"I can trust the Church"

Today, about 3:35 pm, we had a little 3rd grade girl come and peek in the front door of the office. Sister Alvey asked her if everything was OK and she said that she was supposed to meet her cousin, PJ, and they were to walk home together. One of her friends pointed over to the church and told Alia, the 3rd grader, that PJ had walked "over there by the church". Alia came over to the church, but didn't see her anywhere. She now was scared for PJ and she herself was scared to walk home alone. Sister Alvey brought her back to me. I started to talk with her, find out what the story was, ask where she lived (somewhere on Valencia St.), what her address was (she didn't know), what her mother's name was, (Tanya), and what her phone number was (she didn't know). I was thinking I would just call her mom and ask her to come get her. When my questioning didn't get us very far, I felt it best to walk her back to the school nearby, and let the principal handle the situation, as she should have a sheet with several contact numbers for mom. and could call someone. She could also check on PJ. Alia said that PJ was her cousin and she and her mom were living at PJ's house. I imagined that mom probably had a disposable cell phone, and she probably had moved several times in Alia's life.

I smiled at Alia and told her not to be afraid, that we were safe people. She looked at me, smiled, and said, "I know...I can trust the Church, that's why I came here". Sister Alvey then walked her to the school and the principal took over. But as she walked, I thought about how she said with conviction, "I can trust the Church". Do we each have such conviction that we can say when we are scared, I too can trust the Church? And I can trust my Heavenly Father? It was another lesson that hit me over the head.

I think I am a slow learner.