My Covet for the Day

My all-time favorite calling in the Church was teaching Sunday School out at the Oquirrh Facility of the Utah State Prison. These inmates I taught were mostly sex offenders and drug addicts with the occasional murderer thrown in and all were very sorry for the crimes they had committed. Since most crime is a result of drugs and scrambled brains, sobriety brought on in prison brought new light on things. Most of my students were former members of the church with several being former High Priests. Each week I'd have a full house of people eager to hear my lesson prepared from LeGrand Richards' Marvelous Work and a Wonder. Most weeks we would cover little more than a page from the book and most lessons would have the imprint of hope upon them. Most of these men felt their sins had rendered them unforgivable, so each of them needed more than anything to hear that they could believe that forgiveness could be out there for any one of them. None was beyond the ability of the Lord to forgive. Never have I had more eager students and never have I felt the spirit as strongly as I did out there among those men.

Here's where my coveting comes in. My brother, Brent, has a new Church call out at the Utah County Jail to teach Sunday School. Ed Leary, my good friend and former neighbor, has a call to the Bishopric of the Oquirrh Facility at the Utah State Prison. Betty, his wife, gets to go along with him each Sunday. This is exactly the place where I taught. As can be imagined, I am envious of all of them. Each of them knows what I'm talking about when I say what a wonderful experience it was for me. I wish I could ride along in a pocket with them and be there to enjoy what is going on. The Lord loves all of his children, even those who have drifted far off the path and that was evident every Sunday.

Above is a picture that one of the inmates drew. Though the Utah State Facility is farther away from the Jordan River Temple than this drawing shows, and none of the prisoners had a view of the direction of the Temple, it still represents the longing that is there. Those are the prisoner's scriptures resting on his cot.