I have been wanting to tell this story for a while now, but have had a hard time knowing how to say some of the special feelings I have. Knowing that expressing them isn't really possible, I'll just do my best. :)
This is Dita:
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| (She came to my family's 24th of July bbq) |
This summer I was staying at my friend Cami's house while my parents were out of town. One morning my Cami was up way earlier than I was and heard a big commotion out on the busy street in front of her house. She grabbed her dad who is a doctor and they ran out to find a crowd around a girl who had just been cruising down a hill on her bike, lost control and hit a bus that was pulling from a stop at the bottom of the hill. This girl was from Latvia and here for the summer for work. She was staying with a family in my friends ward. After the accident, ward members, Cami's family and I were able to rally around her and help her during her healing process. She received a priesthood blessing that night and recognized the spirit immediately. They got done and she said “what did you do to me?! I feel so warm!” The Lord had prepared her to receive the gospel. It was because of this big accident which ended up causing her a lot of pain and discouragement and even the need to quit her sales job, that she was exposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to witness her conversion as we and the missionaries worked with her. She was baptized right before going back to her country at the end of the summer. At her baptism she tearfully said that she would be hit by a bus again and again because it brought her to Christ.
Now, this is the short version of the story. There are details and miracles along the way but I just don't know where to begin. I was so grateful for the opportunities that I had to share my testimony and learn and grow with Dita. I was constantly reminded of how very close the Lord is to each of us - how He plans out the details of our lives, sometimes even down to the smallest of moments. I was experiencing some hard things at the time, but was reminded in a very tender moment that if the Lord loves this girl, and has prepared her to receive the gospel, then He loves me and has a perfect plan for me too. Mostly I loved seeing how much healing and joy Dita received from the gospel. I loved seeing how much she loved the Savior. She was a delight to be around. She reminded me about what was important. She brought me back down to earth. She taught me to see things simply, to not complicate things, and to just feel. Apparently she did this for all of Centerville too because half of the city showed up to her baptism. Everyone who met her, even if it was just while she was out doing door-to-door sales, was touched by her light.
While it may seem that all the miracles happened on her behalf - that she was the only one to have gained - this girl came to little old Centerville, where the majority of us have grown up with the gospel in our lives, and reminded us where true joy is found. That the gospel brings new happiness every day, even when we have never had to be without it, or even when we experience "monkies" as she would affectionately call hard times. She reminded us to not be complacent. She helped us remember!
I had prayed for an opportunity like this, and still continue to. I'm so grateful that the Lord allows us to be involved in this joyous work. It is happiness.
Dita is back in Latvia now, and I don't know if I will ever see her again in this life, but we are sisters, she and I. I am forever humbled and grateful.
Now, this is the short version of the story. There are details and miracles along the way but I just don't know where to begin. I was so grateful for the opportunities that I had to share my testimony and learn and grow with Dita. I was constantly reminded of how very close the Lord is to each of us - how He plans out the details of our lives, sometimes even down to the smallest of moments. I was experiencing some hard things at the time, but was reminded in a very tender moment that if the Lord loves this girl, and has prepared her to receive the gospel, then He loves me and has a perfect plan for me too. Mostly I loved seeing how much healing and joy Dita received from the gospel. I loved seeing how much she loved the Savior. She was a delight to be around. She reminded me about what was important. She brought me back down to earth. She taught me to see things simply, to not complicate things, and to just feel. Apparently she did this for all of Centerville too because half of the city showed up to her baptism. Everyone who met her, even if it was just while she was out doing door-to-door sales, was touched by her light.
While it may seem that all the miracles happened on her behalf - that she was the only one to have gained - this girl came to little old Centerville, where the majority of us have grown up with the gospel in our lives, and reminded us where true joy is found. That the gospel brings new happiness every day, even when we have never had to be without it, or even when we experience "monkies" as she would affectionately call hard times. She reminded us to not be complacent. She helped us remember!
I had prayed for an opportunity like this, and still continue to. I'm so grateful that the Lord allows us to be involved in this joyous work. It is happiness.
Dita is back in Latvia now, and I don't know if I will ever see her again in this life, but we are sisters, she and I. I am forever humbled and grateful.
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| Cami, me, Dita, Meredith at the Conference Center theatre |
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