Faith in Action - Sister Tobi Sanders

I'm sure all of us know Sister Sanders by now but I was prompted to ask her to tell us her story so that those of us who hadn't had the opportunity to visit with her could get to know her. I am grateful that she and her husband were so obedient to the Lord to leave home, family and friends so that we could learn from their great example.

Thank you, Brother and Sister Sanders. We hope you will continue to enjoy your stay here.

OK, now for their story, in Sister Sanders' own words:

Dear Sister Seet,

Thank you for asking. I feel very strong that my husband and I are here for a purpose. What that purpose is I don't know but I do feel that the Lord's will is in this and that he is guiding me.

My husband retired from his job in 2007. Not long after he talked to me about putting in for an overseas assignment. Just the thought of that brought me to tears because I couldn't imagine leaving my home, family, Ward, and friends. I thought that was the end of it.

During the next year many things happened to me personally, professionally and emotionally that when my husband broached the subject once again I felt such a strong desire to get up and immediately go to the computer and see what job postings there might be available. There were two, one to Jakarta and one for Kuala Lumpur. Without a moment's hesitation I started to post for both positions. I knew next to nothing about either location except the general location. Since I had never done this before, I wasn't sure I was very competitive for the job. It was after I had posted for both of these positions that my husband and I decided to make this a matter of prayer. We knelt down and prayed about the decision we had just made and asked the Lord to help us know if this was right. We both felt an overwhelming feeling that we were being guided by the Lord to do this.

After I posted, I got online to see what I could learn about each location. The more I read about KL the more I hoped and prayed that I would be selected for that post. About two months later, I received an e-mail that was given to my Human Resource Director in my office. It stated that I had been selected for the Jakarta position. I was so excited but at the same time felt so strongly about KL. I called and left messages informing my headquarters that I gladly accepted Jakarta, but that if there was any chance that I could possibly have KL that would be my first choice. I got a call back a week later and they told me they never do this but that the Administrative Assistant position in KL needed someone sooner than Jakarta's did and if I would be willing to leave sooner I could have the KL position. I accepted gladly.

After I accepted this new position, Scott and I had eight long months before we could leave to come here. There were many trainings to attend in preparation for this assignment. I started to feel the stress of leaving home, family and friends. The amount of preparation it took seemed at times overwhelming. I was getting a lot of pressure from my boss not to leave and yet never once did I feel like changing my mind. In fact, I told my boss, who is also a member of the LDS faith that I knew the Lord was guiding me and Scott and we had prayed about this and I wasn't going to go back and ask him again because I already knew what he wanted and it wasn't going to change.

So here we are for what purpose I don't know but what I do know is that we love it here. We love the city, we love the people, we love the food. We feel like we are living a dream come true. Each week brings another adventure, like taking the trains to go visiting teaching. One of the wonderful surprises has been how wonderful the branch is. How impressive the teachers are, so knowledgeable and well prepared. How insightful the members are. Maybe we are here just to learn from you.

I love the Gospel and I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel the Lord with me constantly and know that each of us has a purpose here. I am grateful to have this opportunity to live a different life for a short while.

Sister Tobi Sanders