We finished
our penultimate pasty making month this week. The other volunteers are very sad
we are leaving and I don’t think it is entirely because of the work we do. They
want to know whom they can call so that our assignment can be extended. We have
gotten to love them, and they us, in a way that only happens through genuine
service. There have been a few questions about the church’s “peculiar” beliefs.
The one that draws the most incredulity is our insistence on coffee abstinence.
Our friends just cannot understand why denying ourselves the many pleasures of
coffee drinking should make any difference to any religion. They playfully keep
offering; hoping to see if we have finally come to our senses. The nearly two
years we have been here has given these 15-20 individuals a close up look at
Mormons in Action. We feel good about what they may have learned by our
examples; we know we have learned much from them. These are very religious and
loving people who, like us, receive marvelous blessings when they/we keep the
Lord’s commandments. We will be happy to meet them again on any return visit
or, ultimately, beyond the veil.
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| Just some of the #250 of potatoes it takes to make 650 pasties. |
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| Making dough balls. They will soon be pasty crusts. |
We focused
once again this week on our Visit and Home Teaching assignments. One of the
assigned home teaching “families” is our former Branch President. When we
informed him that we were doing our home teaching he said, “that’s great, it
will be the first time in over six years that I have had home teachers visit
me”. That is sadly all too common
in these small branches where the distances are great and the funds are
severely limited. “Active” branch members are often the last to be visited.
There is a reason the Lord requests/commands that all of His saints are
frequently visited.
The young
Roche boy, Tyler, is now back home with his family. The operations were painful
but he was a trooper. On Saturday we visited and took them fresh pasties and
brownies to eat for lunch. They were very appreciative. The branch president
and his counselor have scheduled to visit them this week for an assessment.
Their home teacher has been in daily contact with them. They are now in the
hands of the Lord’s local servants. We trust all will be well.
Elder and
Sister Johnson
For those who have yet to read this short "touching" account.
Last
Respects
As a guitarist, I play
many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside
service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to
be at a pauper’s cemetery in the backcountry. As I was not familiar with the
backwoods, I got lost.
I
finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the
hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they
were eating lunch.
I felt
badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave
and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn’t know what else
to do, so I started to play.
The
workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my
heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve
never played before for this homeless man.
And as
I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all
wept together. When I finished I packed up my guitar and started for my car.
Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I
opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, “I never seen
nothin’ like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty
years.”
Apparently,
I’m still lost…
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