She had so much to be grateful for, she said. Four of her loved ones had just been baptized this week, and others in her large family of children and grandchildren have begun coming to church. What really surprised me, as I began thinking about it, was the huge circle of influence this woman has and how many people are in the Church because of her, including many I thought I'd never see in church again. How did she do it?
In Hmong culture, it's tough being a woman (not that it's especially easy anywhere, I suppose). It's especially tough being a Mormon woman. And monstrously tough being a Mormon single mother. One LDS Hmong woman in similar circumstances--financial handicaps, no education, a refugee of war trapped in a strange country whose language she doesn't speak, raising a family on her own as a single mom, and being a member of a religion that defies parts of her own culture and divides her from the majority of her people--told me that as a woman, she has no influence, no voice, and was just "a dry leaf blowing in the wind." The woman who said that was resigned to her powerless situation and pretty much gave up. Not so for the courageous woman who spoke today.
She has endured against all odds, against cultural pressures, against persecution and anger from others, against bias and prejudice in many forms, against the heartbreak of rebellious children who came under the influence of unsavory elements in society and fell away from the Church she loved and from the ways she tried to teach them. Through it all, she kept teaching and inviting her family to believe and come unto Christ. As I looked over the audience today, I saw many of her children there. I saw sons and daughters, cousins, daughter-in-laws who are glowing with the joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and many grandchildren. After the service I talked with one of her boys who has come back to church and asked how it is possible that this quiet, humble, soft-spoken woman has been so successful in bringing her family into the Church. He praised her and said that no matter what bad things he and others did or said, she never grew angry and just kept loving and inviting them back. "That's why I am here today," he said.
Steady, persistent faith, courage, and love. Over years, it can work miracles.
From all outward appearances, it would be easy to consider this quiet, shy, and poor single mother as one of the least of the Saints, but in my view, she's one of the greatest. Few people are as loving and gracious. Few have been more successful than her in bringing family members into the Church, especially given the challenges she has faced. She is a true leader among women, among the Hmong, and among all the Saints.
Almost every month she dares to walk up to the podium and in front of a mostly English-speaking audience, a highly educated and comparatively wealthy audience, she sets the example for everyone by having the courage to stand and testify of Jesus Christ as her Savior, witnessing to those who will listen. What a wonderful example she is.
I bet she has no idea of just how amazing her contributions to the kingdom of God have been.
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