Won't You Be My Neighbor?

"We need to remember that though we make our friends, God has made our neighbors – everywhere. Love should have no boundary; we should have no narrow loyalties."

President Howard W. Hunter

I don't remember where I found this quote, but it reminds me very much of something that I learned in Institute one Friday afternoon. I was not looking forward to going to Institute at all that day, but when I told my friend Lexi this, she looked at me and said "sometimes, the times you don't want to go are the times you need to go the most." It really stopped me in my tracks. I went to Institute and learned this great lesson that I wouldn't have learned if Lexi wasn't such a good friend to me.

"The world is currently facing a plague of pain. The young woman down the row may have a head ache. The young man in front of you may be struggling with pornography. The married couple across the room may be battling infertility. You do not know how much people are hurting."

It is so true! We DON'T know what is going on in our neighbor's heart, and we may never know. How many times do we hear things like, "this girl across the hall didn't even know it, but I needed that smile she gave me more than I can ever tell her"? I hear it a lot!

We may never know the influence we will make on someone's life, but that should never stop us from trying. Our neighbors ARE everywhere, and they need our kindness...regardless of what they have done before.