Ruby Red Slippers and Big Noisy Storms

Dorothy makes tornadoes look so cut and magical.
Dorothy lies!

"It is hard to exaggerate the devastation," remarked President Taylor. One street looks perfectly fine (save a smattering of sewage-smelling sludge across the exterior of the home), and the next street is a veritable landfill.

Dorothy has ruby red slippers and a quaint blue gingham jumper.
I have man boots and thick leather gloves. Yeehaw!

I confess that I have often dreamed of owning a yellow Mormon Helping Hands t-shirt. Now I get to wear one everyday!

 We had an ox-in-the-mire Sabbath this week. Our entire stake arrived at the church at 9 am in boots and jeans for a one hour sacrament meeting, followed by an 8-hour work day. We skipped P-day to repeat the same 8-hour workday. We haul fallen frees and sift through homes for old photos and beloved objects. We move junk and then do it again. We are exhausted and happy.

Dorothy sang songs to dive away the blues. So do we!

When the F5 tornado was touching down in Moore, Oklahoma, I was in my bathroom (the interior room of the house is the safest place) with my bike helmet on (missionary protocol when the tornado sirens go off) singing "Master The Tempest is Raging."

After a few hours out in the sun, the muscles and eyes beg for a break. The best response is to break into song and dance. It makes people laugh and it tricks the mind into thinking that it is having a jolly good time. Making a fool of myself is becoming something of an art these days. I have perfected a little jig that I lovingly call "The Tornado Dance." If you ever pick up tree stumps with me, I might share it with you.

There are good things "somewhere over the the rainbow," Dorothy promises.
This is true. And the rainbow isn't so very far away.

We talk about our religion everyday, and now we get to live it! Isaiah 61 is bursting to life in full glory: "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." (4).

It is amazing to see how God gives us "beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isa 61:3). Miracles flow from the disaster. The Baptist church provides lunch for rescue workers every day. Methodists are coordinating with Mormon Helping hands to distribute donated supplies. Families drive in from across the US to provide help and materials. Moms and kids in mini-vans drive around all day with water bottles and snacks for people in need.

Although we are not tracting and teaching as usual, President Taylor spoke well when he commented that "Our efforts here over the next few months will do more than five years of tracting." Interfaith friendships are forming. We are living what we preach. There is beauty in these ashes.

Miracle Man Boots

Two days prior to the biggest tornado in US history, I received a letter from my lovely Aunt Karen. Scrawled at the end of the letter was a note and a one hundred dollar bill. "Can't shake the feeling that you might need this. Not sure why." I felt guilty and grateful, and tried to think of something worthwhile that I might need the money for. Nothing came to mind. A missionary's budget is small, but I had everything that I needed.

Fast-forward three days. An urgent text from President arrived, advising all missionaries to buy thick-soled boots and leather gloves as soon as possible. Staring at the confusion of yellow man boots, inspiration hit. How much is one pair of Bob the Builder Boots? $48. and how many missionaries are in the companionship? Two! Da-dada! $100 for beautiful boots for my companion and me.

Thank you, Aunt Karen, for facilitating a miracle this week. Your inspired bill is now tromping through sludgy mud piles and torn up homes, protecting the feet of happy, hard-working missionaries from mails and sewage. Bless you!  :)

Tornado Sisters

Observations on the Holy Ghost

Our claim to the Priesthood is unique. I talk to wonderful Christian people every day who assure me that they have been baptized, and that they enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost. I don't question the validity of their experience, but it has made me wonder if there is a real, discernible difference in members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who have received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority.

Case Study #1

Belinda Montoya. Single mother, mid to late thirties. Baptized three months ago. The first time I met her, I didn't know where to perch myself in her cluttery, filthy apartment  her hair was unkempt, her conversation was patently negative, and her mannerisms were what my mother calls "unladylike." She tended to display crude humor to lighten the tone whenever the Spirit threatened to bear testimony, and her prayers were a dramatic performance, complete with open eyes and waving arms. We often wondered if she understood the doctrine or if she just enjoyed a weekly visit from friendly people. But she qualified herself for baptism, and so she received the girt of the Holy Ghost.

her progress  has been slow, with an occassional relapse in smoking and an unexpected visit from the live-in boyfriend. But Belinda is changing! Her apartment is meticulously clean, her hair is cared for, and she prays with reverence. She hasn't cracked a crude joike in weeks, and her responses to spiritual inquiries are increasingly profound. Her entire appearance has changed, and she is displaying intellect and grace that I didn't know she possessed! Whether it is the Holy Ghost or daily scripture reading or constant prayer, ther is something different about her. The gift of the Holy Ghost has softened her.

Case Study #2

Steve Winder.* Golden investigator from the very first visit. Courteous, spiritual, willing to keep commitments. What could the gift of the Holy Ghost do for such a man?

Brother Winder possesses a keen mind and has a powerful gift for teaching, but he is timid by nature. Since he received the gift of the Holy Ghost, I have observed the development of courage! He welcomes all opportunities to go teaching with the full-time missionaries, and he is now pleading for a calling so he can get more involved. The gift of the Holy Ghost has enabled him.

Case Study #3

Me. When I arrived in the mission field, I was alarmed to discover that the fast pace and relentless demands of missionary work wreaked havoc in my perfectionistic, detail-oriented mind. I sensed urgency about the ever-extending list of things to do, skills to develop, problems to solve, and people to remember. Anxiety was my daily companion.

I started wondering about the Atonement, and about how Jesus Christ might provided solace to my anxiety. Could the gift of the Holy Ghost, with its promise of "peace, love, and joy" (Galations 5) aid me and my crazy mind?

Yes! The Holy Ghost, this marvelous third member of the Godhead, is at my constant beck and call. I am learning that it does not function with crystal-ball specificity, but it does provide patience and a list of inspired priorities each day. Patience and priorities. Just a name or two of people to remember or things to do. And a sense that it doesn't really matter when things go wrong. The gift of the Holy Ghost changes me.

The gift of the Holy Ghost is the agent by which our hearts are changed and purified. it is through the Holy Ghost that we are transformed, converted, and healed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Sense of Adventure

I have been longing for adventure and humor lately, and God is answering my wishes. This is a short attempt to number my blessings:

1. Tornadoes. The Bishop interrupted our Gospel Principles class with an urgent demand: "You have ten minutes to leave the building or take cover." We chose to camp out in the basement of the church building with half of the ward. The F4 tornado steered clear of our congregation, but we expect much more excitement to come later this week. Huge hail, power outages, and fabulous wind. Love it.

2. Angelic blessings. I love crazy people, really I do! Circumstances force them to abandon social norms, but they display empathy such as only the afflicted know how. We finally met Bianca Sky*, a less-active that we have been searching after for months, and I couldn't have imagined a more delightfully eclectic individual! She gave us roses and read us poems and invited us into her cat-filled home. She fed us herbal popcorn and blessed us in an angelic tongue (possibly Navajo, from her previous life as a chieftain's daughter). My companion was alarmed, but I can't resist loving Bianca. I'll remember to take Claritin for the cat-hair-smothered apartment when we return.

3. Lawton, Oklahoma. After nearly six blissful months in the nicest spot of Oklahoma City, I am being sent to the city with the third-highest crime rate in the US. It's ten-degrees hotter, the people have fewer teeth (and more meth), and the ward is supposed to be the nicest ward in all the mission.

And I'm going to be a Sister Training Leader over the deep south of Oklahoma and into the northern tip of Texas.

What does this all mean? Goodness only knows. Serves me right for being foolish enough to crave adventure...God must love me.  :)

Safe and Sound

Sunday, May 19, 2013, 3:52 pm

A sweet member sent a quick photo and text that said " Safe and sound in the church basement." The photo shows two sister missionaries looking up the painted stairs. (This mom is glad that their expressions were too blurry to see.) Apparently it is tornado season in Oklahoma! What a way to spend Sunday meetings.

Monday, May 20, 2013, 6:05 pm, another email from Oklahoma

"Sister Stewart your daughter is safe! She's having dinner with me and wanted to be sure you knew the tornado was about 20 minutes South of us... She's in the N Okc/Edmond area and the tornado hit the Moore area...  I know the sisters in Moore are also safe although we haven't heard anything from the mission office yet about others.
Your prayers have been answered :-)"

Becoming a More Christian Christian: Part II

Nothing puts the Christian in a Mormon like Oklahoma.

I received a text message this week from an old investigator. We had parted ways a transfer ago, strong in our separate faiths but glad to have a known each other. Here is what she said:

"Sister Stewart, are you still in OKC?"

I responded with a positive affirmation.

"Just wanted you to know that my house church has been praying for you this week.  Blessings!"

Christian, indeed! Her small nondenominational congregation spent the week praying for the Mormon missionaries! Hers is not the first example of inter-religious outreach here in Oklahoma. We pray with a pastor or preacher from a local church, only to have him turn the table and pray for us. A woman last week ran after us and begged us to take a generous monetary donation to help us in our ministry. A gruff, bearded military retiree gave us his phone number and a standing offer to take us out to dinner whenever our dinner appointment falls through.

None of these folk have been terribly receptive to the Book of Mormon (*yet), but they assure one young sister missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that the Book of Mormon speaks truth:

"When ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have...O then, how ye ought to impart...one to another." (Mosiah 2:17; 4:19-21)

Thank you, dear Oklahoma, for inspiring me to become a more Christian Christian!

Becoming a More Christian Christian

I rather love a difficult question. I like the way that doctrine rubs up against doctrine, only to reveal that we are all children of Christ with very mortal, shortsighted visions of truth. I don't actually mind the anti-Mormon basher. It seems to me that we are all seekers of truth, and that is a journey that I respect.

Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recently visited the Oklahoma City Mission. He admonished us to talk of Christ, and to delight with our Christian friends in the truths that we share. When he visited with the Archbishop, Elder Anderson did not fight about doctrinal issues. He didn't even bear down with bold testimony. Instead he asked, "What would you teach me?"

We invited two antagonistic non-denominational Christians into the home of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We hoped for a venue of thoughtful discussion and sincere testimony. Our expectations failed. The members became accusatory, inflamed, and ungracious. I was shocked and embarrassed. Both parties forgot what it means to be Christian. The doctrine of Christ fell by the wayside and we were left with the futile quest to be "right."

How shall we act toward those of differing beliefs? What should be our response to acrid questions? Where should we focus our comments when the conversation tempts at adversarial? This is my plea for peace.

When dogma threatens to overwhelm the doctrine that you cherish, please begin by asking,
"What would you teach me?"

And then listen. Compassion will teach you what contention cannot.

Elder Neil L. Anderson
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Three Wise [Wo]men

I first read Victor Frankl's timeless classic, Man's Search For Meaning in my junior year of college. I sat on the grimy city bus and let my thoughts wax philosophical for the 50-minute ride to school. I have forgotten many of the details of the book but the title compels me to continued consideration.

Each time we teach the Plan of Salvation, I take a front row seat to consider anew man's search for meaning. "What is your purpose in life?" yields responses that leave me reeling with insight. Consider the wisdom gleaned from three unlikely sages this week:

Wise Woman #1 Brandy is a 30-something year-old single mother. She has frizzy red hair and a bawdy laugh. She is quick to tell guests that she has equal custody over her 14 year-old son, but she sees him only rarely, and never in her own home. Though she was baptized a few months ago, her old demons (live-in boyfriend and cigarettes) have been visiting again of late. When we ask Brandy about the purposes of life, she responds with uncharacteristic brevity. The two-sentence summary is a perfect mirror for the two great commandments taught by the Savior. He said that the law is to "love the Lord they God and to love thy neighbor as thyself." In Brandy's terms, the purpose of life is:
"To try to get to know God. And to be a mother to my son."

Wise Woman #2 Joetta is a retired home-body with two lawless dogs and a strong love of the color purple. She insists on calling her missionaries by their first names, and she has no recollection of ever being baptized into the Mormon church (though the ward records indicate otherwise). We are teaching her the doctrine for the first time. When we quote 2 Nephi 2:25 to teach that the purpose of life is to have joy, she blurts out: "Yes! And to care for others. I don't get out a lot, but I can just take care of my neighbor, then it's all worth it. I wish I would have known that when I was younger. I'm trying to teach that to the young people I know, but young people don't seem to get it...but then, you're young Sister Jenny, aren't you? And I think you get it."

Wise Woman #3 Erin LeRond* was once a registered nurse and the married mother of two daughters. Today she lives life from a wheelchair in rundown government-issued housing. Her daughters ignore her Facebook friend requests. She has pink buzzed hair and wears moo-moos and squishy-soled tennis shoes--comfortable coverings for an overweight body. This good-hearted soul indexes thousands of names per day, and she pulls together dinner for the missionaries from her meager food allotment. And oh, the poetry she writes! For a woman in ill circumstance, Erin knows what it means to love God and to trust him. As a less-active Mormon who recently returned to activity, the temple is her whole world. In apt similitude of the Savior, she describes to us why she publishes her poetry:
"If I can just help one person with my own experience, then all the suffering is worth it."

For all of us, the search for meaning turns us to God and to our fellow mortal sojourners. And it is through Jesus Christ that we become wise to love them both.

2 Nephi 32:20-21