It's Contagious

On a mission, there are plenty of activities that we do with our time. Last week after a snowstorm that hit North Carolina, we got to add one more activity to the list: SNOW SHOVELING! 

Although we don't watch the news, last Tuesday we heard through the grape vines that a huge snow storm was coming. Elder Holt and I decided to make the best of this by making it into a service opportunity. After a quick phone call we were able to locate one snow shovel and one square-nosed shovel (apparently that is quite a feat here in NC because nobody owns a snow shovel). The next day we were up bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for a day in the snow. We weren't sure where to start but we felt prompted to go to a neighborhood of a member in our ward.

After slipping and sliding all over the country roads we made it to our destination. We saw our first target, a man wearing a New York Giants beanie shoveling his drive way. We hopped out of the car and grabbed a few shovels to help him finish the job. He was genuinely surprised that we helped him out. He offered us money but we told him we weren't allowed to take it. We asked him who he knew in the neighborhood that might be elderly that we could go to next. His face lit up as he referred us to the house down the road of a man who had a back surgery. Later, when we were shoveling the elderly man's walk the man in the beanie seamed to appear from nowhere to help us serve his neighbor. Something is contagious about service. Once again the man in the beanie's face lit up.

The rest of our morning was spent bouncing from house to house shoveling driveways and asking the homeowner who we could visit next. All of them with similar responses to the first, first offering us money or a drink then sharing with us a friend who might be in need of help. One of my favorite comments came from a man who said, "Wow, I hope they have Mormons in Georgia! They got hit a lot harder than us." At the last house we were shoveling a white haired lady came outside. She told us how thankful she was because her husband was in a scooter and couldn't do it himself. Then we told her that we had to go for a meeting but we promised we would be back. She thanked us again and we left.

To my amazement, when we came back after the meeting she had two bags on the doorstep waiting for us. They were filled with some clothes that she wanted to donate to some people who might need clothes. Once again we learned that service is contagious.

God loves us. There is a certain happiness that comes from reaching out to somebody and doing something for them. We live in a world where it becomes easy to focus on ourselves but as we reach out for others we will see what really matters in this life.