Defunding Police and Missionary Work

             I wish I had taken the time to record my thoughts and try to transcribe them instead of the pathetic attempt to post the following: 

          Jenna has an assignment due today.  She asked if I could bounce around some ideas in order to help her.  The topic is “Defunding the Police – Why or Why Not?” Her thoughts mirrored my own when the subject started making its way around facebook.

          “Why would we defund the police?  That is so wrong.  It’s their job to serve and protect us.  Why would we want to take that away?”

          I obviously had not understood why so many seemed to support it until I saw this political cartoon 

this was shared on facebook.  Unfortunately I am
 unable to cite its orginal source but would like to know

Defunding the police is not the same as abolishing. 

          Have you ever watched “Little House on the Prairie” or westerns in which there is only one doctor in town.  A jack of all trades one might say.  His job was to cure whatever ailed the citizens whether it be a common cold, the fever, skin rashes, bullet wounds, delivering babies . . . a doctor was expected to know it all and cater to all regardless of age.  And though many doctors may have known a little about so much of what was required or expected the doctor did not everything. 

          Today we have gynecologists, pediatricians, Ophthalmologists, podiatrists, Dermatologists, cardiologists . . . the list goes on and on.  Each doctor specializes in a certain field.  I think it is better to have multiple doctors that cater to something specific than just one who tries to do it all. I think it is the same with the police.  Many signed up with a specific goal in mind without having been trained for every aspect one might associate with police work.  We need to spread the funds each to whatever specialty is required.

          We have opinions on why we should defund the police or why we should not defund the police. I was most curious about how the police themselves felt about it. I do have friends in the law enforcement and would like to support them. I watched this video chat with Lee Adams from Vice (here) in which he addresses eight different law enforcement officers from across the nation. 

Even among those that are in law enforcement there are still conflicting ideas about why or why not reallocate the taxpayers money. Though they agree on some things there are still other items in which their opinions vary.

         I had been asked to attend a missionary training meeting in Roseburg last night. I attended the meeting virtually.  As the meeting progressed my mind reflected upon how to best utilize each member of the community. I made a silent comparison with Jenna’s assignment and the leadership training that was being suggested – discussions I had already had as a missionary and a ward mission leader. 

Two videos were shown – both which I had seen before.  The focus is on ward involvement.  The story unfolds as a man (I think his name is Juan) loses his job and doesn’t know how he will tell his wife.  On the same day he meets with the missionaries.  They start teaching him and his life is changed.  He introduces the gospel to his wife, Julia.  We are asked how we as a ward will be able to include them into our fold.

          Juan is computer savvy and is introduced to someone in the church who is not.  The missionaries ask Juan to utilize his talents to assist ward members – an act of service.  How can we, in return, help Juan. Introduce him to someone who can relate.  Same with the Relief Society and Julia (Juan’s wife).  When we are in ward correlation or missionary meetings how can we involve each organization?  Who would be a good fit?  I get that.  I understood that as a missionary. 

             I was happy about my decision to attend virtually rather than in person as Roland (who hasn’t felt well) would have had to drive me as I cannot see at night. I can’t say that I learned anything new. I was disappointed that today’s situation had not been addressed as we now have to reach out to others in more creative ways than handshakes and personal introductions.  We have to respect one another’s boundaries by wearing masks and keeping our distance – which for me does not give off good vibes of welcoming. I know I can contact others over the phone or through social media if I have that information – which I don’t.

             It’s almost as though we are dehumanized with the mask and staying six feet apart – although I support the outline given.  I just find it hard to reach out when I don’t feel a foundation of the initial start.  I miss connecting with members – let alone those who are not.  Hopefully they can feel the Spirit through the meetings themselves and may understand that human contact will come – we just don’t know when.

Thank you for being such a fine example

                Krystal and Hank both attend our ward.  Neither one of them is a baptized member.  Krystal is ten and has been homeschooled up until now;  she loves primary.  She started attending with her grandma and cousin. She loves socialization.  She fits right in.  She loves to be there. Hard to believe that she is not a member.  She drinks the gospel up like it's water - which in a way . . . She LOVES primary.

    Hank was a different story. He was a rebel and it showed.  I don't know the full story, but I get the impression that he's been passed off one relative to another for at least a couple of years.  When he came to stay with his Aunt Ronnie, she had only one rule: he had to attend church with her every Sunday.

    Ronnie has been a member of the Church for less than two years.  She's a go-getter.  She loves the gospel and is not afraid to share.  So Hank sat beside her with a scowl on his face.  Evidently, he went to Sunday school and priesthood and was befriended by those attended those same classes. Gradually he showed desire to go to the activities. Now he gets himself up for early morning seminary - which was not a part of the deal.

    Then yesterday, I was asked in primary, to share a little bit about my mission.  I gave a specific example of a bishop from my first area who had to travel 35 miles to get to the ward.  He made a goal to have a ward house built near the city where he lived.  It's been over 30 years since I taught since I helped to teach those he had befriended and found for us to teach.  I was wondering if he had succeeded in building the ward up in that time and looked up his location after I had returned home from my meetings.  There is a branch in the city where he lives and it appears that he is the branch president.  Way to go!  I'll have to let my primary know next week.

    There are were four LDS youth attending Coffenberry last year.  Jenna was the only girl.  That is one reason she wanted "Utah" and "BYU" shirts for school.  She's already put in several "plugs" about the LDS church.  She wants her peers to continue asking questions.  "So what does BYU stand for?"  well, let me tell you . . .

    How great it is that there are so many positive examples.  I have felt such strength and enthusiasm.  It's been awesome!

Four Legged Angels

             I remember being in the congregation during a sacrament meeting in which a newly returned missionary was giving his homecoming talk. As he shared various experiences, he would explain why he felt the need to share.  I remember him saying that all missionaries have at least one dog story.

         “We do?” I had thought. 

         I must admit that I had missed his dog story as I had been thinking of my own.  One that actually brings a smile to my face each time I think about it.

         I was serving in an area where each door had been knocked on (weekly if not daily) by one religion or another.  It came to the point that people just didn’t want to open their doors as they felt they were being bullied by religious freaks.  We had actually been told to back off from going from door for at least a few months.  No sweat off my brow.  I hated that particular method of trying to find people, but I was with a companion who measured her missionary success by going from door-to-door.  

         Many members in that area referred to our companionship as “The Odd Couple” thus we named ourselves Oscar and Felix.  I was Oscar, and my high-maintenance, “by-the-book” companion was Felix.

         After two months of contacting members and searching for referrals in ways other than door-to-door, my companion counted down the days that we would go tracting door-to-door.  I did not share in her excitement.  I know there are people who have been found through knocking doors - but for me personally, it was not the greatest method and definitely did not measure my success (or failure) as a missionary.

         We had gone to only two houses before a German Shepherd started to follow us from one house to the next.  He would sit behind us and away from the door as we invited those who answered to listen to our message.  A few would look at the dog and ask if he was ours.  As we'd walk away from the skeptic who refused to believe the dog was ours, I'd make jokes just to get a rile out of my companion.

          "Yes, it is our dog and if you don't listen to our message, he'll eat you."

         My companion felt embarrassed and was a bit defensive as answered their concerns.

         “He’s not our dog.  He just started following us.  We don’t know why.”

         After four more houses or so, Sister Felix turned to me and said,  “Sister Cannon, we need to say a prayer so that the dog will stop following us.”

          I'm certain that the look that she saw on my face was one of puzzlement.  

          “Sister Felix, the dog could have been sent as a guardian angel.  If a prayer is offered, it won’t be in harmony, as the dog is not bothering me.  You go ahead and say a prayer if it makes you feel better.”

         Sister Felix offered a prayer and pleaded that Heavenly Father return the dog to his home.  No sooner did we say “amen” and we were joined by a Basset Hound – thus we had two dogs following us.  They weren’t doing anything wrong.  They seemed well behaved.  But it bothered her – which only amused me further. 

         We knocked on two more doors I think, and then Sister Felix became disgusted and announced that we may as well just return to our car, as we obviously weren’t going to get anything accomplished.  What? No more knocking door-to-door? I was right.  They were four-legged angels.

No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Concent and yet . . .

fund raisers seem necessary

for raising money for

different causes

charities 

one may go from door to door

seeking collections

usually with product that

no one wants or

can afford  or

doesn’t like     

parties at both ends

feel emotion   

the recipient fells bad that

he can’t contribute     

or feels anger towards

the very idea of

having walked across

the room to open

the door to something he

may not even believe in         

or resentment because he

has purchased the product

when he knows it could

have been used more wisely              

the seller (or cause promoter)

either gives up because

she is discouraged that

no one wants to buy  

or else she continues

but with an attitude full

of regret and resentment and

eventually cries because

not being able to raise funds

has made her feel like a failure

Fund Raisers Should Not Stir

Up Emotion in Such a Negative Way

missionary work seems necessary

for the benefit of

saving souls 

one may go from

door to door preaching

the gospel and

sharing a message that

others may not know 

those individuals on

each side of the door

feel emotions  

the one inside

of the house

feels anger towards

the very idea of

having waked across

the room to open

the door to something he or

she may not believe in

or resentment because she

doesn’t feel the need to

change and feels that she is

being told to

change her ways         

the missionary often feels

like giving up because

he is discouraged that

no one seems to want

to hear the gospel or

else the missionary may

continue with diligence and

prayer sometimes feeling

regret and may eventually

come to resent the church

Sacrifice and Service

Should Not Stir Such

Negative Emotion

we are told that

we must be sealed

in the temple and

we are taught that

families are forever and

we are taught to live a

certain way so that

we may enter into

the temple but sometimes

there are those who

enter by themselves

because the family members

don’t always lead the same values

or maybe they do but

there is one part that

doesn’t seem in

harmony with the gospel

Our loved ones stand

outside feeling emotions

of anger

or respect

or admiration

or exclusion

wondering why a church

that promotes families

don’t allow the family members

see their loved ones get married

and those inside

wish that their

loved ones could share

in their happy moment

and may one day

resent having excluded

certain family members and

may one day be

outside the walls

themselves

We Should Never Feel

Discrimination.  God

Doesn’t Discriminate.

Man Does.

“Go Ahead . . . I’m Napkin Man”

My brother Corey has many talents.  One he started early on was with drawing comics.  He would entertain himself for hours on end drawing his comics and then reading them. 

          One year he received a giant drawing pad and a green ballpoint pen for Christmas.  He had filled the pad in less than two days.  By day three, the pen was out of ink. 

          One of his comic series I think was similar to “Spy Vs. Spy” - which eventually turned into a game between him and my brother Patrick, though it did not last long.

          Patrick read one of Corey’s comic strips and imitated his style as he added to it and killed off the characters in different ways and Corey would always resurrect them.  Some of the deaths were challenging to overcome, but I think it was fun for both of them for a while.

          The funniest comic that I remember happened after my dad had had a series of strokes.  I don’t even know where we were – perhaps on our way to the airport to see Corey off or maybe when we had stopped off for lunch on our way to the MTC.

          I don’t know what made Corey feel the need to draw during that time, but he had drawn a caped superhero on a napkin with the caption: “Go ahead.  Blow your nose in me.  I can handle it.  I’m napkin man” and then gave his drawing to my dad who obviously needed a napkin.

          I don’t remember if my dad laughed about it or not.  I think so.  I laughed.  I thought it was funny.  I still smile when I think about this unique memory.

Staying on the Same Page

          Communication is SO important – whether it is the working place, or homes, our churches, our communities . . . and it’s important that we all stay on the same page.  We need consistency. 

          I recall one work place that made egg salad sandwiches.  Some of the workers would put pickles into the mixture, while others refused because they thought it was gross.  I don’t care if the egg salad has pickles or not.  When I am in a working environment I would expect to make the egg salad according to what the customer orders from the menu and expects – not to my own personal preference.  I think when a customer expects a certain product, he or she should receive the same product or courtesy or satisfaction that kept him or her coming back to begin with.

          I know different cooks have their own personalities and styles.  I am a wimp when it comes to anything remotely spicy – and so I have learned (well – back when I was single and had money) to ask which chef is in the kitchen before I place my order for there was one who would use every spice in the kitchen I believe and lots of it, while the other probably was not a favorite among those who really do enjoy authentic Mexican food.  It needs to be consistent.  The recipe must be followed exactly the same in my opinion.

          Food is just a very small issue of what needs to be communicated.  I hate being told one thing by one employee or parent or teacher or representative or what have you and being told something completely different by somebody else.  Opinions are often brought in by individuals who pass on their opinions that others accept as gospel truth – even when it’s not.

          I recall failing a class that I had tried to transfer into.  I was livid when I received a failing grade.  Why couldn’t have anybody said anything to me before hand?  I was on the roles already.  On the school record – but they failed to give it to me on the schedule that was handed out.  You think the teacher would have recognized the name from her rolls when I tried to transfer in.  It did not fly well.  I don’t recall there being any problems in my scheduling after that incident.

          I do have a have a similar situation story to share – only it didn’t happen to me personally.  Just someone I knew. It took place in the MTC (missionary training center) nearly 30 years ago (though I’m sure the same still occurs even now – perhaps not weekly, but maybe once in a while) I’m not including his first name in the story, but the last name is real.

          Elder Lovett had arrived on September 6 because that’s what it said on his papers – only those receiving the missionaries that day were actually not expecting Elder Lovett until the following week.  Fortunately he had his letter and showed them that it was indeed the date he’d been assigned to report.  But because there was an error in communication on whatever part, Elder Lovett hadn’t been assigned a companion (partner) or room or books or what have you.

          Six elders had been assigned to our district.  Four had been assigned to one room designed for four people.  The other two elders were also in a room designed for four – but one side remained empty.  So Elder Lovett was assigned to partner up with the latter two.  Six Elders would be serving in Fresno, California.  Elder Lovett was assigned to West Virginia.

          He shared these events with us during our third class (I think) when once more the instructor would say: “Turn to page H5” (for example) and all of us would turn to the assigned page – including Elder Lovett – but he would never be able to follow along.  I think it must have been during that third class the instructor suggested a page that just didn’t exist among the pages that Elder Lovett’s had in his possession.

          “It’s just my book.  They must have gone to the warehouse and retrieved this off some old dusty shelf.  This is out of date.”  I know for a fact that we have been asked to discard old material as it is updated.  Apparently the books that Elder Lovett had been given weren’t as discarded as they should have been.

          Perhaps his situation prepared him to be a stronger leader.  He definitely understood the importance of communication.  Elder Lovett had his first opportunity as district leader serving with us in the MTC.  He was great – throughout his entire mission I would imagine.  I actually never saw him or heard from him again after leaving the MTC. 

          There is the miscommunication between family members.  Just before Tony got married, I had called Roland’s family to inform them about when the event was scheduled to take place and what might be involved for those waiting outside the temple. 

          I was experiencing problems with my cell phone and had made some remark about my frustration.  Unbeknownst to me, the family had me on speaker phone – and whatever snide remark I made (in regards to my cell phone) somehow was interpreted to mean that I did not want them (mom in particular) to come . . . and whatever it was that I said got blown out of proportion as family members related the events to other family members until I realized that Roland’s brother was slamming him on facebook; his brother was not even a part of the initial family I was calling. 

I noticed one of Roland’s sisters had also been misinformed about the events that would take place when their oldest sister died.  Why not just listen and repeat before we jump the gun on something that was just not communicated correctly?

         

I am grateful to those who do take the time to at least try.  However their attempts to assist are not always profitable when the communication among the employees to employees are even worse than employee to customer. (as I have mentioned in this earlier post) 

Roland is great at having people and communication skills – problem is not all of those he attempts to communicate with possess the same talent.  And that is sad. It’s sad that so many have become and accept ignorance.  Ignorance is NOT professional.

And machines that talk to you instead of a human being?  Oh, don’t even get me started.  Talk about impersonal – and yet it seems that so many business have picked up on it and wreak havoc on the consumer’s life even more. 

Bless the company that gives you a live human being to begin with. Especially when that human is able to communiacate!

Declaration of recruiting subjects back to the castle

Once upon a time in the kingdom of  Natalafe, there lived a royal prince and

his subjects.  Now the name of the prince was Emmanuel Bishop and the king had given him a list with the names of all of his subjects.  The problem was there were some names on the list that he wasn’t familiar with.

Now all of these subjects lived far and wide all throughout the kingdom –

yet they all lived within a day’s walk of the castle.  Many of the subjects would come to the castle at least once a week to pay their respects to the king.  Prince Bishop knew all of those subjects by name.  He would often meet each subject at the castle gate and would welcome them.

But there were many subjects who never even entered the castle though the

king strongly desired for each of his subjects to attend.  Prince Bishop knew

some of those subjects but not all of them.  And yet the king had told the

prince that it would be his responsibility to make certain that ALL of his

subjects were safe. 

That was a huge responsibility. Especially with all of his other princely responsibilities and because he didn’t know all of the subjects on the list. And so Prince Bishop would try to come up with a plan to make contact with those who were not coming to the castle knowing that he just couldn’t do it all by himself. 

  And so it came to pass that Prince Bishop divided the kings’ subjects into units and called knights to serve over each unit. One of the units was specifically designed for the Lords and another for the Ladies. The knights divided the Lords and Ladies into even smaller groups called families and they called their squires to serve in pairs and visit a certain amount of families each month.

Each pair would be responsible for visiting three to five cottages within the

kingdom.  They were told they would only have to visit just once a month to

learn how each subject was doing. It was not a difficult task.  To give just a bit of time just once a month and report back to the knights who served within the units so that they in turn could report back to Prince Bishop. 

And now it came to pass that the squires had fulfilled their callings.

And this greatly pleased Prince Bishop and the king to have such compassion within their kingdom, that so many were willing to fulfill their callings Their reports made it so much easier for Prince Bishop to understand and help his subjects a little better.

The branching out and reporting back seemed to work well in the beginning but darkness fell upon the kingdom. For behold, verily, verily I say unto you that not all the squires would be able to work together each month. Each pair seemed to come up with excuses not to go until finally only about half the subjects in the kingdom were receiving visits. Thus Prince Bishop felt sorrow for he did not know how some of his subjects were doing. 

The knights seemed just as perplexed – why would those who had been called agree to give up only a little bit of time just once a month and not do it? Why wouldn’t they be willing to keep that commitment to help Prince Bishop and more importantly our King?

Prince Bishop called two royal hunters who would go from cottage to cottage inviting the subjects to come back to the castle. And each month the royal hunters would report to the prince about their findings within the kingdom of  his subjects. Prince Emmanuel Bishop always praised them.  He has praised many of his Squires also.  But not all of the Squires are doing their part and the kingdomric often wonders how to get the ALL of the Squires to do his or her part.

With faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of the king, We know it can be done.

We are ALL important to the King’s plan. What can we do together to strengthen our calling in our kingdom?

The End . . .  or should I say to be continued?

                                                                                                                     kfrahalc

The Most Important Leg on a Three-Legged Stool

          Jenna always asks if we can sign up to feed the full time missionaries – which is something we did often when Roland and I had the Church calling of being the ward missionaries – but now that he is in the bishopric – and often with hours at work – we’re not as available to feed the missionaries as we were at one time.  And so it’s actually rare when we do sign up.  Jenna would prefer that we could do it once a month at least.

          Our goal was to send our three boys on full time *proselyting* (defined at the end of this post) missions.  As Biff is our oldest, he went through the interviewing process and paperwork first.  We had taken him in for his physical. We did all we could do – and waited.

          I wish our then bishop had been honest in his dealings to begin with – and perhaps he had really said something to Biff who either didn’t relate the events with us or maybe it just didn’t fully register. 

Our bishop had said Biff’s Spirit was definitely there – but he just didn’t feel he was socially ready.  HE DIDN’T FEEL . . . I often felt that it was more laziness on my bishop’s part than it was revelation.  But that’s me.  Perhaps it is I who was wrong.

          Because Biff was unable to serve a proselyting mission, it was suggested that he fulfill a service mission – which means he would continue living at home as he served and continue working his job.

 He brought home a list of positions available – and there were a lot to choose from.  Roland tried steering him in the direction of working at a plant such as the pasta plant or dairy where he would learn a trade.  Even planting flowers on the temple ground would have helped him to prepare for a job or career – but Biff wanted the opportunity to serve with the public more and chose to usher or assist at events that would take place at Temple Square or the Conference Center.

          His confidence was built in ways that I did not understand at the time.  Others found it refreshing to have such a “young” member on their team.  He was diligent about his calling and received recognition for fulfilling his assignments and callings.  He grew in ways that I didn’t recognize at the time – but am beginning to see now.

          Interestingly enough, both of his brothers were called to Portuguese speaking missions.  Tony was called to report to the MTC (missionary training center) in Brazil at the beginning of April 2008 and Randy left for the MTC in Provo at the end of April in 2009.  He’d been called to Portugal.

          It hurt both me and Biff to see his brothers serving proselyting missions when Biff himself had been denied that opportunity. And Roland would encourage us that Biff’s mission was equally as important – often comparing missionary work to a three legged stool and asking – which is the most important leg?

          We all represented that three legged stool.  Biff on his service mission, Tony and Randy proselyting in Portuguese, and Roland and I as the ward missionaries who worked with the full time proselyting missionaries   In addition to our two missionary farewells, our family had been called upon at least three times to give missionary themed talks in Sacrament meeting (a meeting for the entire congregation)

          Before Jenna started reading, I looked for graphics so that she could memorize the talks that she gave and Roland and I would each write our own.  Sometimes the boys spoke in addition – but not always.

          Roland and I served in our church calling for about three and a half to four years before we were released and then the ward boundaries were changed and the ward got a new bishop.  He was the bishop who sent out Randy. 

          Each of us has had experiences that have made us grow.  Each of us has learned to appreciate the others’ position even more. For in order for a three legged stool to function properly, all three legs are required.

* PROSELYTING: Evangelizing; doing mission work. Unlike in Christianity, it doesn’t have a negative connotation. In Mormonism it is used in a positive sense.