Are you a traveler
or a home body?
In
the last 5 years I have been able to do things I never thought to do in my
life. I spent 2 weeks in England,
Scotland and Wales, and I went to Walt Disney World TWICE. (Two of those trips were GIFTS, can you
believe it?!) In fact, I just got back from WDW with my oldest daughter,
Sariah, and her family. While in England and in Orlando, I attended
church there locally. What a wonderful
thing it is to be so physically far from home and yet to feel so at home
there. The same gospel is taught. The same sacred ordinance of the Sacrament.
And although I do not know the people’s names, I know their core values and
know that they are my brothers and sisters, and potential friends and helpers.
It
is possible to sit quietly in the back, go unnoticed and walk away without
talking to anyone. I have done it. Although
Mormons are friendly, they all have concerns and responsibilities and don’t
always see. Or, like me, are basically
socially backwards and awkward. I get
to know people rather slowly. I tried
once to overcome my natural reticence. I
walked up and introduced myself – to someone who had been in the same ward with
me for years but I didn’t know well and she had changed her hair! Now, I know it’s better to just say “Good to
see you” and let things go from there.
It is almost easier when you are the
visitor or the new one, because then you aren’t expected to know anyone. Then you can go up and say, “Hi! I am visiting. Where do I go now?”
Sariah, is great at getting to know
people. She chatted with people very
comfortably everywhere on our trip. Once
early in her marriage she accompanied her husband on a training trip for
work. She called me when she landed and
said she was going to take a nap. It
wasn’t all that much later – that evening or the next day? That we spoke on the
phone and she said she had to go because they were going out with friends. I said, “You don’t know anyone there!” After her nap, she had looked up the local
ward, called the Bishop, went with his wife to some Relief Society function,
met and made friends with another young married gal.
But whether we are outgoing or shy,
wherever we go in the church we can find brothers and sisters who truly are
friends we simply haven’t met. We have
to stretch just a little and we will be at home wherever we are.
It is one of the blessings of the
church – besides that little detail of the Gospel and Plan of Happiness and
Salvation.
