A few months ago, I interviewed for a position at ksl.com, helping to find content for the site. Spencer Hall (the man interviewing me) asked where I lived. When I told him Eagle Mountain, he said that there were a bunch of tips coming in to the newsroom about a man camped in a tent. I hadn’t heard anything about it.
Just this past Thursday, I went for an early morning run with mu friend, Jen, and passed a campsite off the side of the road. When I got home, I texted Spencer telling him that there was a man camped out in EM.
He asked if I could get the story. That night, Jen, her son, Tyler and I went out to talk to him. His name is Roy Glieter. He is a very interesting man on a mission, and very, very kind.
From the second we got there, he just talked and talked. It was so hard to write down info. I thought about tape recording it, but I am actually glad I didn’t. As he went on, I found myself just listening, and cluing in to different things he would say. I wrote down things that jumped out at me, but for the most part, I just listened.
I got the feeling that, although his mission is a good one, he was a soft and kind-hearted man. He was actually kind of funny. Near the end of the conversation, he looked at Jen and I and said, “It looks like you two have smoked a good joint.” We laughed and told him that we were both long distance runners and had six children. Thus, the reason for the glossed-over look :).
When we left, he made sure to give us one of his bracelets that he makes during his spare time. He gives them to each visitor with the condition that each help 5 homeless people. As he handed us the bracelets, he said that he was almost out.
As I was driving home from the store today, I had the thought that it might be nice to give him some supplies to make bracelets with. He was such a giving man, with little to give. I had the impression that it was important for him to be able to give.
I was almost home, and knew that my mom was on her way to my house, so I asked if she could pick up some hemp and beads, so we could take it to him. She did, and as soon as Adam and the kids got home from school, we drove to his camp site.
This time, however, he was a lot more calm and didn’t talk as much. He listened, and we had a great conversation. I showed the kids his trailer that he pulled, and they all just loved his dogs.
As we were about to leave, I wished him good luck. He looked at me and said,”You know where the word, ‘luck’ comes from? Lucifer!.” He went on to tell me he didn’t want luck. I then told him we’d pray for him, and he was happy to have our prayers.
He will be moving on to Colorado in the morning, but this time, he hopes to be able to drive the camper that someone gave to him.
Here is the link to the article on ksl.com.
I am so grateful to have had the experience. I will not soon forget it.
For more info on Roy, just search, “Roy Glieter.” All sorts of pics, news stories and even YouTube videos will come up.
Our little shoeless girl. She had them on when we left the house. Oh, well. At least she has a smile 🙂
Time to 'fit' it in 
Kind man and nice story. Did he accept your gift? And have you already helped a homeless person? That`s a nice idea, I like it.
He did. In my (pre-edited) article, I wrote about how when he was met with a bag full of food, he said, “Thank you, but that’s not why I’m here.” He graciously took the items, but wanted to let us know he wasn’t there for hand-outs, but to spread a message.
When we gave him the hemp and beads on the second visit, he said, “Oh, hemp! I love hemp.” He thanked us, and was very kind.
I haven’t ever done this with my little family, but my parents did it a few times when I was little. There was a time when my mom made bread, and we drove to downtown Denver to hand out the loaves to the homeless near the Salvation Army. My dad had one loaf left, and there were two men. One of the men pulled out a knife, and my dad feared for his life. In stead, he used it to cut the loaf in half. It was quite an experience.