Sis. Elaine Dalton

I don't know if you have ever pondered the "Five People--Living or Dead-that you would like to have lunch with" puzzle, but I have thought about it from time to time and filled the chairs with different people who I admire.  Those people change from time to time as life ebbs and flows around me.  A standard one for a long time has been the wife of Mormon (I have great respect for her as she was a wife in a very difficult time and raised a son like Moroni.).  My mom, Sheri Dew, Jane McCurry Owen(my great grandmother), Abigail Adams (a women like the wife of Mormon I think) and the list can go on.  One person on that list has been Elaine Dalton.  She served as the General Young Women's President in the Church and I loved her talks.  She was a good storyteller which I always like and could apply simple gospels lessons to life.

How lucky we were that we were able to attend the Young Church Service Missionary Fireside at the Little Theatre in the Conference Center in Salt Lake on Nov. 13th and hear her talk. She did a great job and it was an enjoyable and sweet moment to see all of those missionaries and their families together in one place.  

For the first time ever, the fireside was broadcasted to other locations throughout the US where YCSM are serving--Atlanta, Mesa, Idaho, San Diego, etc.  I think they said that there was over 550 missionaries serving in this program currently.  The goal is to make it possible for EVERY young man with a desire to serve to bring a mission to their "very door step" if that is what is required for them to serve.  Exciting times......

Jena with her cookie outside of the Little Theatre

So I had a little moment...actually two little moments of connection with Sis. Dalton.  These are those times which words can not really describe but you know and feel a deep sense of Heavenly Father's awareness of you. The first was just a glance across the audience, Sis. Dalton and I made eye contact--a random thing, but she smiled and I thought, "Well, it's not lunch but more than I expected."  Then they announced after the meeting Sis. Dalton wanted to shake hands with the missionaries.  However as we were heading quickly out to go visit Ben, I just hoped that we would get out the door before the crowd lined up to shake her hand.  After the prayer, we headed up the stairs and got in one of the the cookie lines (we didn't want to leave without one of their yummy cookies).  Around the corner came Sis. Dalton with some of the other leadership who was trying to have her stop at a certain point to shake hands.  She said, "People are in line, I will just go shake their hands while they wait.  She shook the hand of the missionary in front of us and then came and shook Jena's hand and thanked her for serving.  She then turned and grabbed my hand and said, "Good job, mom.  You are doing a good job."  A simple sentence and common to say in such a situation but the feeling was so intense that my eyes filled with tears.  Mothering is hard and while I am passionate about mothers and mothering, I know that I could have done so much better--especially knowing more now than I did then. But in that moment, I felt like my Heavenly Father was there, reassuring me it is okay, I needed that!