Catching Up, Writ Large

It's been a while...a lo-o-o-ong while.

I have been to wards and branches in Washington, Oregon, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Minnesota, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ontario in my travels over the years. So far.

I have walked unexpectedly into Stake Conferences. I even walked into a Spanish ward, where I didn't understand a thing except the hymns and the Sacrament.

I have been 'invisible' most of the time, but there have been many times where I have been welcomed, either by ward officers or plain ol' friendly fellow Latter-day Saints.

It has been very helpful over the years to have a meetinghouse where I have traveled in order for me to recharge my spiritual batteries and fellowship with the Saints.

I shall try to take much less time before my next entry.

God bless you all.

Hurrah for Zion! 

Catching Up

Hello there!

It's been a while since my introductory post. In that time, I have been to places such as Philadelphia (twice), Detroit, New York (twice), Boston, St. Louis, Cleveland and other places.

In most of these cities I have attended small inner-city branches. Now, you would think that these branches would clamp on to any new warm body that happened to walk through their door...But surprisingly, most of the time nobody introduces themselves--not even the leadership.

One exception to this, however, is the Flushing 2nd Ward in Queens, New York. This ward is a paradox to me--it's nominally an English-speaking ward, but the majority of the members are Chinese.  A large percentage of the members wear headphones to hear talks and prayers in their own language. I have been to this ward (and also when it was a branch) numerous times over the past few years. Each time I have been there missionaries, members and Bishop Wu have introduced themselves to me. In fact, there was an occasion where I had gone there on consecutive Sundays. A wonderful elderly Sister asked me if I was moving in.

At any rate, it's wonderful to be able to drop in anywhere and have my spiritual batteries recharged--to sing the hymns, listen to talks and testimonies, and partake of the Sacrament.

I'll strive to keep you posted on my progress through the summer.

What's All This, Then?

I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a 'Mormon,' if you will). As part of my employment, it is necessary for me to travel around the United States at any time of the week (even weekends). Even though I am sometimes required to work on Sunday, I am often able to attend some part of the LDS Sunday meeting schedule (usually Sacrament Meeting) in the morning before I must go to work. This blog will be an account of my experiences attending church in wards and branches around the US.

Why 'invisible?' On many occasions (but not all) when I have attended Sacrament Meeting in other places, I apparently looked like I belonged there, because not one person introduced him- or herself to me before or afterwards. Thankfully, there have been other wards where members of Bishoprics, Ward Mission Leaders or 'ordinary' members of the Church did what they were supposed to do and introduced themselves to me.

You might never know the reason why someone you have never seen before is attending Sacrament Meeting in your ward or branch. It is my hope that these entries can spur someone to look in the Chapel for an individual sitting by themselves, perhaps with head bowed, looking for answers. They may be members looking for a place to worship while on the road (like myself), or they may be someone, perhaps a non-member, looking for answers, for peace, for comfort.

We have a duty as members of the Church to "succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees." (D&C 81:5)  Hopefully this small submission will help.

See you on down the road!