True Love

Beware!  This is going to be mushy!

The other day, we went to the airport to pick up a Sr Sister who had gone to California for two weeks to help her daughter.  Her flight arrived and we waited over an hour and a half but she never came through the gate.

I knew something was wrong, so I called airport immigration.  Sure enough, they had her in the "blue chairs".  You don't ever want to have to go to the blue chairs.  That means they are detaining you and can even deny you entry.  I asked what the problem was and they said that she didn't have a return ticket back to the US so they were going to make her stay overnight in the airport and send her back in the morning!  I told them that I could help her buy a ticket back to the US if that would satisfy them and then would they let her in?  They said, yes, they would allow that.  They had to send a guard out front to get me.  I had to go through security and sign my life away.  I had to promise that I would not try to talk them out of buying a ticket.  I was only allowed to buy the ticket, show them and then (maybe) we could all leave.

I went back there and saw Sister Goddard.  She had been awake for 36 hours.  She is the kindest, most non threatening person you could ever meet.  And yet there she was, sitting on the blue chairs.  We chatted for a moment and then they led us to a computer where I could purchase a ticket.

I quickly bought the cheapest ticket I could find and showed the officer.  He kept asking me if I really paid for it.  I kept pointing to the place that said it was confirmed, so, yes, I had.  He finally wrote all the information down and let us go.

Since it was the Sr Confernece the next day, her husband was flying in from St Vincent in an hour so we just waited outside the airport for him to come.  Sister Goddard had told the Airport immigration about this and they told her he would also have to have a ticket to the US.  That worried us but we decided to just wait and see what would happen.

After a while, we see Elder Goddard walking through the gate!  Happy Day!  Sister Goddard jumped up and ran to him.  It was the sweetest thing!

I thought of how I would react if put in the same situation and I would have done the same thing.  I thought I knew what love was when I got married.  I was not even close.  Love grows and grows and grows as you share years and years and years.  As you have hopes and dreams and even nightmares together.  As you work together to raise a family, to stay faithful in the gospel, to grow old together.  Love grows deep and strong.

I have been thinking about how lucky Reed and I are to have each other.  The past 6 months have been especially difficult, but it has drawn the two of us together so much!  At the end of a long day, we can still laugh and talk and enjoy each other's company.  I am so grateful, not only for the love that Reed and I share, but the example of countless others who have stayed together through the good times and the bad.

Some days are hard.  Some weeks and months are hard!  But keeping the committment of being together forever is such a blessing and a joy.  We pray that each of our family will be able to feel that same joy.

We love YOU!

I didn't know I was tall until...

I didn't know I was tall until one day I was in the little department store in Aberdeen with Mom.  I was about 16.  We were just looking around and a sales lady, Mrs. Satterfield, came up and started chatting with Mom.  I was just kind of standing there.  At one point, Mrs. Satterfield looked at me and then asked my Mom, "Does it bother her that she is so tall?"  Two thoughts came to my mind.  One was, am I really that tall?!!  And the other was, does she think I am deaf as well as too tall?!!

I went home that day wondering if it was a bad thing that I was tall.  I had never looked at it in a bad way, but the way she said it made me have to stop and think about it.

Since we have been on our mission, I have noticed similar things happening to people who are being taught.  They go along with their lives thinking that everything they do is OK.  They don't know that it's wrong to smoke or drink or any number of other sins.  They don't know until someone points it out to them.  Then they have to analyze it and figure out if what they were told is true.

In my case of being too tall, I had to decide if that was a good or a bad thing.  There was a period of time after that that I was very self concious.  I even considered a surgery that you could have that would cut bone out of your legs and make you shorter.  After a while, I realized that God made me this tall and I really didn't want to be any other way!  There have been moments when I wished I was just a tad shorter, but then I wouldn't be me.  I am happy with how God made me.

As for those who have things pointed out to them about things that are possible to change, they, too, must decide if this is what they need to do.  We see this all the time as missionaries.  Some will say that they want to join the church, but they don't want the "surgery".  They don't want to change, so they won't.  Others try to change.  It is a very slow, painful process.  Some make it.  Some don't.  We have been working with Michael for quite some time.  He comes to church more often than many members!  But, he has been a Rastifarian for many years and smokes both cigarettes and marijuana.  He is having a very difficult time stopping.  He is trying, so hard!  We pray he will continue to try.

The other day, Reed showed me a tie.  It had ink marks all over it.  He didn't know how they got there but he couldn't wear it the way it was.  We had two choices.  We could just throw it away, or try to clean it.  We decided to try and clean it because even if the cleaning didn't work, we would have lost nothing.

I got some hand sanitizer and worked it into the ink spots.  In a matter of seconds, the ink was gone!  I then rinsed it in water and let it dry.

It worked!  That which we thought was lost, was saved.  It was sanitized and cleansed.  The same happens all the time in our lives and in those around us.  The cleansing power of the Atonement works every time.  It's worth the effort.  And we have nothing to lose.

We love YOU!

Sea Roaches!

Who knew they existed?  Certainly not I!!!  As we were walking along the beach the other day, we saw a man who was doing something we had never seen before.  We walked over to him and asked what he was doing.  He had two sardines staked out like this:

The waves would come up and wash over the fish and then he would dig in the sand under the fish and pull out these little white bugs...sea roaches!  He showed us how he caught them.  He used the fish as bait.  When the water receded from the fish, you could actually see the fish moving!  It was dead but it was moving because the sea roaches were just below the fish, eating it!  He would reach under the fish and pull up a handful.

They did look a lot like roaches.  We asked him what he used them for.  He said that he uses them for bait.  It's interesting that he had to use a fish as bait to get more bait to get fish!

Even though I am not a fan of fish or sea roaches, I have to admit that there is a lesson in his process. As a fisherman, he takes something that he values and uses it to bring him something that will allow him to get more of what he values.

This is a parallel to the way the Lord works with us, the weak things of the earth. We are not much like him, far from perfect, and not always even wanting to serve him, but He works with us as we are, bringing us in and using us in whatever ways He can to further his work, to spread his gospel and bring people to him.

We may even look like sea roaches to him, but we are so grateful he loves us just the way we are.

And we love YOU!