Believe

Yesterday, two sisters in the Young Women program at church and I visited a 17-year old girl's home whom we had never met. Her mother and brother have started attending church, and we've learned this girl is shy, and partially uninterested in what the missionaries have to say. But, we thought we'd give it a shot, to invite her to the Young Women program. Her mom was fine with us coming over, and we probably gave them about a three hour notice.

However, when we got there, the 17-year old girl was asleep, and the mother didn't want to try to wake her again, claiming her daughter didn't invite us here. She kept saying to us, "You can go in there and wake her up if you want." We kept our peace and said goodbye.

First off, I kept thinking about one young women leader that I had, that I don't think would've had any reserve as soon as the mother said we could go in there if we wanted. I just imagine her walking in there, waking her and exclaiming, "Hi! I'm [Diana]! You don't know me, and I don't know you, but I love you" and then passing along any invitation we had to offer.

And this is all I could think about last night: why did I feel an inkling of love for this girl that I've never met? I came to the conclusion that it is because I know God lives! Honestly, if I didn't know God lived, I would probably care less about her. I am sorry to say it so bluntly, but why would I show so much interest in a girl who is uninterested in me? But on the contrary, because I know that God lives, I know that He has established a church, has given us the gospel, provided us with a Savior who is the resurrection and the life. I know that being obedient to the gospel makes me happy, and is fulfilling. I love this girl, because I believe all of this, and I believe that she needs to know that God is in her life. I barely know her or her interests, but God does know her and I can only imagine how much He loves her because of that.

"When the Savior invited the multitude to behold their little ones, was He speaking in the collective sense of a group of little children? Or was He drawing their attention, and ours, to the individual nature and importance of each of those little ones—each of those little individuals? I believe that by His example the Savior was teaching us of the individual and tender care we should give to each one of our little children—indeed to each of our Heavenly Father’s children. It may be the lovable toddler or the wayward teen, the grieving widow or the grateful woman for whom all is well. It may even be your own son or daughter or your own husband or wife. Each is an individual. Each has divine potential. And each must be spiritually nourished and temporally cared for with love, tenderness, and individual attention." -Elder Kerr, 1996

Tell me though, how much is your life directed and changed just by knowing this one simple truth: God Lives!