my mission gave me an incredible insight into MYSELF.
I AM HAPPIEST WHEN I'M SERVING.
the opposite can be said if i'm spending a little too much time thinking about ME, i'm just NOT very happy.
my Father in Heaven has blessed me to be "feeling myself" again lately. i'm so blessed. which only means one thing: time to give back.
one thing i've learned about Heavenly Father is that he honors righteous desires. when i pray to have opportunities to serve, i have them. ALWAYS.
a couple of weeks ago i was blessed with an experience that made me feel like a missionary again. and i loved it.
matt and i went to the BYU post office to mail a package. when we arrived, we noticed the door was closed and locked-- bummer. in looking around, we saw a lady waiting near the doors and we decided to ask her if she knew when the post office would be open again. she didn't know either. but we got to talking...
i asked her, "where are you sending your package?". "to the MTC", she said. "oh how neat! do you have a missionary there?"... "yes, my son". "oh how wonderful-- where's he going to serve?".... the conversation continued. we soon learned that this woman had traveled from Salt Lake to send her missionary son a package of fresh bread and nutella. she kept telling us, "he's been wanting this for so long!". she was the epitome of a proud missionary mom. she talked to us about all that he was learning and how much his testimony had grown. and her bread and nutella was her "i love you" to him before he headed out into the mission field a few days later. the BYU post office was her only bet in getting it to him before the bread went bad. and it was closed. and he was leaving in 2 days for the mission field.
do you ever have the feeling that you are exactly where Heavenly Father wants you to be, and there's a reason for it? i LOVE that feeling. i LIVE for that feeling. it's a feeling i had daily in the mission field and one that i feel i've had to work even harder for since being home. but it comes when we pray... we tell Heavenly Father we want to help HIM, and you better believe He's all about it.
so we start to brainstorm. me, matt, and sister Paéz. the only information she had about her son was his mailbox number and his departure date. our situation was that even if i were able to sneak the bread/ nutella in, how in the world would I find him? he was learning spanish so i thought i'd call Bradley to see if he had any idea where we could find Elder Paez. Of all the spanish districts and zones, Elder Paez just happened (haha) to be in Bradley's teaching zone. so the impossible all of a sudden became possible. matt and i took the package from her and planned to have Bradley pick it up and take it to the MTC with him that night and deliver it to Elder Paez.
the cherry on top of this experience was Sister Paez' reaction when it all worked out. with tears in her eyes and after 15 thank you's and 5 hugs, she gave matt and i some of the sweetest marriage advice i've ever heard... "be careful.... and stay together".
Heavenly Father is a master at multi-tasking. He leads his children into each other's paths and makes it so that each party is blessed, made happier and lighter, and leaves with an increased knowledge of His love for THE ONE.
george, we appreciate you. more than you know. you truly are A SAINT...
