The Red Hat

A few months ago I arrived at my bench in church only to find a stranger there. A woman I did not know. I wondered if she felt comfortable wearing jeans amidst all the dress-wearing women. I noticed she had placed a red hat next to her. I imagined the anticipation she must have felt as she picked out her hat for church. How disappointed or out of place she must have felt when she arrived seeing no one else wearing a hat. My heart went out to her. I slid down the bench and told her how pretty her hat was. She responded with a smile and told me I could have it. Of course I thanked her for her kind offer but told her no. I did tell her it would look super cute on me though and held it up over my head and asked where she bought it. She told me she picked it up yesterday at a store in Los Angeles. (A store, by the way, that I probably wouldn't be able to afford even the shopping bag) She told me that I really could have it and that she would just go get another one for her tomorrow. As I sat there I thought how kind she was and that she totally offered me, a stranger, her hat. I thought, I don't even have a stick of gum or a mint to offer her. I was racking my brain thinking what can I give her? what can I give her? When the still small voice told me that I had a gift to offer her even more precious and valuable than a red hat. I knew what I had to do. Being testimony meeting, I got up and my bore my testimony to this woman. As I returned to my row, this woman stood up and with tears in her eyes hugged me and thanked me for giving her the gospel. And she told me that now I HAD to keep the hat.

Footnote to story-I learned later that this woman had accidentally walked into our church. She was looking for the Catholic church which is further down the road. The missionaries taught her later that week and reported to me that my friend said hello and goodbye. She was moving to Los Angeles but promised to look up the church there.