That they would find each other would
have been as unlikely to predict as the fall of communism or the good
sheep market. She was old and a lifelong Southern Baptist. They were
young and on a mission for the Mormon Church.
A
requirement of good ‘Mormonism’ for young men is to serve as a
missionary for the church for two years. They are expected to go door to
door wherever they are sent and spread the gospel of the Latter Day
Saints (LDS), also called Mormons.
Now
if you think that’s easy, put yourself in their place. You are eighteen
years old, often from a rural background, no car, in a strange place,
wearing a dark suit and tie, riding a bicycle and knocking on a
stranger’s door. As you know, many who open that door and find out you
are ‘peddling religion’ are not friendly.
They
knocked on her door one day and explained their purpose. She said,
“Well, I’m teachin’ our home Bible class.” They excused themselves and
left. Later she said to her husband, “I’ll never turn those boys away
again.”
Eventually they came back down
her street and she said what she says to everybody that’s ever knocked
on her door, “Have ya eaten yet?” Well, for two boys a thousand miles
from home and batchin’, nothin’ sounded sweeter.
For
the next eight or ten years, the boys “stationed” in her little
Oklahoma town beat a steady path to her door. They overlapped each other
every few months and each new missionary was taken to meet Uncle
Leonard and Aunt Effie.
(There's a lesson here for everybody)
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