Guided By the Spirit

These past few weeks I've been able to visit my grandparents and some other family in Virginia. It's one of my favorite places, like a second home chock full of memories and sentiment, and this year I had an experience that made it an extra special visit.
Around six-thirty or seven in the morning, before the sun was too high and the rest of the world woke up, I would get up and run around my grandparent's neighborhood. I explored some new routes and waved at people walking and running on the roads as we passed each other, all while listening to general conference talks or music on my phone (depending on the day and on if my phone was acting up!). One of those mornings I ran past a man I had seen walking his dog the day before and as I passed him, the thought came into my mind, "You should talk to him about the gospel!" Not sure if it was just me being overzealous from listening to conference talks or if it was an impression of the Spirit, I turned and ran in the direction he was walking. Then turned back. Then back towards him. And back the other way again. Finally I decided that if I saw him the next day, I would talk to him. At that moment Elder David A. Bednar's words came into my mind which are something along the lines of, "if you want to know if your thought is an impression of the Spirit, you need to act on it." That was it. I had to talk to him the next day.
The next day came and I ran a route I knew he would be on, unsure of how I would approach the conversation, but sure that I needed to. I ran up the street where I had seen him walking the day before and there he was! Slowing down a little, I took off my headphones, walked up beside him and put out my hand to shake his in an introduction. "Hi! My name's Lexi Tenney! Oh sorry my hands are so sweaty!" Somehow I forgot about the sweat dripping from my arms and he wiped his hand on his shirt, thoroughly, and understandably, grossed out. "Anyways, I've seen you walking around and I was wondering if I could join you." He said I could, introduced himself and his little Beagle dog, and we started off on a walk around the neighborhood. As we walked we talked about different things and he told me about himself. He's in his eighties and his wife is in a nursing home with a lot of medical problems, but he visits her every day. He got his dog just a month or so after his wife went to the nursing home, a little over a year ago and lets him wander around and smell things as they walk, almost as a returned favor for the company he provides. After talking for a while, I had told him that I was visiting my grandparents in the neighborhood and how it was like a second home to me. He then asked if I was born in Virginia and I told him that I was born in Provo, Utah. "Ah, Provo, huh? BYU, right?" "Yes! That's where my parents went to college!" It turns out that some of his kids went to BYU and some of them had even served missions! We continued walking and when we reached his house I stopped him before he went up the drive way and said, "you told me some of your kids served missions and I was wondering, are you a member of the church." Smiling, he shook his head, no. "My ex-wife is a member, and so are my kids, but no, I'm not." I nodded and smiled at him as I said, "Well, if you ever need a church home on Sunday, we would love to see you!" He smiled and thanked me, though he honestly didn't seem too interested, and we parted ways. As I made my way home, I couldn't help but smile.
 That Sunday I found the Sister missionaries and told them about my experience. All three of us were practically jumping up and down with excitement (at least, that's how I felt), but when they asked if I got his last name and address, I realized I forgot about that important information. Feeling a bit deflated, but determined to find him, I got the Sister's number and we said goodbye, going to our third hour classes of church.
For the rest of the trip I kept an eye out for my new friend on my morning runs, but with no luck. My brother Andrew and I even set out on a walk to find where he lived which proved unsuccessful. The next Sunday I saw the Sisters again and apologized about being unable to find him. They assured me that they were just glad that I had that experience and were grateful I had told them about it. That definitely made me feel better, and I was immensely grateful to have the experience too, but I still wished that I could have done more.
That Tuesday was the day the Tenney clan was heading home to Texas and I decided to do a quick run before sitting in a car all day long. So off I went, down a route I usually didn't run, at a time I usually didn't leave. It was on the home stretch that I thought, "I wonder if I'll see him this morning..." and as I turned my head there he was walking down the street! I ran up and greeted him (from behind, which startled him a bit) and we went off walking again. I really did enjoy the time I spent talking with him. It made me want to hear stories from when he was little and see him when he was around his family. There was a shyness about him that I imagined he had had for his whole life, but it didn't make him any less enjoyable to be around. This time as we walked, he was the one to mention the Church (and now I realize, he was the one to mention it first in our first walk!) when he told me that his Mormon family members would be coming to visit soon. I said I was excited for him and disappointed that I wouldn't be around when they came, and when he found that out he seemed a little disappointed too. When we reached his house I took note of the street name and his house number and asked for his last name which he readily gave. We said goodbye and I headed home, jumping and smiling and thanking Heavenly Father all the way back.
Let me just say, there are no coincidences. What are the odds of me running into a man with Mormon family members, who isn't a member of the church while just running around the streets of the neighborhood? And then it happening again! I know that the Lord's hand was there in that experience and I'm grateful for the influence of the Spirit in my life. I still haven't called the Sisters, but I plan on doing so soon! I don't know what will happen next with my friend, but I do know that God has a plan for all of His children and in His time, everything will be alright.