Food for the Body and for the spirit.

So last night was one of the most inspiring and somewhat amusing nights of my rather long and odd life. My wife and I had been invited over to one of the Gentlemen from my Geezer Class at Church along with the Elders who are visiting us every week to help us get ready for our new lives as Mormons. So after a very delicious dinner of Chili, Biscuits and Salad which was finished off with an amazing dessert, we settled down in the living room to speak of things spiritual.

The amusing part came when the Elders began their speech on the things that they would like us to work on. It was funny because they had obviously put a lot of time and effort in preparing lessons that they hoped would convince us to make the next steps and, well, we had already made all of those decisions like several days before. So they would star with, “Okay you need to (Insert Subject here) and start to tell us why but we just kind of grinned and told them we had already made that decision. They seemed really stunned after each revelation so I was quietly amused.

The inspiring part came next. Since the Elders had nothing planned beyond the lessons which we had already moved beyond, one Elder suggested that we should work on Testimony since our Baptisms are coming up so soon. (September 21^st! Hoorah!) The Elder that has been with us the longest on this journey went first and the power and love in his statements just uplifted me. I was extremely touched and honored when he said that he believed one of the main reasons he had been sent on his mission to VA was to meet us and help guide us into the arms of the Church. There is nothing more powerful than being told that your lives changed the life of someone else.

I was awed when the Snyders shared their testimonies. You heard the force and power of literally decades serving and being served in the Church. You could feel how their faith guided and supported them in very difficult times. I felt beyond honored with the gift they gave us last night. I am still finding my way on this new path, but I feel a lot stronger after last night.

Testimony is nothing new to me. Pretty much every single Sect of Christianity my Mom joined during my childhood had some version of Testimony that would pop up from time to time. However, I can honestly say no testimony I have ever heard moved me as much as the Elders and Snyders last night.

I feel like I have just set foot on a very long path fraught with perils and pits and I know I still have a very long way to go. I will stumble and I will fall as I go, but as long as I have friends like these, I know I will never completely lose my way and eventually I will find my way home.

Amen