Mike and Laurie Hoer have been people of great influence in my life. Mike Hoer was the mission president in Taizhong, Taiwan when I served there. He often used stories from his life to illustrate principles he wanted to teach us. The stories were usually outrageous. This one occurred on a family vacation to safari for tigers in India. Some of the precise details now escape me, but it went something like this:
The Hoers, along with their four children spent about a week safariing for tigers in India. They stayed in a small village and went out into the jungle all day each day for several days, but they found that this was a particularly bad week for finding tigers. The local guides weren't sure why they had so much trouble finding both the tigers and their tracks. In addition, they spent a great deal of time lost, hungry, and wet from the rain.
On the second to last day they found themselves caught in a colossal storm. They finally found a cave and decided that they had to wait the storm out there. President Hoer got everyone inside and made one last run to bring in the rest of their belongings. He neglected to duck at the mouth of the cave and slammed his head against the roof of the opening. There they were, soaking wet, trapped in a cave by a storm, with blood gushing from President's head. They were several miles from the village they were staying in and quite a few more miles from any real medical help. Fortunately they were all right until they managed to make it back and patch up President's head that night.
The next day, their last day, President was the only one who wanted to go back out looking for tigers. He finally persuaded everyone to try one last time except for one son who insisted on staying behind in the comfort of their lodgings and reading a book. That day when they went out they had a remarkable time. They found a couple of groups of tigers including a mother playing with her tiger cubs. When they arrived back at the village still glowing from the wonder of the day, they showed the pictures to the son who had stayed behind and told him excitedly about what they had seen. He was so upset that he didn't go. Because he doubted that they would find tigers that day when they hadn't seen any all week, he had missed out on what could have been an unforgettable adventure. Since that day, anytime their family does anything, this son has to be involved, because, as he says, "You might miss a tiger."
The world hold many marvelous gifts and adventures. Sometimes we have to be willing to take risks, make sacrifices, and muscle our way through difficulties in order to find them, but if we never try, we just might miss a tiger. And so the message is 有信心， 有办法. Where there is faith, there is always a way. If you are willing to don your safari hat and make the sacrifice, you will find a tiger.
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