Acquaintances

A few weeks ago, I accidentally recorded Elder Neal A. Maxwell's BYU Devotional entitled "Brim With Joy." In the first few minutes, he said something I had never considered: "...our friendships are not friendships of initiation at all but are, instead, friendships of resumption." I had never thought of the 'friend' relationships I am privileged to enjoy as being ones that were eternal, as in already established prior to the mortal experience. I have always believed that each person who has ever lived, or will ever live, on this planet is a child of God and my brother or sister. But it had never occurred to me that people I know and talk with every day are already my friends. One of my best friends, who has been my best friend for eternity, could possibly be sitting in the same room with me and I do not recognize them because of the veil of forgetfulness. It is a sobering and humbling thought. How much more could we enjoy one another's associations if we realized that we have been friends forever! And how much are we missing out on because we don't say more than hello to one another in passing on Sunday or when we treat another person's attempts at friendship as a casual thing?

On Sunday, Elder Ronald A. Rasband gave a Church Educational System Fireside and spoke on the importance of friendship. He pointed out that many trials we go through in life are made easier because of the friends who stand by us and share our burdens. What keeps us from developing new friendships? Are we scared of what another person might think of us? Are we just scared of being hurt? Or are we scared that someone might actually like us, make efforts to become our friend and then walk out of our lives because we laughed at something they didn't find funny? It is difficult to become friends with people. You have to actually work at it and sometimes it doesn't feel like it is worth the effort. But once you actually get to know another person, the work turns into fun. It is totally worth the work to get to the fun later. So to my wonderful friends who weren't afraid to talk to me and still talk to me on a regular basis: THANK YOU! My life has been made easier by my association with you! And to those who could become friends: You can talk to me! I enjoy good conversations; I'm just not good at initiating them.