I feel like I’ve been so busy over the last week or two. Packing, moving, unpacking, new house, new neighborhood, new roomies (strangers), new ward….. There’s been a lot of change in my life and I think it’s going to be superb. However I’m still getting settled so I’ll hold off on talking about it for a little. I first sat down today and was going to do a simple ipod shuffle and share the first thought or memory that comes to me about whatever songs came on…. I actually did start doing this. However one of the songs single handedly changed my entire perspective on my post.

The song is called “Where Can I Turn For Peace?” the lyrics were written by a woman named Emma Lou Thayne. She happens to be the mother-in-law of one of the men in my bishopric, and she spoke to us in sacrament meeting just two weeks ago. This woman is amazing! She’s 87 years old and has been married to her husband for 62 years. She’s a mother of 5 daughters and who knows how many grandchildren and great grandchildren. She received her B.A. in English in 1945 which is amazing on its own as it was so uncommon for women to even go to college back then. She later received her M.A. in creative writing. She was the only woman on the Board of Directors and the Deseret News in the 1970’s She was an English teacher at Olympus Jr. High, Murray High School and the University of Utah, she also taught Institute at the UofU and was the head coach for the women’s tennis team. All of this while being a writer and mother. Salt Lake Community College even named one of their buildings after her – The Thayne Center for Service & Learning… I hope if you’re reading this you’re slightly understanding why I was blown away by her. She truly is fantastic!!!

This woman helped her daughter who was battling from bipolar disease in the 1970’s, back when mental illness was not talked about. It was a very hush, hush situation. She had no idea how she could help her daughter and most doctors didn’t want to have anything to do with it. It was this time in her life that she wrote the lyrics to the song “where can I turn for peace?” She wrote this as a poem and called her friend Joleen Meredith, while reading the words to her over the phone Joleen composed the music. The entire song was written and composed in less than 2 hours. This remarkable woman has overcome many trials in her life including a terrible car accident that broke nearly every bone in her face. Yet she still has such a positive outlook on life.

During her talk she made each of us turn to the person sitting next to us and say “I love you, and there’s nothing you can do about it!” Earlier in the meeting a blonde girl sat next to me and I had barely even glanced in her direction. As I turned to say the cheesy line my bench neighbor had beat me to it. With a warm, inviting smile she looked in my eyes and said the words. As I was looking at her I realized I had been sitting next to Elizabeth Smart! As I repeated the words back to her, I knew just how much I truly loved her. I remembered the day she was kidnapped and how I cried and cried for her and her family. They were in my thoughts and prayers for such a long time, and now here I was with the opportunity to tell her I love her. Who knew you could love someone so much when you’ve never met them before?!

I’m not a writer (and I don’t try to be) I’m not able to explain how wonderful and meaningful that day was to me. It was very uplifting and humbling I hope it will stick in my heart for a very long time.

I also had another experience meeting a 59 year old man who is in the military and has just returned from a 1 year stay in Iraq. I only got to talk to him for a few minutes but he truly made me remember how lucky I am to have as much as I do…… I can’t even begin to describe his amazing presence, I just know I was blessed to have had the opportunity to rub-elbows with him for a few moments.