Visiting Teaching Under the Stars.

Image by Giovanni Stari.

"Let's sit outside," she said.

(There was too much going on in her apartment anyway.)

So we squished ourselves on a bench,

All three of us

Two visiting teachers

and one teachee.

We talked for a while

about our lives,

our backgrounds,

our classes,

our plans,

our hopes,

our dreams.

And then we prayed.

It felt a little strange,

to be praying outside

where the evening swimmers could hear us,

but she said we should go for it.

It's just like her, 

to jump in head-first,

joyful,

fearless.

We shared the visiting teaching message.

We talked about the blessing of eternal families,

how to protect them,

how to strengthen them.

We shared stories of our own families.

We bore our souls,

sharing joys and losses

and gratitude 

for the Gospel of Jesus Christ

which teaches that death is not the end. 

We had come to teach her,

 but in reality,

she was teaching us.

She is naturally strong in the areas where I am weak,

and her simple observations taught me

how I can be better.

I hope she knows

the gift she has given me.

We were strangers a month ago,

but that night,

we became friends.

as three different hearts

were knit together 

by the love of Christ.

We may only be together for a short time,

but our friendship will last much longer

and we will never forget that night

when we sat together on a little bench,

bare arms tickled by the warm summer breeze,

and enjoyed our view of the star-filled sky. 

For it was then

that we caught a glimpse

of God's plan for us

and the joys of eternity.