Three Experiences

1.  Ceilings or Doors

Saturday I came home from helping Tonya, excited to see the work Brent had done while I was gone. We had agreed earlier that to help her and also continue with work on the kitchen, he would stay home to work on the ceiling while I helped Tonya paint. At least, that's what I thought he was doing. When I walked into the house, however, there was no change. There were still holes in the ceiling where the old light fixtures had been. Nothing had been done.

I did not know what to say. He had constructed a 2x4 pole to help with putting wallboard up, but the ceiling remained untouched. I was vividly disappointed. Finally, I asked, "I know you've been working, but tell me what you did. I'm not seeing it."

At that point he pointed out the wall by the back door, which was now covered with wallboard. And later I realized he had also sawed off all the shims and caulked all around the back door and put wood strips around it so it would be even with the rest of the wall and ready for wallboard. He had been working his heart out, and yet I failed to see it because I was so focused on the ceiling.

That made me pause to think about how we see people. Are we so busy looking for "finished ceilings" in our loved ones that we fail to see their "beautiful doors"? Are we so busy dwelling on preconceived notions about the other person that when our notions don’t pan out, we are left disappointed, without seeing the reality - not seeing the wonderful truths about the person? If we could just look at everyone through God’s eyes, we would see the finished doors instead of the unfinished ceilings.

2. Tender Mercies

Sunday in Relief Society, Lori Watanabe, our president, gave a lesson about the tender mercies of the Lord. It was a very touching lesson and the Spirit was so strong I felt impressed to share the experiences I had during November with looking for something each day to be grateful for and the profound experience spiritually that had been for me. I bore witness about how God loves each of His children. And then I illustrated that with an experience I had received by email on Saturday from Marnae Wilson, a woman from our ward who is serving a mission with her husband in Portugal. I want to share it with you because it so touched my heart:

She told about a missionary who was just returning home to the United States after serving his mission in Portugal. He was traveling without a companion, and when he got to Frankfurt, his flight home had been canceled and he was stranded there overnight. After several phone calls to his parents and to the mission home and to the Church travel department, things were worked out, but he still had a long night ahead of him. The mission president in Frankfurt was contacted and he made arrangements for a pair of elders there to come to the airport and pick up the stranded missionary. They had an appointment that night to teach an investigator so they took the missionary with them. Funny. They were in Germany, the missionary was returning from Portugal. Was it a coincidence that the person they were teaching could only speak Portuguese?

3.  Hallelujah!

One final experience happened just this morning. In my scripture study I've been reading in Alma.  Today I came to Alma 36 where Alma testifies to his son Helaman about his experience with being born again.  Verses 16 through 21 are underlined in red in my scriptures, so I know I've read them before.  But today they struck me as especially moving.  Is it just because of the season?  Or maybe my personal needs?  All I know is that I was emotional as I thought of Alma's miraculous conversion and then compared it to my own conversion, which is anything but big and miraculous but, instead, a series of baby step after baby step and is still in progress, but still just as wonderful.  I felt my heart swell with love for my Savior and for the Atonement.  

It was in that state of emotion that I opened an email from a friend, Susan Wilcox, where she forwarded this video to a group of friends.   Hallelujah!  How can we not just stand up and shout it out, not just at this glorious time of year but throughout all seasons?