Week #7 - its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

 

Week # 7 and it's already beginning to look and feel a lot like Christmas but Halloween comes first. Costco here must have had a sale on skeletons. We have seen more than one of these scantily-clad fellas and tombstones are also appearing on people's lawns. (The bright blue lanyard around my neck is from the Church History Library and carries my pass to get into church buildings as an employee as well as onto city transit).

It was drizzling and a chilly 5C some mornings but crews still were out stringing lights in the trees on the Conference Center lot (picture below). My friend Nathan was nowhere to be seen, until Thursday morning. I knew he was back when I saw the lineup of four burly guys on the corner. When we got there Nathan was yelling something out of Galatians. I was really happy to see him. When he took a breath I told him so but also said I had hoped to meet him on a different corner, not this one. He seemed healthier and yes, defiant. He looked me in the eyes, said only that he believed in freedom, and then continued yelling. Later that morning when I went home for my on-line karate class, the guard had been reduced to only one burly but friendly man in a suit. This time Nathan asked me what I thought love was. He wasn't there on Friday so I thought that perhaps he was satisfied that he had made his point (i.e., he could stand anywhere he wanted to) and he had moved on. Not so, he was back on Sunday morning but gone by the time we came back from our church services. Wendy saw him this morning and I spoke with him on my way to BJJ tonight. He surprised me when he said, "I feel I should know you better" which was an invitation to chat for a while which we did.

In my research at the Church History Library over the past few weeks I have been reading a lot about our church's formal welfare and self-reliance activities that were instituted to address the economic and social impacts of the Great Depression. An oft-cited 1936 quote from Church President Heber J. Grant is, “Our primary purpose was to set up, in so far as it might be possible, a system under which the curse of idleness would be done away with, the evils of a dole abolished, and independence, industry, thrift and self-respect be once more established amongst our people. The aim of the Church is to help the people to help themselves. Work is to be re-enthroned as the ruling principle of the lives of our Church membership.”  

I have heard people who are not members of our church criticize its extensive commercial agricultural production and food processing assets. What I didn't know is that at least 75% of their output is used to stock church-run food banks for our members' called bishops storehouses and/or donated to similar non-church facilities and shelters throughout the US and as donations to non-denominational humanitarian aid. Most of the labour for these facilities is provided by non-paid church members as part of their commitment to helping the poor and needy. For example, our congregation has a cannery assignment coming up in November. The church not only produces and processes these commodities, it keeps and rotates strategic stocks of them to ensure there is enough to meet the needs of the poor and needy among us without reliance on government programming. In keeping with the intent to re-enthrone work as the ruling principles in our lives - those who are offered food commodities from bishops' storehouse are asked to render service to others as part of a mutually agreed upon plan that is made with their ecclesiastic leader (their bishop) to become more self-reliant.  I served as a bishop in Gatineau, Quebec, and had the privilege of helping individuals and families in this way and rejoiced with them as they made positive changes to become more self-reliant. 

We have also been reading a lot about the church sponsored employment centres established in Mexico.  When we came back from Mexico in 1998, I began looking for work. I soon discovered that my foreign degree was not marketable. We lived with my parents in Bow Island, Alberta, at first. I was diligent in looking for work in my field and made that my full-time job but as the weeks turned into months I began to despair for the future of my family.  The only job I could find was at Lakeside Packers in Brooks as a quality control officer on the night shift - I worked there for one and a half years, staying to work the day shift whenever there was a need, hoping to make ends meet. A very kind member brought us food that she salvaged out of grocery store dumpsters that we picked out of the back of her truck, processed, stored, and ate. A quote by Gordon B. Hinkley still rends my heart when I think of that time in our family's lives and whenever I meet a man of any age that cannot find work. 

 “A man out of work is of special moment to the Church because, deprived of his inheritance, he is on trial as Job was on trial—for his integrity. As days lengthen into weeks and months and even years of adversity, the hurt grows deeper. Continued economic dependence breaks [a man]; it humiliates him if he is strong, spoils him if he is weak. Sensitive or calloused, despondent or indifferent, rebellious or resigned, either way, he is threatened with spiritual ruin, for the dole is an evil and idleness a curse … The Church cannot hope to save a man on Sunday if during the week it is a complacent witness to the crucifixion of his soul.” 

Work, eat, sleep, repeat. I didn't have energy enough to even look for something else let alone apply but I did muster enough energy to send out applications to go back to school, this time in Canada. All I could think about was paying my bills and providing for our family. A longtime friend from Bow Island learned of my situation and helped me get a job as an agronomist and salesperson, which is where I was working before accepting a scholarship for a masters program at the Norman Paterson School of International Affairs, which took us and our salvaged-food storage across the country to Ottawa to fix my foreign degree problem. 

Over the next 20 years, I met many men like me in the National Capital Region, for the most part highly educated immigrants working as taxi drivers and night cleaners. In additional to empathizing with them, I helped them focus their efforts to find work in their field and/or shared my lived experience wth fixing my own foreign degree problem. One of my church assignments in Ottawa was as an employment specialist and I was also an executive in the federal civil service. The training and experience I received positioned me to be able to help them in tangible ways.     

I have heard Deseret Industries, another church welfare asset, described as a thrift store. It is that but much of the clothing donated to them is subsequently donated internationally where there is a need, often working with churches of other faiths. Many people that work in these stores are also being formally taught skills to help quality them for work elsewhere to allow them to sustain themselves and their families. The church's welfare programming is absolutely amazing and has withstood the test of time!

We combined a laundry run with my going to my BJJ class on Thursday. Without a car we have been walking a few miles every day.  Something unique about Salt Lake City residential areas and even downtown, there seem to be roses blooming everywhere.

The picture below is of some Salt Lake wildlife we saw crawling across the floor at the laundromat.  It's a very clean modern place but that isn't always enough. Much to our horror and surprise, we had roaches in our first house we rented in Ottawa - and once they're there, they are difficult to evict.  I say horror because we didn't have roaches anywhere else we lived, even in Mexico. 

Back to the gym, I thought maybe I missed a time change memo - nope, I missed the guest instructor memo and that things would be starting early with an open mat (i.e., anyone can come out and roll). The fellows participating in the open mat when I arrived were leagues above my physique, aggression and skill level and I wasn't sure what was happening until the owner came over to chat with me, so I just watched and marvelled until my class started. 

A fella named Lucas Pinheiro taught our no-gi BJJ class on Thursday night during his layover here en route to somewhere in Canada (he's the young guy (he said he's 30) in the front row second from the right). He is the current IBJJF gi and no-gi adult world feather-weight champ and gi and no-gi Grand Slam champ (there have been only 14 grand slam champion’s ever). Like almost everyone I have met that regularly trains, he's a down-to-earth, friendly and happy fellow. He rolled with anyone that wanted to roll with him and during the class gave everyone instruction (even me - I'm in the back row, fourth from the right with my viking-like rolling partner, Dan). He taught us a relatively simple technique (recovery from a single leg attachment with a slick transition to side control along with the available submissions). He told us competitions are a small sliver of what BJJ is about and what he enjoys most is training and so he never misses an opportunity like this one with us. John, the guy that runs our gym (Combat Arts in Salt Lake City) was over the moon that Lucas picked his gym to train at. I also went to Saturday's open mat which wasn't quite as popular at the Thursday version but rolling boosted my endorphins in the way I hoped.    

On Friday afternoon our Collections Zone went to serve in the Bountiful Temple. I have been to many places and to many of our church's temples but the celestial room in this one is the most stunning place I have ever been in my life. What I felt spiritually amplified by the simple beauty and the light streaming in from the windows is etched in my mind as I remember President Nelson's invitation to all of us to, "think celestial" - surely this is where I want to be with my family for eternity. Yes, I have much work yet to do to merit such a blessing, and after all that I can do, only the grace of Jesus Christ can purify and prepare me for this.

Sister Schlachter has the black eye this week, mine has pretty much healed.  Someone quipped, "companion study?" She is not sure what she did but she has quite the shiner even after covering it up with makeup and she's even more beautiful!

On the way back from the temple we took a very scenic route back to our apartment. Another couple serving in our zone, the Flora's have a car and gave us a ride.  They sold the condo they were living in with the furniture so they are homeless.  This is their second back-to-back mission.  It made me smile to see that Elder Flora had his golf clubs in the back, "for emergency rounds" he said. Like Gatineau, Quebec where we used to live the leaves here are putting on quite the show.  We also had a very good view of the Great Salt Lake - the namesake of this city.

Our Sunday School class focused on Philippians and Colossians in the New Testament. An aspect of the discussion we had about Colossians 3:1-17 in which Paul compares the attributes of the 'natural' man in all of us to the new person we are encouraged to become still has me thinking. A class participant expressed gratitude for her weaknesses and character flaws explaining that if not for these, she would not have had cause to seek and know the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ that is helping her to be a better person. I hadn't thought of it this way before. Another participant referred to Christ's words quoted in Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon, “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them”.  Think celestial.

We have not yet received our visas for Mexico but are enjoying our work and time here in Salt Lake City.  We had our son Alex and his girlfriend Liz over for dinner on Sunday afternoon and made doughnuts for dessert. All our "kids" back home in Canada except Lillie were on our weekly family call which was also a delight.

We are looking forward to another wonderful week in the Collections Division at the Church History Library.