It matters

Life has been kind of hectic here lately, and I have felt so swamped. I have a big research paper due on Tuesday; the following Tuesday I have a presentation that I have to give; I had a paper due on Wednesday; I had 12 questions over one the the most boring books I have ever had to read on Tuesday.(I do not recommend Virginia Wolfe's Mrs. Dalloway); Finals are coming up... Just one thing after another, or so it seems. I was supposed to go visiting teaching on Thursday, but since I was feeling so swamped, I told Jared that I was just going to call and cancel because it was just too much for me right now.

On the way to class on Tuesday night, I realized that I had a voicemail, and it was from one of the sisters on my route. I had written her a letter last month because I did not have time to go visit her in person. She is the only member in her family, and she is getting married and sealed in June to a member who lives in Utah. She is facing all sorts of problems with moving and preparing. She is a single mother of two kids; she works; she is graduating in May from MSU; she has her plate full, needless to say. She is also getting no support from her family either. In fact, they are creating more problems for her.

I really like going visiting teaching. I will say that I am not ever excited about the preparation that it takes to actually get to visit teach: the calling, scheduling, the reading (not that it is a lot)and all the rest of that mess. It is just kind of hard to coordinate everything, and it always seems to come at a time when I just don't feel like doing it, but when I go, I always come home happy and glad that I went. Anyways to the point...

The message that was left on my voicemail was so sweet. The sister, with tears and gratitude in her voice, told me how my letter came at just the right time, and that my words had touched her and helped her. She told me about all that she was going through and how getting a letter that was just for her meant so much to her.

I have to say that most times when I go visiting teaching or write a letter to one of the sisters that I visit, I feel like that it is all just a nice gesture. I feel like I don't really do a whole lot of good. Sometimes I feel like I don't have much to offer because I have not been a member that long, and the people that I visit teach have been members for years and years. But this sister let me know that what I did for her mattered.

After hearing the message, I texted Jared and told him that I had changed my mind. Yesterday, I got to go visiting teaching, and both the sisters that we got to see thanked us so much for taking our time to come see them. One of those sisters was the woman who left me that message on my phone. We just helped her pack because she has to have her house ready to sell by next week. She was so grateful for our help, and while we were packing she told me again how much my letter meant to her. She told me that she had read it to her fiance', and she said she cried through the whole letter with him.

The whole point to my long lengthy story is that the things that we do matter, even when we do not think so.