Who Lives Behind That Door?

The Story Trek

Last summer I stumbled across a TV show on KBYU called The Story Trek. http://www.byutv.org/show/a5d5a631-d2b5-48e6-a0e9-069d50a5524b  It's about a reporter who goes to a random area and chooses a random house and knocks on their door. His film crew and he ask if they can go in and interview the people who live there. Most people are a little taken back, but surprisingly, those who agree to the interview open up to these strangers and pour out their soul. Their stories are fascinating.  What I've learned from this is that everyone, behind every door, has a story.  Everyone behind ever door longs to tell that story, and everyone behind every door wants to feel like they're important.

This is the shiny new Christmas present my husband gave me for Christmas 2012.  Little did I know that it would contribute to our own story trek.  The following spring, just as it was getting bike-riding weather, my husband got a new assignment in our church - Ward Mission leader.  This meant that he would be working closely with the missionaries in an effort to get to know everyone who lived in our ward boundaries and share the gospel with them.  Each night, we would ride our bikes around the neighborhood and look at every door asking ourselves, who lives behind that door? What are their interests? Joys? Sorrows? Struggles?  What is their story? We suddenly saw our neighborhood with new eyes.  Though we had lived in the same house for 20 years, we had never looked at our neighborhood like this before. As we rode around, many times we would see people out in their yards.  We would wave and say hello and sometimes stop and introduce ourselves.  We got to know a lot of people that way.

One evening, as we were riding around, we saw a man out in his yard that we had waved at a few times in the past, so we decided to stop and introduce ourselves.  He had an immaculate yard that had won beautification awards, so as we were complimenting him on it, he started telling us about each and every plant.  He then went in to recruit his wife to take us on a tour of the backyard, equally as beautiful. She had named each plant, tree, and bush and knew the exact care for each one. Before we left, I asked her if she would be willing to have ladies from our church come over one night to have her teach us about horticulture. She said she would love it. (I later confirmed with the Relief Society President that we could have an activity night over at her house in the spring.)  As we drove off, my husband talked about how easy it had been to meet and talk to those people - people we didn't even know, but felt like fast friends after our 1 1/2 hours touring their yard. All they wanted was to tell their story, feel loved, and important. We visited again during Christmas and were invited in to sit down and talk for awhile. We invited them to the church Christmas party.  They weren't able to come because of work schedules, but they said to invite them again.

Open Your Mouths

Elder J. Jay Christensen, a general authority emeritus and ironically the MTC President while I was on my mission, gave a talk entitled "Open Your Mouths, The Courage to Share the Gospel."

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1981/12/open-your-mouths-the-courage-to-share-the-gospel?lang=eng

In it he says that in the midst of everyday situations opportunities present themselves for us to share the gospel. He talks about the power of just opening our mouths and simply letting people know who we are, whom we represent, and what we have to offer.  Wouldn't it be great if all of us got to know who lived behind the doors of those around us and in our sphere of influence?  How might lives change? How might we help each other rise to new heights? How easy can it be to become their friend? How easy will it be to share the gospel once we become friends?

D & C 33:8-10

 

Everyone has a story and everyone is eager to tell it

Everyone wants to feel loved, accepted, and important

Every needs to feel the love of our Savior Jesus Christ