Come What May

 “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell” (2 Nephi 33:6). One night while out for a walk I found myself looking out at the top of the hill.  The moon and the stars shone beautifully above me, and the lights from the city glowed below.  I was suddenly very impressed by the strength of the light coming at me in so many different directions.  Even in the darkness of night, light was everywhere. I am sometimes depressed thinking about the political and civil unrest flooding the world, disasters and accidents, dishonesty and immorality, diseases and infirmities, corruption, poverty, abuse, and oppression which has filled so many corners of the earth.  There are a lot of dark places, even and sometimes especially in our most private and personal spaces. I was always a little afraid of the dark.  I was the kid that had to leap into bed from across the room to avoid the scary monsters hiding ...

"Fear not little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world…” (D&C 50:41). Because of particular circumstances both in my personal life and in my work online as a FamilySearch service missionary I have the enlightening opportunity to talk to all kinds of frustrated people.  These friends and strangers are discouraged by limitations or glitches, by family or friends, by foolish mistakes and bad days, by circumstances both within and beyond their control.  I join them in the rankings. Some days I feel like an embarrassing disaster happening right before your eyes.  Recently, while helping a man remedy some errors he made in his family history he sighed discouraged and said, “Can I just delete it all and start over?”  The next day as I reflected on several events of the past week I found myself sighing and thinking the same.  “Can I just delete it all and start over?”  The disappointing answer that came to us both: no. We live i...

“For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). In Genesis the Lord promises Abraham that he will be a father of nations and his wife Sarah will be a mother of nations.  That was probably a confusing promise.  They were old, they had no children; how could a 90-year-old, infertile woman have a son?  I imagine it was difficult to understand, but as they trusted in Heavenly Father all of the blessings promised to Abraham and Sarah were brought to pass.  They did have a son and they did become the parents of nations, but I doubt the process was quite what they anticipated. In August I was a missionary in Chile.  I had been ill for nearly a month and the mission was making plans to send me home.  During this time I asked for a Priesthood blessing.  In this blessing I was told that I would go home to recover so that I could return to the mission field with greater strength.  As difficult as it was to leave, I took great comfort knowing...

“Though we may feel we are “like a broken vessel,” as the Psalmist says, we must remember, that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter.  Broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken -hearts are healed.  While God is at work making those repairs, the rest of us can help by being merciful, nonjudgmental, and kind” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.) My 20 th birthday was spent in a bed.  Not because I was lazy, not because I was sleepy, but because I was sick and it hurt too much to move.  I am so blessed so I'm not trying to complain, but needless to say it was not the pleasantest of birthdays and since that day I can see that my illness has aged me.  Loud noises make me cringe, large gatherings make me tired, I prefer to stay at home than not, and sometimes I wish there weren’t quite so many party invitations to turn down.  Some people might think my six months of professional treatment should’ve been enough, that it is time to sna...

I feel we need to devote more of our prayers to expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving for blessings already received.  We enjoy so much" (President Ezra Taft Benson). A few weeks ago on one of my daily walks I saw a few runners go by and thought to myself, “I wish I could go on a run!”  After all, I used to be able to; running, backpacking, hiking, all kinds of things.  I started thinking about some of my broken dreams.  Because besides my mediocre health I didn’t finish my mission, I had to abandon a promising military academy application, I still couldn’t go to school, my social life was lame, and my 6 months of partial isolation from the world were making it difficult to function in it.  (Naturally feelings of self-pity began to surface). Then I shook my head and thought about how I lucky I was to be on a walk.  After all, I couldn’t always go walking every day!  Lots of people can’t go on walks.  Lots of people are much less fortun...

“God help the outcasts, the hungry from birth.  Show them the mercy they don’t find on earth…God help my people, the poor and down trod.  I thought we all were the Children of God” (Esmerelda). The other day I re-watched Disney’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame (which I know is a very loose interpretation of Victor Hugo’s much darker Hunchback) but let me just say that it was fantastic. I have been a fan of Disney movies my whole life and in all these stories the heroes and heroines are trying to find out where they belong in the world.  They are different, they are outcasts in society, but they also have admirable qualities that carry them through their personal struggles and lead them to the “happily ever after.”  In my opinion one of the most admirable and most relatable of these heroes is Quasimodo. He doesn’t get the girl, he isn’t reunited with his long lost parents, he undergoes no physical transformations, he inherits no riches, he rules no kingdoms,...

“In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer” (Isaiah 54:8). In moments of confusion and distress I often hear the comforting words: “Well, everything happens for a reason.”  That is so very true.  But in my moments of confusion and distress I usually don't want to hear it. Is it my lack of faith? My angry heart? My lack of perspective?  I know that everything happens for a reason.  I realize God didn't send us here to be tested for His own amusement.  He doesn't let us struggle without purpose. Everything happens for a reason.  It only makes sense; but for me the hard part comes in living through the pain until I better understand the reason and my understanding doesn't always come in a day or two. I believe someday we will learn the lesson; the sun always comes out after rain; but the pain of the present is also very real. As the Savior knelt ...