Friends

Last November my girlfriend, Ana, moved to Montana. Ana is what I would consider a most loyal friend. She moved to Merced so her husband could complete his PhD at UC Merced, and when I first met her she was a stay at home mom with two young boys. I listened to her express herself and could feel her spirit and was so happy to have her join me as my first counselor in Young Women's. Here is where the story turns difficult. Just a short time later, it became apparent that she would need to return to full-time work in order to support her family. As any working mother knows, it is a tricky balance to both support a family financially and meet the emotional, physical and spiritual needs of all the family members. I watched in amazement as she felt prompted to somehow have more children. Her first two children are adopted and so she and her husband began the foster family program. And a very long story later, they were able to adopt two more children. She did this all while continuing to work full-time and serve in Young Women's.

Here is a picture of her singing at a Relief Society dinner.

Something heartwarming happened to me at this dinner. It was the type of function where you enter the cultural hall and sit at any table of your choosing. I sat down next to a girlfriend and as we were eating I noticed that the other women who were also at this table were all women that had served with me in Young Women's. We had all been released over a year earlier, but I felt like we were still drawn to each other. Isn't it interesting how you come to love the people you serve with.

The think I miss about Ana, is now she is a stay at home mom again (she's also a freelance writer among other things). And I wish she were here because we could actually spend "fun" time together not just serve together. Montana is lucky to have her.