There comes a time in our lives where we reflect upon friendships and how they affected us personally. I heard of a young man whose mother believed in the adage that most people you know will be strangers in 5 years. That perspective is meant to encourage people to chase their dreams without worrying excessively about the opinions of their current social circle. The idea is that many casual acquaintances and even some friends will naturally drift out of your life over a five-year span, so their potential negative judgment is not worth sacrificing your goals or happiness in the long run.

I like to instead ponder the thought, “Will this matter in 5 years?” I love meeting people and trying to have a positive impact on them. I love to give encouragement and compliments. When I see someone that looks like they took the time to dress up, I love going up to them and complimenting them on their look. I have terribly thin hair now and when I see a man or woman with a glorious mane, I will tell them how much I love their hair. One of the historic site missionaries has the most beautiful grey curly hair and she has a fantastic cut. It suits her so well and because I was brave enough to tell her how gorgeous she looks, we are fun friends now.

I want to be the type of person that touches other’s lives for good. This week I have had two friends pass away. Both of these ladies had very kind hearts and had lives of love and light. I shed tears for both of them because they are now leaving behind family and friends who will mourn for them and wonder about the what ifs.

I love this hymn because it makes me reflect on my friendships. It’s an interesting social life we have because of social media. I am able to check up on friends and see how they are faring. When I don’t see any posts from them in awhile, I worry and send a quick prayer that they are okay. Some of my children have eschewed social media. I know of people changing to flip phones to remove the distractions of social media and trying to focus more on their lives instead of what the world wants to impose upon them.

When you receive a feeling or inner prompting that you need to call a certain person or reach out to see how someone is doing, do it! Many years ago my first lesson in this was receiving a prompting to take a bouquet of flowers to a lady that I know. I thought to myself, “That seems silly; we’re not close friends but are good acquaintances.” I ignored that prompting three times (I shake my head over that). I was more worried about how I would be perceived bringing flowers for no reason. Well, that dear lady had a massive stroke after my promptings and was in rehabilitation in Calgary for 6 months. Afterwards, the next time that I saw her, I gave her a big hug and told her that I loved her. I never ignored those promptings again despite how awkward it seemed.

Another time, I was driving into Olds to check in on a class being taught at my store. As I approached the first traffic light, I received an impression to go to a lady’s house immediately. This dear lady’s husband had passed away not too long before. I drove to her home and rang the doorbell. She came to the door, saw me and burst into tears. She told me that she had been praying for God to send someone to her. In her loneliness, she was in utter despair. We visited for two hours and while I was there I fixed her kitchen clock. Her husband was the only one who had ever replaced the batteries and it was tricky but I figured it out. It was a little thing but huge for her and of course having someone to keep her company.

You get the picture, don’t ignore those feelings of contacting someone. You are exactly what they need at that moment. We are all God’s angels here on earth to be able to bless the lives of those around us.

We had a delightful evening on Saturday. After our double shift at the temple, we went over to the Stake Center and had a beautiful hour of music by the Erie Chorale, directed by Claire Nabrotsky. These talented ladies sang so beautifully and the last number they were accompanied not only by their pianist but by a young lad playing the cello. What a superb hour to be spent!

Then we headed downtown to the E.B. Grandin building and joined with the Historic Site missionaries as we caroled in front of the building. It was also a night of touring the historic buildings and homes of Palmyra and the Grandin building was on the tour. After an hour of that, we headed home to get warm and eat some supper. I lost my missionary name tag somewhere on my travels that night.

I did finish another quilt for a friend’s new grandson. We work on the Saturday morning shift together and I will be able to gift it later this week.

Choose your friends wisely and remember that we are not placed on this earth to walk alone. Be a good friend and serve others with kindness and compassion. Sister Sharon Eubanks said, “It’s hard to get the lights on by yourself, we need friends, we need each other.”

Have a beautiful week connecting and shining your light!