I felt very tired this morning but did my bike workout anyway. It felt good to burn some calories after all of that butterbeer and pumpkin juice! After biking I washed my hair and raced to the car so we would only be 10 minutes late to church in Salt Lake.
I actually did not hear very much of church because I spent the first fifteen minutes walking Basil in the gorgeous fall weather. Then after a brief stint in the pew Ammon and Clarissa went feral and needed room to roam. I took them outside for the rest of church.
After church we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon trying to find a trail to hike with Basil, but all of that area is a protected watershed. We settled for a neighborhood nearby with lots of snobby, hostile signage.
Then we went and ate lunch with Karin, Jay, and David at La Caille. The kids loved the fanciful architecture and decor. I wished we had more time afterward to explore. Since we were pressed for time all we did after brunch was walk up to the Rapunzel tower and poke around there for a minute before hitting the bathrooms and driving home.
Upon arriving home Abe and I raced to get the house ready in 35 minutes for our second round of church. The Community of Christ has a Utah Valley contingent that now meets in people’s homes, and Abe had volunteered ours for today.
Aside from our local pastor, Tyler, we had one lovely attendee. Abe and I were so impressed with her. During the height of her spiritual journey she was studying scriptures and conference talks for three hours a day. On top of that, she would walk the fields of Nebraska seeking to hear God’s voice. All this while working as a janitor! She was obviously so smart, so articulate, and so deeply kind. Abe and I were so impressed with her and her story.
Although she and her now wife were married in the LDS temple when her wife still presented as a man, she and her wife have been navigating their relationship with Mormonism for some time now. She told us that today when she attended the Salt Lake CoC service, she felt safe in church for the first time in years. I teared up when I heard that. I gave private thanks for the pride flags on the altar, on the lawn, on the pulpit, and on every fifth person’s mask. I am so thankful to attend a church that is as radically inclusive as Jesus was.
We all went out and watched the sunset together, and that felt very peaceful.
After church Abe and I chatted about how grateful we are to learn from such wonderful, kind people, and now I am back-blogging in the hopes that I can get us caught up tonight!