Jim and Cliff Moses became friends in the third grade, right there in the Rogue Valley. They grew up together, playing tennis, running cross-country and going to a local college. “He’s had a lifelong, good influence on me,” Jim said of Cliff. Cliff now lives in Manti, Utah, but he drove the 850 miles for Jim’s baptism three years ago, and he’ll make the drive again in a couple of weeks for the temple ceremony. “I hope he gets to participate,” Jim says, thinking about COVID-19 restrictions. “I hope he walks me through the veil into the Celestial Kingdom.” COVID-19 forced the four missionaries, who also lost their apartment in the fire, to decline his invitation to sit with him in his motel room. They had just learned they had tested negative for the disease, but they didn’t want to take any chances. Jim doesn’t know what much of his future holds. He told me he hasn’t been up to going to see the remains of his home, in part because he has seen images of the park where he lived. “It was just like a war zone,” he said. He does know he will move forward with his faith and the support of the Bear Creek Ward and Cliff’s enduring friendship. The sun was setting when the four missionaries knocked on his door. It was dark by the time the conversation ended. Jim asked one of the missionaries to say a prayer, right there with him standing in his motel room’s doorway and the missionaries on the sidewalk and spilling into the parking lot. After the prayer, he thanked them for the Book of Mormon. “I’ll use it tonight,” he said. |