The Warm Hospitality of the Natives

"We should tell her about Baha'u'llah!" Frankie said with wide eyes as he introduced me to Jay, his friend that had been taking him to church, "Since he was in pampers."

We were standing out side the school basketball courts after shooting some hoops when Jay drove into the parking lot. Frankie told her about the children's classes we had been having to "learn how to improve the world by lighting the candles of our hearts through the teachings of Baha'u'llah."

We continued to stand in the parking lot and talk about how to work together to improve the world as her kids played on the playground with kid's from the children's class that had been playing basketball with Frankie and me. She told me how she had given her life to Jesus Christ and turned her whole life around. She is now married with four kids and lives in a nice house right out side of town. Her story was very inspirational, and the enthusiasm with which she told of the confirmations she has received through the power of prayer gave me hope and energy.

It was beginning to get dark, so we said our goodbyes and promised to meet again.

The next day she stopped by my house and invited me to come over for dinner. She introduced me to her family and laid out a tasty and satisfying meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn.

"It's not Indian, but it tastes good," she said with a laugh.

"It will be as soon as you eat it," I thought.

I secretly wanted to turn my food Indian too when I ate it. I decided that I must have Indian blood in me since we are all humans, and continued eating my food while listening to her family talk about home-schooling, sports, and the tests of living a spiritual life while raising a family to look to God for hope and answers.

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Frankie took the Hidden Words with him when he left to go to bording school in Pierre. I've never seen anyone so happy to own a copy of the Hidden Words. He didn't want to take it at first because he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to take care of such a precious book.

"A smashed cake tastes just as good," I told him. "You can't go on a journey without taking food with you, and where you're going everyone is hungry. They need you there with this cake to feed them, smashed or not."

Frankie has the sweetest most genuine smile. I really hope I can show you a picture of him soon.

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Yesterday Earl was out working on the yard again. I asked him if he needed any help.

He said, "No, but you can help me eat these pickles I made last night. I drove all the way to Bizmark to get the spices." Earl really is a generous man. We sat in the shade eating pickles and chatting about his grandkids. After awhile he said he needed to go inside again, but this time I stopped him and told him about the study circle we were going to have the next day at Rick's house. He looked interested in the material, but he said he wasn't much for talking to people he didn't know. I was surprised he said that because he was such an easy person to talk to. I suppose sitting and studying doesn't sound too appealing with people one has never met. I hope that as he learns more about the faith and meets more of the Baha'is he will change his mind.

I'm going to look over Anna's presentation again from book 6 and try a new approach. I haven't gone into much detail about the Faith with Earl yet. Hopefully my prayers will be sincere, and my heart will be open enough to let Baha'u'llah give me the right words to say next time. Earl said himself that he is waiting for God to fix the world. I wonder where he sees himself in that plan.