INSTANT FRIENDS AND FAMILY....

BRIGHT SABBATH

No matter where I have attended Church throughout the world, it is always like having instant friends and family.  The gospel gives us a kinship with others whether or not we speak the same language or have similar backgrounds or a familiar shared culture.

That was true again today (March 24, 2019) when I attended our new 2 hour block of meetings with the Missoula 4th Ward in Montana.  This was day two of the same parameters for every trip in my March schedule:  killer long first day about 12-14 hours on the same plane flying over eight hours without a break.  Get the passengers on.  Get them off.  Get the next passengers on.  Get them off.  Get the next passengers on.  Get them off.  By that time, the whole crew are ALL ready to fall down dead in our tracks,.  This first day hasn't ended at the hotel until near midnight all month long.  I'm sure the others have felt the same as I have, just get to the hotel so I can collapse.  Day three of this month's schedule is a repeat of day one.

But day two?  Thirty hours in one hotel, meaning two nights in the same bed and a whole day to piddle away or discover something new...if it's possible even to get OUT of bed the next day.

This morning there was good reason to get up.  I had a whole Sunday off.  And though I would have preferred being home going to my own Carlson Farm Ward so I could do my calling as Primary President, I've had some pretty neat experiences sharing my Sunday with complete strangers who, almost without exception, have become my friends by the time we part ways after Church.  So, in spite of being just a wee bit tired and weary, I jumped out of bed looking forward to another adventure.

And I don't even have to look in the phone book anymore before I arrive in a layover city and call the hall phone at a local chapel or find a bishop in the area that has a phone listed and call him to see which chapel is the closest to my hotel.  "And by the way, is there someone who could come and pick me up?" 

Nope.  Now everything is online.  Easy-peasy!  FIND A MEETINGHOUSE presents a search box and drop down menu of choices.  With one click there is your destination.  Hopefully, it is within walking distance.  In Missoula it was. But Louis asked me if I would "sacrifice" my walking miles and broker a ride with LYFT so he could get a little idea of the passenger side of the ride.

My LYFT driver arrived promptly at 8:30 a.m. and delivered me to a chapel whose architecture was definitely from the 60's--blond brick and a stake center which was a big box the size of the city block with classrooms arranged along all the outside walls.

I sat down in my favorite spot in the chapel--the middle of a row about four or five from the front with the podium right ahead of me.  Within a couple of minutes Bishop Yule came to introduce himself.  We chatted.  I told him where I was from.  And that we had Yules in our ward and stake.  He was immediately interested as he is doing family history and hasn't found any members with the same last name.  He asked if he could call me about more info concerning Opal and Warren Yule, and he took my phone number.  Looked to be in his late 30's.

Next was  Brother Bell.  An older man about my age who is a counselor in the bishopric.  We chatted about his weekly trip to conduct business in Seattle.  

Then I leaned forward and introduced myself to the woman sitting on the bench in front of me.  Ann Bell.  Before long her husband whispered something in her ear and she moved to sit by me, bringing another sister--Jane.  

The first speaker was the brother who had opened the chapel door for me as he was accompanying his teenaged boys to help prepare the sacrament. 

The bishop had announced that the speakers were both last minute choices as the two people slotted to speak were ill.  

But Ken Golding didn't give a talk like it had been a last minute effort.  His topic was Lehi's dream, and he started by saying he had served a mission in Brazil over 20 years ago.  One day he and his companion stood outside the iron gate at a house and clapped their hands (apparently the custom in that place).  The man who came out to see what they wanted was "huge", probably 6 foot five inches and a "bare knuckle boxer".  (The speaker was a smaller man, probably about 5 foot nine inches, so the boxer seem big.)  

The man of the house ( I will call him Puto) was attracted to the message and invited them in.  In fact, he was so overcome with the spirit of the restored gospel he and his wife and older son were baptized within a week.  As this was during the "winter" in Brazil, the font was filled with a hose stuck through the chapel  window.  Brother Golding assured us today it wasn't all that cold outside to the missionaries that day, but to the investigators who got baptized it was frigid water.  Interestingly, since the investigator was so big, it took Elder Golding THREE tries before he was able to completely immerse Puto.  And by then, the elder was freezing, too!

But Puto declared he had never felt warmer in his life!  His baptism had brought the fire of the Spirit to him, and he knew the gospel was true.

Unfortunately, Puto's boss had been business partners with a member of the church who had shady business practices.  The partner had been not only excommunicated, but he had also been a bishop.  So, the boss told Punto that he could NOT be a member of the Church and work for him.

It was a hard decision.  Jobs were scarce.  Brazil was in an economic downturn.  A lot of the people in the country didn't even HAVE a  job.  The employment wasn't a lot, but it was something to take care of his family.  Puto made the decision not to go to Church.  Though the missionaries continued to visit with them, Puto and his family never did embrace the gospel again.

Then Brother Golding took out his phone long enough to read 1 Nephi 11:25 about the rod of iron being the love of God.  (Other than that brief moment, he did not look at any notes or anything to give his message. ) He said he felt like Nephi's explanation of Lehi's vision about the iron rod representing the love of God also included family, friends, and others with whom we have special experiences.  All those represent the love of God, too.  

He closed with an invitation  to think about a stair railing, how it is always there as we go up and down the stairs.  We don't really think about it....until we lose our footing, or stumble, or have something we are carrying and need to steady ourselves.  Until we need it.  Then we reach for it.

Our life is like that.  That "rod" has to be there to help us so we don't lose our footing.  Our friends, our family, others.  They all keep us safe with the love of God on our journey through the mists of darkness with the people in the great and spacious building calling out to us to leave what we know is true and join them..  

Puto listened to those mocking people.  He didn't have the strength to resist when the going got tough.  He didn't hold to the rod.  And he lost his way.  

Good talk!

And then I went to Primary where I sat in on the CTR 5 class and had fun watching a cartoon video with them about The Sower and then discussing the parable about the Wheat and the Tares.  The teacher was moving these bright little people into gospel conversations and conclusions it was obvious they had discussed with their families.  

Good job!

In Sharing Time which was after class time, the counselor who conducted asked me to raise my hand and told them I was visiting from Colorado.  Then she included me in the group of visitors when the kids sang the hello song to them.  One of the little CTR 5 people said, "She was in our class!"  

The Primary song leader was right on par with our own Carlson Farm Primary music leader.  Fun activity while teaching the gospel through music and games.

The two hours whizzed by!  In a flash it was already time to say "goodbye" to my new friends.  Soon I was with a different LYFT driver heading back to my hotel.

On the way, I was thinking about  our family ventures while we were away in Virginia, Sweden, Upstate New York and Berlin.  They would have been so lonely and more frustrating without the friends we made at Church   In Sweden particularly, so many of the workers who went did not like their experiences there at all.  Some even went home to Colorado early.  I always felt sorry they missed out on so much.  Strangers in a strange land we weren't.

WE HAD INSTANT FRIENDS AND FAMILY....