California Dreaming or One Miracle at a Time

I've been wanting to getaway for a while now.
I'm still having a really hard time adjusting to things here
and wanted to go somewhere else....
somewhere I could see familiar faces and places.

I had been checking travel sites looking for good deals
and narrowed it down to somewhere in Southern California.
[Because I figured going back "home" would be too hard on me!]
My original idea was a trip to San Diego.
So I could just chill at the beach, walk around Balboa Park,
basically just relax and take it easy.

But, instead I chose a less relaxing trip to Los Angeles/Orange County.

I arrived Saturday afternoon.
I was in my hotel room for only about an hour, before I was on the go again!
Went to an AMAZING concert...and didn't get back to my hotel until after 1:00am!

I woke up early Sunday morning to go to church.
When planning this trip, I had looked into a couple different wards I could attend.
One was a ward I had attended before, so I was thinking of going to the other ward,
but in the end, I decided to go to the one I'd been to before.


The Hollywood Ward

The last speaker was a guy, in his early 30's, and a member of the Stake High Council.
Just a minute or two into his talk, I knew that this was the reason why I was here
attending this ward and maybe even the whole reason for my taking this trip.

Now, don't start getting any wild and crazy ideas...
it's not like I felt impressed that he was my future husband or anything like that.
[Although he did have a couple friends visiting the ward who were pretty cute.]

He spoke about how five years ago he moved from San Antonio to Los Angeles.
He wasn't exactly happy about this move.
Things didn't go as expected, lots of struggles and trials.
He finally decided to pray and ask for blessings that are promised to those who are faithful.
His car died on him and he had no money for a new car.
Shortly afterwards, his brother called him and told him that there was
someone in his ward that had a free car. He lost his job, found a better one.
His boss wasn't going to promote him, but then changed his mind.
You get the idea...things got better...'one miracle at a time.'

So much of what he experienced paralleled what I'm going through right now.
I've really needed to hear an example of someone else
going through the same trials I'm facing.
Just to know that I'm not alone, that the way I'm feeling is normal,
and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
[I'm just really, really hoping for a short tunnel!]

I spoke with him after the meeting and told him that his talk was exactly what I needed.
He told me that he was called the day before as a last minute replacement and that he prayed about what talk to give. Let me tell you, it was hard holding back the tears after he told me that, but somehow I managed.

[Oh yeah, and the closing hymn More Holiness Give Me, was the cherry on top!]

There was an older lady who was sitting behind me and asked me if I was visiting.
When I told her I was, she asked me what my plans were for the day.
I told her that I was going to be meeting up with a friend
and that we'd be heading down to OC, where I'd be staying for the rest of my trip
and meeting up with another friend there.
She saw that I had a bag with me and asked me if I'd like to put it in her car
and that she would give me a ride to wherever I needed to go.

Now I would've been just fine on my own, but again this was something else
that I really needed. Someone taking that first step to get to know me,
be aware of my needs and be willing to help.
I was so very appreciative of this sweet sister, whose name I've sadly forgotten.

As we were getting ready to leave we passed by the guys that were visiting
the ward to hear their friend's talk and she said she'd introduce me to them....
if she knew who they were herself!
I just thought that was the cutest thing!

I took Metro over to Hollywood to meet up with my friend, Jennie.
We had lunch and then she drove me to the hotel I was staying at in the OC.
My original plan was just to hang out with her in the LA area, since she lives in Pasadena,
and then take the bus down to my OC hotel to meet up with my other friend.
So it meant so much to me when she offered to drive me down.
It not only made things easier for me, but it also gave us more time to spend together,
just chatting about random things, like our new favorite TV shows [Person of Interest]
and trying to recall the last time we saw each other. [Over 2 years!]



It was so great seeing her again.
Hopefully it won't be another 2+ years before we cross paths again.

About half an hour or so after Jennie left, my friend Tafriha arrived.
The last time I saw her was last year when I went to So. Cali for my birthday.
Our lives have both changed dramatically this year, but in different ways.
When I'm feeling down about all the things I've lost this year:
my home, job, friends, material items, all things that for the most part can be replaced,
I think of her and what she's lost....her mom.



We talked quite a bit about our losses and how we're dealing with the grief.
She confided in me that she suffered from depression when she was in high school
and how she's doing everything she can to avoid going down that dark path again.
I've been feeling down myself, so hearing her experience and her reassurance
that if I was truly suffering from depression, I wouldn't be taking this trip,
was again something I needed to hear.

She is a big Lord of the Rings fan and as a birthday present to her this year,
I sent her a box filled with Lord of the Rings figures and stuff that my sister and I had.
[I knew I couldn't take them all with me and I wanted them to go to someone
who would really appreciate them.]
She said that is a memory that will forever stay with her, because the box arrived
just a week or so before her mom died and her mom was so excited for her to get it.
I was so glad that I decided to do that for her, not knowing how important it would be.

We ended up going to the Denny's down the street for dinner
and then hung out at the hotel chatting for another hour before she left to go home.

It was a wonderful tender mercies filled day!