Teaching him about Jesus

As I entered the chapel last Sunday, I made a right turn to head down the hallway toward the room where my first meeting would be held. I paused, because half way down the hall a sacred experience was taking place, and I didn't want to interrupt. A small, dark haired Karen woman, dressed in the bright colors of the Karen costume, was standing alone in the hallway. She had an infant swaddled in a fabric sling close to her chest. Reverently, she stood in front of a picture of the Savior. Turning her body to face her baby toward the Savior, she pointed, and whispered to the infant in her native tongue. A mother, teaching her child about Jesus.

Sunday, September 5th, Bruce and I had a sweet experience. We attended church, here in Salt Lake City, with a congregation of Karen people. These people originally lived in Burma, but the Burmese government is determined to exterminate their race, or drive them from the country. Most of them have spent the last years of their lives living in refugee camps in Thailand, after having fled their own country for their lives. The US government brought them to America for safety, and has settled them here in the Salt Lake Valley. One woman I met Sunday spent the last 20 years of her life living in a cave. Another woman told of living in a small Burmese village with only women and children, the men having all been killed or away fighting with the resistance. One day, a contingent of Burmese soldiers arrived and demanded that the women cook for them. She gathered up the 20-some children of the village and took them to the nearby river to hide from the soldiers. After three days by the river, they returned to the village to find every woman there had been raped and killed. She took the children and led them on foot over the mountains to a refugee camp in Thailand. A young man told us of watching his uncle be tortured and killed when he stood up to the soldiers. These people have lived through unspeakable horrors in their lives. Yet they are here, humble and grateful, and happy to have a chance for a good life.

Their children grin and giggle and speak in hesitant English. Few of them read, and there isn't a Book of Mormon translated into the Karen language anyway, but they listen to the missionaries, they feel the peace of the Holy Ghost in their hearts and they are accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ into their lives. They have amazing faith and they love the church! They sing the hymns in English with enthusiasm and joy! There are only 135 baptized members in their congregation, yet their sacrament meeting attendance averages 200 people, because they share their joy and invite their family and friends to come to church with them. The young father who translated in Sacrament Meeting isn't even a member of the church, but he speaks the best English, and he comes every week. Already, they have proudly sent one young man from their congregation off to serve a mission in California. They are so excited about this, and love to tell of him and his joy in serving! The twelve-year-old who reverently passed the sacrament to us during the meeting was wearing flip-flops, board shorts and a tee shirt, with a white shirt and Santa Claus tie over top -and a huge smile on his face! He was adorable! I noticed a cute, blond, young adult in the congregation, with a gaggle of teen aged girls sitting all around her. After the meeting I talked to her. "Yep!" she grinned, "About a year ago I came home from my mission in Missouri, and got called to be the Young Women's President of the Karen Branch. I didn't have any idea who the Karen people were! But I love it! I have about 25 young women, and they love coming to church!" In one of our meetings, we talked about provident living, about using the resources we have and preparing for the future. The teacher asked the women in the room if, when they prepared the evening meal for their family each day, they would take one spoonful of rice before they cooked it, and set it aside, to save for a day of need. Every woman in the room eagerly nodded her head. Yes, yes, they would do that. It was inspiring.

Being there with those sweet, humble people, who have so much faith in the Savior was a lesson to me. So many of us complain when hard things happen to us. "Why me?" we say. But I watched these people who have had challenge after difficult challenge in their lives, who have looked death in the face daily, who have lived through trial after trial, and they are grateful for the smallest things. They accept the Savior and try to keep the commandments. They find joy in their lives and in the gospel. I have much to learn from them. I feel so blessed to have shared a Sabbath day with them.

Sister Anderson and Sister Blackwelder, the missionaries who teach the Karen people.