My Miracle

This experience I am about to share is the one that inspired me to finally start my blog. I am terrible at writing in my journal other than Sundays and I want the stories important to me to be written down. Typing is much faster and I find I share more because of it. And on here, I can post pics too! The perfect combo. So here it goes.

This last summer, I met Mickey. She was a 22 years old Chinese girl in Jackson Hole for the summer to experience America. She had been learning about the church I attend. I met her because of that and she has become a good friend despite the language barrier. We laugh about the hard time we have trying to get our points across to each other. She is such a sweet girl and is so sensitive and aware of those around her. She was learning about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for two or three months and felt everything was true. She was held back by one thing and was not getting baptized because of it.

For those of you who don't know the "cool" way to do a peace sign, I am doing it incorrectly.
She corrected me every time we did it. It's all about the "angles".  :) Her peace sign is well done.
Take note all you Americans :).  

I’d had a crazy busy summer with work going late most nights and trying to experience all Jackson had to offer every spare moment I had. I wanted to unwind and this weekend was the first that I could do just that. I was thinking about heading home to Boise after work on Saturday. Mickey was leaving Sunday to head back home to China after a couple of stops to Chicago and New York City. She was meeting with the missionaries and a few of us that had become her friends all that last week just as she had done for months now. Our last get together with the elders was Thursday night. We got together and played a couple of games and then we talked about the gospel a little bit. The Elders asked if she wanted to be baptized one last time. She just couldn’t say yes. I was really bummed because this meant when she went to China, she wouldn’t be able to meet with elders and learn more, which she wanted to do, unless she traveled two hours to Hong Kong. Not only was it a lot of time to get there and back but apparently she said it’s a hassle to get through the border both ways. And she would have to go there to go to church and to get baptized. She could only meet with Chinese church members in her area if she were already a member because of the Chinese government. I could only imagine her getting busy and not taking the time to do just that. It made me nervous she would forget the feelings she had experienced while learning about the church. After she left, I decided to fast and pray for a miracle to happen but if that wasn’t the Lord’s will, then I prayed she would make the effort necessary to continue to learn and grow and understand more about the church. It turns out the elders were doing the same thing I was. Mickey and I hung out Friday night. I had a long day at work. I got done at 8:00 ish and went home to grab a quick bite to eat and then we went and got milkshakes (she had never had one) and I cut her hair as we watched a movie together. I didn’t mention the church once. I didn’t want her thinking we were only friends because of that and I also didn’t want to pressure her into baptism. She knew it was an option and she would say something if she wanted to discuss it.

The next day was Saturday. Keep in mind she was leaving at 5:30 Sunday morning. I was doing hair for two weddings on location so my workday was over when we were done there. It turned out one of my coworkers decided she could do the second wedding all by herself so I got off earlier than expected. It was Mickey’s last day of work and she was taking a half day so she could pack up her belongings.  It was 1:00. She wanted to talk so I called her and she asked if she still wanted to get baptized could she? I literally could not believe what just happened.  I could not stop the overwhelming feelings of joy and gratitude that were coming over me. There was NO WAY this was happening! These sorts of miracles just happen in conference talks or the scriptures. I told her for sure yes! So she called the elders to tell them the good news. Then the elders called me and we got to work planning. I was in charge of getting friends there to support her on her big day.  She wanted to get baptized at 4:00. Yes, in three hours! Almost nobody was able to make the baptism, which would have been fine. But it would be great if she knew how much everyone loved her and was excited for her. The elders helped figure out her schedule and she switched some stuff around so we could do it at 7:00. That made it possible for SO many more people to come. We had some people travel from Rexburg last minute and someone straight off the river after a rafting trip, still in his swimming suit and t-shirt, and a big group of people from our branch on a hiking trip all day but made it on time. We had so many people come and support! It was amazing how everything fell into place. Truly a miracle. What an amazing day.

Mickey became one of my good friends here in Jackson. I learned so much from her. She is so aware of  her friend’s feelings. And she was so teachable. She had so much faith and accepted everything we talked about. And she always followed through when she said she was going to do something. What a great example she was to me.

I took her to the bus stop the next morning with some of her friends. It was so hard to say goodbye knowing that I may never see her again. But I’m hoping to make it to China in the next few years. Wouldn’t that be great?  I was giving her a hug as we were both crying and she had a camera around her neck. Amidst her tears and saying something to me she was backing away to take pictures of me. Haha. It was the funniest thing. They love their pictures :). And I watched as her and all of her friends as they posed with this random old white guy. Those little moments that just make me laugh. Sometimes it’s hard to take the time to recognize those funny moments in life and really appreciate it.  But when I do, gosh life is good.

Coincidence that we both got off work early that day? Or that the elders and I were both planning on fasting for a miracle? Or that I was in town that weekend? Not at all! If I had been selfish and taken a weekend to myself, I would have missed out on so many great experiences that weekend. What a blessing to have a loving Heavenly Father that cares about me as an individual. I knew that my Father in Heaven had answered my prayer and was letting me know He was there and was listening. I needed that at that particular time in my life. It was one of those little moments of joy I will never forget. 

Mickey had given me these "daemon door gods"  before she left. She was telling me to
hang them up on my door and they keep the bad guys away. I kept thinking she was saying,
"Obama". Oh okay, hang these up to keep me safe from Obama? :) Alright, I can do that.
I couldn't get over how funny it was.