Samuel the Lamanite

The other morning I got home from the "Y" (no, not BYU, the YMCA) after working out and was greeted at the door by Rob. He smiled at me, with a beam of pride and amusement in his eyes, and beckoned me to the kitchen where the children were playing. I rounded the corner only to see the children had built some towers with their blocks. I impatiently looked at Rob and said, oh so rudely, "So?" Rob completely ignoring my rudeness and said,"Gabe, why don't you tell Mommy what you have built." Gabe looked up, smiled and said, "Look Mom, it's Samuel the Lamanite."




It took me a second but I then understood what he meant. He had built the wall that Samuel the Lamanite had stood on while preaching to the Nephites. I was immediately repentant and thanked Rob for sharing that with me and we stood for a moment together, basking in pride that only a parent can feel when they realize their child is amazingly, amazing.

I later questioned Gabe on what he knew about Samuel the Lamanite. He told me that "Samuel went up on the wall and the bad guys threw things at him but they didn't hurt him because Heavenly Father helped him and then he ran away." It then dawned on me why he remembered the story so well.......Gabe loves bad guy/good guy stories. In fact, he is widely known, both at church and school, for his story telling capabilities. The other day he informed me that at circle time at school, he had shared the story of "when Jesus died on the cross" with his teachers and pupils (Gabe's favorite movie right now is The Testaments). At first I was a little embarrassed by it (especially because not too long ago he told his teacher, "Jesus told my mom that it's not good for me to ride the bus anymore," and I worry they will think we are part of some weird religious cult.......he, he, he) but now I realize that I have just been given the opportunity to see a glimpse of what an awesome missionary he will be. We are so proud of Gabe and his ability to open up and befriend people. He is not ashamed of who he is and what he has learned and we think he's great. Hopefully we won't mess him up and one day he will share his stories with people all over the world.