Making a difference?

Today, because I had the day off, I played chauffeur. Ever since our van broke down when we went on vacation, my mom has been without a car. Well, technically she can drive my car and my brother's car, but they both are stick shifts. She doesn't do well with stick shifts, mostly because she doesn't ever drive with one, and partly because of some health issues that make it difficult to grip things, like a stick shift. So I drove her around our fair city to thirteen different places. It took a long time, and I was so tired of the whole thing by the time we got done. Well, except the ice cream. I did get free ice cream.

We had finally reached our last stop, the grocery store when something interesting happened. The gal who was bagging up our groceries took a look at me, and then kept looking. I couldn't figure out what the deal was, so I just smiled at her and said, "Thanks!" when we were done. Then she asked me if I had been to Fremont High School. I looked kind of confused, but told her yes, I had gone there, but it was a long time ago. She looked at me again, and said, "Didn't you do an assembly there?"

Suddenly it dawned on me. I was wearing my Ogden LDS Institute polo shirt. The choir got these to wear when we went out in the community to perform. Over Christmas break we went with the folk dance team to Fremont to sing and dance and share our testimonies. And we wore these shirts. She had recognized solely by my shirt.

When I finally realized what she meant, I told her, "Yes! We did an assembly at the seminary!" She smiled and said, "I was there. You guys did good." I thanked her, and my mom and I left.

I always wonder when we go to seminaries if it really makes any difference. Do these kids get anything out of it, or are we perceived as a bunch of weirdos who came the their school? I don't know if that girl really had any kind of a spiritual experience with us or not, but she remembered enough that when she saw me in my shirt, she recognized me. That made me feel a whole lot better about everything, especially the day.

So thanks, girl. I'm sorry I didn't see your name. Thanks for making my day better.