Beauty

A scripture about the kind of woman I intend to be:

"And our glorious Mother Eve, with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshipped the true and living God" (D&C 138:39).

A True Statement

"He will help us when we help ourselves according to how He has already helped us."

-A conclusion reached by the best companion a missionary could ask for and me during a companion study directed by the Spirit of the Lord.

Some Thoughts on Healing

"O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made. Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God..And now, is not this grievous to be borne? And is not this, our affliction, great? Now behold, how great reason we have to mourn...But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage" (Mosiah 7:18-19, 23, 33).

"Surely [God] matches with His own the tears His children shed."
"Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life are very deep, and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them."
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, An High Priest of Good Things to Come)

"The second lesson of the Atonement is ... that God 'has a forgiving disposition,' that Christ 'is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering, and full of goodness.' Mercy, with its sister virtues of repentance and forgiveness, is at the very heart of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Everything in the gospel teaches us that we can change if we really want to, that we can be helped if we truly ask for it, that we can be made whole, whatever the problems of the past ... To succor means 'to run to.' I testify that Christ will run to us, is running even now, if we will but receive the extended arm of His mercy. When we stagger or stumble, He is there to steady and strengthen us. In the end He is there to save us, and for all this He gave His life."
(Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Teaching, Preaching, and Healing)

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not" (D&C 6:36)
"Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing -- yea even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibles to the extent thereof. Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness?" (D&C 19:38-39)

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matthew 11:28-30).

"That man is greatest and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely approaches the pattern of the Christ. This has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power, or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the Master, Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth, and the abundant life" (President Ezra Taft Benson).

See also:
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Broken Things to Mend
Elder Richard G. Scott, To Heal the Shattering Consequences of Abuse
Elder Robert D. Hales
Elaine Marshall, Learning the Healer's Art
Unanswered Yet?
Come, Ye Disconsolate
Helaman 5
Romans 8
Isaiah 54
St. John 17

More of My Soul's Desire

Heavenly Father is the Master of communication. The other night I was all in a dither...I just felt so incongruent. There were things in my life that I didn't understand and that made me nervous. I had talked with my roommate Tammy, and that helped a little. Then I sat and played the piano for a while. The strains of "I Need Thee Every Hour" calmed my nerves slightly; mostly they just expressed the truth about my situation. Truly, I needed my Father.

I got ready for the night and then knelt next to my bed. As I began my nightly prayer, my pleas were somewhat "vain repetitious." My leg had a bit of a muscle twitch and I gently tapped the night stand next to my bed. Unexpectedly I heard a loud crash; it caused me to jump and look. One of my pictures on the shelf of the stand had fallen down. I quickly picked it up and put it back without really looking at it and returned to my prayer. The muscle twitched again, and once again I heard a crash. Looking over, I noticed that the same picture had fallen again. That picture has never fallen before nor since, even when I climb on the night stand to get into bed (which is extra tall). This time when I picked it up I looked at the scripture written next to a painting of Christ helping two children out of a rushing river. "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not" (D&C 6:36). 

Like I wrote at the start of this post, Heavenly Father is the Master of communication. Either I wasn't listening to anything else or He just really wanted to make His point in a tender and somewhat comical way. Whatever the motive for this method, I got the intended message. It was that I was not praying as He had taught me to pray. I stopped my racing thoughts and took a few deep breaths. Then I looked to my Savior. Together He and I started over, and I prayed this time in His name. My words were what He would have me pray, and it wasn't really what I was expecting to ask for -- it was better. He is so good to me!

I told Tammy later that I didn't really resolve anything that was racing through my mind, but I was on good relationship terms with my Father in Heaven, which is really all that matters anyway. Last night I read this in 1 Nephi 18:21, "And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord; and after I had prayed ... there was a great calm."

Random Act of Kindness

Today I went to the temple. Provo is closed for two weeks for regular maintenance/cleaning, so I went instead to the Timpanogos Temple in American Fork. The bus service is limited on Saturday, so I ended up walking about a mile and a half up hill to the temple. About 1/4 of the way there, a car passed me, then flipped around and stopped. The girl inside rolled down her window and asked, "Are you going to the temple? Do you want a ride?" I was so surprised and pleased! What a sweet girl she was; we had a fun chat as we rode up to the temple. She mentioned that she had thought about stopping but ignored the feeling. After driving past me, however, she felt again that she ought to just offer me a ride, so she did.

Did I actually need the ride? Not really; I walk all over the place, and I generally prefer walking to riding in a car. Still, Heavenly Father knew that today an offer of a ride and a short conversation with a nice person was just what He needed to get a message to me. "Come to the temple," He said. "Come and be near Me. You are welcome here." It was exactly what I needed to hear and feel. In His house I was filled with awe and exquisite peace. Words cannot describe the feelings of this day, but I will ever remember the sweetness of my Father's love. I felt it so powerfully in His temple.