Till We Meet Again

Fun Youth Activity with Daniel on the Far Right

Last week was a long and an emotional week.  I had the opportunity to attend two funerals.  One was for kind-hearted Daniel who was just 18 years old.  I taught him in church when he was just a little guy of about 4 or 5 years old.  He always kept me on my toes.  One fond memory that I have from those days was asking him to say the opening prayer for our class.  We had a little girl who wasn't very reverent in class.  It bothered Daniel a lot.  He felt that we all needed to be reverent.  He had been taught well by his sweet mother. We will call this little girl Amanda (I actually don't remember what her name was).  During his prayer he prayed that "Amanda" might be able to stay reverent during class and be able to keep her hands and feet to herself.  His mom and I got the biggest chuckle out of that.

In that same class, we had the opportunity to learn about families.  I asked the kids to come to class with a family picture and be prepared to tell about their families.  Daniel came to class so proud to tell about his family.  He told me about how he and his sister were both adopted.  He proudly told me how he was so fortunate to have two moms that loved him-- the one that gave birth to him and the one that is raising him.  I was so impressed with his maturity and the love that he felt for both these women.  Afterwards, his mom dropped in my class and I told her how it went.  I told her that I had no idea that her kids were adopted.  I told her that every time I see their sweet family together, I've been struck by how much Daniel looks like his dad and Krista looks like her.  Nita (who passed away in 2008), got this sweet, serene look on her face and said, "I know. Didn't Heavenly Father do good?"  I hope I never forget that sweet conversation.

I had the opportunity to teach Daniel again when he was 15 turning 16.  I taught a fun little Sunday School class full of irreverent teenagers.  Daniel was a ray of sunshine in the class.  I would say that he was one of my favorites, but really they are all my favorites for different reasons.  I loved Daniel for his sweet personality and because he was so calm yet fun in that crazy class.  He loved to tell me about the truck he was going to get and then he started showing me pictures.  Sure enough, he got himself a great big truck.

My favorite thing about Daniel was the friendship that he gave to Jessie.  He was about a year younger than Jess.  When he was in 8th Grade, he would wait for her High School to get out and then he would walk her home from school.  The next year they were at the same school, so it was easier.  One day, she was having a hard day so he walked her home from school and they baked cookies together.  They left some important ingredient out.  Those cookies ran all down my oven.  It was such a mess, but I was so thankful for Daniel's kind heart and friendship to Jess.  The crazy thing about those walks home is that it was really out of Daniel's way to walk her home.  Daniel just had a big heart!

We also went to Sister Gschwend's funeral this last week.   The last time I had the chance to talk to her was at Avery's baptism.  We were both asked to bear our testimony.  Afterwards, she came up and gave me the biggest hug and we talked for a few minutes.   As we were leaving, she said, "Your guy sure is special."  I said something back like, "Well, I think he is."  She responded with, "We usually think that about our own.  Don't we?"  When I got home I told Fred that Sister Gschwend sure did love him.  He told me that she was always coming up to him saying sweet things, and he didn't know what he had ever done to deserve them. It made me think that when I grow up, I want to be just like her.  When you are around her you know that she has a testimony of the gospel, she loves her husband, she loves her family and she makes everyone around her feel so special.

I guess that is my takeaway from the events of the last couple of weeks.  I want to live so that those around me know that I love them and feel special when they are with me, and I want it to be clear that I have a testimony of the gospel.