My Hymnbook

I had a neat experience today in sacrament meeting. Daniel and I were sitting in the foyer because we came in a little late and there wasn’t much room in the chapel.  Near the end of the meeting this older woman came and sat next to me. When we started singing the closing song she said that I should come to choir and sing alto because I have a lovely voice. I said thank you and that I had been meaning to come to choir but just forgot.

I have a German hymn book in my scripture bag. I don’t speak really fluently, mostly I just like looking at the translation and trying to find the songs in the English version. Well, I had it out and was looking at the German version of the song. The woman next to me said, “I had a hymn book just like that when I lived in Germany. But, I gave it away when I left because a gentleman there wanted an English one.” Then she looked closer at my hymn book and said, “That’s in German!! Where did you get that?” I said that I had received it as a gift a few years back. I said that I liked looking at the translation, but that my German wasn’t very good.

Well, after the closing prayer I turned to her and asked her if she’d like the book. She refused at first, but I could tell that she really wanted it so I insisted. She wanted to pay me for it, but in the end I convinced her to just take it.  Really, it wasn’t much of a sacrifice for me. I rarely used the book, and it was given to me by someone I’d rather not remember. Daniel has already promised to buy me a new one anyway. :) But, it was nice to put a smile on her face. I’m sure she’ll enjoy the book.