Secret Notes

It was last minute that I grabbed a stack of blank cards and a handful of pens and added them to my already full purse. It was just an impression from the Spirit to bring them on our Young Men/Young Women's trip to see the lights on Temple Square.

So I passed them out and on our long front runner ride to Salt Lake, the girls wrote anonymous notes to bless, lift, cheer, and edify whoever would find them.

But the story doesn't end here. On our walk back to Front Runner, several of the girls told me about their experiences. One handed hers to a person confined to a wheelchair. Others hid them in windowsills, bushes, and on the train. And one young woman told me of her miracle. She had placed hers on a couch in one of the visitor's centers and then she and her friend hid behind a bush to secretly watch who would find it.

After a few minutes, a girl walked over to the couch and noticed the envelope. She picked it up, opened it, and read the letter inside. Then she began to cry. After she had soaked in the words of comfort, she tucked the letter back in the envelope and left it on the couch to be found once again.

My heart was warmed. And I wondered about all of the other visitors to Temple Square that had similar experiences as they found the letters of two dozen girls who reached out in a simple act of love.

This is what Christmas is all about.

And I think for these young girls, the lesson penetrated deep. They told me leaving the letters was their favorite part of Temple Square this year.