thankful thursday.

Today I had an enlightening and uplifting conversation with a complete stranger...

I was at work this morning when a man came in to pick up his son's missionary portraits we took a few weeks ago, just days before he entered the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT. In speaking with his son, Phill, the day he was in the studio getting his portrait taken, I could tell he was anxious, overwhelmed, and even a bit scattered. When he first got to the studio he realized he had forgotten his suit coat, so he ran home to get it. When he got back to the studio 30 minutes later, he realized he didn't have his tie. So he called his girlfriend and she so graciously brought it over to him. Bless his heart...I'm sure he had a million things on his mind! Aside from all of this, I could tell Phill was excited and as ready as one could possibly be to enter the mission field and serve the Lord well for two years. For his preparation and desire, I was grateful.

So today, when his father came in, I naturally asked if he had heard from Phill and how he was doing. He said he had and that Phill had left the MTC and had made it to the mission home in Mesa, AZ. From there, Phill's father humbly shared with me his gratitude for a son who was ready and willing to put the temporal things of his life...school, friends, football, his darling girlfriend...all on hold to serve a mission. We then somehow got on the subject of the temple. He told me that one of the sweetest moments of his life thus far was to be in the temple with his wife and all their children just a couple of months ago when Phill went through the temple for the first time. We shared with each other our gratitude for the temple, for the eternal perspective it gives us, for the principle of equality that is taught there, for the gentle reminder we receive of what is truly important to us each time we go, and especially for the knowledge we have of eternal families.

Something he said about equality today reminded me of a talk, Our Hearts Knit as One, given by President Henry B. Eyring in General Conference in October of 2008. President Eyring said,

"A second principle to guide our progress to become one is to be humble. Pride is the great enemy of unity. You have seen and felt its terrible effects. Just days ago I watched as two people—good people—began with a mild disagreement. It started as a discussion of what was true but became a contest about who was right. Voices become gradually louder. Faces became a little more flushed. Instead of talking about the issue, people began talking about themselves, giving evidence why their view, given their great ability and background, was more likely to be right.

You would have felt alarm as I did. We have seen the life-destroying effects of such tragic conflict. You and I know people who left the fellowship of the Saints over injured pride.

Happily I am seeing more and more skillful peacemakers who calm troubled waters before harm is done. You could be one of those peacemakers, whether you are in the conflict or an observer.

One way I have seen it done is to search for anything on which we agree. To be that peacemaker, you need to have the simple faith that as children of God, with all our differences, it is likely that in a strong position we take, there will be elements of truth. The great peacemaker, the restorer of unity, is the one who finds a way to help people see the truth they share. That truth they share is always greater and more important to them than their differences. You can help yourself and others to see that common ground if you ask for help from God and then act. He will answer your prayer to help restore peace, as He has mine.

That same principle applies as we build unity with people who are from vastly different backgrounds. The children of God have more in common than they have differences. And even the differences can be seen as an opportunity. God will help us see a difference in someone else not as a source of irritation but as a contribution. The Lord can help you see and value what another person brings which you lack. More than once the Lord has helped me see His kindness in giving me association with someone whose difference from me was just the help I needed. That has been the Lord’s way of adding something I lacked to serve Him better."

I was grateful for Phill's dad today. In the brief 15 minutes I spoke with him, he gave me the opportunity to reflect on my personal testimony of the gospel, missionary work, and the temple, and strengthened my desire to do and be better.

I am grateful for the way the gospel unifies and bonds all of Heavenly Father's children together. I am grateful I was able to comfortably speak with, be taught by, and share my testimony with a man I've never met before and will probably never see again.