'A stranger, and ye took me in'

 June 12, 2022 

Dear Family and Friends, 

On Saturday I attended a picnic to commemorate World Refugee Day.  (The official day is June 20.)  The event was hosted by Lutheran Services.  I have been working with them setting up apartments and delivering groceries for refugees and felt honored to be invited.   

A couple scriptures come to mind whenever I have opportunities to help refugees.  "I was a stranger, and ye took me in..." (Matt 25:35 and “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”  (Hebrews 13:2) However, on Saturday, it was the refugees who were doing the serving!   I met a lot of nice people and ate a lot of yummy food.   

Many of the refugees are from Afghanistan.  I was trying to learn a few Afghan words and I was told that there are three major languages.  I asked if the languages were similar enough that they could understand each other and I was told that they could understand each other, but it would be like a person from Jamaica trying to understand a person from Scotland. 

Soon we will be receiving refugees from Ukraine. I feel sad about all the disasters and political unrest that have cause so many people to have to leave their homes.  These brave souls are children of God.  My efforts are puny, but I know people who are doing more.  They are sponsoring refugees.  They help them with cultural orientation, literacy, rides, etc. 

One sponsor I met was a Greek woman (who, by the way, made a wonderful homemade baklava.)  She not only sponsors an Afghan family, but her daughter has helped in refugee camps in Greece.  I also learned that she is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She had an interesting conversion story.  She told me she had an infant who died without baptism.  When her priest told her that her baby would go to Hell, she started looking for another church.  She investigated the Catholic Church because they didn’t say her baby was in Hell.  But they told her that her baby was in limbo.  She said she tried other Christian churches, but they couldn’t answer all of her questions.  Then a friend of hers sent our missionaries to her door and the rest is history.  (She said that a week after her baptism the Vatican made an official statement abolishing the concept of limbo. She wondered if she would have found the restored church if not for the false notion of hell & limbo for innocent babies.) 

At the temple with Chris

But probably the biggest highlight of my week was on Tuesday when I was able to enter the temple with my grandson Christopher.  Christopher is a refugee of sorts.  Four years ago, we helped him escape his abusive home.  To say it wasn’t easy is an understatement.  But he has now graduated from high school with honors and is planning to serve a full-time mission teaching the gospel in El Salvador. 

I know our loving Father in Heaven is mindful of all His children and has provided a way for all to hear the good news of the gospel.  Bishop Gérald Caussé said, “The gathering of [God’s] elect from the four corners of the earth is taking place not only by sending missionaries to faraway countries but also with the arrival of people from other areas into our own cities and neighborhoods.  Many, without knowing it, are being led by the Lord to places where they can hear the gospel and come into His fold.” (General Conference Nov 2013) 

As I think about it, I believe that most of us have friends or family members who are or were refugees. Some of my ancestors were forced from their homes due to religious persecution.  Our Savior himself was a refugee from the atrocities of King Herod.  I pray we may all find ways to serve these “angels.” 

I love you all! 

Sister Manwaring 

At the park