Moved by Movies

This morning I was thinking about being moved by movies-or more specifically with my emotional responses and rationale behind them.  Being "moved"also infers some sort of action-perhaps even a commitment.  I have cried at millions of movies for a million different reasons, but last night I burst into tears when I saw the name on the end credits- "Blair Treu." Though this movie is touted as "The First Church-Produced Movie of Its Kind ", it was written and directed by my friend Blair Treu.  That's a lot of capital letters and rightly so for it is BIG DEAL.  He was commissioned to make this movie for my church. So borrowing from the format he uses in the movie, I'd like you to you to meet "Blair Treu-The Writer/Director/Producer."  Actually I don't know much about his career and we're not close friends BUT since he appeared on the stage of MY life- he has "moved" me in important ways.

I was 14 and had the general impression that if there was a cute guy at a Mormon dance-he most likely wasn't a Mormon.  That was the joke. I had never liked a Mormon guy before-and believe me,  my heart has been going pitter-patter for cute guys since I was 5 years old. But that changed in the summer of '78 and meeting Blair Treu and his friends at an LDS youth conference in St. George.  Blair wasn't necessarily drop-dead gorgeous- but it was his whole package-his looks, personality, spirituality, and the way he treated others that made him stand out.  He was super sharp and wonderful.  He was one of my very favorite elders to write and receive letters from when he was on his mission-just because I thought he was so "neat."  I discounted him immediately because I thought he was too short for me but I subconsciously used him to as a standard to measure the spiritual stature of guys I would meet in the future.  He gave me vision.  Blair moved me to commit to finding a sharp guy of my own faith-cause by golly-they existed.   

That summer I hung out with Blair and his friends at Huntington Beach lifeguard station #13.  We went to Mormon dances every Friday and Saturday night.  I remember Blair being a great dancer and doing handstands with his friend Mike Mason. (Who Joanie and I took as our dates for our prom). I remember being concerned when he got in a motorcycle accident.  I remember using Blair's mission farewell party as an excuse to get out of "hell night" for the Lakewood High School sorority I was rushing.  Joanie and I sheepishly stated , "Our friend is going away for 2 whole years and we have to say goodbye." You couldn't get away with that here in Utah.  I remember sitting at his missionary farewell with my best friend Joanie and listening to his talk.  He used a fictional story of best friends talking in heaven and how the one friend had never shared the gospel with the other because they were afraid of ruining their friendship.  The friend then stated that though they had been best friends on earth, she could no longer call her a friend now.  After the meeting I burst into tears and shared my testimony and how I didn't want to be like the best friends in that story.  I loved her and I wanted her to know that I knew the church was true and wanted her to be part of it.   Blair had unknowingly moved me to commit to share the gospel with people most dear to me.

Fast forward many years when my son coincidentally started hanging out with Blair's son, Kyle through their mutual interest in dance. My son was also friends with Kyle's future wife and ended up being one of their grooms for their wedding.  I instantly loved Kyle because I loved his father.  A couple of months ago, through Facebook, I learned from Blair that Kyle had been in a serious automobile accident and had been thought dead.  He requested that we pray and fast for his son.   For over a month Blair gave daily Facebook updates on the progress and shared his very personal thoughts and feelings about his experience.  Later Blair requested we write letters to his son as he began his difficult rehabilitation emphasizing God's hand in his miraculous recovery.  Blair moved me to use Facebook as a tool to care about others people and commit to mentioning others by name with very specific reference to their needs in my personal prayers, fasts, and in letters. 

Blair's part in the Church's production of "Meet the Mormon's" is a big deal-it is important. I pray for the movie's success- that they will be able to donate lots of money to the Red Cross-that others will be moved emotionally as I was.  Perhaps people might be moved to change some of their perceptions that Mormons don't have horns (at least I haven't seen anything growing on me lately).  Perhaps people might be moved to actions to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Perhaps people might be moved to make commitments to make and keep sacred covenants.  For me,  I have been "moved" to make important commitments by the name listed on the movie credits- Blair Treu.