This morning Eric and I woke up late as usual. And by late I mean just enough time for Eric to get out the door in the nick of time.
As he ran up the stair I had a thought.
Eric!
What?
Be safe, okay?
Okay.
My husband does restoration construction and while I always hope he will be safe, something was different this morning.
But as soon as he left I went back to getting ready and put the morning’s exchange out of my mind.
I went to work, combed the internet for story ideas, sat in a meeting, wrote a feature story and took the 5:35 train home.
As I pulled my car out of the train station, I got a text on my phone from “Eric Love”
Remember how you told me to be safe this morning?
My heart started beating a little faster as I suddenly was reminded of the small prompting to tell him to be safe.
Are you being safe? I asked, somehow already knowing the answer.
This was the response.
Wait, this too.
Oh, and this.
Three stitches later, he was all bandaged up and ready to go to his second job. #itssafer
Now, on the scale of serious injuries, this is a minor one. But I love him, you see, and was terribly concerned. I called him immediately and we talked about the
prompting I had this morning. I told him it was a weird feeling, like I knew he was going to get hurt that day.
I’ll chalk that prompting up to one thing, my friends.
Unity.
Before we were married, a good bishop told us that a successful marriage was built on the foundation of unity and love. As a couple, we have diligently tried to have that in our marriage. And the effects have been beautiful. Part of that is because we both learned the beauty of unity while serving missions.
Think of your mission.
Think of your future companions.
Yes, even the ones you’re terrified to have.
I will say this. I loved all of my companions. There were times we got along better than others (#humanity) and the answer to every problem was unity.
I am a very prideful person by nature. That means I have to really work at being unified sometimes. It doesn’t always come naturally. But the peace that comes from the harmony of the spirit of Christ is unmatched. It’s worth taking that bitter bite of humble pie. It’s worth trying new things, new ideas. It’s worth putting forth the effort.
Do it in your companionship. But decide to do it now.
Now come with me to Billings, Montana.
In my second transfer, I was getting ready for my trainer to leave. I was terrified. You see, investigators like to ask questions. Horror filled my soul when they would ask one I didn’t know the answer to.
And what do you know? I found myself sitting on the couch of our investigator family staring a difficult question in the face.
We were following up on an assignment we had left them to read 3 Nephi 11 when Christ comes to minister among the Nephites.
Dan, the husband, had a hard time with the fact that the people started worshiping the Savior. Shouldn’t they just be worshiping God? What about the commandment to have no other God’s before me?
We explained our belief about the Godhead, but that didn’t cut it. Dan wanted more.
Prayer. Lots of silent, pleading prayers.
Slowly, a scripture I had studied earlier from John 5 popped into my head. I eagerly flipped there, hoping to find an answer. The verse I thought of was no help. Then my eyes crossed the page to this gem:
“That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.” (John 5:23)
My eyes almost bulged out of my head. There it was. A perfect answer. I wanted to tell my companion with that magic telepathic-like communication we had, but before I could catch her eye, I saw her scriptures.
They were opened to John 5.
She looked at me, looked at my open Bible, smiled and read the same verse I had stumbled across.
Now, Sister Engstrom, to this day, is the best missionary I’ve ever had the honor of meeting. I’m sure she knew the answer to the question right off the top of her head. It was the end of her mission and she had become quite the gospel scholar.
But the spirit had spoken to us the same words, in different ways, to bless the life of another. This was because we were unified. We both worked diligently to have harmony and love among us. And because of it, we saw miracles.
One of them happened on a couch in Billings, Montana when I gained a stronger testimony that missionaries are led by the spirit of the Lord.
Be unified, love your companion, love the Lord, love your investigator.
Then watch your life transform.
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