Fellowship at its finest

If you listen to a lot of various Christians talk about their faith, the word Fellowship seems to come up a lot. You hear them speak on and on about how great the Fellowship is that they share with their fellows. Course if you listen long enough, generally you find that they are speaking of the time they spend in church and not much of other places. The idea seems to be that true Fellowship only happens in the church on the Sabbath. It is what I observed for almost 20 years so I feel safe in making that statement.

Now, one of the many amazing things I have noticed about the Mormon Community is the way that its members take the concept of Fellowship and move it well beyond the Pulpit and into their daily lives. More of the “Talk the talk and Walk the walk” feeling I have spoken of in the past. It seems almost central to the Mormon faith that they extend the hand of friendship and fellowship to everyone around them every day of their lives.

Once again, the amazing Missionaries are one of my prime examples of this. These devoted and hard working young men and women go out pretty much every day in all kinds of weather. They meet with people and spend time with them to try and help them along the Trek that they are on. They share their oftentimes amazing personal stories with people and do everything that they can to help those who want to understand. That is Fellowship.

Another example is what happened today. My wonderful wife and I were invited by her best friend, Stephanie to come over and spend Labor Day with her family. (Keep in mind this is the same Stephanie that I mentioned fully expected my Wife to keep living with her even after I had moved to DC and we had bought a house.) After a wonderful meal of Brats and Burgers, we sat down and we just talked. We talked about jobs, education and of course the Church. Two Elders (Van Dyke and Vela I believe) even stopped by and we had a lively discussion on Baptism and Bargaining. It was very interesting and enlightening.

When any group of people get together and are willing, even eager to share their honest thoughts and feelings under a warm, caring atmosphere it just seems to bring everyone closer to God and Peace. By the time my wife and I left for the hour long drive back home, I felt more relaxed and at peace than I had in a very long time. Isn't that what we are all looking for?

Amen