Tender Mercies

I am such a slacker... but I have purposely not posted because I was waiting until I decided what I was going to do after my little stint in Hawaii is done. I figured the "I'm busy" excuse could only go so far. And despite my natural tendencies to whine and complain about all the different things that could be going better I wanted to share a neat experience I had last weekend. 
The whole time I have been here it has seemed as though anything that could go wrong... has gone wrong, despite the fact that I was reading my scriptures and praying everyday. As you may or may not know I have really struggled with making friends (among many other things) here in Hawaii. Until now I have never ever felt like I have had no one to talk to or confide in (even as a group leader in China, which until now is when I felt the loneliest). Now keep in mind I'm disclosing some information I wouldn't normally disclose, because let's face it who wants to admit to the whole world that they don't have any friends, but it's an integral part of the story and one of the biggest challenges I have had here. Well a couple weeks ago Amanda, a girl from the ward asked me if I wanted to do something on Saturday. Of course I said yes to her face but then I thought, "bless her heart, I probably won't call her." Well don't worry, she tracked me down and despite all of my excuses (my typical "I'm studying") I decided to meet up with her after work on Saturday. I was a little distraught because I had just done poorly on the practice test for my exam (which is now in 3 days!! YIKES!) A lot happened and all of a sudden I was crying in her living room explaining how lonely i felt and how the hardest part is that I knew that I was supposed to be here and I just don't know why. Well imagine my surprise when instead of saying, "but you're in Hawaii you should be enjoying it" (which is what everyone else says) she said, "I know exactly how you feel." We spent the rest of the night watching the Relief Society Broadcast (which was an answer to prayers!) and talking. It seriously feels like Heavenly Father placed her into my life to answer my prayers. She is getting married in a couple weeks so I won't be seeing her as often, but just knowing that she is there is an answer to prayers. I left her house humble and so grateful for the love the Lord has for me. As President Kimball said Heavenly Father does answer every prayer, but it is usually through another individual (and not always the way we want!)