My thoughts soon turned to an episode from the life of Joseph F. Smith:

“L. John Nutall and I attended Confirmation Service at Temple of the Washington Congregation today, it being their “Shebuoth” or Pentecost, the 5648 of the Jewish Era. The ceremonies were most impressive and interesting. Fifteen children were confirmed, 13 girls and 2 boys. Short discourses were made by each of these children explanatory of their faith and of their ceremonies. Their subjects were God and Nature, The Sabbath, The Greatest Treasure, Pesach (or Passover), Shebuoth (Pentecost) Rosh Hashonah (New Year), God’s Providence, The Fifth Commandment, Purim (Feast of Esther), The Two Strangers, and Chanuckah (Feast of Dedication, and Prayer). Many tears of joy and hope were shed by strong men, boys, matrons and maidens. I saw, through my own tears, Brother Nuttall wiping his eyes, together with many others, as the children embraced their parents and received their blessing. It was too much to resist the sympathetic tear. The Ten Commandments were strictly enjoined, great stress being laid on the necessity of purity and chastity, and obedience to parents. I said in my heart, give me Judaism in preference to hollow mockery of modern Christianity. I saw some of the most beautiful children’s faces I ever beheld and all the proverbial characteristics of the modern Jew were lost to view in solemn thoughts of the seed of Abraham. Undying devotion to Judaism, and to faith in the One God, were pledged by the children in the most solemn manner. I felt it was a worthy example for my own children, and those of the Saints, who not only should embrace Judaism, but inseparably connected therewith, true Christianity. Christ was a Jew.” (The Life of Joseph F. Smith, at 291.)

I am not only impressed that President Smith had the perspective and character to make these observations in 1888, not a friendly time for the Jews, but I am most impressed with how similar his sentiments were to mine on Friday night.

We all sat towards the back, but one of the priests saw us (we were in official garb after all).

He invited us up to the dias the altar is on. They had a couple of rows of chairs on each side of the altar, and we sat on the back (of two, or maybe three) on one side. Most of the other people were Catholic clery.

It was a beautiful ceremony, but I was also struck by the warm and honorable (and very visible to their congregation) reception that they accorded us.

Highlights included:
The architecture of the synagogue – circular, with men on ground floor, women on second.

Listening to them speak and sing in Hebrew.

Coupled with a vain attempt to follow along the French on the other page, which nevertheless revealed some interesting bits about their hope for the messiah.

They also stand frequently, which being ignorant, I didn’t do. No one said anything until they brought out the Torah scrolls. Then the elderly gentleman yelled at us (in French) “stand up! For respect of the stand up!” We stood. When time came to sit down, the man’s son (still older than us) apologized, saying it is very important to his father. To which I apologized again for my ignorance and told him his father had nothing to apoligize for.

When they called up another elderly gentleman whose wife had recently died, stood in a circle around him, placed their hands on his head and prayed for him. At first, it was just the similarity to our own practice, but what struck me was the outpouring of love, support, and community that it represented – beyond ritual or ceremony, to an active, open, communal expression of concern for this man’s lose and grief.

But, come on, Jon, isn’t this supposed to be positive comments only?! Yes, and here it is.

My old girlfriend and I are still good friends, and I call her every year on her birthday to wish her well. She is married to a great guy and recently had a little boy. In high school, she was good friends with another guy who’s Mormon, and while he was on his mission, she read through the entire Book of Mormon.

While I was at BYU, the Nauvoo Temple was open for the public, and having been to the city many times pre-temple, I wanted to go. About that same time, I had taken myself up on the challenge to pray for opportunities to share the gospel. Out of the blue, I called her old phone number, knowing her wonderful mom still lived there (despite her stupid dad having left). We had a great chat and she mentioned that her daughter lived in Iowa City. Since I’m rather thick-headed, it took the Spirit a good couple days for me to realize that is exactly North of Nauvoo — and the temple open house.

I called up my old girlfriend in Iowa City, and told her of my plan to drive across the country with my wife to go to the Nauvoo Temple open house, and would she and her husband like to come with us, being that it’s no more than a couple hours exactly South of where they lived, and oh, by the way, can we sleep on your futon? :) She went for it, we drove across the country, slept on her futon, and me, my wife, and my old girlfriend (who had previously read the entire Book of Mormon) went to tour the temple. (Her husband couldn’t get off work.)

(See, that’s nice and positive, right?)

Every time I call her on her birthday, she has plenty to ask me about our Church. I don’t even have to bring it up most times. She told me once that when they moved from their apartment to a house in Iowa City, a nice, clean, young couple lived just down the street with a newborn baby, and while her husband thought they might have been Jehovah’s Witnesses, she was pretty sure she had them pegged as Mormons. She was right. At our 10-year high school reunion, we chatted for about an hour, all about the Church.

She still hasn’t joined the Church, and she may never. But she has a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for our Church.

As an epilogue, it turns out that one of the ladies on my home teaching list (who says she wants out of our Church) attends the same megachurch my old high-school girlfriend used to. When I called her a couple weeks ago (my home-teachee, that is) we had a great chat about Jesus Christ, grace and mercy, and salvation, all on terms that she could understand. She still wants out, but she’s not off my list yet, so I’m going to keep trying to have some of those great, good-old-fashioned Christian chats with her, thanks to the clout I’ve earned with my long relationship with an evangelical, high-school girlfriend.

Thanks for the great post, Ardis, and thanks to everyone else for sharing their great stories.

Jon

Also attended midnight mass in Phoenix with my companion and DL’s. Both experiences where very positive.

Nice.