VIP

Tonight I attended a memorial service for a man named Hobert who was a member of our ward.

It was held in the Relief Society room instead of the Chapel because we knew that the numbers would be few.

Hobert really only had one family member that he left behind, and there were only a handful of people in our Stake that really knew him.

I wanted his wife Nancy to feel supported and I was truly grateful that we had a turnout of about 20 people. I had not expected much more than that.

As I sat and listened to the speakers, and looked at the pictures of Hobert displayed on the front table, a remarkable feeling came over me.

I could feel so clearly the love that Heavenly Father had for him.

He was a man who lived a relatively obscure life, who the world had taken very little notice of, but I could feel it so strongly that He was noticed by His Father in Heaven.

To Him he was important.

To Him he mattered.

He was loved and watched over, and Heavenly Father cares as much about him as He does for a Stake President whose funeral is attended by hundreds.

It was such a privilege to be there and to have the spirit remind me in such a powerful way of the worth of a soul.

In a world that places such emphasis on possessions, intellect, appearances and stature, it is so beautiful to know that a person doesn't need any of that to be important and to have value.

I love that we were all made so differently, with different talents, different capacities, and different stories.

And I love Heavenly Father for loving us all so much.

In my mind tonight I could hear President Uchtdorf from THIS talk:

"We know from modern revelation that 'the worth of souls is great in the sight of God.' We cannot gauge the worth of another soul any more than we can measure the span of the universe. Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father. Once we understand that, we can begin to understand how we should treat our fellowmen."

I know that this is true. Sometimes we are tempted to forget that... either about ourselves or about someone else... but it is true.

I love going to funerals. The things that were shared about Hobert were beautiful and I am determined to be a little more like him: cheerful, grateful, and loving.

If you are reading this I hope you know that I love you... and that you matter to me. There's not a person who reads this blog (that I know of...) that doesn't mean a whole lot to me, and I hope I tell you that enough.

Goodnight dear ones...