Haiti

It's easy to shrug something off when it doesn't affect you. For example, 9/11 didn't have the same impact on me as it did on the people living in New York, or those who had family in New York. And even further, it didn't have as big of an impact on the people of Europe, Africa, or Asia as it did me, living in the United States of America.

It's been the same with the earth quake in Haiti...until today. My roommate, Stella and I got up this morning to go to the temple. We wanted to make an 8:15 a.m. session. We got there in the nick of time, but realized the chapel was packed, and we probably wouldn't make it into the 8:15 a.m. session. As we sat there, person after person streamed in, kind of like that magic trick where you pull a scarf out of a hat but the scarf is just attached to another one and another one and another one. "Please squish together and get to know your neighbor, more people are coming," we continued to hear. Not to mention, there were 3 different families present, waiting to go through a session with a family member going attending for the first time. I don't know how many people get the chance to just sit for nearly two hours with no music, t.v., talking or any other sound for that matter...but it's an awakening experience. I had the privilege of slipping in and out of consciousness as I contemplated this life, our previous life, and our life to come. No, I wasn't sleeping, I just slipped out of the "here and now" occasionally. As I'm sure you can conclude, we did not make it into the next session at 9:00 a.m. either, but waited until 9:45 a.m.

This was an interesting experience. Stella and I could not believe that we had been at the temple for 4 hours. Well, timing is everything.

As we drove home all we could think about was food. FOOD. We were starving. We walked into the apartment and Stella listened to a message from a friend. The friend needed to borrow Stella's French dictionary, so, instead of eating, Stella decided to take the dictionary right over to the friend and intended on coming right back to eat.

An hour passed, and no Stella. Finally, she quietly slipped through the door, and I went out to do a load of laundry. I came back in, started heading to my room and turned around to the sound of Stella saying my name through her tears. Her friend is from Haiti, and the friend's mother had died. The friend hadn't known her mother was dead when she called Stella earlier that day. In fact, Stella took the book to her at the same time the friend found out her mother had been killed by the collapse of the hospital in Haiti. Stella was there at the exact time the friend needed her, which probably wouldn't have happened had we gotten out of the temple earlier allowing Stella to take the book to her when she had first called.

An hour later Stella and I went back to the friend's apartment to begin a fast. This friend is not in contact with her father, lost her sister last year, now lost her mother in the earth quake, and has a little brother in Haiti and still does not know anything about his safety or whereabouts. I know fasts are private, sacred and special, but I was moved so deeply by the experience that I had to write about it.

Kneeling there, on the floor of this daughter of God I had never met, along with several other daughters of God, tears filled my eyes as her Relief Society President offered a humble prayer to begin the group fast. Gratitude for the Plan of Salvation filled my mind and was then vocalized through the lips of the Relief Society President. I did not know this girl, but I now feel connected to her and the people of Haiti. Everyone on this earth is a son or daughter of God and we need to keep ourselves connected to each other in order to make it back to Him together.