OUR Farm

I had two experiences this week that made me reflect on the value of service. On Wednesday morning I volunteered at the “OUR Center” in Longmont. The OUR Center is a community resource center (Outreach United Resource Center) that helps people get back on their feet. Basically, the citizens of Longmont donate their time and resources to help other citizens who need assistance move toward self-sufficiency. The center provides financial counselors, food, shelter, day care, and a clothing bank. I believe it is set up very similarly to the LDS Bishop’s storehouse.

When I showed up to volunteer they put me to work in the food center. I was first asked to stop by the local Safeway and pick up food surplus from the back of the store. I then returned to the center and assembled boxes of basic groceries for people. I would shout out a number and a person would then pick up their box of food that corresponded to the predetermined list of groceries.

I could only work for a couple of hours in the morning. When it came time for me to leave, I told the other volunteer that I had to go and she looked at me with a gaze that said, “You can’t leave, there is still work to do, and now I am left alone to do it.” Her eyes begged me to return next week.

I can’t understand why I am so blessed. It is easy to look at others that are less fortunate and think it was brought about by their own poor decisions...addictions, crime, dishonesty, etc. I don’t dispute that poor decisions bring about heartache, but I think the temptation to believe that many of my blessings are a result of my own doing is based on a false premise. Certainly the decisions of my ancestors had a direct consequence on my life. The values my grandparents instilled into my parents that were then taught to me have made a measurable difference. The difference was palpable at the OUR Center. So why was I fortunate enough to be taught the values that create prosperity?

The value of education, of a strong work ethic, honesty, accountability, charity, etc., have all somehow influenced the way I make decisions. (Or at least I would like to believe they influence me) These values were somehow all passed down from parents and grandparents in small increments, and in moments that seemed incidental and inconsequential, when I didn’t even know it. And thank goodness for a church that makes up the difference and fills in the gaps where parents lack...and I am counting on to help me do the same.

Which brings me to my second experience. My grandparents and dad grew up on a farm...a turkey farm, but a farm nonetheless. I can’t think of a better schoolhouse than a farm to teach the value of work, the law of the harvest, and the meaning of “by the sweat of thy brow.” On Saturday, I went out to the Church Farm for a young single adult service project to help get things ready for winter. We moved pipe for the irrigation system and then painted a barn.

The Church farm is an interesting entity. I don’t think efficiency is a primary objective of the church farm...which I am OK with. I take the painting of the barn as a prime (not primer) example. There were at least 25 people that scraped off the old paint of the barn to get it ready for a new coat. Then another 20+ people followed using hand held brushes to whitewash the barn. It took 40+ people two hours to paint the lowest six feet (as far was we could reach) of a barn that could be argued didn’t need painting. And if it did need painting, it could have been done with two people with a power washer and spray painter in the same amount of time.

But if you think the objective was to paint the barn, I think you missed the point. (Or maybe I’m completely off in left field) I think the objective was to get people together working side by side, learning the value of work, the value of service, and the value of sacrifice. The barn was only the vehicle to build a sense of accomplishment, self-esteem, and hopefully get a few young single adults to talk to each other.

I think this was even more clearly illustrated a few months ago at a Regional Stake Church Farm assignment. Over 600 people showed up from all over Colorado and Wyoming to pick weeds. We were all transported to different locations and walked up and down the rows picking weeds from an immaculately kept farm. I saw husbands and wives together with their four- and five-year-old children spending time together and working in the dirt. I saw teenagers working and having fun; doing things they would never experience or even participate in for any home backyard garden. I saw older men with canes working a little slower, but with just as much enthusiasm.

I believe it was President Eyring that shared a similar experience of his ailing father at a church farm. (I don’t remember exactly which talk) When his father was encouraged not to work and to rest, his father replied something to the effect, “I’m not here for the weeds.”

I have to correct what I said earlier. I have no doubt the church farm is run efficiently. If it didn’t it wouldn’t exist. But I believe the farm assignments and work projects are more for our benefit rather than the farms...even if not by design. So in a day and age where my children most likely won’t grow up on a farm to learn these values, the church provides a farm that we can come and visit. The Lord is one smart dude.