How to Build a Friendship

Produce was bagged, shelves stocked and friendships made on March 6,
2017, as nine volunteers from Pfeiffer University in North Carolina
joined six missionaries for a day of service at the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints Bishop’s Storehouse in Tucker, Georgia. The
Pfeiffer students were on a five-day interfaith trip to learn more about
the beliefs of other religious groups while serving those in need. The
Storehouse provided them an opportunity to fill food orders for needy
families while working alongside full-time college age Mormon
missionaries from the Georgia Atlanta Mission of the LDS Church (the
Mormons). The missionaries were encouraged by Pfeiffer’s Pastor, Dana
McKim, to share their message with the students freely, expressing that
an interfaith exchange of beliefs was one of the goals for the trip. In
return, questions concerning the practices and doctrine of the
Methodist faith, the religious affiliation of Pfeiffer University, were
fielded during a fun and educational lunch break.

In addition
to touring and working in the Bishop’s Storehouse the Pfeiffer group
were introduced to the the services provided by the LDS Employment
Center and Church Educational System which have offices in the same
complex in Tucker, GA.

The goal to deepen understanding, find
shared beliefs and appreciate doctrinal differences was reached so
successfully that the trip organizer, Kelly Misiak, Pfeiffer’s Director
of Service Scholars, hopes to repeat the interfaith experience with
Mormons in an upcoming service trip.