Week 21: Tornado Watch and a Rumor Feat. Ezra
Dear Loved Ones,
I'm kicking off this email with a birthday shout out to Kendra Mueller-Taylor! Hope you're having fun in Thailand!
Whoever said Utah weather is bipolar never lived in eastern Kansas. Three o' clock Friday afternoon, we were lying out in the sun next to this pond in our apartment complex, but at eight o' clock, water was frothing up from the storm drains and people just half an hour away were taking shelter in basements while tornado sirens blared. We tracted one door at this new apartment complex after dinner and the people who answered were like, "Why are you doing this?" Sister Crandall wanted to stay out and tract, but I convinced her to take cover at a neighbors' house. We hid out there for an hour before going home. There was no disaster at the end of this, but I wasn't taking any chances. Tornado and flood at the same time? No thank you.
Something I've been asked a lot lately is what the Book of Mormon gives us that the Bible doesn't. SC's stock answer is the doctrine of Christ-faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end-as outlined in 2 Nephi 31. Another missionary told me the Book of Mormon's chief importance is that it says more about the atonement of Jesus Christ than the Bible does. Neither of these answers satisfy people I teach, though. I used both explanations with a lady on Saturday and she wasn't impressed with either since the Bible does talk about those topics, if with less depth or cohesiveness.
This is a tricky question for me to answer, because for me personally, the core doctrines of the church that solidify my allegiance to it are temples (rooted in the Pearl of Great Price), modern revelation (Doctrine and Covenants), and the values of The Family Proclamation. I'm working to come up with a satisfactory way of explaining its value to people, and so far, the best I can figure is that it's true. True things don't need a reason to exist and it doesn't matter if the same truth exists elsewhere. Truth is self-evident.
Any ideas?
I have reason to suspect missionaries in Boston are now going by their first names. The clue came to courtesy of my brother, who sent me the following email:
The other day I saw two young men in suits approach a group of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out flyers outside the subway station. One look told me they were missionaries. And when I heard one of them say "Hi, my name is Ezra" I instantly confirmed it. I would eat my shoe if someone non LDS were named Ezra. I didn't have the heart to eavesdrop on their conversation, but I'm sure if I had, I would finally have learned what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
It is possible that Ezra is a rebel and this isn't actually Boston policy. It is also possible that Ezra is not of our faith, just a young man who enjoys wearing suits and wandering subway stations with another young man in a suit talking about religion to people. I don't know yet. But if it happens, you heard it here first. I've mentioned before how missionaries in Oregon are experimenting with plainclothes and no name tags. I heard last night that it's happening in Colorado too. I'd been wondering whether that means they don't have titles, since the name tags are being done away with.
I shared the Ezra story with some elders who were, I thought, disproportionately dismayed at the thought of going by first names. One sister even said she hopes this change doesn't hit until after she's done with her mission.
Why?
No one outside the church would care. A lot of conversational barriers would be broken down if I could introduce myself as Erica. Calling ourselves sister and elder isn't important, sharing the gospel is important. It's another symptom of our mission-centric culture that people are uncomfortable with any change or rumor of change that makes missionaries less aloof. I can share the gospel just as well as Erica instead of Sister Smith just like I can share the gospel perfectly well in slacks with a smartphone in the pocket. Progress is no enemy to the gospel.
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake."
Now, a cool story:
We teach this lady named Betty who has a ton of incredible life stories. When she was seven years old, Betty and her parents took a bus from Kansas down to Alabama. The year was 1953. I don't have Google to check the date, but I think the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Browder vs. Gayle didn't happen until 1957. A light-skinned black lady got on the bus. Betty thought she looked tired, so she stood up and gave the lady her seat. She told me she didn't recognize the woman as black and I'm sure her age made her unfamiliar with Alabama segregation laws. The driver kicked Betty and her parents off his bus and the passengers kicked and stomped her all the way down the aisle. By the time she got off the bus, her neck was broken.
Her parents walked and walked, dragging their suitcases behind them, until a seventeen year old black guy rode up to them in a horse-drawn wagon loaded down with cotton. He took pity on Betty, helped her onto the wagon, and got her to a doctor.
That guy was Morgan Freeman. Isn't that a wild story?
My friend L'ren, a former service missionary, sent me a rewriting she did of I Hope They Call Me On a Mission. That song interests me because that word, hope, is the only thing in our culture that hints that a mission call might not be extended to every willing person. I teared up while reading it and thought I'd share:
My Father called me on a mission
Sent me to Earth to see it through.
Now in the field, I am ready
To love and serve and teach like Father's children do.
We all are here serving a mission.
I'll do my best to do my part.
No matter where this mission take me,
Full-time or not, I'll bind up people's broken hearts.
Someday, when my mission is over,
I've spread love for all to enjoy.
I hope that then I'll hear the Lord say,
"Well done, thou good servant. Enter into my joy."
All is going well here. I'm teaching a bunch of people. The work is rolling forth in Zion. Drop me a line. I love to hear from you.
I'm kicking off this email with a birthday shout out to Kendra Mueller-Taylor! Hope you're having fun in Thailand!
Whoever said Utah weather is bipolar never lived in eastern Kansas. Three o' clock Friday afternoon, we were lying out in the sun next to this pond in our apartment complex, but at eight o' clock, water was frothing up from the storm drains and people just half an hour away were taking shelter in basements while tornado sirens blared. We tracted one door at this new apartment complex after dinner and the people who answered were like, "Why are you doing this?" Sister Crandall wanted to stay out and tract, but I convinced her to take cover at a neighbors' house. We hid out there for an hour before going home. There was no disaster at the end of this, but I wasn't taking any chances. Tornado and flood at the same time? No thank you.
Something I've been asked a lot lately is what the Book of Mormon gives us that the Bible doesn't. SC's stock answer is the doctrine of Christ-faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end-as outlined in 2 Nephi 31. Another missionary told me the Book of Mormon's chief importance is that it says more about the atonement of Jesus Christ than the Bible does. Neither of these answers satisfy people I teach, though. I used both explanations with a lady on Saturday and she wasn't impressed with either since the Bible does talk about those topics, if with less depth or cohesiveness.
This is a tricky question for me to answer, because for me personally, the core doctrines of the church that solidify my allegiance to it are temples (rooted in the Pearl of Great Price), modern revelation (Doctrine and Covenants), and the values of The Family Proclamation. I'm working to come up with a satisfactory way of explaining its value to people, and so far, the best I can figure is that it's true. True things don't need a reason to exist and it doesn't matter if the same truth exists elsewhere. Truth is self-evident.
Any ideas?
I have reason to suspect missionaries in Boston are now going by their first names. The clue came to courtesy of my brother, who sent me the following email:
The other day I saw two young men in suits approach a group of Jehovah's Witnesses handing out flyers outside the subway station. One look told me they were missionaries. And when I heard one of them say "Hi, my name is Ezra" I instantly confirmed it. I would eat my shoe if someone non LDS were named Ezra. I didn't have the heart to eavesdrop on their conversation, but I'm sure if I had, I would finally have learned what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.
It is possible that Ezra is a rebel and this isn't actually Boston policy. It is also possible that Ezra is not of our faith, just a young man who enjoys wearing suits and wandering subway stations with another young man in a suit talking about religion to people. I don't know yet. But if it happens, you heard it here first. I've mentioned before how missionaries in Oregon are experimenting with plainclothes and no name tags. I heard last night that it's happening in Colorado too. I'd been wondering whether that means they don't have titles, since the name tags are being done away with.
I shared the Ezra story with some elders who were, I thought, disproportionately dismayed at the thought of going by first names. One sister even said she hopes this change doesn't hit until after she's done with her mission.
Why?
No one outside the church would care. A lot of conversational barriers would be broken down if I could introduce myself as Erica. Calling ourselves sister and elder isn't important, sharing the gospel is important. It's another symptom of our mission-centric culture that people are uncomfortable with any change or rumor of change that makes missionaries less aloof. I can share the gospel just as well as Erica instead of Sister Smith just like I can share the gospel perfectly well in slacks with a smartphone in the pocket. Progress is no enemy to the gospel.
"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake."
Now, a cool story:
We teach this lady named Betty who has a ton of incredible life stories. When she was seven years old, Betty and her parents took a bus from Kansas down to Alabama. The year was 1953. I don't have Google to check the date, but I think the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Browder vs. Gayle didn't happen until 1957. A light-skinned black lady got on the bus. Betty thought she looked tired, so she stood up and gave the lady her seat. She told me she didn't recognize the woman as black and I'm sure her age made her unfamiliar with Alabama segregation laws. The driver kicked Betty and her parents off his bus and the passengers kicked and stomped her all the way down the aisle. By the time she got off the bus, her neck was broken.
Her parents walked and walked, dragging their suitcases behind them, until a seventeen year old black guy rode up to them in a horse-drawn wagon loaded down with cotton. He took pity on Betty, helped her onto the wagon, and got her to a doctor.
That guy was Morgan Freeman. Isn't that a wild story?
My friend L'ren, a former service missionary, sent me a rewriting she did of I Hope They Call Me On a Mission. That song interests me because that word, hope, is the only thing in our culture that hints that a mission call might not be extended to every willing person. I teared up while reading it and thought I'd share:
My Father called me on a mission
Sent me to Earth to see it through.
Now in the field, I am ready
To love and serve and teach like Father's children do.
We all are here serving a mission.
I'll do my best to do my part.
No matter where this mission take me,
Full-time or not, I'll bind up people's broken hearts.
Someday, when my mission is over,
I've spread love for all to enjoy.
I hope that then I'll hear the Lord say,
"Well done, thou good servant. Enter into my joy."
All is going well here. I'm teaching a bunch of people. The work is rolling forth in Zion. Drop me a line. I love to hear from you.
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