We held some good meetings yesterday at the prison and to say that they are always interesting is an understatement. I met with my four men at Salinas Valley Prison in the AM and we finished our discussion of the doctrine of salvation for the dead. We used 1 Corinthians 15:29 and Doctrine & Covenants 138 as our guide for the discussion which has been ongoing for the past several weeks. Of the four to five men who attend, 3 are non-members, so this particular doctrine is new to them. But...they all received the teachings with open hearts and minds and it is because the truths taught apply to the living as well as the dead. President Romero joined us for the 2nd hour and conducted interviews with two of the attendees, Joe Sullivan and Richard Wyatt, both non-members.
Several weeks back, we were discussing the Atonement and Joe began to share his remorse and sorrow over the acts he had committed to put him in prison. He was openly seeking for forgiveness and was concerned about his future welfare. I suggested that he meet with President Romero who is the 'common judge in Israel'.
Richard has come to us through his sister and mother-in-law who have been converted to the Church and have been sending him much information-scriptures, study guides, etc. He has expressed his admiration for the lifestyle his sister has adopted and he is eager to learn the doctrines of the church. He is evidently going to be re-sentenced in March according to a new law which retroactively changes the parameters for '3 strike' offenders who are serving lifetime sentences. The bottom line is he may be able to go home at some time in the future. He was desirous to receive a letter of commendation from either President or myself that he could take to the parole board as proof he is trying to do what is right. President interviewed him and the policy is that we cannot write 'good character' letters but we can simply state the facts that Richard has been attending services for the past 6 months.
At the conclusion of our SVP meeting, we joined with Brother Campbell and visited Carl Tauvaga, a big Samoan member who is in the E Yard (minimum security) awaiting his release next Friday. We first met Carl at South Yard a year ago where he had been regularly attending until a most 'telling' event occurred. The following account was given by Carl at a later fast and testimony meeting in the form of a testimony. He stated that on a particular Sunday he saw President and Brother Campbell entering his dorm area. They were attempting to 'round up' some meeting attendees. Carl decided he did not want to visit with them or attend the meeting, so he basically 'turned tail and ran' in the opposite direction. No sooner had he attempted to hide than he was accosted by a fellow inmate and a fight ensued. As a result, Carl was sent to the 'hole' for a time and eventually returned to the South Yard with an additional 2 months added onto his sentence. The lesson is obvious from this story, and as he has repeatedly stated, he regrets his action of 'running away' from Church. Needless to say, we have gotten a lot of 'spiritual mileage' from this testimony as we have shared the story with our other inmate friends.
Carl will parole to the Oakland 8th (Samoan) Ward where his wife and family are. His Bishop is aware of his coming, and Carl has told us that he is ready to put his life in order. He wants to help the young men in his Ward avoid the pitfalls that put him in jail and desires to teach them so. We have a feeling we will be hearing from him.
We ate lunch, and as always, administered the Sacrament among ourselves. Our next meeting was in Central Yard which for a few weeks prior has, for various reasons, been sparsely attended. Yesterday was better however, and we had 8 brethren on board. A discussion of the importance of the Doctrine& Covenants as a blueprint for the Restored Church led our resident non-member Christian, J J Mclaurin to spew forth the religious philosophy that all churches are good and that they lead any and all who will follow to the 'one God' of us all. A very unique question was posed, "If the Savior were here right now and you could ask him any question, what would it be? His response was, "I would ask him if the Bible teachings contained everything I needed for salvation." He actually threw the question back at us to which we replied, no!!!!!. The ensuing discussion regarding ongoing revelation, other scriptures-the Book of Mormon, D&C, Pearl of Great Price-and the ability to ask God to know the truth of all things, led again to a most revealing conclusion. We asked JJ if he would ask the Savior if the Book of Mormon was true. JJ replied emphatically, "He would not"!!!!!. We afterward mused how sad it is that people in general do not know the questions to ask or are asking the wrong questions in the first place. But then again, that is why the Gospel is preached! And that is why we go to visit these 'spirit's in prison'.
President and Brother Campbell conducted the final meeting at South Yard and I went home early to be with my wife.
Jan and I then attended the annual Stake High Priest quorum meeting at the Stake Center. It was good to be with the other High Priests and their wives. Sister Dayna Jacobs spoke enthusiastically about their upcoming senior mission. Brother Don Locke spoke on Family History and President Green counseled us to come to the rescue of our fellow Stake members. Suggestions were given from the audience as how to best get involved in this most important work. Home and Visiting Teaching were among the keys listed. Jan and I will consider inviting some of the younger members of the Ward to our house for a get acquainted dinner.
No comments:
Post a Comment