Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Hearts Knit Together

So, John got a job in San Antonio, TX. Which was awesome, because our alternate plan involved parents' basements and selling all of our stuff. It was a pretty rough year, so we were really looking forward to a fresh start. But it was really sad leaving all of our good friends. As the time came for us to leave Alexandria, I realized how many dear friends we had and how much they had helped us over our time in Alexandria and especially the last year.

It reminded me of a verse in the Book of Mormon. In Mosiah 18 Alma is teaching people in secret and they are getting ready to be baptized. In verse 21, he commands them to have "their hearts knit together in unity and in love towards one another." That is exactly how I have felt for the past year with our ward and with my girlfriends.

When I first moved to Alexandria I was in a book club with a bunch of really cool girls. Over the years people came and went, but we always supported each other. When Aubrey was still in the hospital, these amazing girls had a party for me, which was exactly the thing that I needed. I had so many visits and calls and favors from these friends. I often felt alone, but these friends would remind me how loved I am.

We had a good group of friends in our ward before the babies came. In our time of need they went above and beyond. We had more food than we knew what to do with. For the first couple of weeks after I came home from the hospital, I wasn't allowed to drive. I had a ride to the hospital every day I needed it. Our dear home teachers took our second crib back to Ikea...IKEA! No one likes going to Ikea. One dear friend made sure that we had a meaningful way to remember Baby Rachel, which meant everything to us. I could never list all of the kindnesses that came to us here. But I will never forget the love that I felt. I wondered many times if God had forgotten us. But after all of those people that opened their hearts to our family, I could never doubt that God was taking care of us.

We know that San Antonio is where we are meant to be right now. We really like our new ward and are starting to make some new friends. But we still miss all of our friends in Alexandria.

2 comments:

  1. What a great tribute to special people!

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  2. We miss you too, but we are so happy for you! Hopefully we'll get down to Texas sometime in the next couple of years.

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