Blessings

So Vanny, I have to tell you a funny story:

We do a lot of our shopping at Costco here in New York. The truth is, we'll probably always do a lot of our shopping at Costco, as long as there's one nearby. It's kind of a fun place. You love it there, maybe because of the hotdogs, maybe because the people who run the escalators always tell you how beautiful you are. This is all aside from the family loyalty we feel since Mimi has worked there for so long.

Well, when you shop at Costco, things come in really big packages. We're moving from here in less than a week now so we've been resisting purchases of enormous quantities unless we can finish them off here.

We can make it through an enormous amount of cheese or eggs or milk for example. We can even polish off a fair amount of broccoli. But it takes us several months to make it through a Costco-size package of toilet paper.

A couple of weeks ago towards the end of July, we came down to our last roll of toilet paper. I put it on my list and just thought I would grab a couple of rolls at the "regular" grocery store (Steve's C-town). But when I got there, it was expensive! So I didn't buy any. I didn't have an alternate plan, and you can't just live without toilet paper, but I couldn't bring myself to pay those prices!

So we ran out. For a couple of days we used baby wipes (too much information?) torn in half so as not to be too extravagent. And then came Youth Conference.

We believe that "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated- And when we obtain any blessing from God it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." -D&C 130:20-21

I also personally believe that when you are trying your best, and working hard, God has a sense of humor and throws in a little something extra that you may need. Like toilet paper.

At the end of Youth Conference, I found myself up to my ears in stuff. Extra pens, fabric, markers, books, papers, folders, wristbands that didn't get used. As I sorted through the piles of junk, I came across the extra supplies from the games. Among them, five or six rolls of unused, unopened toilet paper. Just enough to get us through.

Don't ever let anyone tell you that serving in the Church doesn't pay.