My Family, My Friend

For those who may be reading this and not know my family very well, let me share with you a good friend of mine. Her name is Amanda. She is my niece. Yes, my niece. She was born 5 months after me and thus we spent much of our childhood, teenage years and now hopefully our adult years together. I don't believe there is anyone in the world other than my husband who knows me as well. Though, she does have about 19 years more experience with me than him, so they are pretty neck in neck.

Anyway, I want to say something I've learned about her in the many years we've been friends. When I think of Amanda, I think of STRENGTH. She has experienced many trials in her life and I am amazed at how well she has emerged each time. Life is not easy and many of us will struggle in ways only our Heavenly Father will understand.

I will always be grateful for her strength in following the promptings of the Spirit when we were teenagers. I was struggling with my testimony and she would write letters and make audio tapes to remind me of what is truly important in this life. I was touched by her testimony, strength and faith and I am a better person today for it.

I was thinking of all these things today and I feel it is important to let her know just how special she is in my life and I hope we can continue to build a friendship that we can both be proud of.