Last night for Young Women's, we visited a woman in our ward. She is 91 years old, has difficulty seeing, hearing, and moving, and recently buried one of her sons.
Lu was so happy to have visitors. She talked to us for a while, told us her life history, and focused on faith promoting stories. It was amazing.
One thing I loved about her storytelling was the way she would emphasize a bottom line from the story: "family always needs to be close"
"you need to obey the law"
"that's why the priesthood is important"
"you need to have faith to get you through"
"when things aren't going well, the Lord has a reason"
"that's how things were done back then"
"if you're ever having thoughts of suicide, talk to an old person - they will get you through to tomorrow"
One of my favorite stories from the evening was when she told about an eye surgery her son needed. They were living in a small town at the time, so when here son had an accident at the pool she packed up the kiddos and drove to Salt Lake. When the doctor in Salt Lake saw the boy's eyes, he ordered them to take the first flight out to a specialist in California. At the time, Lu had three sisters living in Salt Lake so she was able to rely on them help make preparations. One sister got the plane tickets, and the other two helped her get a permanent so she was ready to travel.
Everything worked out for her son; miracles happened. My favorite part was when she talked about needing to get a permanent before leaving on the airplane. It certainly was a different time.
It was nice spending time with Lu last night. Her stories were entertaining and inspiring. Hearing her talk helped me take a step back and truly appreciate all the goodness around me.
