Since I got the idea to start this blog I have been amazed by the fact that I have had opportunities just walk right up to me, literally. I really feel that I've been lead to people and people have been lead to me. For instance:
Wednesday night I was down in Draper watching my nephews--we watched Lion King, what a great movie. After watching them and playing some XBox with my brother I made the lonley trip back up to Salt Lake City. As I was parking in front of our little humble abode I glanced to my left and there was a woman standing in the middle of the median giving me a thumbs up. Now I was working at positioning myself to not be in the way of any drive ways and I thought she was just telling me that I was in a good spot. It turns out that she actually wanted a ride--who knew? A person standing in the middle of the road with their thumb up wanted a ride! Typically I NEVER take a hitch-hiker---honestly they scare me! But yet again the thought jumped into my head "your blog!" That thought coupled with the fact that she didn't give me the heebie jeebie's lead me to assent to her request for a ride.
When she got into the car I gathered that she was a couple of things 1) slightly intoxicated, 2) a smoker and 3) emotional. Turns out Brenda (I think she gave me a fake name) is going through a rough bit with the people she lives with, she kept saying how upset and sad she was but I couldn't get her to tell me why. She would just start to tear up a little and then change the subject the first time by asking if I smoked because she had a cigarette she wanted to smoke the 2nd time by asking about me and my life. She is in a tough spot in her life--she dropped out of school at 16, she is the single mother of a 3 y/o son and the "love of her life" who she wants to be with is in jail. I really can't imagine how hard that would all be. However amid all the hardships she has decided to get going with her education again because her boyfriend is getting out of jail soon so she wants that to be a turning point for their life together. I really hope things work out for the both of them, I'm sure it's going to be a tough road but one that can be taken.
Name: Brenda
Age: 22
From: SLC
Info: Has 3 y/o son, is 1/2 Navajo and 1/2 Ute, has a brother who lives in Wyoming.
Credibilty: 7 I think she lied about her name and I dont think that the place I dropped her off at was her mothers.
Craziness: 1--everybody has a little crazy in 'em!
Given: A 15 block ride.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Beaumont Texas: Great Homeless Experiences of the Past
I've decided that between new experiences I would fill in the "down time" with some good stories from the past. Today's experience is one from THE Mission in the wonderful city of Beaumont.
Inner-city Beaumont is...interesting to say the least. I had some of the CRAZIEST experiences there! That being said you can expect many of my Great Homeless Experiences of the Past (GMEotP) to be from the city of Beautiful Mountain (Beaumont is French for Beautiful Mountain, which is ironic because its COMPLETELY flat there). There are so many to tell, but its kinda late so I'm gonna tell a short one.
Let me open your mind to a typical morning while I was in Beaumont as of April 2008. 2:20 am awoken by companion snoring--I cough loudly, he stops and I go back to sleep; 4:45 am awoken by companion flinging out of bed onto his knees and saying, "when you come to understand that God is your loving Heavenly Father...Elder Wilson? Is there anyone one we haven't seen for a while that we should visit? Like any former investigators we should go see?," I reply, "I don't know Elder Carter." This is where he snaps out of it and says, "what am I doing?" I reply, "I don't know"
"Why am I going all crazy?"
"Just go to bed Elder Carter."
He then blissfully re-enters dreamland while I lay there for another hour. Finally at 6:30 the alarm goes off and we get up and pray, eat, shower, etc. At 8:00 am personal study begins--here's where it starts to get interesting! Usually at about 8:45 or 9:00 the serene silence would be shattered by shouts and screams coming down the street. As the source of the outburst draws closer to our hacienda (Spanish for estate) what was just sounds clears up to recognizable obscenities. We jump up and run to the window to peek out at one of our favorite and one of the most infamous Beaumontians---Mary.
Mary is about 5' and 100 lbs, dirty clothes and a strange gate that would make you think she'd ridden a horse for the past week straight. She walks by screaming, yelling and flailing her arms around at some invisible foe. Accasionaly she'll stop and really let loose and then continue on her way down the street never stopping her barage of insults and curses. Elder Carter and I simply laugh at yet another experience with Mary and head back for companion study at 9:00.
This was almost a daily experience from March 2008 until July 2008 for Elder Carter and I and then Elder Mack and I. Talk to ANY missionary that served in inner-city Beaumont and they knw the Screaming Lady.
Inner-city Beaumont is...interesting to say the least. I had some of the CRAZIEST experiences there! That being said you can expect many of my Great Homeless Experiences of the Past (GMEotP) to be from the city of Beautiful Mountain (Beaumont is French for Beautiful Mountain, which is ironic because its COMPLETELY flat there). There are so many to tell, but its kinda late so I'm gonna tell a short one.
Let me open your mind to a typical morning while I was in Beaumont as of April 2008. 2:20 am awoken by companion snoring--I cough loudly, he stops and I go back to sleep; 4:45 am awoken by companion flinging out of bed onto his knees and saying, "when you come to understand that God is your loving Heavenly Father...Elder Wilson? Is there anyone one we haven't seen for a while that we should visit? Like any former investigators we should go see?," I reply, "I don't know Elder Carter." This is where he snaps out of it and says, "what am I doing?" I reply, "I don't know"
"Why am I going all crazy?"
"Just go to bed Elder Carter."
He then blissfully re-enters dreamland while I lay there for another hour. Finally at 6:30 the alarm goes off and we get up and pray, eat, shower, etc. At 8:00 am personal study begins--here's where it starts to get interesting! Usually at about 8:45 or 9:00 the serene silence would be shattered by shouts and screams coming down the street. As the source of the outburst draws closer to our hacienda (Spanish for estate) what was just sounds clears up to recognizable obscenities. We jump up and run to the window to peek out at one of our favorite and one of the most infamous Beaumontians---Mary.
Mary is about 5' and 100 lbs, dirty clothes and a strange gate that would make you think she'd ridden a horse for the past week straight. She walks by screaming, yelling and flailing her arms around at some invisible foe. Accasionaly she'll stop and really let loose and then continue on her way down the street never stopping her barage of insults and curses. Elder Carter and I simply laugh at yet another experience with Mary and head back for companion study at 9:00.
This was almost a daily experience from March 2008 until July 2008 for Elder Carter and I and then Elder Mack and I. Talk to ANY missionary that served in inner-city Beaumont and they knw the Screaming Lady.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Homeless Lady Number 1
Today I had the feeling that I should go to the temple. Being that I was already dressed up for school it was pretty easy to come in change my shirt, throw on my suit jacket and start walking up there (I live about 4 blocks from the Salt Lake City Temple). Before I left I thought to myself, "I should bring some money just in case" so I grabbed a Lincoln (thats 5 dollars) and headed out the door. It was a crisp winter day but the sky was blue and the sun was bright. As I approached the entrance to Temple Square I noticed a woman with a back-pack just wondering around in front of the gates. My first thought was, "oh no...some woman that’s gonna ask me for money" (I'm a sucker for giving money to the homeless) so I tried to hurry into Temple Square before she turned around. Just as I was breaking the threshold into safety I hear a soft quiet voice behind me say, "excuse me sir, do you have any change you can spare?" My first thought was, "ah crap, she got me" and then I remembered, something told me to bring this 5 dollars--why? Money is not needed to get inside the temple, maybe I was supposed to bring it for her. After that thought I remembered that I wanted to start this blog--after that my attitude improved exponentially!
I reached in my back pocket and pulled out the 5 and handed it too her. She said, "thank you" and started to turn away, but before she could leave I asked her how she got to this point in her life. She looked at me, obviously a little taken aback, and replied, "I put a lot of money into a business that when I came here I found out didn’t really exist." As she said these simple words tears filled her eyes--were they real or just a show? It's hard to say, but the rest of her story is as follows. She, Samantha, is from Arizona and drove up here to SLC about 3 months ago for this business that she was putting money into. She obviously didn't have much going for her in AZ and I guess this was something she had hoped would be a starting point for "something" better in life. Well as stated previously the business didn't really exist, she had put all her eggs in one basket and that basket wasn't even real. Hoping to make the best of being in a new city with new opportunities she sold her car, rented a place to stay and began job hunting. She made a fatal mistake of believing that she could find a job easily here even with a nationally dismal economy and job-market, she didn't get a job and now banks upon the benevolence of Temple Square visitors to survive.
After hearing her story I simple shook her hand and told her I hoped the best for her, she teared up again and said simply, "thank you and God bless you." Is the story true? Is she really someone who was trying for something more in life and was swindled out of everything? Were her tears real or just a good show to get a young Mormon sap to give her some money? I really don't know, and I probably never will. But is that a judgment I really want to make. Is it one of those “better safe than sorry” choices? Matthew 25:31-46 leads me to answer this question in the affirmative”
“31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his aright hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my cbrethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the aleast of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Homeless Profile 1:
Female
Samantha
Arizona
Bad Business Venture
$ Given: 5
Crazy Rating (1-10): 1
Story Believability (1-10): 6--There has to be a lot more to it.
I reached in my back pocket and pulled out the 5 and handed it too her. She said, "thank you" and started to turn away, but before she could leave I asked her how she got to this point in her life. She looked at me, obviously a little taken aback, and replied, "I put a lot of money into a business that when I came here I found out didn’t really exist." As she said these simple words tears filled her eyes--were they real or just a show? It's hard to say, but the rest of her story is as follows. She, Samantha, is from Arizona and drove up here to SLC about 3 months ago for this business that she was putting money into. She obviously didn't have much going for her in AZ and I guess this was something she had hoped would be a starting point for "something" better in life. Well as stated previously the business didn't really exist, she had put all her eggs in one basket and that basket wasn't even real. Hoping to make the best of being in a new city with new opportunities she sold her car, rented a place to stay and began job hunting. She made a fatal mistake of believing that she could find a job easily here even with a nationally dismal economy and job-market, she didn't get a job and now banks upon the benevolence of Temple Square visitors to survive.
After hearing her story I simple shook her hand and told her I hoped the best for her, she teared up again and said simply, "thank you and God bless you." Is the story true? Is she really someone who was trying for something more in life and was swindled out of everything? Were her tears real or just a good show to get a young Mormon sap to give her some money? I really don't know, and I probably never will. But is that a judgment I really want to make. Is it one of those “better safe than sorry” choices? Matthew 25:31-46 leads me to answer this question in the affirmative”
“31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his aright hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my cbrethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the aleast of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
Homeless Profile 1:
Female
Samantha
Arizona
Bad Business Venture
$ Given: 5
Crazy Rating (1-10): 1
Story Believability (1-10): 6--There has to be a lot more to it.
Explanation and The Plan
Alright, I have been searching for something interesting to create a blog about and two nights ago, as I was sitting in bed at 1:30 not able to sleep, it hit me--I live just blocks away from a place that is a hot spot for beggars and protestors and no one ever takes the time to find out ANYTHING about those people they just walk by them, maybe hand them a buck or listen to waht they have to complain about, but usually no one ever attempts to find out why they are where they are, so that's my plan! I am going to visit Temple Square and the Gateway Mall often and TALK to the Homeless and the Haters, and if they will let me I will get pictures with them. I hope that this will be an enlightening, thought provoking and hopefully often times humorous experience!
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