Making a Difference

Last week I attended some classes at BYU Education week.  It was a great way to spend the first few days of having all of my kids at school all day long.  One of the classes I attended on the first day was a class about what are you leaving behind?  The teacher talked about making sure that you are leaving more than a name on a headstone behind and gave  many examples of amazing things he had done in his lifetime.  Then he showed us a “resume” he made for Joseph Smith that listed all of the things that Joseph smith did in his short lifetime.  Both lists were LONG and impressive and I have to admit I left that class feeling pretty discouraged because I couldn’t think of anything very amazing or even interesting that I have done that has really made any kind of difference or left any mark on the world. 

Fast forward to Saturday.  We were busy celebrating Liam’s 7th birthday (I KNOW! How does it fly by so fast??) and as part of his celebration he wanted to eat dinner at the BYU creamery.  If you know me, then you know I LOVE the creamery so I was more than happy to fulfill that request.  Anyway, after we had finished  eating and were getting ready to leave a young man came up to our table and asked me if we had been in a Mormon Message.  I laughed a little and said we had a few years ago.  He went on to explain to me that he was there with a woman that he had baptized on his mission in Mexico and she had recognized our family from the Mormon message we did and would I mind if she came and talked to me (by this point the rest of the family had headed out to the car already).  Of course I said yes, and she came over and told me a little bit of her story of meeting this missionary and getting baptized in Mexico and how she watched our Mormon message over and over after she got baptized and she was having a hard time.  She said that the message to Trust in the Lord was one that she really needed at that time and how grateful she was that we made it and shared it with the world so she could see it all the way in Mexico and hear the message that she needed to hear when she was struggling.  It was so nice to hear! 

As I thought more about it over the next couple days I realized that I had made a small difference by being willing to make that video.  Honestly, I didn’t really want to do it at all because I felt like my experience wasn’t really anything that special.  My husband asked me to help him out by doing it anyway because he was making a prototype for  work and no one would ever even see it!  Well, it didn’t end up being used for that, but they made it into a Mormon Message. I’m so grateful to this lovely woman I met from Mexico for sharing with me how she was blessed by the message we shared because it helped me to see that I can make a difference in the world one person at a time.  I may never be the head of an organization or give speeches to large groups or be a well known speaker, but I can make a difference to those around me.  I may not know now or ever what difference I have made, but Heavenly Father knows. So, don’t sell yourself short like I did.  Examine your life and see the little ways you have made a difference for good in the world.  You are more than you think you are.