I was in Sacrament meeting (the Mormon version of mass) last Sunday. I had gone to my brother’s ward (congregation) because he was blessing his son. (Sort of like a Christening but without the baptism. Or the godparents. Or the- actually, all unknown Mormon terms are described better here, so if you see something you don’t understand, try that.)
[Photo provided by Allaboutmormons]

So the blessing was over and we had sung the Sacrament hymn and the priest (16 or 17 year old boy) up front starts saying the Sacrament prayer. He says the first line and then you hear this other voice, it’s a disorganized sound, high and then unaccountably low, kind of like that of a pubescent boy, but more so.

 The voice repeats the last word or two of what the priest said. Then the priest says the next line and the voice again repeats most of the syllables, some recognizable as the words we just heard, some not. And the prayer continues that way, the whole way through.

After we all said amen I looked up at the table where the Sacrament had been prepared and blessed and I see a very large, obviously mentally challenged man stand up. And next to him I see my oldest nephew, the priest who had helped him through the prayer.

And I thought I was as proud as I could be.

And then they started passing the Sacrament and I saw another nephew walking around, not passing but helping another very large, obviously mentally challenged man pass the sacrament.

And there was another man doing the same for another not as large but just as obviously mentally challenged boy.

The deacons in this ward were not the most polished I’ve seen. They were not all wearing white shirts and they were not all tucked in, but I learned more in those few minutes about loving and sharing the blessings of the gospel than I have in a long time.

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