“An Unusual Birthday,” Friend, July 2000, 48–inside back cover
An Unusual Birthday
And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God (Mosiah 2:17).
I wanted my ninth birthday to be special. I love learning about the colonial times in America, so I decided that I wanted to have a colonial-theme birthday party with my friends. I planned everything for the party, but I wanted to have some kind of an activity that colonial girls would have had. My mother and I thought about it for a while. Then my mother told me that our ward was collecting quilts for the Church’s Humanitarian Center. She suggested that my friends and I tie a baby quilt to contribute with our ward’s other quilts. She explained to me that the quilts are sent to those in need throughout the world. I thought of a baby or small child somewhere who may not have anything to keep him or her warm during the cold winter months. I became excited about making this quilt.
My mother took me to the store, and I picked out the fabric that we would use for the quilt. I wanted to find the perfect fabric for this gift of love I was making for my birthday. I found some that was soft and warm. There was light-blue striped fabric for one side and light-blue floral for the other. I imagined a baby somewhere snuggling into the soft warmth of my quilt. A sister in our ward let me use her quilting supplies and offered some words of advice for putting the quilt together.
Finally the day of the party arrived. We did normal party things for the first hour, and then our attention was turned to the quilt that was set up, ready to be tied. Since my mother was concerned that my friends might not stay interested in the quilt long enough to finish it, she explained what it was for. My friends caught the vision and became excited to provide a quilt for a small child somewhere.
After my mother showed us how to tie the quilt, we had a great time working on it together. When it was time for the party to end, no one wanted to go home! My friends called their parents to see if they could stay longer and finish the quilt. We were all so excited and thought that we would even like to make more if we could. We stayed another couple of hours working on the quilt. When we finished tying it, my mother bound the edges.
The following Sunday, my mother took the quilt to Relief Society so that the sisters in our ward could see it. My friends and I feel good when we think about the service we gave. We know that when we serve those around us, we are serving Jesus and following His example. I will always remember my ninth birthday as one of the most special of all.
From left to right: Kelsey Bradshaw, Mary Nott, Amanda Lifferth, Anna Nott (in front of Amanda), Krystal Bailey, Erika Lindsay.