I came alone to Canada in 2016 to attend middle school. Thank God that during that time, I was brought under the care of my uncle and his family, because they lived in Toronto. It was the first time I got to know my aunt, Grace Cho, personally. Aunt Grace is Korean and she married my uncle, who is Taiwanese. Together, they moved to Canada a few years after their marriage.
Aunt Grace came to Canada because my uncle wanted to live here. Even though she knew that there would be challenges living in a country that was new to her, she still submitted to her husband, and came to Canada together as one body. Initially, it was difficult for Aunt Grace: she experienced loneliness because her friends and family were not in Canada. However, Toronto Church became like her family, and the love of the Church gave her courage and strength to face hard times. Not only did Aunt Grace experience love from the church, but the love of God also inspired her to love others. This ties in with her favorite Bible verse, Hosea 3:3, which records, "And I said to her, ‘You shall stay with me many days; you shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man—so, too, will I be toward you.’" Aunt Grace likes this verse because she can feel God’s indefinite and unconditional love towards the Israelites. Although the Israelites played the harlot against God by worshiping idols and betraying God countless times, God still loved the Israelites. This is revealed by how He instructed Hosea to take a prostitute as wife. Therefore, after Aunt Grace experienced how God cared for her family in Canada, she was able to pass this love onto the people around her.
My first and vivid impression of my aunt was that she is a loving person, and that impression has not changed until now. Firstly, her love was an empathetic love. Due to the fact that I had to live without my parents in a foreign country, she tried to make me feel at home in the new family. I feel that because she was empathetic to my situation, her love did not cause any discomfort to me. For example, although my uncle and I are a family, I still felt unfamiliar with my uncle’s family. Aunt Grace gave me some space to emotionally adjust by not rushing to know me personally or asking me burdensome questions. Her actions were similar to the Good Samaritan’s, when he showed sympathy for the stranger: "...he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him." (Lk 10:34). My aunt was considerate of a person’s needs. Therefore, she was able to show her care in the right way and at the right time.
Secondly, my aunt’s love was manifested through her actions. She showed love in physical terms, like preparing meals, teaching the Korean language (although I forgot), and making lanyards for the masks. She also gave mental support, such as keeping track of the family’s condition by asking about everyone’s day. And most importantly, my aunt makes sure that the family goes to church every Sabbath and that the children attend Religious Education classes. Through her actions, Aunt Grace has manifested the fruits of love that are not based on words alone. I believe we are all familiar with one of the themes in the book of James: our faith should be accompanied by works (James 1:22-25, 2:26). Elder James reminded us that if we see someone physically in need and we only say, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled" without giving him the things he needs, what does it profit? (James 2:14-17) Therefore, instead of being bystanders, we should use the possessions and love the Lord has blessed us with to love others.
The third type of love I saw in Aunt Grace was motherly love. Even though I am not biologically her son, I know that she treated me as her own child. Whenever the family is eating meals, doing chores, going to church, celebrating birthdays, or doing any other activities, she makes me participate. Additionally, she makes sure her children abide by the teachings of the Bible. Whenever my cousins or I did something wrong, she would directly point out our errors, not willing to let us continue with our mistakes. Another interesting observation I had was how the mood of the whole house shifted based on her tone of voice. Since Aunt Grace is mellow and entertaining, her voice makes everyone in the house feel joyful and warm. A meal with her chatting adds more taste to the food. All of these examples of love correspond to a virtuous mother by how "She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness " (Proverbs 31:26).
During my stay with my aunt’s family, I learned that love is influential. If God, the source of all love and grace, dwells in our hearts, even a small act of love can stir up the faith that is inside the people around us. One of the best testimonies we can bear for Jesus is to proactively love all men. For Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35). Thus, to be qualified as Christians and disciples of the Lord Jesus, we must learn to love everyone according to the truth.
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