“Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.” ~James Barrie

As a child, I watched my parents create goodies in our kitchen and then carry them to someone else’s door. Especially around Christmas time, we visited a lot of homes, putting the treats on the porch, ringing the doorbell, and running away.

Treat giving is one way my parents show their love. On the practical side of love, Dad also taught me that having something in my hand to give often opens a door that might not open otherwise.

My parents just visited me in Hawaii. Dad asked what he could do for me and I jokingly (sort of) said he could make bread that I could take to people in our ward. He said, OK, and started churning out the bread. As soon as he took the bread out of the oven and it slightly cooled, he said, “We have to deliver this bread now. “

“Now? Right now?!” I was stuffing a second slice of hot, buttered bread into my mouth.

“Yes. You have to take it while it’s warm.” I didn’t know it mattered WHEN you delivered a lovely loaf of homemade bread. But, it definitely mattered to dad. So, dad, mom, and I loaded up and set out on our quest to find members of our ward. Many of the bread recipients commented that the loaves were still warm.  Dad looked at me to make sure I saw that warm bread mattered.

And it did matter.

But what mattered most to me was to see my parents’ joy in delivering bread to people they’d never met before, and may never see again, during their vacation time. As dad churned out the bread, I asked if he’d rather do something else or go see something else. Miraculously, we did everything on my mom’s to-do/see list (including watching the bulldog skateboard) and still spent hours making and delivering bread.

I joked that mom and dad probably knew more people in our ward than some of the actual ward members.  The second Sunday they were at church was amazing to me. People who hadn’t been at church for a long time came to church. The Catholic mother of someone I visit regularly asked for a ride to church and came to Sacrament meeting. I also saw my parents’ love flowing to people who thanked them for the bread. They stopped to talk to people they’d met during the week.

And I realized something. There is no need to feel lonely in the middle of a crowd. My parents were in the ward for 2 Sundays and already made friends with people they’d never met before. They delivered treats. They helped move a refrigerator and table. They helped me deliver meals. They visited a bedridden widow twice. They helped me clean out the Relief Society closet. They went to an Empty Nester’s Family Home Evening. They participated. They jumped in. They became invested in the people. They showed up and they served. They found joy in their service.

What a great lesson and a great reminder.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked about the power of invested service. “As we lift others, we rise a little higher ourselves. President Spencer W. Kimball taught, ‘The more we serve our fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls.’

President Gordon B. Hinckley believed in the healing power of service. After the death of his wife, he provided a great example to the Church in the way he immersed himself in work and in serving others. It is told that President Hinckley remarked to one woman who had recently lost her husband, ‘Work will cure your grief. Serve others.’

These are profound words. As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness.

President Lorenzo Snow expressed a similar thought: ‘When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated.’”

To read more of Delisa’s articles, click here.

I love how Lorenzo Snow says that the Lord will give us wisdom as we try to lift others, and subsequently ourselves. “Your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated.” God will show us ways that we can serve. There are so many awesome and diverse ways.

Dad taught me how to make the bread so I can finish our quest to give bread to everyone in our congregation. I haven’t knocked so many doors in one day or one week since my mission. I felt exhausted sometimes running up and down miles of stairs, but I felt surrounded by sunshine every time I handed someone a loaf of warm bread and said, “My dad’s visiting. He loves to make bread and I love to deliver it.”

Related posts:

3 Ways Covenant Women Enrich My Life When I Didn’t Really Want to Serve Ministering to the One A Valentine’s From Partner