Working at the Bishop's Storehouse

Yesterday (3 April 2012) I had the privilege & pleasure of working at the Bishop's Storehouse in Lindon, Utah (about 5 minutes from my home).  I had worked at the adjacent cannery before, but never in the storehouse.  What a marvelous facility.  My job was to stock shelves; luckily there is no stocking injunction filed against me (at the moment).

The LDS Church welfare system is amazing.  Farms, dairies and other places produce goods; volunteers harvest the goods (or package them , etc.) and the goods are then stocked on the shelves at the Bishop's Storehouse.  When members are going through a rough time and the bishop determines they could use some assistance via a "food order," a form/meal planner is filled out (based on the items available at the storehouse) and the needing member takes the form to the storehouse, where a missionary volunteer takes the person around and insures that every item on the form ends up in the grocery basket.

I've worked (volunteered) in the cannery before; last time I assisted in bottling salsa that other volunteers were making in another part of the facility.  As I stocked shelves yesterday, I saw salsa jars - same kind I had assisted in making - on the shelves.  It was a sweet feeling.

I saw single people, families and people from all ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds come into the storehouse to fill orders.  There was such a feeling of love, gratitude and what I characterize as "Christian service and nurturing" in the air.  For a while, during one of the rush times, I alternated between three "cold" sections (2 coolers and a freezer) restocking dairy, produce & meet.

At one point as I was trying to keep up with the demand for produce (strawberries, squash, lettuce, cauliflower, etc.) I got a tiny bit behind and was able to quickly remedy the situation and put more produce in the bin, which patrons then immediately removed from the doorways on the store-side of the cooler.  As I shoved the bin of spinach back into place, someone opened the glass door, took a couple packages of spinach for their cart, and looked through the shelving and into the cooler and saw me (frantically) restocking.  Suddenly I heard, "Thank you so much for volunteering your time!" from that patron.  I felt so happy to be there and in a place to truly assist people.

Based upon how many times I restocked bread items, canned fruits & veggies, the cold items mentioned above and a few non-food items (not referring to the squash here, though it's tempting!), I would say we had a few hundred patrons during my 4 1/2 -hour shift.  What a blessing to those who need a little lift!

When it was time to go, a friend from my ward (congregation) and I shared experiences (he and I worked together sometimes and apart sometimes throughout the shift).  He said, "that was just so fun, and such a pleasure to serve, it doesn't even feel like service or work - it was just a joy!"  I agree.

I'm glad I get those opportunities to serve others - to be part of a big picture - and, for a few hours, leave my own cares behind.  Did I mention: about mid-way on our 4 1/2 shift things slowed down enough for a few of use to take a break and sit down on some chairs.  I texted my office to see if I had several frustrated clients trying to contact me.  I was blessed - during the time I was at the storehouse, the office ran really smoothly and without any clients needing my immediate attention.  WHAT A BLESSING!  And WHAT A THRILL it was.

Being LDS I get many opportunities to serve, from cleaning the church building to visiting neighbors to taking meals to the sick to doing yardwork for others to organizing a community clean-up day to playing the piano/organ for some meetings, to teaching a Sunday School class to... I think the list and options are pretty much endless.  I'm so happy that I got this new experience in service; it inspires me to keep on serving.