Welcome to my experiences this week. Half-truths and exaggerated experiences will have to suffice this time around. I don’t have much to offer.
We met some wonderful people on the sunny day that happened to be Wednesday. We decided to take a trip on out to the boonies of our area and see what good things we could find there. It turned out to have plenty of intrigue and drugs for everyone involved down over yonder. Right out of the car we walked passed probably seven gates that said something along the lines of, “If you cross this fence you won’t be coming back alive.” That was pretty cool and also highly dramatized so take it for what you want. We had some insightful conversations with many people nonetheless (did you know that was one word?)
I think the highlight of all of it was while we were on our way back in for dinner we saw a homeless looking man on a bike and gave him a little wave and a smile. As we stepped out of the car he came towards us and said,” Are you fellas good at riddles?” Of course we answered in the affirmative, regardless of our actual inadequate critical thinking skills. So he asked, “What grows when you feed it but dies….”
“FIRE!!!” I yelled before he finished the sentence.
He smiled and said, “Ok, what is something that rich men need, poor men have…”
“Nothing!!” I interjected again.
He smiled again and said, “touché, touché, now what are you fellas up to?” We answered but kept talking in his realm of philosophical madness for a couple minutes. Eventually we got it towards the religious aspect of life. By the end of it I invited him to be baptized and he said yes. So that was good. Our favorite part was while he was saying the closing prayer, haha oh man, this is classic, he said something like, “Please help these guys understand as I don’t show up for our appointment this Saturday. They’re good men. Help them understand, Father.” So I don’t know about you, but it seems to me that he told God that he wouldn't be showing up to our next lesson. One minute later he left on his bike saying, “See you Saturday, Fellas!” Good ole man. I just love Granite Falls. This kind of stuff makes me happy. I like seeing and talking with people with all sorts of backgrounds and stories. It gives me a fresh pair of eyes by the end of every day.
As we were walking around later that night we saw a guy leaning up against his fence while looking deeply at the scarce street lights. We approached him and talked to him while he cried about his cat dying and alcoholism. We left him with a prayer and came back the next day hoping he’d be a little more sober. We taught him the restoration and invited him to be baptized. He’s way into that kind of thing. Later that night he called and described the alter that he just built. It had a candle and everything. I think he was pretty proud of it. I’m pretty proud of him too. That took some work right there. I love that man. We've met with him three more times and have become buddies. His life is in the dumps. I can’t imagine the hole he’s in right now. I cried when we watched the Mormon message about a guy who overcame his addiction. He just kept crying and saying how much he wanted to be clean. It was very touching and humbling to me. I felt so blessed to have the gospel and the commandments. I used to view them as restrictions, as most (stupid) teenagers do, most of the world too. The deceiving “freedom” of his choices had ultimately led him to complete bondage. He had no agency any more. I just want him to be truly free. I know that freedom comes through obedience and submission through the only perfect example. It’s the great paradox of victory. We win as we surrender and submit.
The rest is history,
Elder Trent Jay Merrill
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