Friendship.

I have so many wonderful people who I call friends. To me a friend is someone who loves you for you, no matter the circumstances. Religion, weight, color of your skin, political opinions etc... A friend is someone who embraces you when they know you are starting to fall, and sometimes they let you fall but are always there when you get back up. It is someone who can make you smile when the world is dark, someone who defines the light at the end of the tunnel. A friend is someone who knows your fears and protects you when you may be getting caught up in something that will lead to those fears. A friend knows far before your heart gets broken, they know when your hurting. They know when you need advice and they know when you need them to tell you that it just sucks. A friend will do everything in their power to ease your burden.  Friends are people who let you in, and let you be a friend back to them. A friend accepts you, loves you, and knows you.

I've had the opportunity to become VERY close with a number of people and one person that I've become close to is Andy. This story may be odd, thats why I'm sharing it. A friend of mine is serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Argentina and he met Andy who was a new convert to the church. They became the best of friends and through that friendship Andy was brought into my life. He is in Argentina and I've never actually met him but I've had the opportunity of talking to him through the internet and phone and he is the most wonderful individual i've come in contact with. He loves the church and how it's blessed his life, he is bright and he loves life more than anyone i've met! Through this experience of befriending someone who is across the world from me I've learned that God puts certain people into our life for a reason, no one is an accident. In Andy and I's situation we feel like we've known each other our entire life. There are certain things that have happen since we've come in contact that have testified to me we are in each others life for a reason. I've needed his encouraging words and he's been there, without even knowing. He has needed encouraging words and love, and I've been there to try and uplift him as much as possible with my words. Andy has had his fair share of trials in the past few weeks and I've never felt more concern for someone. He is wonderful and he deserves to be happy. I've learned that friends feel when the other is in pain and that if you are in tuned with the spirit you will be inspired to do different things that will make a difference to your friend. I have had numerous times where I have sent a letter or said a prayer for andy and then 2 hours later I get information on what has been happening and what his needs are and thats exactly what I prayed for. I know that God loves us and I know that he will put people into our lives that will help us. Andy is in Argentina and I am in Utah, we've never met yet we are on the same page, ALL the time. It's a great friendship and my life has been blessed tremendously because of it. Thank you Andy for being so wonderful. I love and appreciate you.

To all of my other friends you know that I love and appreciate you as well. This was an experience I think we can all learn from. No matter how great the distance, if your heart is in it, your friendship will remain hard as rock. I love you all. Thank you for being so good to me!