Return to Top
How was I to know a six-foot-plus frame draped in a floor-length gown of the finest pale blue fabric ever seen lurked behind the knock on my office door? At my invitation, the gigantic frame with the embroidered pattern of real gold threads from his neck to his waste moved gracefully into my office and waited for introductions before accepting the chair I offered. A friendly face slipped beside this impressive stature and with great pride announced, "Sister Welch, this is my father. He has come to the United States to transact some oil business in Salt Lake for our country and came to Rexburg to spend only a few hours with me here at Ricks. I wanted him to meet you." The rest of the conversation faded into a blur although I can distinctly remember sitting a little more erect than usual, speaking with much better diction than usual, and caring much, much more how I was being perceived than ever before. I felt I was in the presence of a King--as indeed I suppose I was.
I learned Amadou's story in bits and pieces after Amadou became my student as he gained the English skills to share it with me. After being sent to the French-speaking Canadian mission from Mali, Africa--a country of eight million people where only he and his father were members of the church, Amadou had been approached to participate in the translation of the Book of Mormon into his native tongue, but . . . having to do it in an oral experience was painful because he didn't write his own language. Pages translated by a professional without a knowledge of church doctrines were sent to Amadou's mission president, who in turn discussed them in French with Amadou, recorded (in English) any discrepancies or misrepresentations of the doctrines, and then sent them back to Salt Lake for correction by the original professional translator. This mission experience and Amadou's future responsibility to help father manage Mali resources dictated Amadou become fluent in English. Ricks was selected because of its reputation for having a special spirit, time for special cases, and small enough for leadership and testimony growth.
My arrival at Ricks followed quite a different epilogue. After serving twenty years as mom to my five close-born children, it was decided I should rejoin the work force to increase family cash flow in preparation for my oldest's upcoming mission and the escalating college expenses facing our family. Uncomfortable with the change, I prayed fervently for the Lord to help me find something compatible to a family lifestyle but preparatory to serving Him better in my future. In my mind, I was thinking of the couple mission, and I rather liked the idea of a foreign literacy service while "seeing the world". Through very inspired circumstances I learned to understand speaking, reading, and a writing literacy by teaching migrant children, many who had no reading or writing literacy in their own language. My training took six years included all ages and speaking levels, required an advanced degree in disabilities and language, and the managing of a 25-school curriculum program with an independent summer school. The day I went to Ricks to apply for employment, I really didn't know why except that I was told to go by inner prompting. On that very day Scott Samuelson, the head of the English department, was seeking someone to design a specialized writing curricula to meet the hidden needs of the International students--my very preparation. It was in this program that Amadou and I became friends.
I learned early that Amadou was special. We practiced English talking about irrigation principles as we shared how syphoning tubes from irrigation canals worked and how to submerge a 25-gallon drum into the ground to act as a sink sufficient enough to support a sprinkling system with a pump on a small acreage where streams wouldn't support tubes. Amadou shared his dream to move water in this way onto his large father-owner tracts of desert lands bordering the river until he could use the knowledge he was gaining in the classroom about computerized rotating wheel lines. Part of Amadou's training was to practice English by making a presentation at a local elementary school. When I furnished a public library book about his country, Amadou pointed out a picture in the book as his grandfather. He explained his grandfather had led the seven groups (tribes) in his country, so after the French took over, the grandfather remained a spokesman for these groups. In essence Amadou was the lineage of the King.
Amadou was only one of many students improving English skills for personal reasons. Marina was allowed to attend Ricks for the sole purpose of being able to translate the church lesson manuals. At that time in Siberia, they had the Bible and Book of Mormon in Russian, but not the lesson manuals. Marina was preparing to teach Seminary and Relief Society and needed to understand from the English manuals. Two dozen or more students from Hong Kong desired to prepare for taking the gospel into Mainland China to their relatives when Hong Kong would become part of it . . . which has now happened. Gianni from Italy desired to increase his gospel knowledge since his family was one of three who opened a branch in Florence. I do not know how to convey the depth or frequency of spiritual experiences I shared with my students in this unique environment. At one of our elementary school presentations, the fourth graders sang "I am a Child of God" in English while fifteen different International students sang in unison in their native language with them. Where, but at Ricks, could such a thing happen. Yes, Ricks has a unique spirit. It is a place with purpose for everyone.
I felt sad to lose the responsibility of this course after seven years, but again through unusual circumstances, I was asked to be involved with people from distant places by piloting the first Internet course from Ricks. Distance learning is a new knock at the door to the future--Ricks college's and mine. I don't know if the Lord groomed me to contribute to Ricks, or the Lord blessed me to receive my heart's desires at Ricks. Regardless, my desire to serve out in the world has been fulfilled because Ricks has brought the world into me. Who knows what is standing behind this new knock at the door at a place where the spirit of the Lord moves the spirits within people. Gratefully, I have shared this compound spirit at Ricks.