knowyourneighbor

Salt Lake Tribune: Letter to the Editor

This letter from a man who has lived in SLC for nearly 40 years beautifully illustrates what can happen when members of The Church of Jesus Christ get to Know Their Neighbor.

Link: Salt Lake Tribune - Shouldn't be dismissed

Ammon in Action

Whitney and I might be strange birds. We get excited like most women about a new pair of shoes or the right lipstick, but give us an inspiring example of being like Ammon and we can’t contain ourselves!

If I could be heard from a mountain top - say perhaps the Wasatch Mountains - I would shout: “Look at what the Prices have done!”

Today’s cover story in Meridian Magazine –The Real God’s Army at Work - tells us how President Bill and Sister Sid Price led an army of missionaries to become like Ammon.

Here are some points we don’t want you to miss:

1) No mistaking, this is not your typical effort:

The organized effort to have missionaries give service is not your typical “let’s fulfill the four hour a week service call” and it is not your “once-off let’s all go clean the park”.  It’s a highly concerted and sustained effort working with partners to make a real impact in the community.

2) It takes a new approach:

Too often Latter-day Saints sit in councils and decide what is best for the community, when what we need to do is include the community in our planning.

“We determined that we had to start with the leaders of the city to see what they wanted and what their needs are,” said President Price. “That means the service we give is not necessarily what we might choose to do, but we are doing what they see needs to be done. It has gone much farther than if we followed our own agenda.”

3) It’s under the radar:

In a way, the Price’s applied a non-compete clause to their efforts. And they sought to be under the radar of publicity – deciding NOT "to be seen of man” rather choosing, instead, to deflect the glory, if any media attention did result.

“We also had rules for ourselves, which we made clear to the city,” said President Price. “We were not seeking publicity. In fact, we would do whatever we could to avoid publicity. If there was any credit to be had, we wanted it to go to the city. We also didn’t want to interfere with any work that a union was doing, and we didn’t want to compete with any religious organization that was already working on a project. We just wanted to help.”

4) Note the hallmarks of success:

• The Partners are invested. Community Leaders feel one with the missionaries even calling them, “My Mormons”
• There is a bandwagon effect. The community feels the enthusiasm and many come out to join the effort.
• Trust is developed. The group of missionaries is given increased responsibilities to serve the community, even helping the city by distributing communication materials door to door.
• Success Breeds Success. Community groups are inspired to approach their work in a new way. And a Bishop becomes inspired and creates an outreach program to mentor youth.

And what are the results of the successful outreach program?

It might surprise some to know that it can’t be measured in baptisms.

In fact, as President Price said, “…friendship built for the Church through service for the community is incalculable”.

The conclusion to the story reveals the fruits of the Ammon approach:

“You don’t do any of this,” said Sister Price, “because it is going to translate into baptisms. You do it for open dialogue. What we use is the model of Ammon with King Lamoni. He didn’t preach the gospel until the king said, ‘Who are you?’ Then the dialogue begins.”

“There is so much more and so many bigger things that we can do,” said President Price. “We can take service to a more meaningful level and change the perception that citizens and civic leaders have of us.” In the heart of Washington D.C., people smile upon the missionaries because they know that these young men with badges are there to really help.

In addition, I can’t help but think that a whole lot of Latter-day Saints have come to enjoy the fellowship of their community, no longer viewing it as hostile, but as a wonderful place to be.

Making a difference; opening dialogue…tell everyone: This is Great!

Common ground: Dana King's How-to

You really must read the entire article titled "Friends Help a Family with Home Decorating" by my co-blogger Dana King.

There are just so many things to be learned from her about finding common ground:

1) When Emily Trujillo, one of the young women in Dana's stake wanted to learn about interior design, rather than sitting Emily down and telling her about design, Dana partnered with Emily, and with Habitat for Humanity, to decorate the newly-built home of Ursalon and Steve, and their four children. (Think about Ammon).

2) As Dana told friends in the community about Emily's project (think Abish), Dana was introduced to two sisters, Gayle Gill and Karen Brown, who also became involved in the project, and in turn involved their own faith group, United Christian Ministries.

3) Most importantly, the entire design team partnered with Ursalon and Steve, the homeowners, and their four children to design the home (think of Alma's community by the waters of Mormon).

Common ground?

Absolutely.

Dana, Emily, Gayle, Karen, Ursalon, Steve, Gina, Judy, among others, now share the common ground of making a house a home.

That's not just common ground, that's holy ground.

Said Rachel Naomi Remen, "Service is the shared experience of belonging." Are their young men or women in your ward that want to learn new skills that could learn these skills most effectively by becoming involved and engaged in the broader community?

Salting the Earth

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, I give unto you to be the salt of the earth; but if the salt shall lose its savor, wherewith shall the earth be salted?" —MATTHEW 5:13

I enjoyed reading The Pew Forum interview with Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder Lance B. Wickman.

Toward the end of the interview they are asked why the Church is receiving so much attention, especially since the Church is not large relative to other religions. Elders Nelson and Wickman suggest one reason may be that Latter-day Saints can be found in every part of the world and are prominent players in their communities.

Elder Nelson: “Here's another thought that comes to me, and that is that nearly everybody has a neighbor who's a member of this church. There are what, about 200 countries in the world. We have at least one member of the church in every nation of the world now.”

Clearly we have salted the earth. But what is that salting doing?

I am reminded of a quote by Elder Glenn L. Pace when he was a member of the Central Area Presidency. He said,

We cannot become the salt of the earth if we stay in one lump in the cultural halls of our beautiful buildings.

With so much potential to influence our communities, what is the result of "lumping" in the cultural halls? It’s a funny visual if you think about it - members of the Church congregating together, staying in their comfortable cocoon of close church associations – a big lump!

This brings to mind the blog, Think Outside the Cultural Hall. As we plan activities in our programs can we think of ways to de-lump ourselves?

Do unto others

Yes, there's the P.T. Barnum school of thought "say whatever you like about me, just spell my name right".

But because being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ is such an important part of my identity, it is difficult for me not to be hurt by religious barbs. Conversely, when people are kind, I am happy and grateful, as was the case with John Bogert's editorial this morning.

Link: Why can't personal beliefs stay personal in politics?.

Bogert begins the article referring to the questions that arose about JFK's Catholicism, and Bogert's own childhood discomfort in the face of bigotry. He then writes:

"Some people and more than a few commentators seem to fear Mitt Romney, who happens to be a clean-cut member of a Christian sect that doesn't allow boozing, drug use or even coffee drinking. Plus they raise unfailingly polite kids who, unlike most of our rotten offspring, willingly spend a couple of years of their lives getting doors slammed in their faces for the faith."

In addition to my gratitude, there are two key takeaways:

1) Mr. Bogert refers to a man by the name of Ken Driggs who Bogert describes as "one of the smartest guys I know and a devout Latter-day Saint." As Ammon taught, when people know Latter-day Saints (it seems especially in small numbers), misconceptions often dissipate.

2) Perhaps more importantly, because of Bogert's experience as a 10 year-old boy, he was able to step into the shoes of Latter-day Saints, and defend, even endorse the good people that we are trying to be.

Indeed, despite a potential backlash, he has reached across the aisle.

So here are my questions:

Do you and I know enough of the goodness of our neighbors and community that we would feel compelled to endorse, even defend them?

In other words, as we have had Mr. Bogert do unto us, can we do unto others?