Dear Heidi,

When I found out I got to do service in your name this year, I knew I wanted to do something crafty since we both share a love for that. 

A few years ago I heard about an organization named Teeny Tears.  Teeny Tears is a service organization that donates tiny diapers to hospitals, birth centers and other bereavement support groups. The diapers are given to families who have suffered the loss of a preemie or micropreemie child through stillbirth or NICU loss. They rely on volunteers to help make the diapers. With the help of various group and individual volunteers, including church groups and Eagle Scout projects, in just the three years since the project has launched, over 110,300 diapers have been made and donated to over 900 hospitals internationally. 

According to their website,

Approximately 26,000 children are stillborn in the United States every year, about 1 in 160 births. A significant number of these angels are preemie or micropreemie infants.  Many of these angels are far too small for even the very smallest commercial diapers. 

And these diapers are truly tiny.

The small diapers are intended for use on babies around 16-24 weeks. They are about 2 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide. The "large" diapers fit babies from 24-32 weeks. They are about 3 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. It is pretty heartbreaking to imagine a baby that small but I know these diapers may at least lighten the load of grief for the families who face this outcome.

Each family receives a matching set of diapers so they can have one as a keepsake. When I started, I had a goal of at least 100 diapers and I hit that and just kept going. Altogether I made 128 diapers, making 64 sets.

Love,
Haylee 

Dear Anthony,

As I set out to make my service goal for this year, I thought and prayed and struggled with finding the "right" project. Then as I was reading in an old Ensign magazine, I came across this information about FamilySearch.org,

We currently have a backlog of over 3 million images for active projects that need to be arbitrated. That’s 3 million images and their respective indexes that aren’t published on FamilySearch.org because they haven’t made it through arbitration. They could be published in a matter of days if they were all arbitrated today. It’s just a matter of having enough volunteers to do the work.

That information was from April 2012.  The current backlog is over 12 million now.  

The article continued, "How do we fix the backlog? Easy—we just need more arbitrators."

I felt called to help!  And I loved the idea of helping people find their ancestors. But considering I had only ever indexed a batch or two before and it had been years since I'd even done that, I certainly wasn't ready to be an arbitrator.  Experience indexing a variety of record types is the main requirement.  So this year I have worked on indexing so I can become an arbitrator.  Thousands of records and lots of hours later, I can finally say I'm experienced and ready to become an arbitrator!

A couple things about indexing I had previously read about and now have a strong testimony of, are that, indexing allows us to all help one another with our personal family history and also that the names I, and others, have submitted, are not just names...they are people!!  Those names are sons and daughters of God, many of whom are waiting to be found so they can enter into temple covenants and all of whom Heavenly Father wants to bless.  It has been a fun project to undertake and I have felt the promised blessings and spiritual protection from participating in the Spirit of Elijah.


Merry Christmas!

Love,
Haylee

Dear Terry,

All year long I have had the privilege of serving in your name.  I had many interesting and exciting opportunities come my way and I participated in some but none ever felt like the "right" experience to post about and count as my Christmas service project for you.  Then on October 19th as I casually scrolled though Facebook, I read that my friend, Savannah's, three and a half month old baby would be finishing his time on earth shortly.  


I broke down in sobs.  I prayed.  I cried again.  I prayed some more.

Baby Andrew had been sick from the start and his breathing problems were caught shortly following  birth.  The diagnosis went from slightly worrisome to serious and eventually to a rare genetic disorder with a low life expectancy.  We were still hopeful.  And the hospital stay went from days to weeks to months.  We were still hopeful.

Savannah would post daily, sometimes even more often, about Andrew's progress, his setbacks, her fears and doubts.  We, her friends, waited with baited breath for good news. We would cheer and mourn right along with her as different triumphs and struggles developed.

Everyone already loved Savannah.  She's one of those people who are impossible not to.  But through this trial, I saw many people grow to love her and her family even more, in a very humble way.  I know I was beginning to feel God's love for her, her baby, her family and others.  I was awestruck by the wide range of feelings and emotions I had for a friend I knew and loved but hadn't seen in years and for a child I had never even met.

Savannah had photo-documented Andrew's time here very well.  I knew that had I been in her shoes I would want something tangible to look at and hold.  I also knew that just having lost someone so precious and dear, she probably wouldn't have the time or heart to get it all done while grieving and mourning and healing.  So I set out to create a photo book of Andrew's life.  Some 40+ hours later and I still have no pictures or proof of its completion since I shipped it directly to her.

I can say though, that it was a profoundly moving project for me to work on.  My love for her and her family has multiplied.  I have felt the love of Heavenly Father and the Savior more presently in my life.  I feel my relationship with them has strengthened, as has my testimony of them, the Savior's life and mission and especially of eternal families.  I have experienced on a deeply personal level to joy of love for other's as God loves them, even without having met or been physically near one another.  My gratitude for my family, and especially my children, has grown.  And most importantly, my gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ, has increased.  What a great feeling to experience this time of year when our hearts and minds truly should be focused on HIM, the reason for the season.