My Conversion Story Journal

September 14, 2024

This week flew by and every day I had something that just made me happy to be living here in this community. I am amazed by these people that I have met. Not just by the friends that I talk to and can't wait to see, but also by others that I know their face. The amount of giving of one's time, the amount of encouragement that I get to see, the real heartfelt care for one another makes me glad that I made this decision to move here.

I don't know what is going to happen in the future. I continue to go to classes and learn. I'm still in the conversion process and anything can happen now or when my conversion is complete. I don't know. I can't plan for what I don't know. I do know that no matter what happens in the future and where I end up, I am so thankful and feel blessed every day to have been led here and have had the chance to witness these moments of love and support for one another and even for strangers visiting.

One of my friends, who is a wonderful person, looked at every store she went to for an item that I could not find. After a few stores, I had already given up finding it, but she became determined to find it for me. She found it and bought it, and was so happy that she found the item that I had been wanting. It takes an amazing person to go out of their way like that for someone.

What really got me this week didn't even happen to me. I was listening to a guy from Israel speak about his job of painting bomb shelters. While caught up in his story, I noticed a guy ask for a cold glass of water. When it was delivered to him, he got up from his table and gave it to the speaker (who was standing in the middle of the room with no way to get a glass on his own). It was such a small gesture that showed compassion and care for another person. This is the type of thing I see almost every day here. The care and compassion for one another is an every day event and it is genuine.

I can honestly say that I so thankful for this time in my life. It may be exhausting on some days to work full time during the day and study during the evenings and keep up with my children's lives, but I am always going to be thankful for this time right now. I have never felt so at home in a place as I do here in this apartment with these friends and with this community. Do I miss my friends and my old job? Absolutely, but I like my new job, and I love my new home, and I love my friends here, and I love my community.

I love that I get to join in the events that I missed out on for the past year because of the distance I lived away. I love that I get to make memories both small and large. I love that I get to still be me and learn and grow closer to G-d with so many great people to offer advice and answer questions. It was hard when I moved to let go of what I had. I'm so thankful that I trusted G-d and did.

Thank you Hashem for this moment, for this day, and for this time in my life. I love you.