A new Friend

A few days ago I was standing at the cash register at Barnes and Noble buying a book and over heard the lady next to me say something about The Book of Mormon and so her conversation caught my ear. She was asking the store clerk to try to find a copy of the Book of Mormon for her. She had previously ordered one and when it got to her house it said "revised edition" so she thought it wasn't quite right. As I left the store I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she was looking for the Book of Mormon. She told me she was and that she was unsure of the revised edition that she had received. I agreed that I didn’t think there was a revised Book of Mormon so I told her that I'd bring her one. I took her name and # to call her. It was my first outing with all three kids and I was in just the right place at the right time so I figured it must be fate and left very happy :) Last Sunday I went to give her Book of Mormon. We visited for a while. She said she figured it must be fate too! We had a nice visit. She subscribes to the Ensign and seems to read it cover to cover. She also watched conference last weekend and really likes President Monson. She says she doesn't want to be a Mormon but just likes to read about the church, especially since her ancestors are Mormon. Apparently her mother grew up in a Mormon home but was not active after getting married so none of her children knew about the church. Anyway, it was a nice experience for me to go and share my testimony and to talk a little about the church with this lady. Calvin calls her "the old woman" - like the 'old woman who swallowed a fly' he says. He came with me to visit her on Sunday and had lemonade that she made us from lemons on her tree.

I will stop by and visit my friend regularly as I do know that she will enjoy our visits. It will be a fun acquaintance and a great opportunity for me to read my scriptures and the Ensign a little more faithfully so that I am very familiar with what she is reading and has questions about. She probably told me 20 times in our first visit why she can’t be a Mormon, or why our church wouldn’t want her, but of course we would and she could! In spite of believing that she wouldn’t make a good Mormon she does believe in many of the parts of our gospel and church history but lacks understanding, or has been taught wrong, about many other topics which hold her back. Anyway, it is neat for me and has given me lots of food for thought over the past week or so.