As is usual, the Lord has been teaching me line upon line again. You may recall my last post was about my Father and his continued influence in my life. This week I was blessed by another angel. My friend Ashton left the earth a year ago this Wednesday. As his friends and family gathered together to become “Ashton’s Angels” my heart was deeply touched and I was drawn closer to the Savior. While we honored a heavenly angel and tried to become an earthly angel in someone’s life, I was reminded of a quote by Jeffrey R. Holland. Said he, “I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind” Today I add my witness to his. I have felt many times these angels in my life from both sides of the veil.
What is an angel? Elder Holland referred to them as divine messengers. Other definitions include, agent or messenger of God. In my own life I have come to define angels as those people who lead us closer to the Savior, join us at the crossroads of life, and who represent God’s mercy and blessings in our life.
Ashton was acting as that angel in my life this week. He was a reminder of the need to serve others and be aware of the needs of people around me. All day I had a prayer in my heart that I could honor his life and influence by doing good to other people. It dawned on me half way through the day that Ashton was actually acting as an agent of God. His influence was leading me to try to act as the Savior’s hands. Indeed Ashton became a divine messenger in my life.
The gift of this angelic touch in my life caused me to try to be a bit more angelic myself. It was my turn to attempt the “mortal kind” of influence. To be honest I don’t know how successful my attempts were. My actions were seemingly insignificant and small. One girl did tell me afterward that she had been experiencing the worst day. Her alarm clock had gone off approximately 13 minutes before she was scheduled to open the store. She had no time to eat breakfast, do her hair or her make-up. She had unintentionally broken a customer’s watch, and kept running into walls and fixtures. It was just an off day for her. On top of it all, she had a chemistry test later in the day and she was just quite overwhelmed. My seemingly small gift gave her one moment of brightness in her otherwise gloomy day. God had used Ashton to use me to help her.
What is more significant than anything I did was the collective effort I saw from hundreds of other’s also trying to honor Ashton’s name. Many people had their meals paid for. Medicine was taken to those who were sick. Trash was picked up off of roadways. Thank you cards were sent. Treats were delivered. Parking tickets were paid. Temple covenants were entered into. Families were strengthened. Boxes of sunshine were delivered. Friendships were rekindled. The list goes on and on. My heart was touched so much as I saw mortal angels about the work of God.
Today I envision the angels. Of course I see Ashton with a big smile of gratitude seeing so many who love him showing love to others. I see also the face of our Savior beaming brightly as many are about His work. I see the faces of hundreds of people feeling peace and joy in their hearts as they are on an errand of angelic work. I see the hundreds more who were the recipients of this great cause. My heart is humbled as I see for a brief moment God’s plan of angels in action.
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Finally a note to my friend…. Ashton, if you ever wondered if you made a difference, let me be the first to thank you. Your life brought me closer to God. Serving as often as I could retrained my thinking and I feel closer to my Savior than I have in a very long time! You changed my life, and I imagine many others were also changed by you today! We love you and we miss you buddy!
To everyone else, thank you for the angels you have been in my life. It is because of good people like you that I know there are angels, both the heavenly and the earthly kind. Thank you for always reminding of the good in the world. I invite you to do three things this week. First, find an angel in your life and thank them for who they are. Second, find one way to become a little more angelic yourself. Third, report back and let me know your experiences so I can try them myself.
Ashley Dewey is extremely talented at being single. Hobbies include awkward conversations with members of the opposite sex, repelling third dates, talking to boys about their girl problems and to girls about their boy problems. In her spare time she also has a very fulfilling school life, work life, and social life.
Besides being a professional single, Ashley is also a BYU graduate with a degree in linguistics (Aka word nerd). She enjoys studying other languages, particularly American Sign Language, and finds most all of them fascinating. She is currently pursuing a masters degree in Teaching English as a Second Language.
Ashley works most of the time and has often been accused of being a workaholic. Currently she works full time as a merchandiser and supervisor in a retail store, and part time doing social media work. On her day off she works (really it doesn't feel like work) in the Provo LDS temple. The only kind of work she finds difficulty focusing on is house work.
Her favorite activities in her free time are reading, writing, creating social experiments, and spending time with great friends and family. Specific activities with those family and friends include: going to concerts, plays, dance recitals, BYU basketball and football games, and watching sports on television.
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