The Ward Project

Sister Laura Rand is the ward project. The 60 year old woman with the mind of an immature 12 year old. Everybody loves her, but she is still a struggle to deal with sometimes. With an obsession for everyone else’s babies as well as small animals, she becomes quite the handful. But no one can deny her honest spirituality and good heart, although she does have her struggles.

 It was on a fast Sunday when I heard the crinkle of a big bag of Cheetos puffs in the pew behind me. There next to her jumbo bag of Cheetos was a big old bottle of Cherry coke. Leave it to Sister Rand to make fast Sunday that much harder for everyone else.

 She often brought small creatures into the chapel. Sometimes a hamster thing, but it was usually a bird that stayed perched on her shoulder. The day she brought the duckling was quite the event when the duckling peed all over her already dirty shirt. But she has come a long way. With help from the bishop and the relief society, she no longer brought the birds, or hamsters, or ducklings to church.

As a converted Jew, her old family traditions often come out. Despite a strong and unwavering testimony in the Restored Gospel, Pork is still a very bad meat to eat. We had her over for dinner often and pork was often on the menu. She was too busy enjoying it to notice it was pork. She loved to help prepare the table and the meal in a most charitable way. “Wash your hands before you set the table Laura!” says my mother. “But I showered yesterday morning!”, with a sincerely and very serious tone. Although cleanliness is next to Godliness, I know Laura gets as close to God without the clean part.