Tonight I concluded I should at least read my lesson I'm to teach on Sunday, seeing as I haven't had a chance to even look at it due to the craziness of the week (again, more details coming later). Instead of digging out my book, I decided to use my iPad!
I was in the General Conference talks section (where I had left it from the night before). It was the October 1998 Conference. I randomly selected a talk, which happened to be by Elder Hales entitled, "Healing Soul and Body".
Amazed at what I was seeing--the "chances" of me randomly choosing this specific topic at this specific time is no coincidence to me. As I read, I found AMAZING words of wisdom that brought added peace to my life this night.
This first one is a quote (quoted by Elder Hales) by Elder Orson F. Whitney in 1966:
"No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God, … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire”
(quoted in Improvement Era, Mar. 1966, 211). [Robert D. Hales, 1998 October General Conference, Healing Soul and Body]
And this next quote is what truly stuck with me out of the entire talk. It is now one of my favorite quotes! I know Pres. Uchtdorf spoke something similar to this in a recent Conference address, but I don't recall what the title of the talk is right off the top of my head. (If you know, please leave a comment and let me know! Thanks you!)
"I have come to understand how useless it is to dwell on the whys, what ifs, and if onlys for which there likely will be given no answers in mortality. To receive the Lord’s comfort, we must exercise faith. The questions Why me? Why our family? Why now? are usually unanswerable questions. These questions detract from our spirituality and can destroy our faith. We need to spend our time and energy building our faith by turning to the Lord and asking for strength to overcome the pains and trials of this world and to endure to the end for greater understanding."
[Robert D. Hales, 1998 October General Conference, Healing Soul and Body. Emphasis added.
There have been some major changes that have taken place in my
life today. But--as in all times of trial, struggle, or change--this is our time to not ask the question of WHY, but instead ask the question "What can I learn from this experience?"
And I promise you, having seen this doctrine work in my own life, you WILL receive the peace and assurance you need to press forward with faith into the darkness, knowing at some point the light will eventually shine.
Until that point comes: Simply endure with faith that the Lord has a plan and He knows what is best for each of us, even in times when we don't even know ourselves--most especially in these times. He created us, He knows us better than we do. But most importantly, He loves us. He truly wants the best for each of us and can see our potential, but we must act in faith, believing He knows the path.
I know that He does have a plan and He will lead us to the path we are to take in this life.
So act on your faith! Take that step into the unknown, trusting the Lord will show you where you need to be.
And in His own time...
He will.
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