You never know.

So after Christmas I start to feel sad because for months I have been out searching a shopping for the coolest gifts for my family and friends. I'm busy with making jewelry ( which I'm taking orders for V-day) and work can be crazy as well along with just keeping up with all other daily things.
Then comes January. Boring January. I mean really the New Year's Day is fun and then 30 days of cold and feeling like I don't want to do anything because I'm still recovering from Christmas. That is when the depression sets in. The guilt of the holiday shopping, lack of motivation to put Christmas away and put the regular decorations up and the lack of self worth since I put on more weight. Most days I have just wanted to sit around until I absolutely have to get ready for work. Go to work, come home and go to sleep.
Though this month has felt like every other January, there was a shining moment for me. I received an email from someone I didn't know inviting me to a baby shower of a dear friend of mine. I accepted the invite and have been looking forward to seeing this friend. It has been a long time since I have been seen this friend. Let me tell you a story about her.
We first met when I was 15 and she was 17. We were from to different worlds. My world was warm and sunny. Lazy summer days hanging by the pool. Having some of the best friends hanging at the mall. My family a big part of my life. Her world was an old place with a castle in the city. Stories of princes and princess. Being Catholic meant everything. It wasn't just a religion it was the culture. Her language being so different. Her wanting to learn everything about English. We happen to meet in a class in this every old city. Me moving to a foreign land and hating it for the majority time I was there. Longing for the sun, sunshine and my friends.
One day during many of the English classes I attended, we were talking about the creation of the earth and how it was a big bang and we just appeared. Growing up in the world I did, I didn't believe it. There was nothing about how Jesus took the time to make the world how it was a seven day period. I didn't know what to say. But I stood up in this class of students that didn't know anything that I believed and bore my testimony about Jesus Christ about how the earth was really created. How that one day I would be Queen in heaven. That I would see my family and that I knew Jesus and Heavenly Father loved me.
The class was in shocked, some laughed and the teacher tried to change the subject super fast. This testimony struck someone that wasn't well liked in the class. In fact I have to say I found her a bit annoying. An over achiever in ever since of the word. She started to ask me questions. Since I wasn't a great scripture person I didn't feel I was qualified for it all. We happen to go to a language camp together. While we were there she and others brought up religion again asking me what I believed. I got out my Book of Mormon and read the articles of faith. The really annoying girl kept asking questions so I told here that there were missionaries that would answer her questions. The missionaries wanted my mom and I to come to the discussions. They were all in Polish so I didn't know what was being said. But I went and told her that the church was amazing. She didn't know if she wanted this religion, since after the first discussion the missionary changed her to get baptized. But she kept coming to the discussions, church and to family home evening.
I started to see her change she really wasn't annoying but she liked to learn. I started to see a change in myself too. I started to like the forgein land that I was living in. I watched her get baptized and see how she was so happy.

After a year I moved home to the sun and sunshine. I had changed and so had everything I had left behind. We kept in touch with my friend. She eventually moved to the US and went to school at UNLV. On year around conference time we went to get her and take her to conference. It was a long time after that, that I saw her. We would get emails and letters. After I got married I found out that she was living in Utah too. She was going to school at BYU. Then she got married as well. My mom and I went to her wedding reception. It was get to see this special friend and her happiness was so great.

My mom's cousin Gary visiting us in Krakow.

Yesterday when I attended her baby shower I have never felt so much love for her and to see the happiness that was in her life and the joy she was feeling. So many of her friends were saying how brave I was to state what I believed those many years ago. How I changed her life so much. Again she changed me. I felt such love from my Heavenly Father for the blessing he has giving me for my life and the many challenges that I have that those things are for a moment. That I did something good. I couldn't help but think about that day that I stood up for what I believe and how my attitude of that foreign place changed after that. Though it is still cold outside and January only has a week left. The warmth in my heart feels like it's the middle of summer and I'm soaking it all up by the pool.
Thank you Liliana for all the things you have taught me.