Valentine's Day

I meant to post this last night, but forgot.   Sorry for being late.

Anyway, on the evening of February 13th, I thought to myself, "Oh, it's Valentine's Day tomorrow.  Woohoo."  (With much enthusiasm! Not.)  It can be easy to feel lonely on Valentine's Day, even when you're determined to stay single before your mission.  I wasn't exactly looking forward to Valentine's Day and doing my best to forget about it.
As I walked down the hall to my room, I noticed a small plate of cookies in front of my door.  "Are those for me or my roommate," I asked myself.  Then I saw my door.  I stopped with a stunned smile on my face.  It was covered in hearts, some of which spelled my name, and also one that said, "We love you!"  I have no idea who did it, but I began to realize:  I may not have a significant other, but I have friends who care about me.  My spirits began to lift.  It was a good start to Valentine's.

The next day I woke up still feeling uplifted by the anonymous gift.  And a fantastic day ensued.
You know those people that you're kind of friends with, but aren't close to?  When you see each other around campus, sometimes you say hi and sometimes you don't.  It felt like all those people were saying hi to me.  I even had some people that I didn't know saying hi to me, even complimenting me.  I felt like I was getting smiles and compliments all day long!

Random girl giving out valentines by the bell tower: "Here comes someone with a nice smile!"
Random black guy in the badger den:  "Hey man, I like your hair.  I like the way it curls."
Melissa Lechner:  "Who wouldn't like you?"

Those are just a few.  I was on top of the world.  And it wasn't anything big that got me there.  It was lots of little things.  So many people simply chose to smile and say hi to me, and a few even went so far as to give me a compliment.  I felt so loved this Valentine's Day.  I didn't have a girl, or chocolates, or flowers, or anything like that.  I was simply shown that people care about me.  I think Valentine's Day should be more focused on things like that.  A few people influenced me and I in turn was smiling and saying hello.  Who knows?  Maybe I had an effect on someone.  I really believe small service like this can have a chain reaction. 

We can all spread a little love every day with simple acts like smiling and saying hello.  We're all children of God, we're all here for the same purpose, and we all have infinite worth.  Let's remember that and do what we can to lift up our brothers and sisters.   I love you guys!