Roommates…not me!!

Back at the beginning of April, 2015, my oldest nephew, Jared called to tell me that he had been talking to a woman at the North Georgia Mission office in Atlanta, GA regarding having Sister Missionaries living within our ward (congregation) boundaries.  She was having a difficult time finding a place for them to live.  Jared went on to tell me how he had talked to her about maybe having them live with me although my home doesn’t have a separate entrance or an apartment.  The Sisters would actually have to live in my home and share common space which would include the kitchen.  I thought to myself, do I really want to do this!!  He gave me some time to think about it and a couple of days later he called me back to tell me that this woman from the Mission would be calling me.  I was nervous but excited at the same time.  Could this really work?  I had not had anyone living with me other than family for many years (actually since college-many moons ago).  The Mission and I came up with an agreement on my birthday and the next Wednesday two beautiful young ladies came to my door.  The experience of a lifetime was about to begin which would bring me so much joy and would change my life in a wonderful way.

You see, being alone most of your life brings a home that is quiet and much of the time without laughter unless it is your own from laughing at a funny TV program or reading a good joke in a book or when visitors come into see you.  While they were in my home, my home truly felt like a family lived within its walls.  They would laugh, we would laugh and I would smile!!  On Saturday mornings, I would hear singing of one of the many hymns in our Church song books from the bonus room that they lived in above my garage and I would smile.  Once in a while one of them would come into the room I was in and sit down and we would just talk about what was going on in their lives and how great the Gospel was.  Sometimes, we talked about their families at home and their loved ones.  They would ask me for my advice and sometimes give me some advice.  They are in a way like daughters I never had.

These two beautiful young women, Sister Jenessa Fabrizio and Sister Trystan Luke, allowed me to share in the wonderful spirit that they brought into my home.  Each Saturday night after dinner, they would give me a thought or a talk to think about and leave me with a prayer that night.  They helped me plant flowers and fix my flower beds in my front yard.  They taught me about service and serving others with a heart that does not require anything back.  They showed me a better way to study the scriptures in the Bible, the Book of Mormon and Sacred Works.  They taught me what it is like to walk with the Holy Ghost as your companion each day and to have His guidance with you.  They TAUGHT me how to have more JOY in my life.

I will forever be grateful for what these two young women gave to me so unselfishly and so willingly.  Sister Luke has changed areas on her mission so I don’t see her any more but I think of her often.  Sister Fabrizio is still coming for dinner each Saturday with her new companion and drops in once in awhile on other days but always lets me know that I am loved.  When she leaves in August to go home, she will be missed as Sister Luke is but they will forever hold a place in my heart!!

JOY they brought and JOY they left and now I know what true JOY is!!!  I guess you could say that it worked out more than just all right.  It turned out to be one of those treasured memories for life!!