Grandpa and Grandma Halstead

I'm so excited to share this miracle!! In July 2010, I was a cast member in the Hill Cumorah Pageant (as you can see in the picture with me in a weird wig below). While most cast members stayed in dorms on a college campus or in a trailer park with their families, I traveled all the way to Palmyra, NY by myself and stayed with Richard and Irma Halstead. They are the parents/grandparents of some close friends of my in Richmond. They are not members of the church, but many of their best friends are missionaries, and they LOVE the Hill Cumorah Pageant. Their son and his wife and kids joined the church in my ward in Richmond when I was a little girl. Anyway, they're amazing and let me stay with them for three weeks while I was participating in the Pageant. At that time, they had received many missionary lessons, but had not come to church. My first Sunday there, they got ready for church and came with me because they didn't want me to have to go alone :) While I was in Palmyra, they felt like my grandparents, and I have loved them ever since. They came with me the next two Sundays as well. I felt like I was there specifically at that time for them, but they didn't seem interested in joining the church. Fast forward 3 & 1/2 years to this week. They have both decided to get baptized!!!! They'll be getting baptized in July, 4 years from when I first met them. Miracle! 

Halsteads and Me

Halsteads & my pageant missionary companion and me in costume!

I think the lesson I have learned from this experience, serving a mission, majoring in political science, going to grad school in Richmond, going to Haiti and working in many of the jobs I have had - is to just act on the Spirit or on the good thoughts we have, even if we aren't sure if it is the Spirit. When I was 16, I saw the Hill Cumorah Pageant and felt a desire to be in the Pageant one day - so I did it when the timing best fit what I was doing in my life. Heavenly Father was able to use that experience for much good in my life and the lives of others. Same with going to Haiti and inviting Yves to church and him getting baptized, same with the job I had for Eric Cantor and the random opportunities I had there to talk about the church and help serve others. Looking back, I know I was often very confused about my plans and what choices to make, but as I went down the paths I did, everything worked out miraculously. 

Have a very, merry, Miracle-y Christmas!