Pure Religion:  Fresh Baked Bread

    Nestled in a small valley near Huntsville, Utah, rests The Abbey of Our Lady of the Holy Trinity.  Twenty-two monks who have dedicated themselves to an austere and simple life of prayer and manual labor currently reside in the Trappist monastery.
    Among other things, those at the monastery raise cattle and tend hives of bees from which the make flavored honey.  They use the honey for food and also sell it at their small shop near the monastery.  For years, the monks enjoyed this honey on fresh-baked bread made on the premises, but two years ago the bakery equipment failed and, not having the funds to replace of repair it, the monastery was forced to purchase its bread from an outside source.

    Horace Snyder, a Church member who had worked closely with the monks over the years to establish irrigation for their fields, and other Welfare Services staff were aware the Church Deseret Bakery at Welfare Services was undergoing renovations.  The renovations would include purchasing new bakery equipment.  Could the machinery that was being replaced possibly be of use the monastery?
    It wasn't long before bakery experts from Welfare Services traveled to the monastery to inspect the faulty equipment and confirm that, indeed, the equipment from the old Deseret Bakery not only could work but also would fir perfectly in the space provided.
    Jim Blake, Welfare Square bakery manager, supervised the installation of the equipment at the monastery.  Soon the monks were once again enjoying freshly-baked bread.
    The act of service was just one of the several administered by church members at the monastery.  LDS dentists and doctors regularly visit to attend to dental and medical needs.  Other Latter-Day Saints drop by with armloads of fresh fruit and vegetables.
    The help doesn't go only one way, however.  Years ago, a farmer who lived nearby had hurt his back and was unable to rise from his bed.  To make matters worse, it was harvest season and his hay would go to waste if not harvested soon.  The next morning before dawn, the monks from the Trappist monastery descended on his fields, harvested his hay, and irrigated his fields.--by Neil K. Newell, Welfare Services

Published in the Church News, June 16, 2001, p. 16.  Copyright Intellectual Reserve 2001.  All rights reserved.