What One Name Taught Me About Being Known by God

By Anne Maxson

As I’ve gotten older, I have become increasingly bad at remembering people’s names. I used to be really good at connecting names and faces. Sometimes I think there may be a quota of brain space available for names and faces and I’ve gone above and beyond that number. 

I have also learned that it is much kinder to cope with the embarrassment of having to say, “I’m sorry, could you please remind me your name?” rather than trying just to pretend that you know who the person is.

When I was doing my “How Many Countries Can I Cover?” challenge during the Olympics, one of the names I did was Maria from Portugal. She was born around 1850. As I looked at Maria’s name card, I wondered, “How many people named “Maria” were born in Portugal between 1848 and 1852?” 

I did some research on the topic. Queen Maria II reigned in Portugal from 1826 until 1828 when there was a power struggle and civil unrest removed her from power. She returned to the throne from 1834 until 1853 when she died in childbirth at age 34.* I wonder if her being named Maria added to the number of people naming their daughters Maria during that time. In recent years, Portugal has averaged 5,000 babies named Maria per year. 

It is safe to say that there likely are thousands of people named Maria from Portugal born around 1850. The temple name card I had was for just one of those thousands of people named Maria. Did she feel sad that the only record someone could find of her was her name, country of birth and a guess of what year she was born? Did she feel forgotten or unnoticed?

Even though the name card could have referred to countless people, it did not. That card was for one particular individual. In the records of heaven, Maria is known, she is seen, and she is loved by her Heavenly Father.

Just as “Maria from Portugal,” we may sometimes feel lost in the crowd or unnoticed by history. But, to our Heavenly Father, we are never lost or unnoticed. During times that we may feel that way, President Nelson has provided a wonderful invitation. He said, “Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how He feels about you and your mission here on earth.” He goes on to promise, “If you ask with real intent, over time the Spirit will whisper the life-changing truth to you.”

In his talk “Spiritually Defining Memories,” Elder Neil L. Anderson said, “Along with the peaceful direction we receive from the Holy Ghost, from time to time, God powerfully and very personally assures each of us that He knows us and loves us and that He is blessing us specifically and openly.”

*If you do the math, you’ll find that Maria II  was only 7 when she first served as queen. It was interesting to learn more about this figure in Portuguese and Brazilian history.