Corbin thought it was all really fun
In the last week: our computer died, our printer bit the dust, our internet went down for a day, the dvd player started to only work occasionally, and our sound system just started to randomly shut itself down. If you want to keep your electronics safe, keep me and Clark away from them.
This is the third year that we have had baby birds. The nest is right outside our front window.
Clark and I spoke in church on Sunday. Here are our talks, if anyone is interested.
STACI
I was asked to speak on a talk given by Elder Wirthlin at the October conference last year, called, “Come What May, and Love It.” When Elder Wirthlin was a young boy he played a lot of sports. And there was one day when his football team lost a hard game. He was feeling pretty discouraged. And he went home to tell his mom about the game.
Elder Wirthlin said that the advice his mother gave him, stayed with him his entire life. She told him, “Joseph, come what may, and love it.”
Everyone experiences trials and adversity in life. No one is exempt from this. We have all experienced sorrow, disappointment, and loss. So, what did Elder Wirthlin’s mother mean when she said, “come what many, and love it” She wasn’t saying that we should pretend to be happy about trials we are going through, nor was she suggesting that we ignore the pain that we feel. But, she was saying that the way that we react to the adversity “can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life.”
During his life, Elder Wirthlin learned 4 things that helped him deal with adversity.
LAUGH
The first thing is to laugh. How often do we all get upset over the small things in life? The road rage we experience, when a car cuts in front of us; or yelling and slamming cupboard because your dinner dropped and fell on the kitchen floor.
My mom has a terrible sense of direction, and we would often get lost when we were trying to drive somewhere. There was one time, we were driving from Salt Lake City to Logan, and my mom ended up in Pocatello, Idaho. Getting that turned around could have ruined her day. But my mom laughed about it. We had been listening to Harry Potter book tapes, and she was just happy that we could continue listening to the story, as we turned around and drove south to get to Logan. Her laughter helped the family to also laugh about getting lost, instead of getting angry.
Elder Wirthlin tells a story, “I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife…then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red-faced, ran back in to the house. The man that she thought was to be her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a baby sitter for him and his wife. We all had a good laugh over that...Now, I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result we still laugh about it today.”
SEEK FOR THE ETERNAL
The second thing we can do when confronted with adversity is to seek for the eternal. When trials come our way, it is easy to feel singled out and think, “Why me?” But everyone must experience adversity. The scriptures have many examples of righteous men and women that experienced sorrow and adversity. Learning to endure trials is part of our training here on Earth. We are here to grow and to learn.
Orson F. Whitney said, “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…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 came here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven.”
COMPENSATION
The third thing we can do is understand the principle of compensation. Elder Wirthlin said, “The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss…While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.”
In a 2006 talk, Elder Monte Brough tells a story about when he was serving as a missionary in England. He and his companion had been working hard to find people to teach, but they had not had much success. He said the following:
“I was born with birth defects in my feet and have struggled with them all my life. The cobblestones in England are hard on feet! One day one of my feet started to bother me a great deal. I noticed a shoe repair shop and decided to go in to see if there was some way I could find relief from the pain. The cobbler was very helpful and gave me a few ideas.
A day or two later, my companion and I were sitting in a park eating lunch when the cobbler recognized us and came by to say hello. We asked him if he had ever heard of the Latter-day Saints. He hadn’t but agreed to learn more. The wonderful result is that we were able to teach him the gospel. He joined the Church and has been an active, strong member ever since.
There were times I thought my feet hindered my efforts as a missionary. Yet the Lord used that very challenge to lead me to someone who was searching for the truth.”
All of his life, Elder Brough has struggled with the defects in his feet. But the Lord will provide us compensation for our adversities, and I think that finding and baptizing the English cobbler is one example of a blessing from the Lord that came because of an adversity.
TRUST IN THE FATHER AND THE SON
The fourth thing we can do is trust Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” The Savior knows each of us personally, and he understands the adversity and trials we experience. When we do our best, and put our trust in the Lord, then He will help us get through our adversities.
CONCLUSION
I know that adversity can be a blessing in our lives. When we use humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and put our trust in the Lord, we can learn how to follow the advice of Elder’s Wirthlin’s mother, and we say, “come what may, and love it.”
CLARK
As part of the Great Plan of Happiness, our Father in Heaven gave each of us the opportunity to choose to keep our first estate and come to Earth to inherit bodies of flesh and bones in order to be tried and tested. In Abraham 3:24-25 we read
24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;
By keeping our first estate we knew that we would come to earth and be tried and tested in keeping the Lord’s commandments. One of the ways in which we are tried and tested is by facing adversity and challenges. The Lord wants to know that in spite of the adversities that we face that we will continue to put our faith and trust in him.
In a talk given in the October 2003 General Conference, entitled “The Lord Thy God will Hold Thy Hand”, Elder Zwick of the Seventy spoke about the increasing trials and tribulations of the World today which has caused doubt, fear, and hopelessness in the eyes and hearts of many.
In Mormon 5:23 we read:
23 Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that he hath all power?
In the New Testament we read of numerous accounts where using his hands the Savior caused the lame to walk, the blind to see, and the sick to be healed.
In his talk, Elder Zwick related the following personal experience that shows the comfort we can receive in this life when we put our trust in the hands of the Lord.
“Twenty-four years ago, our tiny newborn son struggled for his life in the intensive care unit of a hospital. His lungs were not fully developed because of his premature birth, and he desperately fought for each breath of air. He was so small but with so much will to live. As young and inexperienced parents, my courageous and ever faithful wife, Jan, and I prayed that the Lord’s hand would reach out and somehow help our baby boy continue to breathe. As I put my trembling hand through the small opening into the incubator, I felt so inadequate and powerless. I took hold of the tiny but perfect hand of our newborn son, and there was a powerful spiritual connection never to be forgotten. Two fingers from each of my hands covered his tiny head as I administered to him.
Our desire for him was pure, but we knew that his earthly experience rested in the Lord’s hands and not in ours or in the medical team who cared for him. I then humbly realized that my quivering hands held power and authority well beyond my own. My fingers on his head symbolized the placing of God’s hands and power upon our son. Following that blessing, in a moment of emotional peace, my eternal companion and I looked at each other across the incubator, feeling the spirit of renewed hope and comfort born of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the personal effect of His Atonement. It was a powerful witness of His love for an infant son who had just left His presence. We were then better prepared to accept His will for our son. We truly felt we had placed our hands in the hands of the Savior. It was as if the Savior’s own hands provided the critical respiratory aid, allowing our son to breathe and gain sustenance. With each breath and with each incremental bit of progress, we expressed prayerful thanks. Today, our healthy son and his indebted parents continue to be so grateful for the Savior’s willing hands.”
Because Elder Zwick and his wife put their trust in the Lord, they were comforted and prepared to accept the Lord’s will for their son.
Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles has said:
“Trust in God … no matter how challenging the circumstance. … Your peace of mind, your assurance of answers to vexing problems, your ultimate joy depend upon your trust in Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ”
How can we learn to better trust in the Lord? In Doctrine and Covenants 19: 23, 38, the prophet Joseph Smith received the following revelation from the Lord:
“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. … Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you”
From this scripture we learn of 3 things we can do to better prepare ourselves to put our trust in the Lord for when we face adversity and trials:
Learn of the Lord
Seek and Listen to the Spirit
Pray Always
LEARN OF THE LORD
One of the best ways in which we can better trust someone is by getting to know who they are.
When I was a young boy during the summers my parents made me take swim lessons. One particular summer morning my swim instructor decided that we were going to jump off of the diving board into the deep end of the pool. Not being yet a strong swimmer, I remember being really scared. When it was my turn to jump, I inched out to the end of the diving board and froze with fear. Looking down in the water at my swim instructor, I could not get up enough courage to take the plunge. It didn’t take long for my Father to realize what was happening and without hesitation; he jumped into the deep end of the pool and encouraged me to jump. Seeing my Father, someone I knew and trusted, I jumped into the water.
Just as it was easy for me to jump into the water seeing my Father, someone I loved and trusted, so is it easier for us to overcome adversity and challenges in our life if we take the time learn and understand the nature of our Father in Heaven.
So how can we learn about the nature of our father in Heaven and truly come to know who he is? Fortunately for us we have been blessed to have resources at our disposal such as the scriptures and latter-day profits who teach us the nature of our Father in Heaven and his Son Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite scriptures in the New Testament that shows the parental love our Father in Heaven has for each of us is found in 1 Corinthians 10: 13, and it reads:
13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
This scripture teaches us that although we will be tried, tempted, and faced with adversity in this life, our Father in Heaven knows each and everyone of us personally and will not allow us to face more adversity than we are able to bear.
It’s scriptures like these that teach us about the true nature of our Father in Heaven and helps us to learn who he is, and in turn will allow us to put our trust in the Lord.
SEEK AND LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT
Another way in which we can learn to put our trust in the Lord is by seeking out and listening to the spirit. In John 14:26, the Savior gives words of comfort to his disciples when they expressed their concern of being alone after the Savior was to no longer be in their presence. The scripture reads:
26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
Here the Savior teaches us that the Holy Ghost is the great Comforter and was sent to us to lift us up and to comfort us during times of trial and adversity. As we live our lives worthy of the companionship of the Holy Ghost, we will put ourselves in a position to know in our hearts and in our minds to trust in the Lord.
PRAY ALWAYS
The third way in which we can better trust in the lord is by aligning our will with the will of the Lord’s through prayer. In a talk called “Ask in Faith” given by Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve apostles in the recent General Conference he related the story of a young father in the church who was faced with adversity. The story was told as follows:
“One day without warning their little four-year-old daughter became critically ill and was hospitalized. In desperation and for the first time in many years, the father was found on his knees in prayer, asking that the life of his daughter be spared. Yet her condition worsened. Gradually, this father sensed that his little girl would not live, and slowly his prayers changed; he no longer prayed for healing but rather for understanding. “Let Thy will be done” was now the manner of his pleadings.
Soon his daughter was in a coma, and the father knew her hours on earth were few. Fortified with understanding, trust, and power beyond their own, the young parents prayed again, asking for the opportunity to hold her close once more while she was awake. The daughter’s eyes opened, and her frail arms reached out to her parents for one final embrace. And then she was gone. This father knew their prayers had been answered—a kind, compassionate Father in Heaven had comforted their hearts. God’s will had been done, and they had gained understanding.”
This young father was comforted during his time of adversity by prayer and putting his trust in the Lord so that his will was aligned with the will of the Father.
CONCLUSION
I know that as we are faced with trials and adversity in our lives that we can over come such adversity and return to live with our Father in Heaven by putting our trust in the hands of the Lord.
