I Have Been Released From Prison!

Blog Entry dated 26 August 2008

I am going to attempt to describe the events of this Sunday but I am not sure I can aptly put into words the feelings of the day. I have been preparing to go with Art Romero to Soledad Correctional Facility (CTF) for the past 6 months and Sunday was my baptism by fire.

I would first like to begin by remembering my father Glen, who after retiring from the Army in 1952 took a job at the correctional facility for a short time as a guard, now called staff. The facility at that time was fairly new but it seems in my long since dimmed consciousness I remember going to the prison with my father to take a tour.  As I entered with Art, a certain feeling came over me that I had been there before.

The volunteer orientation and training class I attended in July at the prison was conducted for the intent of preparing me for interaction with the inmates. I came away from the class expecting those on the inside to try and manipulate me into helping them get something from the outside or to do them a favor. I was told they would test me as a new volunteer and that I was not to tell them much about me and to let them know that I could not help them with any requests they might have.

It was quite a psychology lecture, to say the least. Well, such was my preset mind.

Art picked me up at 8:30am and we arrived at the prison at 9am. We immediately drove around the prison I remembered to a newer facility, Salinas Valley Prison, which dwarfs the older prison in size and security intensity. Three 20 foot high fences surround this complex and the middle fence is charged with 200,000 volts of electricity! NO one is going to escape this place. It is in fact a maximum security area that houses the most hardened criminals that have committed every imaginable heinous crime. So here I go into the middle of the fray, right? Yep!!!! We walked through central and showed our badges and they let us in. The complex was in a lock down phase and had been for the past month or so due to somebody losing something that was deemed dangerous. Lock down means that the prisoners do not leave their cells except to take a 10 minute shower every third day!!!! We came into the first cell block after an overhead guard lowered a plastic container by rope and we deposited our badges for him/her to check. This guard was heavily armed and has a view of the outside of the complex as well as the entire inside cell population. It is a two story 'dormitory' with a large staging area(day room) between the cells and the entrance. Prisoners were indeed showering and I thought that this must be an all day and night ordeal if you consider the number of men times 10 minutes, plus they are not just let out to go shower. A guard must handcuff them first after they protrude their wrists through an opening in the cell door, then the guard must escort them to the shower and remove their handcuffs using the same process. The showers are converted cells that face into the staging area and are easily seen by the staff. I saw what they saw. There are no prison bars on the doors. They are all electronically operated and there are but one or two long rectangular windows in each cell door. The cells could not be more than half the size of our dining area here in the house. Pretty meager!!! Pretty grim!!

Under normal non-lock down conditions, Art is able to meet with all LDS affiliated inmates in each particular yard in a special room designated as a chapel. He keeps supplies of literature and church materials in this room under lock and key to prevent the non-LDS inmates from stealing and ransacking but other religious groups who share the same room!!!!! Quite a paradox isn't it? During the allotted meeting time, an announcement is made in the various cell blocks that Mormon services are being held. Inmates are escorted to the 'chapel' room and services are conducted for one and a half hours. The Sacrament is not administered as a matter of church policy.

Another way to meet with the prisoners as a group during lock down is to enter the cell block as we did and meet in the day room referenced above.  There are small round tables set up with 4 chairs, and now as I recall, these were firmly planted and anchored in the ground to prevent anyone from using them as a weapon. Yikes!!! The 'staff' then escorts each prisoner to the table area and we are able to meet with them for the proscribed time.

When we entered the block and requested to meet as a group, we were denied this request because of the showering process which requires the full time effort of the staff. So, the final way to meet with the inmates is what we had to settle for which is described as a cell door visit, our first being with a man named Brian. We got his attention through the small window in his cell and he came to the door and we were able to talk with him through the one half inch wide gap between the sliding cell door and the overlapping wall behind. Here was a man covered with tattoos, who has spent time in D yard which is solitary confinement for those who do bad things while in prison, talking about spiritual things and wanting to feel the spirit. It was an eye-opener for me. I could feel instantly that he 'hungered and thirsted' for righteousness. He took responsibility for his actions, as did all with whom we met, which was not what I expected. Usually, the blame lies with someone else or they do not even acknowledge that they had committed a wrong. We visited with several others using the cell door method and each had a particular story but each were glad to see us for whatever reason. Again, the spirit bore witness that we were doing a good thing.

Being in a lock down situation cut short our morning rounds of meetings, so we moved over to the Correctional Training Facility which is the original late 40's early 50 structure in which my father worked as a tower guard. We entered Chapel 1 to a rousing protestant meeting with well over a hundred inmates in attendance. A visiting choir from Oakland was singing which was followed by a prison choir of 10 men, mostly of negro descent. They sang the blues like nobodies business, and the music was loud and almost raucous. Art wanted me to experience the other side of prison religious life. In fact, most other major denominations are represented in one form or another by visiting reverends, parishioners and the sort all trying to help their converts. It is by no means a slight to them, for they are doing the best they know how to help these hopeless men. For me, the music does not do it though. It carries no spiritual significance and is for show only.

We ate lunch in the snack bar located just outside the Correctional Facility and then returned to conduct our 1pm meeting. Five good brethren were in attendance and the spirit was very evident from the beginning. Here were 'lifers' coming to be spiritually fed and clothed. Art asked me to sing a hymn to which I obliged and sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" I was particularly moved by Danny Plunkett, a man in his early 40's, who has been imprisoned since age 19 and who has no hope of parole. His story is one of falling away from the church at an early age and committing a heinous crime for which he must pay a life long penalty to society. However, his countenance shown with the Atonement of the Savior, for he has found it working in his life. It is so apparent that this young man has been seeking forgiveness and either has obtained or will obtain it. I marveled how this was done and have addressed this in my blog dated August 31. I am actually just finishing this excerpt on the 31st and it has required much thinking and pondering to do so. It might be obvious that this whole experience has affected me to a great degree. There are lessons I am going to learn, sermons I will preach, testimonies I will bare, and truths that will be revealed as a result of this new adventure in my life.

We finished the day in the South yard, a minimum security area where the inmates are either finishing longer sentences or are being incarcerated for briefer periods of time, usually one to three years. Again, a small flock of 6 men including two nonmembers greeted us. I sang "Oh My Father", a Capella, for these good men and we had a wonderful spiritual outpouring. I bore testimony to them to have faith and hope and that I knew they could be forgiven. I told them it would be my pleasure to return and share these moments with them again, something I am eagerly looking forward to.

Upon reflection of the events of the day, I have to be honest and say that I felt 'refreshed'. How can that be? I thank my Heavenly Father for giving me that feeling, for it is just not what I expected. It is what I now know to be a gift of the spirit, a gift of love unfeigned, and a gift of forgiveness in my heart and mind.

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Tuesday 23 September 2014

On Sunday 21 September 2014, the Soledad Branch Presidency was reorganized.  Under the direction of the Stake Presidency, President Green and Counselors Varney and Dong, President Art Romero and I were released and Doug Humble was called as the new Branch President.  President Humble called Sam Bailey as 1st counselor and Matt Coombs as 2nd counselor.  Sam was serving with President Romero and I as 2nd counselor and Brother Coombs had been serving as Branch institute instructor for the past year.

And so one of the greatest spiritual journeys of my life has come to an end.  I have included my blog-journal entry from August 26th 2008 as a reminder of the start of that journey which has led me ever closer to my Father in Heaven and his Son, my Savior and elder brother, Jesus Christ.   Those feelings expressed 6 years ago pretty much summed up the immediate and recurring and sometimes overwhelming experience(s) that have regularly occurred during my time among the 'spirits in prison'.  I still find it hard to adequately express in words the absolute sure knowledge I have gained of the Atonement and how it works in the lives of all of God's children.  I have seen it change 'hardened' men and 'hardened' hearts. I have felt it as I have testified of its' truthfulness and I have witnessed its redemptive, enabling and enobling power. It has changed me!!!  I understand repentance and true forgiveness in a way not possible if not for this assignment(calling).  Yes they have sinned greatly and the penalties for so doing are very severe, but the Lord himself will forgive whom he will forgive.  I have been among the outcasts and forgotten of society.  I have wept with those whose families have discarded them. I have given hope to the hopeless and  have cared for those who have appeared to others as 'past caring'.    I have tried to 'cheer up the sad' and make them feel glad with the good tidings of the Gospel.  In short, I have felt throughout this time that '...inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me'.  And even as I pen this, I realize that there has been no 'I' in any of it.  The spirit of the Atonement has taught me what to do and to say and to testify.  Scriptures have come to mind and heart on countless occasions which were needed to provide that hope and comfort.  Actual words have come, not of my own, to answer a doctrinal question or shed light on a particular  problem or concern.  It has become joyfully apparent that we gain a testimony by bearing it, and I have had that opportunity to do so in the last 6 years on at least a weekly basis.  I have shared with the men my love which was made possible because I have felt the Saviors love for them.

This journey would simply not have been possible without President Art Romero.  He is a pioneering Saint in every sense of the word.  Given his 'prison' assignment in 1997 under the direction of then Stake President Robert Jensen, he literally created the LDS presence through sheer grit and consistency, overcoming prejudice among other 'faiths', chaplains and inmates.  He just kept 'at it' until the spiritual and prison doors were opened.  The creation of the Branch was and is simply the fruit of his labors.  It was my privilege to work at his side and become a fellow brother and lifelong friend to him.  He taught me the Atonement through his actions and words and deeds.  I shall always consider him among the great men that have affected my life.  And his wife Barbara is not one whit shy of the same deserving praise.  She has had to patiently endure the somewhat fiery darts thrown at her by members of the same faith.  Darts such as:  "Why is your husband wasting his time down at the prison?" and "Why is your husband trying to help 'those' people?" and  "You don't really think those people can change, do you?"  and......       All this from well meaning people who simply did not and do not understand what we who have ministered at the prison understand, and from those who have not yet truly come to grips with the real and all encompassing power of the Atonement.  Barbara has become another life long friend.

Also in this mix is my wonderful companion.  She has sacrificed much over the past 6 years.  On several Sunday church occasions, the query would be offered, "Where is Dave, or your husband?" to which  she would reply "He is in prison" thus raising more than a few eyebrows.  She wrestled with getting Nana to church who needed to be transported and moved into and out of a wheelchair.  And I know that she was at times lonely for my company and desired me to be at her side.  She weathered it as she has so often in the past weathered other difficulties and trials.  She is a remarkable woman.

I will close by sharing a rather telling and poignant moment that occurred during the release meeting at Salinas Valley State Prison.  A little background is needed to better appreciate the moment.  One of the 'prime directives' of the prison volunteer code is to avoid over familiarization with the inmates. This is an impossibility as we come to know them in a very personal, deeply spiritual way.  Such was my lot with the inmates at Salinas Valley, for whom I had conducted services almost exclusively during the past four years.  Joe Sullivan, a lifer came to us via his 'cellie' Michael McKlish who had come to us on a member referral.  Both are non members but have been coming regularly to the services for the past several years.  During lock downs or other blockades to service attendance, I would try to visit all of the inmates on our list to just make contact and stay in touch. Many of these visits would be cell front only and with time only for a quick hello and a hopefully pleasant exchange of greetings.  Joe and Mike came to appreciate this effort in a way that was both gratifying and a little disconcerting.  Both had stated that they came to the meetings because of me and the care and concern showed for them.  Gratifying yes, but disconcerting in the fact that I did not want them to be converted to a man.  With all this background, I came to last Sundays  meeting with more than a little trepidation, unsure of how the pending Branch business would be perceived.  President Varney conducted the meeting and announced the releases to the 10 men assembled.  Shock and disbelief were immediately evident, some due to the lack of understanding of church governance When I arose to speak,  Joe Sullivan buried his head in his hands and openly sobbed!!!  I continued to bear testimony but my heart had melted.  I wasn't prepared for that particular show of emotion.  And then Frank Christian, whom President Romero had fellow shipped in much the same manner as I, openly wept.  My first thought was they are going to stop coming as a result!!  Then as the spirit of the event distilled upon us all, a remarkable transformation took place.  These same people were given the assurance that God was at the helm and that these releases were needful at this time.  What turned the tide was President Varneys inspired explanation of the necessity to return President and I to our wives and families!!!  It was a scene I shall never forget as I witnessed a physical and mental peace come over each of these men as they were moved by the spirit to accept this change.  Joe and Michael and Frank bore witness of such, and I knew then that all would be okay, and it is.  What a sweet sendoff it was.

And it came to pass...