It’s In Our Hands
The story I told about the two
girls and the blue butterfly was my adaptation of an old proverb that I once
heard my mission president tell. The
story came a t a rough time for my mission when a lot of people were feeling
discouraged. The proverb was a parable
of faith in oneself and an encouragement to use our free agency to let our hope
live on. I re-told the tale and it
principles again and again on my mission and through it, was led by the Spirit
to some of the most spiritual moments I would ever have in my life. When told right, (hopefully I did it some
sort of justice during the fireside night), the story has uplifted many people
near and dear to me.
It was odd at first, telling
something so spiritual and somber when most of my peers have generally seen the
more active and comedic side of me. I
had something else planned out that would have fell a bit more into those
lines, but I’m glad that I chose the butterfly story; I wasn’t expecting to have such empowering
speeches to follow up to that night.
The Fireside Chat as a whole? Well, I managed to fill about four pages
worth of my journal with the notes—more than even my General Conference
section. The Sprit was just so strong in the room that night that answers to
many of my questions just seemed to flow, and even a few moments of inspiration
came about. The more I watched, the
more I wanted to watch. I was
continually impressed by my classmates and the spirits, (comedic, gospel, and
creative), that they managed to exert.
It’s a bittersweet deal though:
that was our last big night together.
After this semester, we’re all going to branch off into our specified
departments. It’s been a long time since
I’ve actually cared enough abut my classmates to worry about missing them, and
our experiences this semester—culminating in the Fireside Chat—brought us
closer together than I had thought possible for a cold, closed heart like
mine. It’s been a rough year for me, but
this group has brought a beacon of light into my life. The kids are definitely all right,
Offspring. Now I guess it’s up to us to
decide if we stick together through thick and thin or split up. Either way: it’s all in our hands.