Meeting Toni

After returning from my mission, I was anxious to get married and start a family, so I would pray and pray, asking the Lord who I should marry.  Then one day, I was on my way to my cousin's wedding, and I drifted off to sleep for just a few minutes (I was not driving).  It was only for a few minutes, but in that few minutes I had a dream.  This dream seemed different than other dreams, but at the time I couldn’t figure out how.  I dreamed that I was a missionary again, discussing missionary work with a fellow missionary.  When, in my dream I saw a beautiful face; the face of an angel.  She turned, smiled at me and said hello. And I woke, and immediately told my mother, who was driving, about this different type of dream that I just had. The thing with this dream was that I could not get that beautiful smile out of my mind.  Every time I closed my eyes, I could see that smile.  It never faded like other dreams.

Then a few hours later while at the wedding, I held the door open for a few people who were headed outside. One of the girls stopped in the doorway, turned, smiled at me, and said hello.  I was stunned!  It was the same beautiful face I saw in my dream, with that same gorgeous smile.  So I thought I would put my foot in my mouth.  All I could think of to say was, "I saw you in a dream."  And the response was, "I've heard that one before."  She thought I was giving her a line!

That was the very first time that my wife and I met, and the very first time that we had ever seen each other in this lifetime.

With a little time and a few more miracles, she consented to spend the rest of her life hanging around with me.  It is pretty hard on a fella's confidence to know that he was not much of a catch and needed so many miracles to win a girl's heart, and yet at the same time how could I not feel blessed that the Lord would help me out so much.  [Sometimes my dog won't play with me either, unless I have a bone for him.]  As a child, I loved that ugly duckling story, and occasionally I feel I am still waiting for my metamorphosis.

It is amazing, how much interest Heavenly Father takes in our lives.  He has things so well planned out that we can trust in Him implicitly. 

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