Lunch with Sarah

You know, I've had friends join the Church before, but for whatever reason, some of them have chosen not to stick with it--usually they didn't have a lot of family support, so they started not going to church. I met Sarah Kreycik at Steve Madden a few years ago, and I really feel like it was a moment in time that was guided by fate. I was in a really bad place with work--my family had just had a crash and burn experience, and I HAD to get another type of job. So I applied at the mall, and in my head I had a bottom-dollar price that I had to at least get paid or else there would be no way I'd work there. When I got the call from Sarah, that was the exact price I was offered, and so though it wasn't fabulous, I took the job & quit looking. I was the only LDS person working there, and while I wasn't judging my friends for their actions, because they grew up with different backgrounds, it'll suffice to say that I became less naive just by listening to their stories. They always respected me and made efforts to not cuss around me, and they would tone down the details of their night-life & parties as they talked to me about what they'd been up to. For a while I stalked shelves & so I was in the back a lot opening up boxes of shoes, and while it was lonely & not a beautiful place to be confined in, sometimes my co-workers would come back there & ask me questions about why I live the way I do. I had quite a few miniature discussions about the Church & the teachings of the gospel with my friends at work, and it was very apparent that Sarah was on her own time table and she made comments insinuating that she'd never join the Church. Sarah was at a point in her life that had led her to not believe in God. I don't know how she changed her mind, but she did. She called me one day after she randomly went to a nearby non-denominational church, and I'll never forget the message she left on my phone telling me that God was exactly what she needed. As time went by, she came over & started asking me more questions. She ended up meeting a boyfriend named Jared at a bar, who was actually a less-active member, and they started going to church with his family, and out of the blue about a year ago I got a call from her telling me that she got baptized. A while after that she called and told me about getting her patriarchal blessing, and her husband getting the Melchezidec priesthood. Now she's expecting a baby, and she and Jared are planning to get sealed in the temple hopefully in February. I am so happy for them. We went to lunch on Veteran's Day, and had a great talk. She talked about the impact one positive person can have on someones life and the lasting effect of the way they treat you. She has no idea how much joy her actions have brought to me, too, though. It's amazing to me the way that she and her husband have turned thier lives around, they are influencing others for the better, and they are finding happiness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I think about them I burst with happiness that they are headed towards a temple sealing and that their choices will affect generations to come, because they will raise their children in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. How great is my joy.