A few explosive days at the London Centre.
Basically, one of the guys broke the word of wisdom during travel week and after direction from official in Provo, he's been sent home. The whole situation went pretty bad. I don't want to give details about what went down, but basically it happened in a way that got a lot of people really angry with other people.
It's not my job to judge anyone. Not the guy who did it, not the people who were with him, not the professors, not anyone who is picking a side in the argument. It's my job to love everyone and try to help people move past all the emotions that have hit us all. There have been a wide variety of reactions and I think everyone here is struggling a little bit trying to figure out what to think and feel about what happened. I know I am. I've had a huge amount of emotions going through me
It's just so hard on everyone. It's hard on the guy who loved being here and now has to go home because of a stupid decision he made. It's hard on the girl who felt that it was on her conscious to tell the truth about what happened and now is hated by people for being a tattletale. It's hard on the professors who had to send a kid home. I thought one of them was going to cry when they were telling us about it. I was talking to one of them today and it's obvious that he's just crushed that he had to do that. It's hard on them that so many people are angry at them for enforcing BYU policy. It's hard on the people who wanted him to have another chance and are sad that he's gone. It's hard on people who came here with the expectation that problems like this would be avoided. It's hard on those who have lost friendships because of this. And it's hard on me.
I really care about everyone here, even the people that I have a harder time understanding or seeing life in the same way. It hurts me that people are being so hateful towards other people.
I can't write about it anymore. I'm still trying to process how I feel. My heart hurts.
"It's my job to love everyone and try to help people move past all the emotions that have hit us all."
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put. They'll all need you. It's hard. Please give the girl who came forward extra hugs. She is receiving promptings and acting on them even when they're not popular. This will serve her well on her mission and for the rest of her life.
Your experiences there remind me a lot of mission experiences. This post is no exception. It was difficult to have my vision of how missionaries "should be"-- shattered. (Of course, this was before they "raised the bar", but I'm sure missionaries still aren't perfect. No one is.) Those who tried to keep all the rules were called "Nazi missionaries" by those who said, "The rules aren't important; follow the spirit." Unfortunately, the loudest proponents of "follow the spirit" were found out and put on probation for pretty much dating the elders and staying up with them to play, in their apartments, after hours. While the spirit does, at times, prompt an exception (Nephi killing Laban), there are good reasons for the rule (thou shalt not kill). It's leaning on the Lord to help us keep His rules that brings the spirit in the first place. (covenants, sacrament prayers)
It seems to me that your professors acted with integrity and love.
May the force be with you all. :)
p.s. The missionaries I mentioned who were found out? They were "informed on" by a "greenie" who had been witness to their activities. She was prompted to come forward about it when I was her companion. She was terrified to do so, and only after much prayer and encouragement was she able to.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you anything that it was the same with the brave girl in your group.
Eating a fried Mars bar is not breaking the word of wisdom in my book ;)
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