While I was a missionary in Mexico, I spoke with a former missionary who remembered very little from his time as a missionary. I was surprised to say the least that he did not seem to remember the people he had known and the places he had been as a missionary. I mentioned that situation to a member of our congregation when she invited us over to eat, and she told me something that I will always remember. "Some people leave huellas (footprints) in the places they live. Others don't. If you don't leave huellas in an area, it won't leave huellas in you, and you will neither remember nor be remembered."
Fast forward a few years to graduation yesterday. At the commencement ceremony, Mitch Albom shared the secret to immortality. If you make a difference in people's lives, your voice lives on in them. "Giving is the key to living," he reiterated. He told the story of spending his Tuesdays with Morrie, made famous in his memoir. He spoke of how Morrie's voice lives on in him and the other students that Morrie taught. Albom told us that if you make a difference in people's lives, they will remember you, and your voice will live on in them. If you become so preoccupied by money, power and looks that you don't take time to be with people, then your voice will die with you.
As Lisa and I move to a new area, it will be a chance to leave our huellas in a new place. We will miss and remember the friends that we have left, because there are many who have left their huellas in our lives. However, with each new day and with each new circumstance, we have the privilege of being able to touch someone else's life for the better. Thanks to everyone who has touched our lives and shaped our journey. Joy is found in being with people, because things can never truly make us happy.
