I am currently serving in the Merthyr Tydfil 1st Ward. If there is a "1st ward" then you have probably already guessed there to be a "2nd" one. The two wards are really close and as a result, when the Merthyr 2nd Ward held a Summer Féte, we were all invited.
Elder Hanson and myself took the liberty of inviting a few neighborhoods worth of people near the church, all of our friends on Facebook who live in Merthyr, and every other person we passed on the street. In total, we had about 11 friends show up with their families and there were numerous less-active members there as well.
In-between running the game booths, we four elders were taking every opportunity to dart out and talk to the people visiting. While running the games, we also started receiving gifts of ice cream and hot dogs from the kids who kept coming back to play them. One young man, couldn't be older than 12, even came and gave us all hugs and said "thanks for letting us come and play." Him and his family hadn't been to church in a long time.
The most peculiar experience came from a woman I invited off of Facebook. She lived in a valley out of town called Cwm. It is pretty far so I wasn't super hopeful she would be able to make it. She did. Not only her but also her husband and kids and her best friends family too. She then also brought along a baby stroller that had three bearded dragons, a large chameleon, and a few other reptiles I couldn't name if I tried, within it. My first reaction was to start rehearsing how I was going to apologize to the 2nd Ward bishop. Ten minutes later everyone at the party has formed lines around her and are taking turns holding the lizards as their parents take pictures, including the bishops from both wards.
This event did a lot of good for the church and members here in Merthyr. It wasn't easy to organize and there was a cost, but the positive impact it had was priceless. As a church, we are really good at loving other people, pretty good at sharing things with them, but inviting our friends to come along to activities is where really have room to blossom. This event was easy to invite people to, and now they may be more likely to come to a sacrament meeting. There may be less cotton candy and fun there, but there is a whole lot more eternal happiness and forgiveness.
"People like being included, they just need to be invited."
Have a good week!
Elder Killian
Pic #1 - the lizard crew at the Summer Féte
Pic #2 - if you squint your eyes and look real close you can see some white dots on a bench on the other side of the lake, those are the Merthyr 2nd elders having an in depth conversation about faith vs works with the local baptist preacher's daughter
Pic #3 - Glenys Bloodworth converted to our faith from Presbyterianism at the age of 80. Because of her upbringing, she was unwilling to mark the scriptures when the bishop invited the ward to read the Book of Mormon and mark every reference to Christ. To accomplish the challenge and prove that she did it, she chose instead to write out the entire book word for word. When the year ended and the challenge was over, she wasn't. She went on to write out the entire New Testament, Old Testament, Doctrine & Covenants, and even Preach My Gospel. At her funeral, Elder Druyon and I had the opportunity to display her books. I don't think her feat has been duplicated in centuries and I doubt it will be soon. For five years she spent 3 or more hours a day transcribing.
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