In the Presence of God

1. I found this story to be bewildering.
2. I thought it was interesting that the child, who seemed to be the main character, had no name in the story, even though the other characters did.
3. One of the main concepts seemed to be that everyone is a temple of the Holy Ghost, and yet almost everyone was physically described in some sort of negative way.  "Positively ugly," "skinny," "fat cheeks", undesirable odor.  And yet it wasn't all negative -- "Periwinkle eyes," "long blonde hair", "a pretty, pointed face."
4. I especially liked the part of the story where the child thinks, "We fought in the world war together.  They were under me and I saved them five times from Japanese suicide divers and Wendell said I am going to marry that kid and the other sad oh no you ain't I am and I said neither one of you is beause I will court marshall you all before you can bat an eye."  I'm not sure what she's referring to, but I can guess that she is reminiscing a time when she played with the boys.
5.  I'm not sure what the author is trying to say by placing this story in what sounds like a small, "ignorant" town. 
6.  "That must be Jew singing," Wendell said and began to tune the guitar.  The girls giggled idiotically but the child stamped her foot on the barrel.  "You big dumb ox!"  she shouted.  "You big dumb Church of God ox!"  I immediately thought of my theology class earlier today, when students were talking about Jewish culture in an ignorant way, and it irritated me so much that I started typing on my lap top in all caps about how they should all be quiet.  (Then I erased it and felt bad.)  This strangely helped me to relate to the child a little bit more. 
7.  I liked how each character seemed so "real", with both attributes and flaws. 
8.  I'm not sure what to make of the ending. 
9.  I liked the quote, "and she began to realize that she was in the presence of God."  Several times it mentions her mind "going empty" and thinking of Jesus.  Could the author be inferring that the Holy Spirit is convicting the child?