angels among us

I have shared this story with many people, but I guess I feel the need to document it here...

This story happened a few months ago, right after I dropped our son off at the MTC...

 I had forgotten to take my bills to the post office and against my better judgement decided to put them in my mailbox for pick up. It was a blustery day that day, and as I was running out to help a friend I noticed that my mailbox door had blown open and the bills were precariously perched at the end of the box. I pushed the letters back deep into the mailbox, shut the door tightly, and ran off to do some service. When I came home, my fears were realized. The mailbox was open and in the mailbox was sitting only one outbound letter.

I already was in a bad place and this was the proverbial straw. I found an envelope sized piece of paper and tossed it into the wind to see where it would go. I started to follow the paper, but the winds whipped it faster than I could follow. I was downcast. Perplexed. Completely overwhelmed. As I walked I was plagued with the following thoughts: What do I do now? Look around the neighborhood for my bills? Hope that some good samaritan finds them puts them in a mailbox? or better yet return them to me? Do I call the bank and cancel all the checks...and pay huge fees for this service? My heart turned heavenward. I prayed to Heavenly Father that I might know what to do. I prayed for a much needed peace. I kept on walking. Looking in bushes, leaf-filled gutters, anywhere that errant envelopes might be hiding. When I reached my pre-determined stopping point, I turned around and headed for home. My heart was still very heavy. Why was my life so hard right now? Why was everything a trial? As I continued walking I glanced across the street. To my amazement I spied the paper I had tossed in the wind, and next to the paper, stuck in a little plant was an envelope. I crossed over and picked up the letter. It was indeed mine. The owner of the house quickly appeared. I am sure she was wondering what I was doing on her lawn. I explained to her my situation. This woman, whom I had never seen before, started helping me look for other envelopes. She explained that she was rarely home at this time, but her vacation had started that morning and she was leaving that evening to head north. As we were searching around her and neighboring properties, another woman came out. My newly found "angel" explained my plight and the other woman knowingly nodded and went to her mailbox and pulled out another one of my bills. She had found it in her backyard in a box. My heart was lighter. I had found two of the bills. Just that little bit made my load lighter. About an hour later there was a knock on my door. My "angel" had found another
bill. Less than two minutes later, she had returned. She found another one on her return trip home. I had some errands to run and when I returned my kids said that a lady came by and had found 2 more missing envelopes. Life was looking up. I was feeling very blessed. By the end of the day, all but one envelope had been returned. (And, because the check cleared the bank, I know that some other person deposited said bill in a mailbox for me.)

How grateful I am to know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers...and to learn that often the prayers are answered by another person. I will be forever grateful for this angel in my life...who took time out of her life to help me...a stranger...at a time when I really needed help.

"Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."