My son-in-law Jonathan is in my opinion, a slow to anger, kind sort of person. He is also qualified in several of the ma
rtial arts. I was trying this morning to remember the brief training he gave me about a year ago on how to disarm an antagonist.In fast and testimony meeting we had a man in casual clothes walk in and take a seat near the front after the sacrament. He was carrying a day pack and a gallon container half full of an amber liquid. The counselor in the bishopric left the stand and sat in the seat behind the visitor. I know I've been watching too much CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) because I thought the liquid might be gasoline. I leaned over and whispered to Janeil that I was going after the guy if he tried anything harmful. It turns out the counselor determined from the label on the jug that it was iced tea. This was verified during sunday school when the visitor took a swig from the jug during the lesson.
About 5 minutes into the testimonies the visitor goes to the microphone without the jug and the backpack. (We've had incidents in past months in other wards in the stake where a gay rights advocate had been crashing testimony meetings and complaining about the LDS involvement in California politics. This person has a restraining order on him to not disrupt our meetings.)
Our visitor was not the same guy. It seems our friend had been prompted this morning by a spirit to come to our meeting and instruct us on Christ. (And to bad mouth the Catholic church for changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.) After several uncomfortable minutes of his preaching, I marched up the aisle toward the stand. My intention was to ask him to yield the mike so that I could bear my testimony. As I walked up the steps to the pulpit he finished and I smiled at him as we passed. (Whew!)
I told the congregation about listening to the CD from last October conference by Elder Robert D Hales, "Answering our Accusers in the Savior's Way". We had been playing it on the way to Portland yesterday to get in the proper frame of mind for the temple. Elder Hales urges us to respond to antagonizers in a Christ-like way. He said, "...true disciples of Christ see opportunity in the midst of opposition." After the visitor's tirade many members bore strong testimonies about the Savior and modern day prophets who testify of him. So it was a very spiritual meeting after all.
Near the end of the meeting the visitor went up to the pulpit again, but the Bishop stepped up and said whatever was needed to get him to return to his seat. After the meeting the Bishop told me he felt relieved that he hadn't needed to bounce the visitor because the guy could tell I wanted to speak. To quote Elder Hales again: "True disciples avoid being unduly judgmental of others' views." But we don't need to let them go on and on about it!
