Most Interesting New Friends!

We had dinner Sunday night with some people in the ward that we attend. They are Guy and Jasmine Perrett. Their story is great. May be a bit longer than I would like but I think it is worth sharing. Guy grew up in south Auckland and was one of four sons. His father was a drinker and his mum a quiet, gentle soul. She turned the missionaries away from her home when she was very young so later on when they came to her door again she let them in. She never told her husband that she was interested in the church as he would have been angry about it. When the elders were in the neighborhood his father would open the window and yell at them or go out on the street and harrass them so she kept quiet. His father would go to the bar each evening after work which was about 4:30-45. He would stay until they closed. At that time last closing was at 6 p.m. so all your drinking had to be done by then. Guy and his brothers would meet their dad at the pub and wait for him to finish drinking and then they would all go home. Usually with his dad behind the wheel. The bars were not open on Sundays but the people got around it by have Sports Social Clubs. On Saturday afternoon the pubs would move all their liquor down to the local cricket or rugby club and then they would serve the drinks from there. On Sunsdays he would be at the clubs with his dad and brothers and his mum would be at church with the mormons. She had callings in the church and all for years before she was baptized after their divorce. He went to a very small high school and anyone that played sports played all the sports. So he was on the teams with mostly the same boys but there were some others that played basketball....and they were members of that Maori or polynesia church...they were Samoan. Two of them were brothers and they were very nice to Guy and invited him everywhere. Their dad was stake president. Guy did not really investigate the church but learned good things about it and liked it. He said that during that period of time they would have firesides (this was in the 70's I would assume) called Firesides with a General Authority and it was with a GA. They would fill the font before the meeting and afterwards the missionaries would take their investigators into a separate room and have prayer with them and oftentimes baptize them. (I know we do not do this now!) One time they had a reception afterwards for the stake presidency and bishops and families etc and he was invited. The visitor was N Eldon Tanner. He asked guy if he was going to be baptized. Guy told him No Sir! President Tanner asked him if when he knew that the church was true would he be baptized and he told him yes. Elder Tanner asked that he write to him and tell him when it happened. Guy said that although he already knew that the church was true he was only going to be baptized on his terms. He joined a few months later and a year later received a mission call. His friend, the stake president, asked if he had written Elder Tanner yet. He admitted that he had not but did and Elder Tanner responded. He is a very educated and smart man, very careful with his dress and manners. He has served as a bishop. He was a land developer until the bottom fell out of the market three years ago and since then has been a consultant and went back to school for a masters with a certificate in sustainability. Maybe I will tell her story in a different post. Stayed tuned.