• Josephine Ortega was traveling in Nevada when she learned that a family in her hometown in Texas was looking for a lost stuffed animal
• Josephine was only an hour away from the hotel and decided to pick it up and bring it home
• The mother of two children documented the adventures of the stuffed monkey home in hilarious pictures
• After returning the stuffed animal to the boy, his mother Yvette Ortega posted a video of the story on TikTok

Josephine Ortega was traveling with her boyfriend in Nevada when she received a Facebook message from a sister at her church saying that a mother from her Texas congregation was desperately looking for someone to pick up a stuffed monkey that her son had left at a hotel in Anaheim, California – just an hour’s drive from where her boyfriend lives.

At the time, the couple was on a trip to Nevada and wanted to visit Indian reservations and enjoy seafood. However, when Josephine, the mother of two little girls, saw the message, she immediately decided to help.

“His mother told me the hotel wasn’t willing to send it back,” Josephine, 22, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “She had tried to arrange shipping, but they said someone would have to pick it up in person.”

“I thought God just works mysterious ways,” she adds. “I thought, ‘Let’s do this for this child.’ I couldn’t ignore the fact that if my children were in this situation, I would want someone to do the same for me.”

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That day, Josephine and her boyfriend left Nevada and headed back to California. When they arrived at the hotel, Josephine went to the front desk and told the staff that she was there to pick up the stuffed monkey. The hotel staff contacted the mother, Yvette Ortega, who gave them permission to take the stuffed animal. After securing the monkey, Josephine texted Yvette, “We got the monkey! We got the monkey!”

At that moment, Josephine remembered how the nine-year-old boy named Derek had cried for his monkey. Before she went home, she decided to send Yvette a photo of the stuffed animal so she could share it with Derek.

After sending the first photo, Josephine came up with the idea of ​​documenting the stuffed monkey’s journey back to Derek in the hope of cheering him up.

Some of the photos she took during the monkey’s trip back to Texas show him on the car ride to the airport, drinking Dr. Pepper and watching Minions She watched movies on the plane that she didn’t know were his favorites.

“I didn’t know Derek loved Minions or that he was a fan of Dr. Pepper,” says Josephine. “The mother mentioned that his favorite movie minions. As for Dr. Pepper, I’m not a fan, but that day I had a sudden craving for it. So I decided to get a Dr. Pepper and include it in the picture with the monkey to make the trip a little more fun and exciting.”

“But I have to admit,” Josephine adds with a laugh, “I almost lost the monkey three more times during the whole trip. He kept falling down and I kept looking for him and saying: ‘No! Where are you?'”

After landing in Texas, Josephine texted Yvette to arrange a meeting. When she arrived at the meeting point, Josephine recalls, Yvette told her son to get out of the car, and then Josephine walked up to Derek and said, “I heard you’re missing someone little.”

Josephine immediately remembers Derek coming up to her and giving her and the monkey a big hug.

“The moment I returned the monkey, I saw him smile again,” says Josephine. “Even though it was just a material thing, it meant a lot to him. His happiness overwhelmed me. I was grateful to see that smile and thought about how my children would feel if they had lost something very important to them. I would wish someone would do the same for my children.”

After presenting the stuffed animal, Yvette gave Josephine a gift that she appreciated but felt was unnecessary. “I told her, ‘You don’t have to do this. I’m not doing it for anything. I’m doing it for your child,'” Josephine adds.

Before the exchange, Josephine had kept the monkey’s return a secret from Derek, hoping to surprise him. After getting the monkey back, Yvette collected all the pictures Josephine had sent and posted them on Facebook and TikTok for Derek to see.

To Josephine’s surprise, the TikTok video has since gone viral with over 500,000 views and 2,000 comments.

“When she posted it, I thought she only posted it on Facebook, and that was fine with me. But then I saw it on TikTok and I cried when I read the comments,” says Josephine. “Even though I didn’t want it to be public, I’m grateful. Really, because I made a difference.”

Josephine also showed the video to her daughters and explained the story behind it. When she read some of the comments, she remembered them saying, “Mommy, you are an angel.”

“This story made me happy because I’m showing my kids how to be kind and considerate. That’s what really made me happy – not the comments, but that I’m setting an example for my kids.”

Josephine is now planning a playdate between her daughters and Derek. She has also invited Yvette to her church in the hope that they can build a connection. “I told her, ‘You are welcome to come to my church. I would love for you to join in and get to know us better. But if that’s not for you, I understand.'”

Josephine adds: “We may not be related by blood, but in spirit we have become family through this experience.”