In the small southern Colorado town of San Luis there stands a beautiful, old Catholic santuario situated at the top of a hill. A trail winds up the hill to the church, and along the route the traveler encounters several shrines and statues, which represent the various Stations of the Cross.
A couple of months ago there was an incident in the town, which made the news. Three LDS missionaries assigned to the area had climbed the hill, and had posed with the various statues in a disrespectful and irreverent manner while the others took pictures. When they reached the top, they clowned around inside the sanctuary and vandalized some of the structures.
Apparently someone witnessed this despicable behavior and reported it. The three elders were subsequently reprimanded and sent home. The Mission President and a local Bishop were sent to San Luis to apologize to the townspeople and try to undo some of the damage that had been done.
We read about this incident when it happened, lamented about how unfortunate it was, and then more or less forgot about it. This, then, is the back-story for the following experience in San Luis.
On our way home from New Mexico in early May, we approached a beautiful, well-kept, little town. We noticed a Catholic Shrine at the top of a hill near the center of the town. We also noticed that in spite of the town’s tiny size, there was a brand new LDS church nearing completion on the main street. We circled around to get another look at the newly built chapel, then drove another block or so back to the visitor’s center to use their restrooms.
A friendly lady greeted us, and engaged me in the usual “Where are you from?” type conversation. I commented on the new LDS chapel just down the street, and mentioned that we were LDS. She seemed somewhat taken aback, and referred to “The recent news stories concerning the LDS Church.”
Having forgotten about the missionary incident and having no idea we were in the very town where it happened, I assumed she meant the recent news stories about the polygamist cult in Texas. Our conversation went something like this:
Me, referring to the cult in Texas: “Oh, those people are in no way associated with the mainstream LDS church. We no longer engage in such practices.”
The lady, probably surprised that we at one time did engage in the practice of vandalism: “Well, those three boys are all back home now.”
Me, thinking she meant three young boys in the Texas commune who had perhaps been abused in some way: “Thank goodness for that! At least they are now in a safe environment where they will no longer be harmed.”
The lady, with question marks beginning to appear above her head: “It was a terrible thing. The townspeople were very offended.”
Me, determined to smooth things over: “I think the whole nation was offended. This practice is becoming more and more common and we cannot allow it to continue.”
The lady, wondering why she had not heard about this rampant vandalization of shrines across the nation: “Well, the LDS Bishop who came down here was very nice. We had a town meeting and he offered sincere, heartfelt apologies.”
Me, in my mind: “WHAT? WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?"
The lady: “Yes, and another nice man from the LDS church came and offered to help repair the damage.
Me, wondering why a town meeting would be called in San Luis, Colorado because of a polygamist cult in Texas: “Those who practice this type of behavior are called Fundamentalists. The mainstream LDS Church excommunicates anyone who engages in this practice.”
The lady, somewhat shocked that an organization of vandals called Fundamentalists even existed: “That seems harsh. I think we should forgive them.”
Me: “Yes we should, but in the meantime women and children are being hurt and we need to think of them.”
The lady, unable to make heads or tails of this comment simply signed off: “We hope you enjoyed your visit to San Luis, and that you will visit us again. Goodbye!”
As we drove away, I tried sorting through the details of this conversation as my head spun in perplexity. Len salvaged my sanity by remembering the news story of the three missionaries and reminding me of it.
I’m afraid it was too late to save the sanity of the poor visitor’s center lady!
4 comments:
That was hilarious. I laughed all the way through. You should send this story to Readers Digest.
Wow... what a story. I'm sure it will dawn on the visitor center lady what you must have been referring to as well. What I think is great is her attitude of forgiveness towards the missionaries! Thank goodness for good hearted people out there.
hilarious....
It's so good it almost sounds made up. What a great story.
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