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I read a post on By Common Consent tonight that touched me deeply, and I want to share it with everyone here. As I was about to do so it hit me that we ought to have a thread dedicated strictly to really good, heart-warming, touching, uplifting experiences – of our own or about which we heard from others. I don’t want faith-promoting rumors or multiple-hand accounts, but rather first- or second-hand experiences that remind of the good in others – especially the Church and fellow church members, but other people, as well. I think we ought to have a place for nothing but reminders of the sweetness of Mormon life, to borrow a phrase from a long-time Bloggernacle contributor. With that in mind, I am going to copy the entire short post here, following the link:
“Getting It Right” (
http://bycommonconsent.com/2013/04/24/getting-it-right/ )Quote:Note: Names have been changed to protect privacy.When I entered the chapel on Sunday just at the start of Sacrament meeting, I noticed that all four members of the Young Women’s Presidency were seated on the stand. Seated next to them was the smiling face of a young woman who had just completed the last of her Personal Progress requirements and would therefore be receiving her Young Womanhood Recognition Medallion. After the meeting started and the rest of the ward business had been taken care of by a counselor in the bishopric, our Bishop stood up and took a few moments to explain the long and difficult process of earning the medallion.
In addition to giving this stellar young woman the microphone to bear her own testimony and praising her accomplishments, the Bishop recognized the help of the Young Women leadership, the parents, and others who had assisted her along the way. Then the Bishop made an another announcement: he motioned to two other people sitting on the stand–it is almost beyond me how I could have failed to notice them before: Emily–a young, wheelchair-bound woman with severe physical and mental disabilities–and her mother.
My Bishop explained that, some time ago, the young women in our ward had approached him and asked about the possibility of earning “another” medallion on behalf of someone who could not earn it herself–Emily. He then explained further that, with the help of Emily’s family, the young women in the ward all combined to accomplish each of the requirements twice: once for themselves, and once for Emily (I.e., two different projects, read the BoM twice, etc…).
As the Bishop congratulated Emily on receiving her Young Womanhood Recognition Medallion, and as Emily’s mother told the ward family that she and her husband had never dreamed that Emily would have such an opportunity, and as she spoke of the time, effort, and love willingly given by the young women to read and work and serve with, and on behalf of, her daughter, there was not a dry eye in the chapel.
I was in Utah just over a week ago, attending the ward one of my sisters-in-law attends, and one of the deacons was in a motorized wheelchair. He obviously had some condition that rendered him unable to do much physically (reminding me of ALS / Lou Gehrig’s disease in an older person, so perhaps advanced Multiple Sclerosis). He had a special tray that attached to his wheelchair, which my sister-in-law said one of the men in the ward had made. The priest leaned over and placed the sacrament tray on his wheelchair tray, then he drove the wheelchair to the end of each row – where the person at the end of the row picked up the sacrament tray and then placed it back on his wheelchair tray. When the deacons returned to the sacrament table, he struggled a bit to take the sacrament himself from the tray sitting in front of him – then the priest leaned over and removed the sacrament tray from his wheelchair tray. It’s hard to express how touching it was to watch. It must be commonplace by now to lots of the members of that ward, but it was an amazing thing to witness.
Rather than go into specifics, I would like to note the various recovering drug/gambling addicts, alcoholics and former criminals/convicted felons + jailbirds, and the folk from broken homes who I’ve seen transformed into good rounded people in the church. I don’t pretend their problems cease, but I know of individuals who were abandoned or abused as children, who have become loving parents… thus breaking one of the cycles which afflicts humanity. One guy, a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, told me of how delighted he was with one of our quiz nights, that he could see how adults could have great fun without drink. Since we come from a culture of heavy drinking, demonstrating an alternative is highly important.
Participating in the town community in various ways broadens my definition of community. Who is my neighbor? Tonight and every Thursday night I lead a Pioneer Club class at the local First Christian Church. My co-teacher is a woman that is the mother to a new LDS convert (also a grown woman). This convert has stated that her mother is militantly anti-Mormon and has opposed her attending LDS church meetings.
My co-teacher has asked me a few questions about church and our family. On another occasion she ran into my wife and likewise asked her some questions. Then this woman said, “I’m glad that my daughter has people like you in her life.”
I feel like my heart is expanding to make room for people that are different than me. In return I am able to explore the real me and not be so afraid that if I deviate from a narrow prescribed role then I’ll be rejected. Maybe in the process I’ll break a few stereotypes of what it means to be Mormon!
:thumbup:
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