Daily Q

Question:  If a very poor person spent one day with you, what would you do with them, and why?

Answer: This question caught me off-guard initially.  At first the obvious answer for me was 'buy them clothes, food, etc.'  Then I started thinking that in some cases that is not always the best thing to do depending on their poverty.  Some people can truly be 'down on their luck' for a period of time, others have a history of bad choices that have led them to where they are and they continue to repeat the same patterns.  Then I thought of the cardboard huts Duff and I saw in Mexico once on a business trip we were on.  That was desperate poverty.  The little children came running out to our vehicle and begged for coins while the chickens and dogs nipped at our feet.  I will never forget that.

Then I thought of a set of verses in Mosiah 4. 

I would take them into my home.  I would care for them.  We would talk.  I would give them good, clean clothes.  I would feed them till they were as full as they wanted.  I would hope that they would feel the love of Heavenly Father in our home.  I would want when they left to have the experience be deep in their soul and that they would have hope for the future.  I would talk with them about the gospel.  I would arrange to have them come again.  I would arrange to have them learn a skill that hopefully could help them rise above their current circumstances and provide for themselves.  Then I'd probably try and do it all over again.