May 24, 2021 "In Which We Tick Off a Church and Get Ticks"

 Hey brothers and sisters! Things in Grand Island have been the same as they always have, which is to say that this is the craziest place I have ever lived in.

To give you a quick rundown of the things I won't describe in detail: we found ticks, two naked men called us over video call, Sister Stalker Joe Adams apparently also stalks his mothers house so we unsucessfully avoided him and he's going to bring us bacon, sausage, honeycomb candles, and bacon jam because he 'loves watching us serve.' (I've never seen this man in my life but I live in fear that he has seen me). 

Also, we haven't been able to get in contact with one of our members. She's older, has many serious medical conditions, and lives alone in a locked door community. Its been like a week and we are worried that she's dead. I keep getting these impressions that I need to call her, but she never picks up...

And we taught a lesson to a refugee named Sarah! She speaks a little English but can't read it. Her native language is Nguyen(?) and the Book of Mormon isn't translated into that yet, so this is going to be fun.

Also, the elders made treats for us to thank us for being so awesome to them.

Oh, and it's transfers! My training is officially over and my trainer Sister Spendlove is off to greener pastures!

Ok then, story time. First, we petitioned the Lutheran church where we help out with food deliveries to allow us to wear our nametags. To clarify, most of the church members who help volunteer are retired and often not in the best health. The boxes we load into cars are heavy and lots of moving/lifting is required so they GREATLY depend on the 7 missionaries in this town to distribute the boxes. Things got STEAMY. 

Some of the members were very quick to say 'Oh my gosh, thats a rule, thats awful! We can definitely change it.' And Brian makes a petition that ANYONE can wear WHATEVER they want when they volunteer. And the motion is seconded and everything looks pretty dandy. But the preacher says that we are helping out at  the Lutheran church and so he doesn't want people to get the wrong idea about the volunteers. And there's a little bit of a friendly debate going on and then RICK walks in. 

The room, I kid you not, goes silent. Judy starts talking, and tells Rick that "We are just having a very friendly open conversation about allowing the Mormon missionaries to wear their nametags at service. It's very casual, no one is upset, we are keeping it very conversational, etc etc." 

I hadn't met the man before and I was scared of him just from the way she was acting. So he comes in sits down, and eyes my companion and I up and down. And then he begins talking "Well, the way I see it, and I'm just a God fearing man, but allowing them to wear their nametags and uniform at our church would be just like wearing a hat into the chapel. And I wasn't raised to be disrespectful like that." 

And Ronda turns to Rick and asks if our outfits look disrespectful to God. And she said that it wasn't the same thing at all and anyways, we were serving in their parking lot. 

Well, Rick disagreed. "Yes, but its our parking lot. So them being on it and looking like they are going to their church is disrespectful to us and to God." And the room erupted into chaos.

I sat in silence, shocked, as an entire council of church members fought. I could feel every bit of the Spirit flee away as the scene became contentious. Rick continued to make analogies. He said that he wouldn't allow Satanists and devil worshipers to help out and that allowing us to do so in our uniforms would be the same as that. Andrew, an anesthesiologist who helped out occasionally piped in. He said that his tattoos were a part of who he was and that he had a devil tatooed on his shoulder but that no one at this service had asked him to cover it up. And Brian, bless his heart, said that if devil worshipers and Satanists were trying to help feed the hungry, he wouldn't turn them away. Brian argued that nothing we had ever done or worn had been disrespectful. 

There was a vote. The pastor abstained. There was much glaring. But we are now allowed to wear our nametags when we serve with this church!

I've been thinking a lot about who God is in the past couple days. We had a friend who told us that someone had stolen the tires off of her car but that she was confident that God would help her find the person that had done this to her. Another woman we've been talking to is in the middle of a trial and she said that God would make her win.

And I've really been thinking about what both of these women have said. I don't think that God always gives us success. Obviously things don't always go our way. Life wasn't designed for that. Faith doesn't work like that. Things don't always go the way we want or plan, even for good people. But I promise you, that doesn't mean that He is not there beside you. Your life will not always be easy, but you will never walk it alone and you can have hope that all things will work out in the end for your good. 

And remember, there is NOTHING you could do that would make Him love you any less.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love, 

Sister Brice

Also, if I should add anyone to this email list, please let me know!