I had just graduated from Ricks College (Yes,
I’m that old!) and I had just moved back home.
I was working and getting ready to start another program in college when
I began attending a singles ward with one of my friends. I didn’t know anyone
besides my one friend in this ward. I
can be pretty outgoing when I know people, but it’s hard for me to be outgoing
when everyone is new. One of the the
first few weeks I was there, I had a bishop’s interview scheduled after
church. Life was complicated and hard,
and I was feeling alone and insecure.
While I was waiting for my interview, the church halls were nearly empty
and I was sitting all alone. From the
corner of my eye, I noticed this beautiful girl that I recognized from my ward,
coming my way. She sat down next to me
and introduced herself. Her name was
Jayne and she was so sweet and friendly.
I remember feeling so surprised that she was taking the time to talk to
me. Not only that, but she invited me to
go out with her and a bunch of her friends in the coming week. Jayne and I ended up becoming good
friends. Jayne didn’t know my
circumstances that day. She didn’t know
I was struggling or feeling alone. For
all she knew, she was just introducing herself to someone new. Jayne made a huge impact on me that day. 18 years later, it still stands out as one of
the nicest things someone has done for me.
I
have been lucky enough to be blessed with 4 sisters. We love being together and try to get
together as often as we can. Although
we’re super close, we tend to share only the good things going on in our lives,
and we don’t usually want to burden each other with all the hard stuff. On this particular day, we were meeting for
lunch. At this time in my life, I was
carrying a HUGE burden, and one no one knew anything about my circumstances. We’d all gotten pretty good at hiding the
trials we were dealing with, and that was my intention that day. We went to lunch, we talked, and we laughed a
ton, and everything was normal. I came
home and didn’t think another thing about lunch until a few hours later when I
got a text from one of my sisters and it simply said, “Are you ok?” At first I was confused. I hadn’t said anything. I had acted normal. I had even laughed with them. How did she
know things were not ok? My first
instinct was to reply back “yes, of course”, but I desperately needed an
outlet. I needed someone to talk
to. I needed someone to know what I was
going through, not because she could fix my situation, but so someone could
know what I was dealing with. I had felt
so alone carrying this all by myself.
So, I told her, “No. I’m not ok.” And I proceeded to tell her everything
I had been keeping in for so long. She
wasn’t able to fix anything, but she listened to me and that was all I needed right
then. In that simple act, she lifted my
burden so I could keep going.
In
both of these incidences, I believe these women acted on the spirit…a simple
whisper of “Go introduce yourself”, and “Ask if she is ok.” Such simple simple things, but to me, they
meant SO much. In Matthew 25:40, a
scripture we have heard since we were little, “Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it
unto me.” Neither of these women came and did my house work. They didn’t mow my lawn, make me dinner,
babysit my kids, or do my laundry. They
cared…pure and simple. They followed the
spirit, and by doing that I knew my savior was aware of me.
We
all have the capacity to love. Like so
many of the others who have already posted before me, it really is the simple
things… the smile, an invitation to sit by someone, talking to someone who is
all alone, kind words. We do not need to
move mountains to have a huge impact on someone’s life. All we have to do is truly care for
someone. In loving others, we can help
them feel how much their Heavenly Father truly cares about and loves them.
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