September . . .

Since my last posting, school's started, football's going full speed, homework's on the kitchen table, we're up early in the morning, and all that stuff. It's good to be back in the routine of things.

I had a pretty humbling experience on Tuesday -- I went with a few "sisters" from the Stake Relief Society to visit a few families in the area. Little did I know when I left my home, that I would see and feel what I did. We visited a couple from Figi. They live in one of two basement apartments in a house smaller than mine. (There are actually four apartments in this house.) The husband and wife are in their late sixties/early seventies. They have lived in Utah since 2002, their son met and married a girl from Orem while they were attending school in Hawaii. They came to Utah because that son and his family live here. They have two other married children and their families who are still in Figi. I am not sure where all they have lived in Utah, but for the past year or so they have lived where we visited.

To get to the apartment we walked down 10-12 very narrow cement steps. We were warmly greeted by the husband, a very handsome man. His wife of many years is recovering from a few really bad strokes the last of which left her partially paralyzed and with impaired speech. She has been recovering slowly, and after three months in a rehab center she can now walk with help and speak (slowly) but understandable. The spirit of love and kindness and testimony radiated in their humble home. They were dressed very nicely, clothes washed and pressed, . . .

This is where things get amazing. I have visited hundreds of homes in my life east to west and north to south. Most homes have their clutter and their stuff -- whatever it is. And most homes could use a good cleaning and straightening up. Well, this one was very different -- there was little if any stuff. The apartment consisted of three rooms -- a kitchen/living area, a bedroom, and a bathroom -- that's it. The furnishings in the kitchen/living area included some very old appliances, a small worn rectangle table with four very different kitchen chairs, a couch covered with an afghan, an old-fashioned boxed television, and that's it. No pictures on the wall, no magazines, no bookshelf, no entertainment center, . . . There were a couple of family photos on the tv, but pretty much nothing else. The floor was linoleum, no carpet, no rugs. The apartment was very clean, I mean very clean, and had a very pleasant, clean smell. The couple was so happy to have us visit. They were so very kind and appreciative. We talked about the wife's recovery and the difficulty of taking care of each other. The husband explained that he had taken some time off from his job to be home for our visit. He told us that his work was at Wallmart and that he walked there and back (no car). He walks to church, too. His wife could probably make it if they had a car. Their neighbors help out taking them to the doctor --

They were amazingly happy, thankful, humble, spiritual people living in a most simple home (they were so proud of their home) and they obviously didn't need much stuff to survive or to bring such good intrinsic values to their lives -- they had each other, their family, their faith.

As we left, I kissed the sweet wife on the cheek and thanked her for teaching me through her spirit. After visiting another home, I came home to my house of stuff -- more stuff than I have room for or need. I hope that some of the spirit I had felt earlier is evident in my home -- stuff aside -- and I am so thankful for this experience -- it was truly amazing!