Day 129 –The Sleep of a Laboring Man is Sweet…-August 4, 2006
We went over to see D today. D was a less-active member who hardly ever came to church. He’s the third member of our less-active trinity.
I’ve talked about R several times and M, a couple; but I’ve not mentioned D yet. It might have something to do with the fact that he’s not as outgoing as R or M. And that’s putting it mildly. Each of them have their own little quirks. R likes to talk about super-heros and leprechauns. M is obsessed with the spirit world; (“Will we still go to church in the spirit world?” “Will we still take the sacrament in the spirit world?” Ya’ know how it is never too late to say you’re sorry?” . . .) M’s fascination with the spirit world makes me think of something Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “ We are obligated to understand the basic doctrines which lead to eternal life; beyond this, how much we know about the mysteries depends upon the degree of our spiritual enlightenment. It is unwise to swim too far in water over our heads. My experience is that people who get themselves ensnared in fruitless contention over the meaning of deep and hidden passages of scripture are usually those who do not have a sound and basic understanding of the simple and basic truths of salvation.”
D is something else altogether. I first met him with Elder Buttars around {Day 39}, or so. D is in his early 30’s. He’s single; and works at the Giant Supermarket. (Their motto: “You’ve got a Giant on your side!” Funny, I think that was the Philistines rallying cry around Goliath, “We’ve got a giant on our side!” Personally, I’d rather have a little kid with a sling on my side. [1 Samuel 17], but I digress.) Whenever we’d go to visit D, it always felt a little odd. I say this because D is kinda slow. I mean, whenever you ask him a question, you never know if he’s going to answer you or not. We would go to see him, and I’d ask, “How are you doing?” Then there would be silence. He’d look right at me, wouldn’t say a word. Just sit there and stare at me like he was waiting for me to say something. After about 45 seconds, he would say, “I’m sorry, what was the question?” “Uhh….How are you?” I’d ask again. “Doin’ pretty good,” he’d say. That’s D. His catchphrase was a quick, “Hi, guys.” Sometimes if he was in a really good mood, he liked to mix it up by saying, “Hey, guys” instead. Elder Pierce (my companion) said that D’s voice reminds him of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. He never fully opens his mouth when he speaks to us. Picture Kip saying, “Hey, guys” and that’s D.
On {Day 121} we went by to see D. It had only been a few days since I fell off my bike and I still had a scab on my right cheek*. (*My scab is gone now. It fell off on {Day 125}). We had a nice meeting with Brother O then. We watched a church video; during the whole meeting D never asked me what happened to my face. Finally, as we were leaving, saying our goodbyes, D told me, “You’ve got something on your face.” I told him, “Yeah, it’s a scab. I fell off my bike.” “Oh, that’s too bad.” (SLAM!)(Click) (D goes, “Oh, that’s too bad.” Slams the door and locks it.) Elder Pierce and I were standing outside his apartment. We looked at each other and just started laughing. That’s D.
Today we went by to see D. The conversation went something like this**: “Hey, guys.” “Hey, Brother O. What’s new?” “I’ve found Jesus.” (pause) “I mean, the Mormon church is good, but I feel like the Catholic church is the one true religion. That’s where I should be, (pause) I mean, you guys are still okay to come around and visit, but I’m not gonna’ be goin’ back to the Mormon church.” (pause) “So, …D,…what made you decide to join the Catholic church?” “Well, through my studies in the Bible, I came to find out that Jesus is God made flesh. Jesus is God and God is Jesus.” (pause) “Well, I’ve gotta’ go to work. Bye, guys.” (Pause)
So yeah, today a less active member who we’ve been visiting weekly tells us he’s joining the Catholic church. In spite of this; it’s time for my Happy Thought of the Day! Happy Thing for {Day 129}; Going to bed. Yeah, I know it’s a cop-out answer; but today really wasn’t that great. I’m going to go ahead and change into my pajama bottoms and get ready for bed. [Ecclesiastes 5:12] “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet…” Tomorrow is Saturday and that means service at the seniors’ center. We talked with A and he plans to meet us up there; then when we’re done, we’ll go back with him to L’s place for lunch. We might see if we can watch a church video with them.
I’ve talked about R several times and M, a couple; but I’ve not mentioned D yet. It might have something to do with the fact that he’s not as outgoing as R or M. And that’s putting it mildly. Each of them have their own little quirks. R likes to talk about super-heros and leprechauns. M is obsessed with the spirit world; (“Will we still go to church in the spirit world?” “Will we still take the sacrament in the spirit world?” Ya’ know how it is never too late to say you’re sorry?” . . .) M’s fascination with the spirit world makes me think of something Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “ We are obligated to understand the basic doctrines which lead to eternal life; beyond this, how much we know about the mysteries depends upon the degree of our spiritual enlightenment. It is unwise to swim too far in water over our heads. My experience is that people who get themselves ensnared in fruitless contention over the meaning of deep and hidden passages of scripture are usually those who do not have a sound and basic understanding of the simple and basic truths of salvation.”
D is something else altogether. I first met him with Elder Buttars around {Day 39}, or so. D is in his early 30’s. He’s single; and works at the Giant Supermarket. (Their motto: “You’ve got a Giant on your side!” Funny, I think that was the Philistines rallying cry around Goliath, “We’ve got a giant on our side!” Personally, I’d rather have a little kid with a sling on my side. [1 Samuel 17], but I digress.) Whenever we’d go to visit D, it always felt a little odd. I say this because D is kinda slow. I mean, whenever you ask him a question, you never know if he’s going to answer you or not. We would go to see him, and I’d ask, “How are you doing?” Then there would be silence. He’d look right at me, wouldn’t say a word. Just sit there and stare at me like he was waiting for me to say something. After about 45 seconds, he would say, “I’m sorry, what was the question?” “Uhh….How are you?” I’d ask again. “Doin’ pretty good,” he’d say. That’s D. His catchphrase was a quick, “Hi, guys.” Sometimes if he was in a really good mood, he liked to mix it up by saying, “Hey, guys” instead. Elder Pierce (my companion) said that D’s voice reminds him of Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. He never fully opens his mouth when he speaks to us. Picture Kip saying, “Hey, guys” and that’s D.
On {Day 121} we went by to see D. It had only been a few days since I fell off my bike and I still had a scab on my right cheek*. (*My scab is gone now. It fell off on {Day 125}). We had a nice meeting with Brother O then. We watched a church video; during the whole meeting D never asked me what happened to my face. Finally, as we were leaving, saying our goodbyes, D told me, “You’ve got something on your face.” I told him, “Yeah, it’s a scab. I fell off my bike.” “Oh, that’s too bad.” (SLAM!)(Click) (D goes, “Oh, that’s too bad.” Slams the door and locks it.) Elder Pierce and I were standing outside his apartment. We looked at each other and just started laughing. That’s D.
Today we went by to see D. The conversation went something like this**: “Hey, guys.” “Hey, Brother O. What’s new?” “I’ve found Jesus.” (pause) “I mean, the Mormon church is good, but I feel like the Catholic church is the one true religion. That’s where I should be, (pause) I mean, you guys are still okay to come around and visit, but I’m not gonna’ be goin’ back to the Mormon church.” (pause) “So, …D,…what made you decide to join the Catholic church?” “Well, through my studies in the Bible, I came to find out that Jesus is God made flesh. Jesus is God and God is Jesus.” (pause) “Well, I’ve gotta’ go to work. Bye, guys.” (Pause)
So yeah, today a less active member who we’ve been visiting weekly tells us he’s joining the Catholic church. In spite of this; it’s time for my Happy Thought of the Day! Happy Thing for {Day 129}; Going to bed. Yeah, I know it’s a cop-out answer; but today really wasn’t that great. I’m going to go ahead and change into my pajama bottoms and get ready for bed. [Ecclesiastes 5:12] “The sleep of a labouring man is sweet…” Tomorrow is Saturday and that means service at the seniors’ center. We talked with A and he plans to meet us up there; then when we’re done, we’ll go back with him to L’s place for lunch. We might see if we can watch a church video with them.
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