Tender Mercies from the Lord

Today I had a sweet experience that let me know the Lord is mindful of me and watching over me. Last night I went to bed feeling pretty overwhelmed. Last week didn't seem too busy and I thought maybe January would be a quiet and calm month. Well, everything is beginning to pick up and I'm feeling a bit over committed. Girl Scout cookie sales and other GS activities are taking my time and energy. We are planning New Beginnings in Young Womens and I have multiple tasks to complete for that. I made a "To Do" list with about 20 things on it before going to bed last night. I tried to tell myself just to do one thing at a time and take it all in stride. Well, when I woke up this morning I felt prompted to read the conference report in November's Ensign. I made a goal to read it daily, but usually read it at night. I decided to follow the prompting and picked up the Ensign. I've read the General sessions and the RS session so now I'm reading the talks given at the Priesthood session. The talk I was to read today was by Henry B. Eyring and is entitled, "O Ye That Embark." Before I began reading this talk, I thought, "I could really use a talk on how to not feel so overwhelmed, but I doubt this talk is about that. " Amazingly, this talk was all about how we sometimes feel overwhelmed. In fact the word "overwhelmed" is used in the first sentence of the talk! This talk is geared toward priesthood holders, but I felt like it applied to me too. A scripture quoted in the talk is found in D&C 84:88, "And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up." This talk helped me to realize the Lord wants us to succeed. We are literally surrounded by angels who are buoying us up. If we ask the Lord for help, He will answer our prayers and help us accomplish our service here on earth. I prayed in my heart for the Lord to help me accomplish what I needed to do. I had a peace come over me that I hadn't felt last night. After work, I felt upbeat, but also a bit concerned at all I needed to do. One thing I have been worried about is finding boxes for handkerchiefs we plan on giving to all the Young Women. We're giving handkerchiefs to all the Young Women as a reminder to stay clean and pure so they can enter the temple. Each girl is to carry the handkerchief with her on her wedding day. It's perfect for the new value: virtue. Anyway, I wanted to get a nice box for each girl to save her handkerchief in. I had already tried Kohls and Target on different days and I decided to head to the mall today to look for the boxes. I was concerned about finding 20 boxes. I thought I may never find them or if I did, they'd say "JC Penney's" or something like that on it. As I drove into the mall parking lot, a sense of peace came over me. I felt like the Lord would lead me in the right direction and I would be able to easily get the boxes. I walked into Gottschalk's and asked for boxes at the jewelry counter. I told the lady working there that they needed to be big enough to hold a handkerchief. She showed me one that was perfect. I told her I needed 20 of them, but I was willing to pay for them. She was a bit surprised when I said 20, but she went about gathering 20 boxes. I gave her my credit card so I could pay for the boxes. She said she was unsure how to charge me and that I could just have them for free. I couldn't believe it! These boxes are so perfect and beautiful. They are textured, durable, and don't even say the store's name. I was next going to go looking for plain white wrapping paper, but these boxes are so pretty they don't need to be wrapped. I left the lady telling her that I would be using these boxes for church and I felt like the Lord had lead me to her. I hugged her across the jewelry counter and praised her with my sincere thanks. I left the store in tears. I could not deny that this was an answer to my prayers. I had not been in the mall for more than five minutes and the boxes were given to me! I then had time (before I had to pick Katelyn up from dance) to go to Michael's so I could buy the paper for the New Beginnings invitations. I said a prayer of thanks in the car before going to Michael's. I know this may not sound like a big deal, but I could feel the Lord watching over me today. He knew how important finding these boxes was and provided the way for me to do it. He knew I needed to read that talk by President Eyring today and He prompted me to read it. I truly believe we are blessed with little tender mercies from the Lord as we go through life. (Elder Bednar's talk on tender mercies is one of my most favorite talks ever given.) Another time I received a tender mercy was when I was searching for a white dress for Katelyn to be baptized in. I had been searching at all the stores I normally shop at and had found nothing that would work. Then as I was driving by a store I never go to, I was prompted to look there. I walked in and immediately found the perfect dress for her to be baptized in. These tender mercies help me to know the Lord is watching over me and that He loves me. I wanted to record what happened today because it was a very spiritual experience for me, and I think we easily forget these things. Now that I have this written down, I will always remember this tender mercy from the Lord.