1.
Punctuality--Order and Exactness
The Mormon Church operates in an orderly way and expects its members to follow Church practices and protocols with a measure of
exactness. Our experience in Malawi
underscores the importance of emphasizing such exactness. Malawians are notoriously late for meetings,
appointments, and commitments, the more important the individual the more egregious
the conduct.[1] Being late, and forcing others to wait for
you, is a measure of one’s prestige.
Important people don’t have to worry about the schedules of others less
important. Not surprisingly this lack of
punctuality has been carried over to the Mormon Church. Anyone ever attending the Mormon Church in
Malawi knows what a struggle it is to start meetings on time. Regular Church meetings frequently start 20
to 30 minutes late. At the appointed
hour, very few members are in their seats, including the leaders who are
invariably late taking their places. It
is even worse for branch socials or other less formal gatherings—such as
institute or seminary classes—where people may show up an hour or two after the
announced beginning time. Members arrive
on a rolling basis, without a sense of urgency.
No one takes the schedule seriously.
Only after a quorum has assembled does the scheduled meeting began—and
who knows when precisely that will happen.
No one appears too upset by the delays.
Time is not that big a deal.[2]
Initially I was mildly amused by this custom.[3] Of all the things we needed to address,
punctuality ranked low on the list. Far
more important was helping members appreciate the importance of modesty in
dress, keeping the law of chastity, learning to be honest in their dealings,
developing unity in the branch, becoming self-reliant. It was better getting them to attend church
on a regular basis than worrying about when they get there. One can’t tackle all of the problems in a
branch at the same time—choosing one’s battles is imperative for any church
leader. Emphasizing everything is the
same as emphasizing nothing. What does
it matter if church meetings start late?
Several months into our mission we travelled to Lilongwe,
where the Mormon Church has four units.
We were surprised to discover the two senior couples then serving there
(the Fisks and Stones) had emphasized with the leaders starting church on
time. As a consequence, while meetings
might start a bit late, they began only five to ten minutes after the scheduled
hour.
Inspired by the Lilongwe experience, Carole and I began
encouraging, first the Zingwangwa Branch leaders, and later those in Blantyre
Second, to be more “exact” in their obedience—starting Sacrament meeting on
time, whether or not anyone was there.
And at the beginning that was literally the case—Sacrament meeting could
begin with only ten members in the chapel.
We also stressed starting other church meetings at the scheduled
hour. Over time, we have found some
improvement, though it is still the case that many members come late, many long
after the sacrament has been passed.
Both branches do announcements at the end of the service to maximize the
number who get the news.
Much to my surprise this slight adjustment appears to make a
big difference in the members’ attitude and the flow of the Sacrament and other
meetings. I am hard pressed to
understand why this should be the case.
Yet somehow being obedient to this one seemingly trivial instruction matters. It increases accountability, makes the meetings
flow better, gives us something we can rely upon. It is
as though discipline in one “small thing” carries over to an exactness in areas
far more telling. While they may not be
directly relevant, I am reminded of those scriptures speaking of the
significance of “small things” in the
kingdom of God. “Wherefore, be not weary
in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which
is great.” D&C 64:33.
[1] Several
months ago President Matale, the area’s Public Affairs representative, invited a
number of City Councilmen and village chiefs to come to the Blantyre building to
talk about this year’s Helping Hands’ project. The Deputy Major was the senior most member to
attend. Though he arrived slightly before
the scheduled meeting time, when he discovered that others were not yet there, he
went back out to the parking lot and sat in his car for some 30 minutes after the
scheduled meeting was to start. Then he made
his appearance and we began the meeting.
[2]
This may, of course, be the key to understanding Malawian behavior. Unlike Westerner countries, where most
everyone is time driven, Malawians, at least those living in the poor areas
where we labor, are not driven by schedules.
They have an abundance of time—they are not generally hurrying to get
anywhere—so why does it matter when meetings start. They will start when enough of the people get
there and waiting around is not upsetting.
It is simply more time to socialize or another way to kill time. Church buildings are nice, when compared to
their homes, so there is nothing unpleasant about being stuck at Church.
[3]
The longer we are in Malawi the less we tolerate tardiness in the behavior of
others. Disregard for others’ time and
schedule is disrespectful and causes havoc to others’ plans and efforts to get
things done in an efficient manner.
After a while we advised tradesmen and others providing us services,
that if they couldn’t get there at the scheduled time not to bother coming at
all. Without such rigid rules it is really
hard to get anything done.
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