The $50.00 Gift Card

It's amazing how sometimes something so insignificant means something to someone else.

One day at the family history center, I was helping a wonderful lady who was visiting her daughter in St George.  They were going to go to Chicago the next day, but her husband didn't feel well, so she canceled her trip to the temple to come to the discovery center.  I helped her for a couple of hours and she told me a little bit about her family.  I really enjoyed her and wished her well on her trip to Chicago.

About two weeks later, I got a card in the mail from her.  Enclosed in the letter was a $50.00 gift certificate to The Painted Pony Restaurant.  I'm still in shock over that!  I mean, who does that?

Not anyone I know.  It was so thoughtful, so unexpected, so generous, so kind, and such a fun surprise.

Today, RAH and I ate at the Painted Pony for lunch.  While my meal was certainly not something I would ever order again, it was a delightful experience and RAH loved his meal.

We ordered an hors d'oeuvre that I've never had before....bacon-wrapped dates with an almond in the middle.  It was so delicious with a raspberry drizzle.  YUM, YUM, YUM!

The thought of that card will warm my heart for a very long time.

And, it reminds me how good many people in the world really are!

Stories From the Mission

They were very strict Catholics.

But, they loved the Family Search Discovery Center.

We got them a free account on family search.org and it was so fun for them to trace some of their lines back.  At the end of our being together for about three hours, he asked how much he owed me for my time.  HA HA  - I loved that.  There's no money that can pay for the joy of what we do at the family history center.......

But, when I work with people, over and over again, I am distressed about the disjointedness of families.

They don't speak to each other, they don't know each other....(the lady mentioned above did not even know her mother's real name because she had changed it so often.  And, I'm not talking married name, either.).  They have long-held grudges, they haven't seen or talked to people for YEARS.  They no little or nothing about their parents and grandparents, where they came from, etc.  It's just amazing to me, truly.

I understand so much more clearly the need for

THE FAMILY: A PROCLAMATION TO THE WORLD.

I am continually grateful for my own family - parents, children, grandchildren, in-laws.  What a great blessing.

But, I love the mission; it has given me insight into families and people.

And, it's such a fun thing when they catch on and see pictures and family names.  It's a high.

And, I love it.