Eugene

Bret has a friend named Eugene.

Eugene is a classmate of Brets from Singapore.

He is single, living far away from his family.

He comes over usually about once a month.

My kids adore him. And he adores the kids.

He brings them gifts every time he comes.

He is generous and kind, and always complimentary of my cooking.

This week we taught him how to use a dishwasher.

He has been in our home for Family Home Evening before. But he doesn't know much about our church or even Christianity as a whole.

This week we had him over and he wanted to know what made our church different. Sitting around the dinner table we were able to explain to him God's Plan of Salvation. Our pre-mortal life with God, the creation of the world and Adam and Eve. Prophets that followed. We explained the Old and New Testaments and the difference between them. The life of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles. How those followers of Christ were persecuted and eventually killed. How centuries later a 14 year old boy knelt in prayer because of the confusion of which church to belong to and in answer to that prayer saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. We explained about the Book of Mormon, how it is a record of people and prophets that lived in the Americas and testified of Jesus Christ. We told Eugene that one of the major differences between our religion and other Christians is that we know there are living prophets today who lead and guide us.

It was a remarkable experience.

When he first asked what made our church different, Abby and McKenna jumped right in and recited Articles of Faith without even being asked or prompted. They were a part of the whole conversation and while Bret answered most of his questions, they were eager to pipe right in and add their own little bit.

While Eugene was asking simply out of curiosity, I was grateful for his questions. I was grateful to see how eager my children were to answer them, and how they knew the answers to them. I was grateful that my kids words afterwords were, "that was so awesome." I was grateful for the spirit I felt as we talked about prophets and Jesus Christ. I was grateful to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was grateful for my testimony and the testimony of my husband. I was grateful to share such an experience with my children.