Chapter 50

Fresh Tuna Fish on Christmas Eve

Two kittens are welcomed into the Williams' home in the days before Christmas—Miracles
become commonplace in Springville—Are we hungry for Zion and the things of God?

In the family room of Grant and Carolyn Williams, amidst the torn paper and opened
boxes lying beneath the Christmas tree, two small kittens were having the time of their lives.
Christmas Eve was a wonderful time of year, not just for people, but for animals as well.

These two kittens were relatively new to the Williams' home. Coco had not been
consulted in the matter and was hardly pleased by their acquisition. Their introduction to the
home had changed the regular order of things, causing him to lose part of Carolyn’s time and
attention. From his regular spot in the corner of the family room, he watched as the two kittens
finished their “work” under the Christmas tree and moved on to the kitchen-dining room area
where dinner was being prepared. Coco smelled food—food was always on his mind—and
quickly thought of the cat dishes out there. There was an opportunity here... the kittens might stir
Carolyn to action. These new cats in the house might still prove useful after all.

Coco arose and followed the small cats towards the kitchen. But unlike the inexperienced
kittens, he knew how important it was to stay clear of Carolyn’s feet, having learned this
important lesson the hard way in the past. And, of course, there was the matter of the doorway
that separated the family room from the kitchen. The decision to pass through there was not
always an easy one for Coco. Should he leave his quiet and comfortable spot in the family room
to enter into the noisy kitchen? Was he hungry enough to make it worthwhile? On this particular
point, a short passage from Les Miserables:

Every one has noticed the taste which cats have for pausing and lounging between the
two leaves of a half-shut door. Who is there who has not said to a cat, "Do come in!" There are
men who, when an incident stands half-open before them, have the same tendency to halt in
indecision between two resolutions, at the risk of getting crushed through the abrupt closing of
the adventure by fate. The over-prudent, cats as they are, and because they are cats, sometimes
incur more danger than the audacious.

In like manner, imagine that a newly-built, Zion-class stake conference center stands
before you.

Are your spiritual senses in tune such that you can already smell the delicious food of a
banquet feast of Zion cooking inside?

Are you hungry for the things of God?

Do you have a vision of Zion for your family, your ward, and your stake?

The answers to questions such as these will help tell you how far along you are in your
goal to be a catalyst of Zion in the Church.

Present in the home for Christmas Eve were three of the Williams’ grandchildren––
Trevor, age seven; Cynthia, age five; and Tamara, age two. The three belonged to their son,
Martin, and his wife, Sandy. As part of the celebration early in the evening, each of the children
was permitted to open one package from under the tree. The rest of the packages would then be
taken home with them later that night to be opened on Christmas morning. After opening their
selected packages, the children enjoyed playing with their new toys to the utmost. But it was not
long until, like the cats, they smelled the food cooking and gathered in the kitchen to see what
was going on.

Cynthia and Tamara, the two youngest, had watched the kittens play under the Christmas
tree and now played with them on the floor while Carolyn set the dining room table.

One of the kittens, a female named Tiger, broke away from the fun—a catnip mouse
being dragged on the floor by a string—and approached the cat dishes. The other kitten, a male
named Chestnut, soon joined her.

The scent of food was strong in the kitchen, but nothing had yet been put down in any of
the cat dishes. With her paws in front, Tiger stood upright and stared at the children.

“More fresh tuna fish, please,” was spoken.

“Wow! Did you see that?” exclaimed Cynthia, pointing in the direction of the kitten.

Tamara, still very young, reacted with feigned astonishment, not realizing that something
unusual had occurred. In the world of a small child, kittens are able to talk and communicate
freely with children all day long. When it happens in cartoons on TV, they are not the least bit
surprised.

Standing close together, Tiger and Chestnut were like perfect twins. Not to be outdone,
and before the young girls could say anything more, Chestnut responded boldly in his best kitten
voice, "I love Jesus."

Excitement filled the room. The children ran to Carolyn’s side at the dining room table.

“Grandma! The kittens talked! The kittens talked!” shouted Cynthia.

“What?” replied Carolyn, her expression one of playing along with them for the moment.
Nevertheless, she hurried back into the kitchen, her hands pulled in front of her by the two girls.

The kittens were satisfied, having given utterances of and by the Spirit of God. And it
should be noted that, in this instance, a second witness had been provided to the children. In
speaking first, Tiger might be likened to the Bible, and in speaking second, Chestnut might be
likened to the Book of Mormon. Two kittens stood before the world, testifying that miracles
really do happen and that a new era of the gospel was at hand in the Springville East Stake. If
God can speak through a kitten once, he can surely do it again later on. The same is true of men.
We must say, however, it is much easier for one to hold the Bible and the Book of Mormon
together in one’s hand than, say, two kittens, where even two hands are not enough sometimes to
handle a single feisty cat!

And, most certainly, we are safe in the declaration that the words of the prophets of the
Book of Mormon are well-represented by the words “I love Jesus” spoken by Chestnut. A
thorough spiritual word print analysis (performed by linguistic experts or, better yet, by the
billions of casual, everyday readers of books who exist throughout the world), in which one feels
the powerful testimony of Jesus Christ of the book's authors in one's soul, easily demonstrates
that fact.

Tiger and Chestnut waited for the people to reassemble, expecting something to be done
about the empty cat dishes.

“Now, what is all this about?” asked Carolyn.

“Watch!” said Cynthia.

There was no apparent movement, let alone talking among the two animals now. The
kittens were watching them rather than the other way around, waiting for food to be served. After
a few moments of waiting, Tiger moved over to the water compartment to satisfy her thirst.

Carolyn smiled at the children’s obvious misreading of the situation. She needed to finish
setting the table and check on the rolls in the oven.

“Here,” said Carolyn, moving to open a cupboard, “you two can feed the cats while I
continue getting dinner ready.”

She pulled out a can of chicken filet cat food and opened it for Cynthia. Spooning out the
contents onto a serving plate, she put the empty can and razor-sharp lid into the closed waste
container.

“Grandma, this is chicken. Tiger asked for tuna fish.”

Carolyn’s face went pale, turning around quickly in alarm.

“How did you know she prefers tuna fish?”

“I told you,” said Cynthia. “Tiger asked us for more tuna fish to eat.”

“No!” said Carolyn, half-believing the children’s story while also remembering that she
had put a little leftover tuna fish out for Tiger earlier that afternoon; thus, the idea of having
“more” tuna fish had also been correct.

“Kittens can’t talk. That’s impossible. How did you find that out? Did Grandpa tell you
that?”

Carolyn, understandably, had doused the children’s firsthand testimony of the event with
cold water––or, at least, she had done so in her own mind. But now, there were certain facts she
had to deal with. Remaining skeptical, she nonetheless listened with fascination during dinner as
Cynthia repeated her story to the family. An extraordinary event had occurred in the otherwise
normal setting of their home, a disturbance to the real world caused by something coming in
from outside of it. These “disturbances” would become more commonplace in Springville going
forward. Yet, even in the more ideal setting of a Zion-like stake, we probably still don’t want
cats talking too much. We might get an earful all day long on a whole host of issues!

A can of tuna fish was retrieved for the kittens, and the chicken was served up by Cynthia
into Coco’s dish.

Coco watched all of these goings-on passively from just inside the sliding door of the
family room, but he reacted quickly when he saw food put down in his dish. He trotted over to
his dish and went to work on it.

Eating up every morsel of the unexpected chicken treat, he licked his mouth and then
moved back to the peaceful atmosphere of the family room. His tummy was full, and he was
ready for a nap.

Before closing his eyes, Coco paused to take another look at the beautiful lights and tinsel
of the Christmas tree. Somehow it warmed his tiny cat-sized heart.

Love at home, how nice it is! thought Coco as he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep
on his blanket.