Great Message from Elder Holland

Do We Really Know How Someone is Feeling?

Yesterday was Sunday as we attended our church meetings.  I have been thinking lately how little we know about people.  We can sit in church and see the smiling faces of those attending with us, but do we really know what is going on inside their hearts?

As you read the Book of Mormon and you think of Nephi, you picture a great prophet, strong, talented, obedient, maybe even handsome. He might have had all things going for him.  Yet he had trials just like we all do.  Some of his family members hated him.  He had to do some very hard things like living in a wilderness and killing Laban.  He made mistakes and he got depressed.  In 2 Nephi 4:17-35 he tells how his heart weeped because of his sins and the problems he was having.  When Nephi was sad he knew where to turn.  He began to count his blessings and he turned to the Lord in prayer and trusted in Him.

Things are not always going to be just the way we like it.  There will be problems to face and dispair to overcome.  We need to do as Nephi did and count our blessing, then turn to the Lord in prayer and put out trust in Him.  Two of my favorite thoughts are hanging on the wall of my office.  They are important to remember every day.

"There is always, always, always something to be grateful for" and

"When life gets to be more that you can stand...Kneel."

"Come unto me all ye that labour or are heavy leaden"

We had an experience in our family that has really made me think of how much our Savior and our friend loves us.
When Emily was a little girl she was very afraid of bugs, especially spiders. Many times we would have to kill any bugs or spiders that she found in her bedroom before she would even go back into her room.
The end of August of this year the house she was living in became infested with bed bugs. She would call in a panic and up date us as to where the bugs had spread. One time she called in tears and said there one only one room left between her and the bed bugs. This problem came at a time when she was already stressed getting ready to start a new semester at school.
The girls in the house began to prepare for an exterminator to come in. They had to wash all their bedding and clothing and put everything but their furniture into garbage bags. The day that the exterminator came and they couldn’t go into the house until after 7:00 at night. She spent from after work at 5:00 until 8:00 sitting in her car reading. When she finally went into the house she was tired, the house was dark, the furniture in her room and in the house was turned upside down, and there was no one home. It was more than she could handle. She called in tears, so I talked her into going to our son Joe and his wife Krystle’s house. Joe and Krystle were at a movie but they told her where the extra key was. It was dark and she couldn’t find the latch to their back gate so she used the light from her cell phone. As she shone the light, there right by her hand was in her words “the biggest cat spider she had ever seen”. That put her right over the edge. I couldn’t calm her down over the phone but made arrangements for her to go to our other son Matt’s house. Matt gave her a blessing, which calmed her and she spent the night.
The next day after she got off work, she came home and as she walked in the door I gave her a big hug and just held her for a moment. Then she said the most astounding thing. She said. “Thanks for letting me come home. My roommates parents won’t let them come home until after the bed bugs are gone.”
I have thought about that comment. We sometimes have bed bugs in our lives. They could be sins that we have committed. They could be difficulties brought on by our own poor choices. They could be hurts that have been inflicted on us by others. Or they could be health, financial, family, spiritual, emotional, or physical problems that seem to be a part of life.
Never at any time has our Savior said, “When the bed bugs are gone you can come unto me. Just the opposite, in Matthew 11: 28-29 He says “Come unto me all ye that labour or are heavy leaden and I will give you rest. Take my yolk upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall found rest unto your souls.”
Even when we are overcome with bed bugs of sin, he doesn’t turn us away. In D&C 101: 9 says “… notwithstanding their sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards them. I will not utterly cast them off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy.” Of course we will need to repent, like the girls had to wash there bedding, but then our Savior’s atonement takes over, much like the exterminator coming into the house.
Sometimes when we are in the midst of these problems and afflictions our faith fails and we wonder; “does the Savior really care about me and what I am going through?” I had a time when I felt like that. During that time I opened my scriptures to a random page and found this scripture. To me as I read this scripture it was as if the Lord was speaking to me. It’s in D&C 38:7-9 it reads: “But behold, verily, verily, I say unto you that mine eyes are upon you. I am in your midst and ye cannot see me.”
This scripture brought to me great comfort and I knew that no matter what I was going through, my Savior and my friend was there. I know that we can always, through our prayers come home to our Savior no matter what our problems or our sins may be.

Wait out the Storms

Last night we had at over 6 inches of fluffy snow fall softly down. This afternoon the wind started to blow and that fluffy white snow began to blow too.  When you looked out the window you couldn't see anything but white. For a few hours that wind blew with all it's might.  Then the wind suddenly stopped.  It reminded me that sometimes as we go through this life storms start to blow and for a little while we might get discouraged. We can't see where to go or we don't know what to do.  If we can just hold on for a little while the winds will stop and the way will be visible again.  

In Proverbs 3:5-6 it says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  That is what faith is all about.  Trust in the Lord and just hold on. He will lead you through any storms or trials that may come to you in this life.

"Mine House is a House of Order" (D&C 132:8)

I love to do a puzzle during Christmas holidays.  When you pour all the pieces out it's just a jumble of shapes and colors.  You look at all those pieces and you can either look on it as a challenge or you can quit.

Sometime the pieces of our lives are a big jumble.  Just like putting one piece of the puzzle is at a time we need to put our lives in order one piece at a time.  For example when you are given a task or an assignment do one step at a time and when that is done move on to the next step.  The same goes for paying down a debt (a dollar at a time), getting into shape (one day at a time) or for cleaning and organizing you house (one room at a time.)  As tasks are tackled a little at a time things eventually fall into place.

In the process you will find that with each small step the task gets a little easier and it doesn't seem so daunting.  When the task if finally completed and you look back on all those little steps you will be amazed at how much you have learned and grown through out the process.