The Beginning

This book is the story of a young man who is sent by his church from his home in the far western United States to the deep southern part of the country shortly after the 2nd world war. There is probably not another area in the whole country as different from his way of life as to where he is going, but the book begins with him having just a few weeks to go before he returns home to resume his life. A life that he, his father, and his fiancé, had planned down to the very last detail. With just a short period time left, the church leader, who happened to be one of his father's best friends, sent him to reopen a city that had missionaries there previously, but they had essentially been ran out of town. His mission leader had also thought since Lorin had been successful in his other areas why not let him try his hand in that location with a new missionary. Besides, he only had a few weeks left and could spend that time training the "greenie" in proper missionary etiquette, which would include a lot of knocking on strangers' doors only to have them often slammed in their faces. What could possibly go wrong. Lorin's self-assuredness, that sometimes bordered on cockiness, might help the new young man ease into his new role. With Lorin, it was his way or the highway, so the rookie wouldn't have time to learn any bad habits. Lorin is an undefeated Golden Gloves boxer, which entailed working hard and following a strict regimen. He had never lost a match, or even a round. In fact, he had never had to go beyond two rounds in a match, always winning with either a TKO or actual knockout. As was earlier stated, he was used to getting his own way. In this new area he meets and interacts with individuals and situations that are completely foreign to what he had experienced previously on his mission. While many of these interactions seem to have serious ramifications, there is also humor that emerges when one culture runs headlong into another with "blinders" on. Before he had been located where his church had built some acceptance, but this area had a history of missionary's remaining just a few weeks being forced to leave. This hadn't bother Lorin. He had NO doubt the reason the others had failed, was that he had not been there to move things forward. However, he will have his faith in himself tested like never before, and will also make him examine the most basic parts of his life, including his church, which was the reason he was there. He meets people that will have a profound effect on his life, making him look inwardly and question himself for the reason he is doing what he's doing. What he learns there will not just affect him, but also all of his descendants. That's the reason the title of this book is "The Beginning."