's story out there and let's shed some light on this crazy world. And until next week. Well, thanks for being here and we'll see you then. Take care.

Larry McCally:

Bye guys, thank you, good night.

People on this episode

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Scott Brandley

Host
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Alisha Coakley

Co-host