An answer to my prayers...

"Is this Heaven?...No, it's Iowa"

Everyday since I've been home, I've made the habit of saying my morning prayers. Why I haven't done this in the past is beyond me. I think I have just been prideful and thought I didn't need to say BOTH morning and night prayers. Boy, was I wrong.

I always pray for a positive attitude and for the environment and people around me will somehow be positive in a way too--so that the spirit might be able to surround me wherever I am. My answers were answered yesterday at work...

I went to work, like every other day, just going about my business and getting things situated before lunch hour came... I was working with a lady, Erin, that I usually don't have good feelings about, and another girl, Elana, that is such a sweet-heart to me all the time. They are both older than me, only by a few years though. All of us obviously come from different backgrounds and have grown up in very different homes. We share stories often; neither of these ladies know of my religious beliefs and I don't know of theirs, if any.

Anyways, I was putting an order up for the cooks, and then Elana came around the corner with a look on her face I couldn't even explain...it was good though...peaceful. She said, "Hannanah (that's what she calls me), do you feel that?"

"What do you mean?", I said.

She replied, looking a bit confused, "You don't feel that? It's like a very strong positive energy. I can't describe it. I don't know why it's here, but there is this positivity around us today. Maybe it's just because I'm working with a bunch of cool people, I don't know. But it feels good!"

Right when she said the words, "...positive energy...", I KNEW it was the spirit, and Heavenly Father was answering my prayers. I felt such a sence of peace and joy within me...and who would have thought, that AT WORK, of all places, where people that swear, drink, and speak obscene things every single day, I could be reminded of the influence the spirit has on people; whether or not they have the gospel in their lives. And who would have thought that my testimony could grow in this environment. It was just so awe-inspiring to me.

I'm so grateful for this little experiences and tender mercies the Lord gives me. I'm so grateful that I was able to come home this fall, to learn and to grow. I have such a different mind-set now than I did 3 months ago, and I'm SO very grateful for it.