Recognizing Their Divine Heritage -- Part One

For me, this adventure started in 2004.  I will be relating this story from my perspective.  In July, I started work at Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale.  The previous three years were unexpectedly difficult as I got caught up in the dotcom implosion at the end of 2001.  It was a humbling time, but I saw the blessings flow in other parts of my life.

After starting at Lockheed Martin, I decided to start catching public transit to work.  After a few lean years, the Lockheed provided free transit passes were a blessing.  My starting salary at Lockheed was less than half what I made four years before.  I would take my middle and high school children to their schools, park my car at the lightrail station and catch the lightrail to work.   

Catching the lightrail each morning proved a pleasant experience.   I got to know other commuters over the days and weeks and months.  Among those I met were two sisters, Gia Le and Gia Khan, who commuted daily from Milpitas to a private Christian high school in Mountain View.  They introduced themselves as Le and Khan, and they were twins.  They wore dark blue uniform dresses every day.  I learned they were from Vietnam, but I knew little else except that they were seniors in high school.  My son, Travis, was also a senior at the time so I had something to talk about.  I would often see Le and Khanh studying on the train.  Each day, I would say hello to Le and Khan and to other regulars on the lightrail, but we really didn't speak to each other that much, except to exchange greetings and small talk. 

Little did I know that would change.  I was serving on the high council in my church -- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  My assignment was to help oversee missionary work; something I loved.  I prayed daily that I could be a better missionary.  At church, my bishop gave the congregation a challenge to read the Book of Mormon -- Another Testament of Christ in 30 days.  To do that, I needed to read at every spare moment, including my time on the lightrail.  

One day, as I was reading the Book of Mormon on the train, I noticed a commotion out of the corner of my eye.  It was Le and Khan.  I thought to myself, "Oh no.  At school, they have been taught that Mormons are bad."   I wondered for a brief moment what they were thinking, but I was really caught up in my reading so I just kept reading all the way to work.

That evening, after work, I got onto the same train as Le and Khan.  This didn't always happen because the trains run every 15 minutes.  I said hello and took a nearby seat and started to reach into my backpack for my copy of the Book of Mormon to continue my reading.  Then Le came up to me with Khan by her side and asked, "Are you a Mormon?"  

"Why yes, I am." I replied, smiling.  Le said they saw me reading the Book of Mormon  and wondered.  What she said next caught me by surprise.

"We read the Book of Mormon, too."

                  -- To Be Continued --