We continue our contacting of less and inactive and non members.
This week we went into a couple of homes that are not representative of the South, but it appears they are present in some numbers. As an example: Down a gravel road to a muddy walkway to a single-wide with everything in the front yard and porch except an engine block swinging from a tree, through the broken (literally) front door, into a living room that hadn't been cleaned for months, or even years.
Sister Johnson just swept aside a scruffy little dog and empty coke bottles, and sat down on a pile of dirty clothes that were on the sofa, and started talking to the sweet sister. Never even fazed her. I knew she would get this experience soon, and she responded just like I knew she would, with her sincere interest and sweet attention, engaging and completely non judgemental nor offended, nor hesitant.
Most of you are unfamiliar with the circumstance in which a lot of people in the world live, in conditions much worse than this, unfortunately. When poverty gets stacked on top of ill health and mental problems and lack of socialization and disfunctional families, domestic violence, alcohol/drugs etc, etc, etc, the downward spiral seems almost hopeless. These fine people just need a hand up, some encouragement, and the will to make their own circumstances a little better with the resources that are available to them.
On the other hand, we have met some of the other fine people in the land, and everything is scrubbed just like in Mormonville. So it really depends on a person's individual will and their ability to cope with adversity and challenges. We love all these people, and hope to be able to help each of them in some way.
You should know that Sister Johnson is the same person that left you a few weeks ago, and that everybody loves her here, just like they do at home.
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