Love = Courage

 

 

It is relatively easy to be courageous for a moment. Most people can be brave for an hour or a day. In moments fueled by pure adrenaline, ordinary people can accomplish incredible feats. It is the daily courage required to face sustained pressure and trial that is rare. It is the constant courage it requires to love someone so completely with a vulnerable heart that is truly awe-inspiring. At first glance, I may not appear to be a courageous person. I don't take daring risks or have a career where I do dangerous things, but we all have courage in our way. You make me brave, love. Loving you allows me a courage that is beyond myself. Perhaps love is just another synonym for courage. The courage to let someone in, to trust them with your whole soul, to depend on them when things get tough, and to give your heart away. Yes, love is courage.

Forces for Good

Service always makes me happy. I know that's not why we should do it, but it's true that it does. And beyond that, with the increasing opportunities to serve I find that it is within those places that I find true beauty and some of the greatest goodness. I had the chance to volunteer several places on Thursday, with my hospice patients doing music therapy, at the Mesa temple, and packing food with Feed My Starving Children.  We hear often about the dark despair in the world today- the news is full of horrible crimes, discrimination and prejudice, political corruption, and all kinds of evil. In a world surrounded by all that, it may at times be challenging to find the very best people have to offer. It has long been my belief that while dark times bring out the worst in people, they also bring out the best of mankind.

I see that as I sing to my sweet hospice patients. As they near the end of this mortal life, more often than not there is some pain and hardship, but at the same time you find those caregivers who compassionately serve through all of it. You can feel the sweetness of peace as they reflect over lives well-lived and families well-loved. And I am reassured time and time again that the mortal life is not the end, rather it is the beginning. That the pain they feel now, whatever physical or mental deformities they have, will be healed and made perfect in the resurrection. Because of them, I feel like I can be a force for good in this world; I can take the wisdom they share with me to bless others.

As I serve regularly in the temple, I never cease to marvel at the complete peace and protection the temple brings. Many temples are in the midst of busy cities, yet within those walls the voices of the world fade away and you can center yourself again with Heavenly Father. Not only that, but as I go regularly to do work for my ancestors, to allow them the opportunity to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, I am uplifted by an immeasurable joy. Never am I more aware that I am in the temple that I am part of a very large family--I feel connected not only to living relatives, but I have come to know my great-great grandparents (and way beyond that). As I discovered a woman eight generations ago in Ireland whose 5 year old daughter died while she was pregnant with her second little girl, I cried for her and rejoiced with all my heart when I was able to perform the sealing work for that family.

Within the past six weeks or so, I was introduced to a wonderful non-profit organization called Feed My Starving Children. "Founded in 1987, Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) is a Christian non-profit organization committed to feeding God's children hungry in body and spirit. The approach is simple: volunteers hand-pack meals specially formulated for malnourished children, and we send them to partners around the world where they're used to operate orphanages, schools, clinics and feeding programs to break the cycle of poverty. FMSC food has reached more than 70 countries in our history." In a world in which 6,200 children die from malnutrition and starvation every day, we have the opportunity to make a difference and to change that statistic.While we obsess so much about appearance, fashion and beauty in our society, some of the most beautiful people I have met work all day in hairnets, little make-up, and jeans and T-shirts to pack and ship meals for children around the world.

These thoughts of reflection and gratitude were already simmering when I saw the news yesterday morning regarding the memorial services held in Armenia and Turkey to commemorate the Armenian genocide 100 years ago. A devastating tragedy in all respects, not only in the millions of lives lost, but in the respect that we did not learn from it quickly enough to stop the Holocaust and the acts of genocide committed around the world from Russia to the Dominican Republic. But again, during the darkest hours the brightest lights can be seen. One American man in the midst of the Armenian genocide managed to save over 250,000 people. Miep Gies, Oskar Schindler and Corrie ten Boom are some of the well known rescuers of the Holocaust, along with thousands more like the Danish fisherman who hid Jews on their boats to take them over to Sweden and Norway for refuge. Incredible acts of compassion and heroism, both published and relatively unknown, can be found when the goodness of man rises up to fight the darkness.

I would be naive if I didn't acknowledge the amount of greed, corruption, filth, cruelty, and evil in this world, but I would be foolish not to recognize that at the same time the forces of light, truth, courage, and kindness are just as strong. And when I serve (and you serve) I put myself not only to in places to find those sources, but also on the path to become a source of goodness.

If you are looking for opportunities to serve near you, whether it be a regular thing or a big service project, here are some websites that are wonderful resources : JustServe , Volunteer Match,  and Create the Good. 

Thoughts From Elder Andersen

Elder Neil L Andersen of the Twelve Apostles gave a fireside last night in my stake (well, hosted by my stake but with 5 YSA stakes invited). I got third row seats, right in the center in front of the podium less than ten feet away from him. I've had the privilege to interact with a few apostles before- in the MTC Elder Perry came, then 10 of the 12 came during mission president's training week and I shook hands with Elder Cook, Elder Ballard came to my mission, etc. Each of them carry such a powerful spirit and testimony of Christ. And a sense of humor. He shared with us that they refer to him and Elder Bednar as "the children" since they are the youngest in age. And he shared an example of President Monson's wit in a story- This last September, President Packer and Elder Nelson both turned 90, joining Elder Perry in the 90's. At their weekly meeting, Elder Perry was very excited and announced that is was a historic day. President Monson asked why and he responded that for the first time since the Restoration, three of the twelve apostles were over 90 years old. Without missing a beat, President Monson answered, " Well, the Lord can change that." I think we all laughed for a good two minutes!

Elder Andersen had asked us to prepare for the fireside by thinking about the lessons we had learned from conference and how to apply them. He shared with us that as members of the Church we are swimming upstream in society against the trends and beliefs at large. He shared some statistics with us about faith and how the trend is that fewer people believe in God and Christ, then facts about marriage and family as more people cohabit before marriage and have children out of wedlock. He followed each of those with quotes from conference on the power of faith and the centrality of the family. Several times he had his wife, Kathy, speak to us and share some of her thoughts on the subject. He told us that she taught him the importance of conference and then she shared that early in their marriage they decided to base all their FHE's on the general conference talks. She had gone to the store to copy the general conference talks from the Ensign so each child could have a copy of the words of the prophets and apostles. She was a little shocked with the cashier told her the cost was almost $50 which was substantial almost 30 years ago. But then she had the thought "What is it worth to have the words of the prophets?"

Another thing he said really stuck a chord with me- "Where am I going to invest my spirit?" With all the distractions of the world, with access to so many opportunities, it takes constant discernment and attention to the Spirit to know where we should invest our time, energy, and spirits. As I try to focus on what the Lord would have me focus on at each stage of my life, it is tremendously important to recognize where I invest myself.

I know Elder Andersen is an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.And I also can say that I didn't need to see or meet him to confirm that for myself. With all my heart I know that President Monson is the Lord's mouthpiece and living prophet on the Earth and that each member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is called of God to witness of Christ. How grateful I am for their guidance, counsel and wisdom in my life!

Relevance of Truth

I've had the privilege that last couple weeks to fill in for one of my institute teachers in my New Testament class. Last week was on the book of Hebrews and this week was 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, and Jude and with the echos of this most recent General Conference in my mind the parallels were overwhelming. And by that I mean that all the topics and verses that I felt prompted to study, share, and focus on from the New Testament seemed to correlate with a talk from conference.

I love teaching the gospel. I remember in the MTC talking to one of my wonderful teachers, Hermana Tartaglia, and telling her that when I taught the gospel I felt beautiful (physically and otherwise). Beauty is light and the gospel is light and truth so it is not surprising that there is a direct correlation. Whenever I get the opportunity to teach the gospel in whatever setting I always feel that I learn much more in the preparation than I can possibly convey in the short class time available. And being the gospel geek that I tend to be, I get so excited about multiple themes, thoughts, and verses. It is humbling for me to walk into a class so excited and feel the Spirit directing the lesson in a way that I had not prepared or imagined.

As we discussed the counsel given by Peter, John, and Jude based on their unique experiences and interactions with the Savior, it was starkly evident to me that those same lessons (same doctrine etc) are being taught by living prophets and apostles today. As Peter, who might know better than most, counseled about facing fears in testifying of Christ I was reminded of Elder Bednar's talk entitled "Therefore They Hushed Their Fears". And when he continued with his wonderful counsel on relationships in 1 Peter 3, I couldn't help but think of the many talks on the same topic such as Sister Burton, Elder Perry, President Packer, and Elder Christofferson. When John talks about love (using the word love over 30x in 1 John 3-4) as a tool against apostasy I was reminded of Elder Nielsen's talk about waiting for the prodigal. And there were many other examples.

Truth is truth. No matter where it was said or who utters the words, from the shores of Galilee to the pulpit of the conference center in Salt Lake, from Peter to President Monson. And truth--absolute truth--is always relevant, always applicable no matter what generation or situation. How grateful I am to have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and to know that truth transcends time, space, race, and age.

Enduring Instead of Hanging On

Sometimes I get itchy fingers and just want to blog- but I don't necessarily have a topic. Other times I have no shortage of ideas, happenings, and thoughts, but zero motivation to write. Do you ever have this problem? This last week I ran into both back to back. First, I just wanted to blog last Thursday or Friday but with conference coming up I didn't want to post on something irrelevant because I assumed that right after conference I would overload on gushing about conference. (Before I keep going- General Conference was AMAZING!) Then after conference, with all the wonderful spiritual impressions and experiences that went along with it, I had two really bad days in which I was having trouble coping again. Oh, the circle of life.

But of all the themes and wonderful talks, one stood out for me- KEEP GOING!

Elder Clayton "Sometimes we may feel that we have lost ground, that we have made mistakes, or that our best efforts to find the Savior are not working. If you feel this way, please do not give up—ever."

Elder Wilford W. Anderson , "Keep practicing!" 

Elder Renlund "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying... If we don’t try, we’re just latter-day sinners; if we don’t persevere, we’re latter-day quitters; and if we don’t allow others to try, we’re just latter-day hypocrites"

Elder Pearson, " Enduring to the end is a hallmark of true discipleship and is essential to eternal life. But when trials and challenges come our way, we are often told to simply “hang in there.” Let me be clear: to “hang in there” is not a principle of the gospel. Enduring to the end means constantly coming unto Christ and being perfected in Him."

And with several other talks I have notes written about enduring to the end and not giving up, only to go back to the text of the talk and discover that they never said those words. The Spirit did. Clearly, the Lord knew exactly what message I needed, not just the ones I wanted to hear.

Let me clarify- I am very blessed. I have a good job, a home, a car, great friends, wonderful family, a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a deep love and gratitude for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. But life still comes with challenges and there are times I feel like I am tying a knot at the end of my rope and hanging on. I am coming to understand the difference here is not whether or not we reach the end of our "rope". We all will at one time or another. I think the change of perspective comes with what we choose to do when that time comes. Do we dangle helplessly, putting all our strength into just holding on for dear life? Or do we devote our energy to climbing back up the rope?

It's okay to struggle, to hurt, to be sad, or mad, or whatever it is. But we know that it is not God's plan for us to stay that way. Men are that they might have joy. And we cannot fully know joy until we understand sorrow and pain. The Lord is not commanding us to be instant saints, nor does He expect us to have His eternal perspective at all times. But he does expect us to keep going, to keep trying, keep practicing, continue enduring.