Why is it that the world seems like it's getting smaller and smaller?
I either run into people that know the same people I know, hear about stories of this happening to my friends and family, or my favorite one that seems to happen A LOT with Justin and I, is meeting new friends who "used to be mormon" as they say and haven't been since they were kids. I think there is a reason....So being an example is an understatement, because you NEVER know who will be watching and who needs to see your example to be refreshed on why the gospel is so amazing.
The "small world" story I've been thinking a lot about though is my Dad's. I may be a "daddy's girl", but I do believe that my dad or "daddy" (yes i still call him daddy-I'll NEVER grow out of that!) is a hero, my hero and a great example.
On my parents trip to Florida last month, they drove up to my brother, Aarons, in North Carolina to visit him as well. On their way, they got a hotel and stayed in Columbia, South Carolina. A place neither had been. Just driving in the town, they both felt a strange comfort of being "at home". They decided to go to church while they were there. When they put in "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" into their gps to find a church, they picked the first one on the list. It led them not to a church building, but the mission home. Funny, right? Coincidence? Maybe. Divine inspiration? I'm a believer. So if you know, my parents have been feeling the desire to serve a mission together for some time, but the timing never worked out and lately they've been feeling it's time.
Back to the story...My parents laughed to themselves as they were already feeling some strange connection to this city, and to lead them to the mission home was even stranger. So they went in and had a talk with the missionaries and they sent them to the church building. They were going to go to the early session of church but ended up going to the later time (i believe the 1pm). Anyway...they got there pretty early and just waited in the car for a little. There was a man outside the church building ready for church and as he walked by my parents car, he kinda stared a little and they had this feeling of maybe knowing him. So, they go inside the church and are welcomed right away and my parents again had that feeling when something "just feels right". So the man that was walking around outside starts talking to my dad, he asks my dad his name, he responds "Steve Towers". The man then says....Stephen Towers? did you play football at Doherty high school in Albany Georgia? My dad is flabbergasted and responds, "yes." The man then tells him how he was a couple grades younger than him in high school, but my dad remembered his name when he told him. My dad and his brothers were the only mormons in that high school, so my dad asked him if he was a member of the church back then. The man said something like; "no, but it's because of your example that I promised myself if missionaries ever came to my door, that I would let them in and talk to me." My dad was taken back, emotional, and amazed that their paths finally crossed again. With everything else that had happened, this was truly the icing. They felt so blessed to be at the right place and at the right time. My dad has remained in contact with him and the man told my dad that when he bore his testimony about his conversion story this past month and how my dad was there just a couple weeks before, that there wasn't a dry eye in the audience. (I'm getting emotional right now just writing it, because this whole story gives me goosebumps). Needless to say, my parents are putting in for this area to serve for their missions, and if it works out for them to go there, how AMAZING! (It has already been in the works for them to go and they're shooting for June 1st. They already have renters lined up!)
I love how small this world is for amazing stories like these...
