Some Weeks Are Harder...

Last week was one of those tougher weeks to plow my way through. Some are just like that. But it had a positive side to it as well. A couple of weeks ago I was asked to teach the Relief Society (Women's Organization at Church) in my home ward (congregation). I love to teach lessons as Church. So this request to substitute teach for a sister who would be out-of-town was a welcome invitation. My topic was a talk given by Pres. Thomas S. Monson (Prophet & President of our Church). The title was "Be of Good Cheer". A couple of weeks ago when I was given the topic, I immediately went to lds.org and printed out a copy from the General Conference issue of the Ensign (Church magazine for the adult age group). I read it and was immediately impressed with how timely it was for me, personally. Over the next 2 weeks I read, underlined, made notes and tried to generally prepare for presenting this lesson. One of the things that fascinates me about these opportunities, well anytime you have a chance to serve at anything really, is the focus your mind and heart takes on the topic for which you are preparing. Suddenly things begin to pop out that you might have otherwise just glossed over in life. At this time I was reading my Old Testament (I'm in Psalms), the Koran (while I walk my treadmill each day) and Jeffrey R. Holland's book 'Broken Things to Mend' at the same time. I finished Elder Holland's book and began reading Dan Brown's new novel 'The Lost Symbol' during this time. These are all very interesting things to be reading at one time. David's Psalms are often a plea for forgiveness, his feelings about the love and mercy of the Lord if we just trust in him and live righteously, David also speaks Messianically a lot. Beautiful poetry even when I get lost in what he might be trying to say. This reading I'm focusing on the word 'trust' which is found in almost every Psalm. The Koran I'm reading because I want to personally know what it says. Will I remember everything I read? I can assure anyone I will not. But I'm learning things that are positive and things I truly do not agree with. I'm finding the wording interesting while reading the Old Testament at the same time. It is a fascinating book. Elder Holland's book is just a pure joy to read. He is my favorite General Authority in Church to listen to speak. I love how he turns a phrase and that he seems to say just what I need to hear. After reading the talk "Be of Good Cheer", I read more in 'Broken Things to Mend' and the very next chapter I read was a talk given by Bro. Holland that was just like the talk by Pres. Monson that I was to teach. It was thrilling to read these two things back-to-back. As my week progressed last week and it just got tougher and tougher to plow through, an interesting thing happened. I would find myself driving from Sadieville to Georgetown or the reverse of that. My CD player in my car almost always has a CD in it for me to sing along with. I love to sing in my car. I've made a holder full of CD's with my favorite songs to sing off of from CD's I own at home. It is much safer to put one of the homemade CD's in and sing through an entire CD than to be changing from one to another while I drive and only sing 3 or 4 songs of any given CD. But this week I spent my drive time talking to myself and my Heavenly Father a lot. And I found myself saying to Him, "I know there is something for me to learn from this experience. I feel strongly like we will make it through this one, that the journey will be hard, but that the end result will be for the better and lessons will be learned." I felt comfort. The difficulty did not go away but I felt a comfort and peace that allowed my head to clear and me to accomplish the next step in resolving the issues at hand. Saturday night I went to the General Relief Society Broadcast. This is sent via satellite so that all the sisters in the Church can have access to the words of our General Relief Society presidency and one of the members of the 1st Presidency of our Church. I was invited by our Pioneer Ward (congregation) to visit with them before the broadcast. They were have a pie social before the broadcast. It was great to visit with the ladies and meet and make friends with a few of them. Then we all went into the chapel and listened to the broadcast. The words were direct, encouraging, and faith-building. Pres. Henry B. Eyring, 1st Counselor in the 1st Presidency spoke to us at the end. He spoke of the Legacy of the Relief Society organization. This is the oldest female organization that I know of. It is rich in history. As Pres. Eyring spoke of this history he said, "The Society is composed of women of covenant who did not take themselves around the storms of life but directly into them." If you know anything about the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you know about the Mormon Pioneers and their struggles. These people were kicked out of Kirtland, Ohio, then Missouri, then Nauvoo, Illinois. Then they crossed the plains in wagons and handcarts. Some took their journey by boat around the tip of South America and landed in California and came across from there. Others marched with the Mormon Battalion as requested by the US Government and then came up from Southern California. Everywhere they went they built anew their communities. They were beautiful communities with hard-working, honest, caring people. They always left their homes and cities in better shape than what the land had been when they arrived. They always started from nothing and built beautiful cities and communities. I love these stories. Claude has direct relatives that fit into these stories. I do not but I feel a part of this legacy created and left for those in the Church today. As I heard Pres. Eyring's words I felt that I was 'walking through the storm of my current life and not around it'. The intermediate hymn at the Saturday evening broadcast was "How Firm a Foundation". I love the 3rd verse of this hymn. Many years ago when I was just barely pregnant with Andie and we lived in Southern California, I was on the Relief Society stake board. I was privileged to go to one of the last General Relief Society Conferences in Salt Lake City with the ladies on our stake Relief Society board. As I sat in the tabernacle one of the General Authorities who spoke counseled us to memorize the words of hymns so they could be recalled in times of needs and be a source of strength to us. The hymn sung in the meeting after that address was 'How Firm a Foundation'. As the tabernacle full of ladies sang the words to the 3rd verse, it immediately became my favorite. Those words are..."Fear not, I am with thee, Oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand, upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand." These words are taken from Isaiah 41:10. Saturday night I also noted the words at the end of the 2nd verse. They are..."As thy days may demand so thy succor shall be." Now, that word succor was one I was fascinated with for years. You just don't hear it a lot. When I was teaching New Testament in Seminary years ago, and my memory is that we were learning about the Prodigal Son, I came across a definition for the word 'succor'. We were told it means 'to run to'. In the story of the Prodigal Son the father is watching for this son who is lost. He sees him a way off and 'runs to him'. He doesn't wait for the son to come to him, he runs to the son. The word 'succor' comes from the Latin word 'succurrere' according to my Webster's dictionary. The Latin word is made up of 2 parts. The 1st part is 'sub' meaning 'under. The 2nd is 'currere' meaning 'to run'. The intent is to assist, aid, help, relieve someone who has gone under or below or is in need of being lifted up. You would do that by running to them or reaching out to them. I felt this week that that is what Heavenly Father was trying to convey to me, a sense of comfort even though I must continue through the difficulty. He didn't take the difficulty away, I still need to endure and learn, but He does comfort and sustain or succor me and I progress through the difficulty. The final verse to the hymn is verse #7. It is written well out of the staff of music with verses 4-6. But for the broadcast they had us sing verses 1-3 and verse 7. These are the words..."The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes; That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake!" I knew as I sang those words that I was being sustained and the tender mercies of a loving Heavenly Father were washing over me. I felt peace. What a blessing. Pres. Monson's talk "Be of Good Cheer" was spot on for me. I was able to teach with a firmness of conviction regarding his message. He was counseling us that we live in a time when it is very easy to be filled, almost consumed, with fear and dread over what is happening in our country and world. But he counseled us to focus on the blessings we have from living in this day and time and from our membership in the Lord's Church. I felt the power of his teaching as I lived through last week and I'll continue to feel these this week and through my life. I know that this mortal probation is but a spot in eternity. But it is such an important spot. To come to earth, take on a mortal body, and then live so that this physical, natural part of me comes into alignment with the spirit part of me and that I am doing and living a righteous life and can be worthy of returning to a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. What strength and purpose these beliefs bring to my life. Life can be hard. It can sometimes seem like it doesn't make sense and why go on the way I am. But I do believe that there is purpose and growth that come from enduring through adversity and being still enough at times to feel the love and care coming from above in each tender mercy.