September 18, 2008

Dear Family,
Greetings from Northeast Philadelphia "where the blue collared man still exists." It is quite interesting to see how true this statement is. People up here are the way they were in the fifties--namely extremely hard workers who have a high school level education.
This week has been an interesting one indeed. One of the Elders in our district had an appendicitis and had to be rushed to the hospital on Sunday night. As a result, this put a great burden on our shoulders, for we were now forced to work two out of the three areas in our district. Elder Covington, Parkin, and I took turns staying in with Elder Thompson while the other two went out and worked.
On Tuesday we got a call from one a less active woman in Elder Thompson’s area by the name of Joan Kloss. She is an odd individual who is just a tad bit off, and her apartment reminds me of a disheveled dog kennel. When Elder Parkin answered the phone, he immediately stated, "Hey, Joan, how are you doing?" in a monotone and somber voice Joan replied, "Not too good. My husband Charles died in the night and the police men are here, and they told me that you could come and remove his body."

Now as a nineteen year old who has never had to deal with anyone dying, I found myself in a predicament. However, after a few moments, Elder Parkin responded, “O.K. we are coming right over.”
As we ventured to the house, I was terrified by of removing a man’s body from the house. I then thought of ways that I could remove the body from her house. Perhaps I could wrap it up in some sheets and then carry it down the stairs into our car and drive it to the morgue. My mind continued to race with such ideas until we made our way to the home.
After the five minute drive, we made our way to the home. I will never forget the next few moments. I knocked on the door, and Joan appeared and invited us in. Elder Covington then asked if anyone else was home. She replied no, and then tears came to her eyes and she proceeded to break down and cry. No one was there. There was no family. No friends. No coworkers. One policeman had responded to her call, and after a brief visit, he pronounced the body dead and told her to have her church take care of the rest and then left hastily. She was left; she was abandoned in the time of desperate needl. The only friend that she had had died, and she was left to sit in a room as the corpse of her husband lay upstairs waiting to be buried.
What a terrible sight I saw. After a few moments of pondering, I called Bishop Hilton and the Relief Society president. Within five minutes the bishop his wife and the first councilor were there to comfort her. We were also there. Moments later everything was arranged for Joan and all she needed to do was mourn. I then thought to myself, this is why you spread the gospel. I truly believe that Joan would have remained there not having a friend in the world to help her had it not been for the Church. Joan had us to lean on in the time of her need but more importantly because she had the knowledge of the plan of salvation that the missionaries had brought her, she now had Christ and hope to lean on.
Mom, it is for reasons like these you are a relief society president. Dad it is reasons like these you are a home teacher. It is reasons like these we are members of the true church. Our purpose in this life is to help other people at all times. Our callings allow us to do so. I pray that I may be able to fulfill my future callings to the best of my ability, and I challenge myself and you to rise to a new level--to do something that is very foreign and uncomfortable for all of us. I challenge both everyone and myself to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. Invite your friends to learn more. Perhaps they do not need us in the time of their trials but I know that they need God. I know that they need the atonement.
I love you all and happy birthday Bradford. I hope that you all have a wonderful week. So until next time you stay classy, Evans family.