Tender Mercies

This morning it was rough getting everyone to church. I was so frustrated with some of the children and the messes that were all around me. When it was time to go I sent everyone out to the van and I sat on the edge of my bed near despair. I didn’t feel like going. I knew that I would have to go and greet people and act happy to be there. I have to say that I do love going to church and being with my ward family but I was feeling so overwhelmed and grouchy that I just wanted to take the kids and drop them off. I could never do that but I sure wished I could! I know that the church is true and that I want my children to learn that we don’t get out of church just because we have had a bad morning. As I was sitting there something came to me, a prompting. I remembered something I’d read in the September Ensign last week. It’s an article by Elder Jay E. Jensen called The Power of Diligent Learning. In it he talks about President Boyd K. Packer’s counsel given in the February 2007 worldwide leadership training meeting about praying for yourself and the people who teach us (like in a church setting.) I have included the whole paragraph here so it is context of what he said. But it is the last part that came to my mind. I will put it in italics.

"We need to pray—particularly in specifics. Pray formally and informally for yourself and for the teacher. The teacher may not say something quite right. He or she may be weak and feeble in words and expression. But the Holy Ghost is not, and each of us can pray for ourselves and for the teacher: "Oh, Father, the teacher does not know the load and burden that I currently carry. Help him or her to teach me directly." When you start doing that as a learner, you start getting answers."

And so I prayed that I would be blessed to learn something that would help me.

In Sacrament meeting the ward choir sang The Time Is Far Spent. The 2nd and 4th verses really hit me.

Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,
But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.
Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,
Ere long with the righteous, in glory will end.

Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
(by Eliza R. Snow)

Isn't it interesting! Satan knows the weight of our callings and he tries to derail us.

The same theme was addressed in Sunday school in a story by George A. Smith:

A man, traveling through the country, came to a large city, very rich and splendid; he looked at it and said to his guide, ‘This must be a very righteous people, for I can only see but one little devil in this great city.’

The guide replied, ‘You do not understand, sir; this city is so perfectly given up to wickedness, corruption, degradation and abomination of every kind that it only requires one devil to keep them all in subjection.’

Traveling on a little further he came to a rugged path and saw an old man trying to get up the hill side, surrounded by seven great, big, coarse looking devils.

"‘Why,’ says the traveller, ‘this must be a tremendously wicked old man, only see how many devils there are around him!’

"‘This,’ replied the guide, ‘is the only righteous man in the country and there are seven of the biggest devils trying to turn him out of his path and they all cannot do it’ " (in Deseret News, 11 Nov. 1857).

I thought about this morning and how hard it was to get to church. Then to get there and stop feeling mad. It really felt like I had demons in me. I’m so grateful for the Ensign, for living prophets and for the promptings of the Holy Ghost that helped me keep my covenants today.

All of the meetings at church were so good today. The talks in Sacrament meeting were inspiring (Dennis was one of the speakers and did an outstanding job!) Sunday school was wonderful and we had a fabulous Relief Society lesson about delighting in the things of the Lord (from a conference talk by Susan W. Tanner)

Tonight I went to the rebroadcast of the General Relief Society meeting (I was unable to go last night.) I loved it all but particularly President Uchtdorf’s talk. I love how he told us to be creative and to beautify things around us. And to have compassion. I loved the thought of trying to make people smile. I decided that I’m going to try to do that!

After the broadcast I went and got my temple recommend renewed and it reminded me of the covenants of the temple and of my testimony.

This day turned out beautiful.