yap, yap, yap

When we visit one of our investigating families, we are always greeted by a yappy dog ready to attack. He is a miniature Doberman and he thinks he rules the world. About 7 months ago we went there for the first time. That little squirt did not stop his "big dog" attitude the whole time we were there. He finally had to be put in the kitchen so that we could hear each other speak. The typical Belgian home is so little that the kitchen was only about 6 feet away and no door just a gate to keep the monster out. He still kept yapping so we really had to cut the visit short. Most of you know my fear of dogs and I know that any dog in my path can sense that also. Why do they always come after me? This little "rat" would have chewed my leg to the bone if he would have gotten the chance.
Well.....the second visit was planned and I was a nervous wreck. I just knew it would be a repeat scene. I really prayed hard that I could act calm and not sent out those frightening rays. The doorbell rang and sure enough, the yap, yap started and I was ready to head down the street. Scarlet, the dog owner came to the door holding the mutt and let us in. She talked to the dog a bit and I strutted in very confident like. Surprise, he calmed down as long as she held him and was really no distraction. At the end of the visit, Scarlet offered the prayer and in her prayer she thanked Heavenly Father for answering her earlier prayers of calming the dog. WOW. Now when we visit he gets used to us within a minute or two and I just ignore him. As a side note. I can actually go for a walk anywhere around here and not be attacked by a dog because they are ALWAYS on a leash. Now if we could just enforce that law in Utah so that I can take a walk there also.

O.K. the moral of the story: Some people think that they should rule the world and the church. This small part of Belgium which is called Noord Vlaanderen speaks Vlaams and they refuse to speak anything else. (Yes we can now understand them) They are a very proud bunch and are offended when the rest of the country does not bow down to them. They want nothing to do with the French part of the country. Both North and South would love to split the place in half but both want Brussels to be part of their section. Even within the ward here, they would really rather we just baptize the Belgians so there would be no problem with language. They have sort of set up a rule that it is O.K. to translate for a year but then they really should just speak Vlaams. They have a good point there but it is hard to convince the newcomers who have been here many many years to follow that way of thinking. We want everyone to hear the gospel in their own language like the scriptures tell us, but in reality that does not always work. One family who speaks only Mongolian relied on the 6 year old son to translate for them. How they were ever taught the lessons and be baptized is beyond me. Of course they have not returned since baptism several years ago. Some do not even return the next week to receive the Holy Ghost. So now.... How do we bring these people together?

We have learned that many of the people here in the ward just yap and chew on the leg for a while but in the end they let us walk away. Our Mission President reminds everyone here that this is the "Church of Jesus Christ" and not the "Church of Antwerpen" We pray all the time that this "Pride" issue will somehow mellow. I mourn for the friends we have made here because life could be so beautiful if they would only allow it. They have built prison walls around themselves and don't have the desire to escape. They can not see the greener pastures beyond the wall.

"Grace is when God gives us what we do not deserve, Mercy is when God does not give us what we do deserve" So we can either choose to "Live like Christ" or we can choose to "Suffer like Christ" It is our choice.