I
went to a small Jesuit university for college, where I was one of only 6
LDS undergrads. There was no institute associated with the school, so I
enrolled in an institute class at the nearby public university. About
halfway into the semester, I was asked to be the secretary in the
institute presidency.
I
served in the presidency as the secretary for two years, under two
different presidents. Then, when the president moved out of state at the
start of my last year of college, I was asked to replace him. During
this time, I probably spent more time at the institute than I did on
campus at the university I was actually attending. I found the time at
the institute to be remarkably fulfilling, both taking classes and
ministering to the students.
I
studied in the philosophy department at school, and many of my
professors were Catholic priests. I began to really envy them because
they had a built-in opportunity to have a lifelong ministry. It was
their career. I wished that there were something like that available to
me.
I
graduated college right after my 21st birthday, so I decided to serve a
mission. This once again filled my desire to minister to people. While I
was serving, I had an opportunity to spend time visiting people in the
hospital and in juvenile hall, listening to their stories and sharing
the love of God with them. I found that to be way more meaningful than
riding my bicycle around town knocking on doors.
I
started law school a few weeks after I returned home from my mission.
Sadly, after a year and a half, my law school education was interrupted
without warning. I had to find a new path quickly. I thought back on the
times in life when I was the happiest, and I realized that it was when I
was deeply involved in the running of the institute.
So
I enrolled in divinity school. My plan was to become a hospital
chaplain. I didn’t tell anyone about it because I feared disapproval at
such a non-traditional career choice. The school I picked was all by
correspondence, and it wasn’t very good. I dropped out a month later and
tried to figure out something else to do with my life.
Eventually
I went back to law school. Instead of returning to the law school that
had treated me so badly, I was accepted to and chose to enroll in the
school I had attended as an undergrad. In my last year of law school, I
took a seminar on the prison system. I was uninterested in the subject
matter, but the professor came highly recommended, so I signed up
anyway.
In
order to graduate, I was required to write a paper of publishable
quality. I chose to use my seminar paper to satisfy the requirement. I wrote about the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act and how it applies to the religious freedom of prison inmates.
The
next semester, I was attending an academic conference, and I met a
Muslim woman who volunteered as a chaplain at a women’s prison near Salt
Lake City. She mentioned that the staff was interfering with the
ability of the inmates to pray. I talked with her a bit about my paper
and about some things she could try in order to convince the staff to
work with her on the matter. I wanted to ask her how she carved out a
space for ministry while being a member of a religious tradition that
places limits on women’s public ceremonial participation (since it’s
something I’ve been trying to figure out in my own life), but I
chickened out because I didn’t want to offend her.
I
graduated a few months later, and by that time I had decided that I
want to become a law professor. I needed to get some college level
teaching experience. My prison system seminar professor had volunteered
in the past at San Quentin Prison in their university program. I decided to sign up, and I love it. I’ve taught math and English for the past two years.
Many
of my students are openly religious, and they often discuss spiritual
matters with me. In addition to being a good career move to gain
experience, I feel like teaching at the prison is a form of ministry.
But I still wanted to do more.
A
few weeks ago, as I was driving to the prison to teach my math class, I
was listening to the Mormon Matters podcast episode about LDS military
chaplains. I was fascinated and wondered if there was an opportunity for
me to do something similar at San Quentin. I had seen Buddhist and
Protestant chaplains at the prison, and I had heard that there were
Catholics as well. But I never saw any LDS chaplains.
When
I arrived at the prison that evening, I saw an older man I had never
seen before standing at the gate. He was wearing a white shirt, a tie,
and a missionary name badge. I went over and introduced myself and asked
him if there was an opportunity to serve at the prison in a religious
capacity. It turns out he’s a ward missionary in the ward where the
prison is located. His assistant just had to step down due to an
employment conflict, and he will be moving next month. He said that he
could use some help.
Once
my background check clears, I’ll be good to go. I’m really excited for
this opportunity. The timing couldn’t be more perfect.
