"I've got the Book"

This is Marianna, my friend and the woman who has been cutting and coloring my hair since 2009.

 She's a devout Catholic and a friend of the LDS Church as well. We have some wonderful discussions when I am in her chair!

Today, I thought she looked like one of the singers from The 60s Motown girl group, The Shirelles. Look at the girl on the top...

... and then look at Marianna again. See the resemblance?

I sure do!

Anyway, Marianna is very, very strong in her faith and isn't afraid to share the gospel or to stand up to someone who might be critical of her religion. Today as she worked her magic on my hair, she told me a story about just that which happened last week.

She'd stopped at a garage sale and as she was looking through the things on the tables, the owner of the home and another woman began criticizing churches, particularly the the Catholic Church. Naturally, Marianna jumped right in to defend her faith.

The homeowner was a member of a fundamentalist group, and she was especially insistent that Marianna was being led by the devil who was disguised as the Lamb of God. Neither would back down from their stances, and the conversation escalated with the two woman on one side and Marianna on the other.

Finally, the homeowner pulled out a religious tract from her faith and offered it to Marianna, saying, "Read this - it has parts of the Bible in it."

Marianna's response?

"I've got the book!"

I smiled when she shared that, but the more I thought about it, the more profound it seemed to be. 

We "have the book(s)" - the Bible, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. The words of living prophets twice a year at General Conference. Wonderful opportunities to hear our leaders year round via the church's web site and social media.

All those work together for our good, and if we are wise, we will use them together as intended, not picking them apart to suit other purposes.

We've got the book(s)!

Sharing the Gospel

I shared the gospel today in an unusual way, at least for me. I helped Marianna, my hair stylist, download the scriptures and the hymns apps to her iPhone!

She's a devout Catholic and we always share spiritual thoughts when she's working on my hair. Today I mentioned that I had my scriptures on my phone and how handy and nice that was. She asked if I could do the same for her phone.

So, while Marianna cut my hair, I downloaded them and then showed her how to use the read-aloud feature on the scriptures and play the music on the hymn app. She was so excited, and kept playing different hymns and scriptures over and over. She'd cut a few snips of hair, then pick up her iPhone and change to a new hymn or scripture.

It took a whole lot longer to get my hair done, but it was worth it to see how excited she was to have access to the scriptures and the hymns. It also made me appreciate just how lucky we are that the Church makes so many gospel applications freely available to anyone, not just members of the Church, but anyone who wants them.