{"chapter_no":"22","chapter_title":"Interview with James","book_id":"2","book_name":"The Story of James","subchapter_no":"0","page_no":"287","page_number":"1","verses_count":0,"total_pages":5,"page_content":"

 <\/p>

Chapter 22<\/p>

Interview with James<\/h1><\/p>

 <\/p>

James arrives at <\/i>the Church<\/i> for an interview with Bishop Tyler—He <\/i>shares his remarkable
experiences and<\/i> seeks the bishop’s counsel.<\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

 <\/p>

At ten minutes to nine on a Sunday morning, Carole and James arrived at the 3rd Ward
meetinghouse. Entering the church through the foyer doors, they proceeded down the hallway
towards a set of chairs arranged outside the bishopric office. The two sat down and waited for
their nine o’clock appointment. After a few minutes, noise at the door was heard, and a young
couple emerged from the office exchanging some final words with the bishop. James and Carol
were next in line.<\/p>

 <\/p>

Mother and son, standing up, were greeted by the bishop and welcomed into his office.
As the former Young Men president of the ward, Bishop Tyler knew James quite well already
and, in fact, the two of them had become quite good friends over the years. Bishop Tyler and his
family had attended high school basketball games to watch James play. His accident, therefore,
had brought considerable sadness to the Tylers, as it had to all the members of the ward. <\/p>

 <\/p>

After initial greetings, and a friendly exchange of words, Bishop Tyler smiled and
inquired as to the purpose of the meeting. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“So, what can I do for you today?” <\/p>

 <\/p>

Carole, also smiling, looked over at James and spoke first.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“This past week in family home evening, James shared some unique experiences with us
from the past year. He also talked about his goals for the future. After talking at length about
these goals, Ashley and I decided it best for him to talk these over with you. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“As his mother, I’m just here this morning to show support for James. We’re all very
proud of him, and of the thought process that has led him to this point. We’re behind him in what
he wants to do.” <\/p>

 <\/p>

Looking one last time at James, Carole placed her hand on his arm and stood up. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“It’s probably best that the two of you talk alone. I’ll go outside and wait.” <\/p>

With that, Carole patted James on the shoulder and smiled again at the bishop. Bishop
Tyler jumped up quickly from his chair to escort Mrs. Hancock to the door. This small act of
courtesy, something common to all bishops of the Church, was an especially good trademark of
Bishop Tyler. He exhibited wonderful manners towards everyone—manners taught to him by his
parents and which he had refined further while serving a mission in Canada. He demonstrated a
youthful energy in his politeness, making it a point to always show deference to the older
members of the ward. He was a young leader, but a respectful one. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Returning to his chair, Bishop Tyler smiled at James.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Well? I’m dying to hear all of this! Tell me what’s been going on in your life recently!” <\/p>

 <\/p>

James, fresh from the wonderful experience of family home evening, was ready. He sat
up on the edge of his chair and recounted the whole story again. After a few minutes of speaking,
the Spirit came, filling his bosom. The Spirit did not come immediately as James started to
speak, but waited for the right moment, several minutes later, in fact, to join in the conversation.
Why the delay? We can only speculate. Perhaps there were prerequisites needing to be met,
room atmospherics, or other criteria as determined by the Spirit. The one speaking, as well as the
one listening, needed a certain amount of time to prepare. Better focus on the core concepts
being discussed was also needed, creating a more reverent tone in the room. And it was
important for momentum to build, and for emotions to become engaged, such that the impact of
James's testimony could be experienced in full power, a sentence at a time. <\/p>

 <\/p>

We can also see that James had become accustomed to the presence of the Spirit. He was
ready, waiting, and watching for His arrival. For what good is a gift of God to us if we then fail
to appreciate it and make use of it once bestowed? James considered these wondrous operations
of the Spirit as chief among the things he looked forward to and enjoyed every day. The Spirit’s
presence was, more than anything, a manifestation of the love God had for him. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

Assuredly, the Spirit came as a powerful witness of the truthfulness of James’s testimony
to those around him. But He came for other reasons as well––as a friend, as a mentor, as a
teacher, and as a comforter. He came, also, as the reader may remember, as a bellows. Blowing
upon the fire of James’s spirit, the Spirit inspired him to continue his march forward in the
gospel. Taking note of the Spirit’s presence as he talked, James marveled at the overall system
that was in play and how the Spirit complemented him in what he was doing. It was a team
effort. He was the point guard trying to feed the ball into the post for the Spirit to do an easy
layup. How great to be sitting here talking with the Bishop about such things! He missed
basketball assuredly, but what he was experiencing here on this day was far better––a much
greater level of happiness<\/span> in his life.<\/p>

 <\/p>

Listening in his chair as James recounted his long story, Bishop Tyler was stupefied. As
the bishop, he had been through many youth interviews already in the past few months, but this
one here with James was of a different category. He had never experienced anything like this
before, in an interview or otherwise. At the onset of the interview, the bishop's expression had
been somewhat at ease, his smile relaxed, his manner informal. But as James progressed in the
telling of his story, Bishop Tyler’s eyes became serious and more focused. He was <\/p>

simultaneously delighted and astonished. He had been James’s leader in the youth program, had
spent a lot of time with him, and had even played pickup basketball games with him at church.
Thus, there was an obvious question passing through his mind: Where did all of this amazing
stuff come from? Like Carole, he was astonished at how this immense spiritual development had
come to James so early in life. There were celebrated young people in the world with great
musical talents, impressive knowledge in science and mathematics, amazing athletic abilities,
knowledge of languages and how to spell difficult words, tremendous acting, singing or dancing
prowess, and great chess knowledge. But what he was seeing here with James was the greatest of
all—a young man delighting in the things of God, armed with a powerful testimony of Jesus
Christ, and having words given to him to speak by the Holy Ghost. <\/span><\/p>

 <\/p>

The ward had assisted James in his growth, nourishing him year by year in the primary
and youth programs. But now, in hearing the words spoken by this seventeen-year-old boy,
Bishop Tyler had a sense of a disproportional and unequal response coming back. The ward had
invested a few talents in James, but he was giving back talents tenfold or even a hundredfold.
James's ideas, his goals, and the strong testimony emanating from his soul were incredible! He
was relating experiences and talking about things well beyond his age. His words were powerful
and his spirit was powerful<\/span>. <\/p>

 <\/p>

After listening quietly for roughly forty minutes straight, and seeing that James had
reached the end of all the things he wanted to share, it was then Bishop Tyler’s opportunity to
speak. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“James, I’m kind of tongue-tied. I don’t know what to say!” <\/p>

 <\/p>

He paused to gather his thoughts.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“These are all very amazing things that have had happened to you, and I couldn’t be more
happy and proud of you. I’m going to have to think more about this for a while. Not just about
your experiences, but about how to work with you on your longer-range goal to improve the
ward.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“You mentioned the counsel your father gave you, and that you need a few years of
training to learn how a ward operates. I agree. That makes a lot of sense. Now that I am the
bishop, I've started to appreciate better all the things that go on in a ward every day, tasks that
need to get done of both a temporal and a spiritual nature. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“If you're okay with this, I’d like to assign you to help on some of the service projects we
have coming up soon in the ward. I know you've already been doing more than your share in this
area, so it might seem like you'll be doing things like you've done before. But that’s where the
gospel begins––service to others. There is one key difference, however. This time you will be
going about these tasks with a new perspective and a better understanding of what you are doing
and why. Another difference is the increase in the amount of work you'll be doing. You seem
willing to make yourself available to the ward for many hours each week in place of your
basketball training. It’s very unusual for a young man to be willing to do that.<\/p>

“So, what do you say to that?”<\/p>

 <\/p>

James nodded his head in approval.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Sure, Bishop! In fact, I can walk a lot better now. I just have to be a little careful and not
try to do too much all at once or my foot becomes sore. I can’t lift and carry any kind of large
furniture or appliances anymore, but I can handle the smaller things if you want me to help the
elders quorum move people in and out of the ward like I was doing before. We have a lot of
service projects like that.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

Bishop Tyler’s face suddenly became pale, overcome with grief. Here was James sitting
before him with a lifelong disability that had resulted from a prior assignment from the ward
priesthood leadership. Ugh! How quickly he had forgotten!<\/p>

 <\/p>

Pausing for a moment, he brought his hand forward to cover his face in embarrassment.
He stood up from his chair and came around to sit down on the chair next to James. In a humbler,
softer tone, he spoke.<\/p>

 <\/p>

“James, I'm so sorry! I forgot just now. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“You have already sacrificed yourself in the service of others, more than many of us in
the Church ever will. It’s as though you were a soldier fighting on the front lines of a war on our
behalf who came back wounded.” <\/p>

 <\/p>

An inner struggle ensued within Bishop Tyler. He looked at James with a blank
expression. Unable to speak, he was a prisoner of his own conscience. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Why am I trying to push James into these kinds of service projects in the first place? <\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

He has spoken of improving the ward, <\/i>and of making it special, like the<\/i> five-dollar lawn<\/i>.<\/i> <\/i>
But here<\/i> I <\/i>am <\/i>as his bishop thinking of the ward merely as a moving company...<\/i> <\/i>as an
organization whose only purpose is to provide free moving services (or other in-home handyman
tasks) to members of the ward. He’s of course willing to do that, but that’s not why he is <\/i>here.
What<\/i> am I afraid of? <\/i><\/p>

 <\/p>

“James,” spoke Bishop Tyler, “let me speak to the broader issue here. In terms of this
goal you have talked about for yourself and the ward, you caught me off guard today. I can
honestly say that I’m not yet prepared to make good use of the extra hours each week you are
offering to us, although I suspect there are not many bishops in the Church who would have been
prepared for something like this. I need time to analyze this and think it through a little more. I
will say, however, that what you are offering to do is good and I welcome the challenge! We
think and talk about improving the ward in theory all the time, but to actually budget time and go
about something like this in any practical way is a special undertaking. You have raised an
interesting dilemma for all of us in the ward to consider. <\/p>

“For now, I’ll find some service projects that are suited to your physical needs, but I think
there are also things you can learn to do that are more directly in line with your goal, and that
will help the ward grow spiritually and not just temporally. I think it would be fun to take you
with me occasionally on visits so you can meet more of the members in the ward. As you meet
people and listen to them talk, you'll see that their financial and emotional needs are often what
we encounter the most, and we tend to get consumed by them. But what you have shared with
me today is even more important. Give me some time to think on it a little. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“If it’s okay with you, I’ll have Brother Avery [the ward clerk] get in touch with you, and
we can communicate regularly through him about your assignments. I’ll also talk with Brother
Wells [the Young Men president] and have him find things for you to do on the youth side.”<\/p>

 <\/p>

Grinning, he continued, “Don’t worry, we’ll find enough to keep you busy! But our goal
should not be to keep you busy. I want to make good use of your extra, volunteered time and not
squander it trying to keep you busy with make-work assignments or callings. We need to figure
out for ourselves as leaders in the Church how to go about the mission of the five-dollar lawn
and define what the Zion-building tasks truly are. That is quite a goal you have James!”<\/p>

 <\/p>

“Thanks!” said James.<\/p>

 <\/p>

The interview was over. <\/p>

 <\/p>

Standing up, the two shook hands. <\/p>

 <\/p>

“Let’s get together again two months from now and see where we go from there,” said
Bishop Tyler. <\/p>"}