Being in China has made me more aware of the tender mercies that are happening in my life every single day. I am sure that not a day goes by that the Lord's hand is not present in my life. I am so grateful that He knows where I am and He knows my every need.
When we were on the bus on our way back home after our amazing trip to Kunming I said to Shelby, "We are masters at navigating through China." Somehow we got on a train all the way to Kunming, found the hostel, enjoyed the city by ourselves, and made it back to our home in Guiyang (well, almost). Apparently I spoke way too soon. We should have been home in about an hour once we left the train station. It wasn't supposed to be difficult to get on one bus and then, after a couple of stops, transfer to the bus that would take us to our stop. Apparently we got a little confused and had a difficult time figuring out which stop to get off on to transfer to our bus. I blame it on that maybe while we were gone for the week they decided to take that stop off of the route because I am pretty sure that we didn't stop there or maybe it was because it was dark and from where I was on the bus I couldn't really see anything. Once we decided that we had been on that bus for way too long we got off and thought that we would just take a taxi to Walmart because we knew how to get home from there. We tried telling the taxi driver that we wanted to go to Walmart but he didn't understand. So I pulled out the piece of paper that had our address on it. That didn't work either. He had no clue where we lived. There we were again, lost in China. This time I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was the first time. In fact, I wasn't really worried about it at all. I knew that we would somehow get home. We had a cell phone this time and we had our address written down. Maybe the next taxi driver would know where we lived. We turned around from the taxi and a women was standing there and asked us if we needed help. She also looked at our address and talked to the taxi driver. We told her that if she could tell us where bus 69 was then we would be able to get home. She motioned for us to follow her and we hopped back on the bus. We got off a few stops later. Apparently she misunderstood what bus we needed. She took us to bus 67 instead of bus 69. After we informed her of this she made a few phone calls and we got back onto the bus. We were on the bus for quite sometime. While we were stopped Shelby noticed a sign for bus 69 so we all quickly got off the bus. The lady helping us was the kindest stranger. She was worried that we didn't have any friends that we could call. She was worried that we hadn't eaten dinner. She was worried that we wouldn't be able to make it home once we got on bus 69. We reassured her that we would be fine. As we were waiting for the bus with her we wished so badly that we had something to give her to show her how much we really did appreciate her help. Sadly, we had nothing. Then Shelby reached into her pocket and pulled out one of her bracelets that she had made. We quickly gave it to her and she was so thrilled by this little gift. She stayed with us until we were safely on the right bus and then she went on her way. This kind lady paid for us every time we got on the bus with her when she didn't have to. She went out of her way to help us even though she was clearly on her way home. She probably had a husband and children at home waiting for her but she still took the time to help us. She was an angel sent from heaven. She was a tender mercy.
I read in First Nephi the other day in chapter 1:20. "...the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even until the power of deliverance."
The Lord does place tender mercies in our lives. I know they are also in your life. If you just stop and take a second to ponder, you will realize that they are present in your life too.
I love the quote by Elder Holland. He said, "But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with - here, now, every day ... Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind."
God works through us to answer prayers. He sends people in our path when we need them the most. We are His hands. There are angels all around us. Like Elder Holland said, they aren't always angels from the other side of the veil. The lady who helped us find the supper market, the guy who pointed us in the direction of the hostel, the friend who I hadn't talked to in months that sent me a quick e-mail on the day that was particularly hard, the guy who stayed with us when we were first lost in China and were extremely worried, and the woman who helped us home last night are all angels and all of these situations were tender mercies from the Lord. This list of mine could go on and on.
I know that God will answer our prayers and it is often through the people that are around us. He even heard and answered the silent prayer that I had in my heart last night when we were trying to find the right bus to get on. He is always watching over His children. I am so grateful for all of the tender mercies and the angels that are sent to me. I hope and pray that I will always be aware of the Lord's hand in my life.
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