Meet Elder Day.
Below you will find a picture of the Oakland 1 zone at our last zone conference in the California Oakland San Francisco Mission. If you don't look carefully, you might miss Elder Day. On the back row in the middle is an Elder with such a big smile that his mouth is wide open. This is Elder Day.
As a mission office couple we are blessed to be around the young missionaries all the time as they come into the office. We are able to talk to and encourage them, hug them and learn to love them.
Wherever I was around Elder day, he was so happy he literally jumped up and down. Recently Elder Day was riding his bike home from a teaching appointment and hit a pothole that sent hymn flying. His companion called 911 and the mission president who was then able to arrive in short order.
When President Lash ran up to the scene of the accident, he found Elder Day lying on the road.
When he saw his mission leader standing over him, Elder Day looked up with a smile and said, "Don't worry President. I'm still having my best day so far."
Let me backup so you understand. President Lash so enjoyed a book by George Durrant called "My Best Day So Far" that he took the title and used it for a reply every time some asked him, "How are you doing?"
"I'm having my best day so far" was President Lash's answer every time.
Before long, this phrase became the motto for our mission as he titled his weekly email to the missionaries, "My Best Day So Far".
Elder Day had a broken collar bone and wrist and lots of scrapes and bruises. He recently returned home for surgery and recuperation. Please note the pictures below with his family. Elder Day is Tigger - a bouncy, trouncey ball of energy and happiness. He radiates joy and lifts the spirits of everybody around him.
I want to be more like Elder Day.
If today is not the best day of our life, then we never get to have the best day of our life. If we get stuck in the regrets of yesterday or the anxiety of tomorrow we lose our only true power . . . the moment, and our choice to experience gratitude, joy and peace.
We are the author of our own life story. We don't always get to choose our own plot twists but we do get to choose how we respond.
Because of Jesus Christ, each of our stories will have a happy ending.
So the next time someone asks you, "How are you doing?" try answering, "I'm having my best day so far."
Then smile and think of Elder Day.
