to be known and loved.

It's not really a secret at this point that I'm starting to get scared (and excited) out of my mind for this trip.  Let me just give you a quick synopsis of my fears with the hope that I don't entirely overwhelm anyone.

-The food. (I don't even like Americanized Thai food). What if food is just offered to me? Obviously, I can't really say no.
-Going to sleep on the first night. (Snakes, giant spiders, and malaria infested mosquitoes... all dancin' around in my head.)
-In that same vein, will my anti-malarials and my mosquito net work?
-Will I make it to my connecting flight in the Netherlands, even if I don't understand a word anyone is saying to me?
-Water... rather, unclean water. 
-Travelling... or getting lost on a bus. Trust me, this fear is founded.
-Homesickness....

But despite the lumps in my throat that I've had to fight back the last couple of days, I found something that's helped me keep it all in perspective.

Today is my last day working at LDS Philanthropies, and it took me all the way until last week to find a copy of the dedicatory prayer of our building in the lobby.

In this prayer, President Eyring says, "We recognize Thee as the Almighty God, the Father of all Thy sons and daughters who walk the earth together. We recognize Thee as the One who is above all who is the greatest of all and yet who loves us, each one."

I used to have a really hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that the Lord could absolutely know and love everyone. I knew for sure that He knew me, but in my finite, mortal mind, I had a hard time understanding how the Lord could truly know every person on the earth, past, present, and future, and love them in a way that was so intimate and specific to each person.

But as I'm growing, I understand more about love for the one as I watch miracles occur in my family, as I come to know friends at the Y, and as I associate with the girls in my Relief Society.

I have no clue who these girls are that I am going to serve in Uganda. I don't know which schools they will be in, what part of the country the live in, and I don't even know their names- but I feel a love for them already. The Lord knows them, and He knows the struggles that they face. And now I'm watching Him inspire people around me to help these girls solve their own problems. Although this is not a mission or a church calling, I'm coming to recognize this opportunity as a part of the Lord's work. In my perspective, every time we as His children get to act as His hands, we are privileged to do the work of the Lord.

And what a blessing it is to witness it going forth.