‘Girls, the Lord will not be displeased if you smile at the people. Remember what your sacred task is. Their souls are crying out to be embraced by the love of the Lord.’
‘Thank you,’ we whispered.
It was easier to look on their worldliness with his words in our minds. We began to see kindness in some of our customers’ smiles as they thanked us. We still didn’t speak, but we began to believe that maybe we could do this again next week, and the week after that, until the Lord told Elder Stephen we’d done enough.
But that night we were exhausted from the strain of dealing with worldly people. Mother looked at our faces and said, ‘Go and rest, my daughters. Abraham, Luke and Magdalene can do your chores today.’
We felt mean, but were grateful to obey.
THE NEXT SATURDAY we weren’t so nervous, and we remembered to smile. But we were still surprised when the woman from the sweet stall came bustling over to talk to us.
‘Hello dearies, it’s a pleasure to see you there, it truly is. Such good girls, and the young man so pleasantly spoken too. We need more like him. My name’s Sarah — Sarah Lipscombe.’ Her eyes were kind. ‘I can see this is hard for you, but you’ll do better if you can chat to your customers. Nothing serious. Just say good morning and isn’t the weather warm today. That sort of thing. They’ll love you for it, I promise you.’
When she’d returned to her stall, we checked with Gideon. ‘What do you think? Will it grieve the Lord if we speak with the customers?’
He thought about it while we served three people, then said, ‘The woman has worked here for some time, I think. She must know what customers expect. It has come to me that the Lord will want you to do all you can to show the godliness of the Children of the Faith. I believe it is right to do as she advises. I know you will always be respectful.’
We were glad to have his guidance, for it was a big step for us to talk to worldly people.
A man struggling with two full bags of vegetables plonked them down and grinned at us. ‘A dozen eggs please, ladies.’
I couldn’t think of anything to say — Rachel was silent too — but we smiled as we gave him theeggs and the change, and I found myself whispering, ‘Thank you.’
The next two customers didn’t try to pass the time of day with idle chat, but the woman who came after them said, ‘How are you today, girls?’
‘We are pleased with the sunshine,’ I said.
Rachel’s voice was very soft as she asked, ‘Is your day going well?’
The woman beamed at us. ‘All the better for seeing you two. You’re a breath of fresh air, the pair of you.’
When she had gone, Gideon leaned out the truck window. ‘Excellent, girls. Well done. Do not worry — you were very respectful.’
When it was time to pack up, we had passed the time of day with four more customers. Again, when we got home we were exhausted. But as the weeks went by we became used to the market, and to chatting to our customers. By the time several months had passed, we found we even looked forward to Saturdays.
‘The stall holders are all so kind,’ Rachel said to me one evening. ‘I hadn’t thought worldly people would be like that. I do hope …’
‘… that they find the path to salvation,’ I said.
‘Yes. But, Rebecca — I don’t feel holy enough. Not to lead somebody to salvation, I mean.’
Neither did I.
I wondered if Elder Stephen would be angry if he knew that the market days had become thehighlight of our week. Would the Lord tell him to choose two other girls? I ran the Rule through my mind, but there was nothing saying you couldn’t enjoy doing the work of the Lord. I prayed we’d be allowed to continue.
How very strange life could be.
Four
The Rule
A man’s behaviour is a matter between himself and his conscience.
AT THE TEMPLE OF WORSHIP one Sunday in December, Elder Stephen said, ‘Brother Gideon, the Elders thank you for your work at the market. We