Mark the Great

Memories from Mark's Little Sister

This is a post by Susan Richardson Chapman
My earliest memories of Mark are when he was young and like a giant to me. I remember his big muscles. He would walk by me and tenderly give me a little punch in the shoulder. I must have been 7. I decided that I would give him a punch one time back. His arm felt like it was made of steel and as I punched him back my knuckle popped. He laughed and I laughed. He was always such a good looking guy and easy to laugh. I remember watching him adoringly and being so proud when someone would say “Are you Mark’s little sister?” I remember him having friends over and a fire pit in our back yard with them. I always idolized him and wanted to be just like him.

He once had friends over and they rented a VCR (back before everyone owned one) and took the Television and VCR outside to watch a movie. There were bugs all over the screen. He took bug repellent and sprayed the TV and VCR. The VCR stopped working. Needless to say, we had a VCR before anyone else in Benjamin after that.
I loved watching and helping him make his home videos when he was young. What a treasure.

When he was gone on his mission he sent a tape home to us. I held the hand recorder up to my little ear and just cried and listened to his voice. I missed him so much. That says a lot about what kind of brother he was.

He shared a story about when he was on his mission and he and his companion were tracking. They came upon a group of guys that were trying to tear a phone book in half. Mark asked them if they would listen to what they (the missionaries) had to say if he could tear a phone book in half. The guys all laughed and watched first skeptically and then with sheer astonishment as this young missionary in his suit and tie took the phone book in both hands and ripped it down the middle. He didn’t say that any one converted to the church because of this but they sure were shocked and amazed.

As I was leaving on my mission he gave me some money. I remember not wanting to take it but he wanted me to have it. He was supporting a large very young family at the time. I still remember him with the money his hand out stretched.

On my mission he wrote to me and asked me to pray for his new business move. I did which seemed to go well for him. When I got home he took me to lunch. He knew the oddness that I was feeling as a new return missionary.

When we moved into our apartment he was by himself and showed up to help my husband and I move. He muscled our extremely heavy treadmill into the apartment by himself. He was so strong, incredibly strong. He helped us with two more moves after that one more time when he was the only one there. He also helped us fix our hot tub. He spent some hours at our home with my husband finishing our basement and helping us do some hard things. He did so many things so unselfishly. He never complained and always tried to make it sound like we were helping him out in some way by being there.

Up until his last hours he was trying to help us out. He was looking for a job for my husband. He was talking to people that he knew and calling us to tell us of people that were interested in highering him. I know that these people loved Mark and because of Marks example he now has a job. I will remember him smiling sitting at the table, the sound of his voice and his laugh. He was a great example and like others have said he saved me and greatly influenced who I am today.