Spiritual Home Storage

"Brothers and sisters, we each have moments of spiritual power, moments of inspiration and revelation. We must sink them deep into the chambers of our souls. As we do, we prepare our spiritual home storage for moments of personal difficulty."
Neil L. Andersen, "You Know Enough", Ensign, Nov. 2008, 13

Firm Hope

"Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Infinite Power of Hope", Ensign, Nov. 2008, 22

A Future Of Peace

"No matter how bleak the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations. 'Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ' "
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Infinite Power of Hope," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 22–23

A Peptalk To Myself

Amy,

I have been sitting here for the last few hours, starring at my screen, trying to think of how to respond to you. I finally have the words but they are borrowed from your own blog:

"My dear sweet friend had a baby today! A baby! A baby that I helped pray would come for four years! A baby I have fasted for countless times. A baby that has been so wanted, so loved, so anticipated. And he came today! May 15th is a good day. A very good day. Today I thank God for answering their prayers. That baby is a miracle and we all need a good miracle."

Here is proof in your own words that God hears and answers prayers. Could He have answered your friend sooner...1 year, 2 years, 3 years...instead of 4? Yes. Are they good people and did they deserve such a blessing to come sooner? Yes. Were there times that even they thought God had given up on them and they wanted to give up as well? Maybe. But in the end...with all the blood, sweat, tears, prayers, money, procedures, fasting, etc....God answered them with a miracle. It was in His wisdom that it was at that time and in that manner...and no earlier. Will we ever know the wisdom in His timing? Likely not. Maybe that's for God to know only. Or for your friend, her husband and God to know only. Nonetheless, here is just one example that you can trust in God's plan for each one of us...even you.

Amy, it would seem to me that you are doing EVERYTHING that is possible for you to "do your part" to overcome your current trial. God KNOWS this too. This would mean the remainder is in God's hands. He's not holding out on you because He thinks its funny, or because He could careless, He has better things to do or He doesn't know what the solution is. HE KNOWS WHAT TO DO and everything He is doing is in YOUR BEST INTEREST. We are but mere mortals with 99% limited perspective. We need Him for this reason. Trust that He knows what He's doing on your behalf.

It would be easier to give up on Him and doubt everything you've spent a lifetime learning then it would to have faith in Him. It would be easier to be mad at Him too. But ultimately, that is not to His detriment...only yours.

YOU KNOW HE'S THERE...there are examples all around you. Don't dismiss those. Hold on to them in what seems to be these times of "radio silence". When I feel like this, I like to start writing out the blessings that I have received. Or sometimes I think giving service is good because the perspective is completely priceless. There are likely volunteer opportunities all about you that would make you feel gratitude. Maybe you are already doing those and you've got gratitude coming out your ears. But please don't give power to our evil elder brother who seeks to damn your soul with his. He milks these moments for all they are worth. Shut him down. Continue to be steadfast...you are good at consistency. Keep it up.

Lastly, you cannot compare your trials to others. Our trials are gifts to our soul. Yours are for you only, customized for you, by God, to bring precious enlightenment to perfect you in this life because He wants so badly to have you back home with Him. You cannot buy, trade or learn these gifts from anyone else's. There are no cliff notes. They are yours alone. So don't feel foolish because so-and-so has XYZ and you do not. You are trying to apply square pegs to round holes and there is absolutely no logic or gain in that. Again...back off Satan.

I love you. You know all this just as I do and I know that a time will come when I will need a good reminder too and you will give it to me. Don't give up on Him as He has NOT given up on you. I KNOW THIS TO BE TRUE and in your heart of hearts, SO DO YOU.
Amy

Happiness From Helping Others

"President Gordon B. Hinckley believed in the healing power of service. After the death of his wife, he provided a great example to the Church in the way he immersed himself in work and in serving others. It is told that President Hinckley remarked to one woman who had recently lost her husband, 'Work will cure your grief. Serve others.'"Those are profound words. As we lose ourselves in the service of others, we discover our own lives and our own happiness."President Lorenzo Snow expressed a similar thought: 'When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated' (in Conference Report, Apr. 1899, 2–3).

"In today's world of pop psychology, junk TV, and feel-good self-help manuals, this advice may seem counterintuitive. We are sometimes told that the answer to our ills is to look inward, to indulge ourselves, to spend first and pay later, and to satisfy our own desires even at the expense of those around us. While there are times when it is prudent to look first to our own needs, in the long run it doesn't lead to lasting happiness."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Happiness, Your Heritage," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 119–20

Hope Sustains Us

"The things we hope in sustain us during our daily walk. They uphold us through trials, temptations, and sorrow. Everyone has experienced discouragement and difficulty. Indeed, there are times when the darkness may seem unbearable. It is in these times that the divine principles of the restored gospel we hope in can uphold us and carry us until, once again, we walk in the light."We hope in Jesus the Christ, in the goodness of God, in the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, in the knowledge that prayers are heard and answered. Because God has been faithful and kept His promises in the past, we can hope with confidence that God will keep His promises to us in the present and in the future. In times of distress, we can hold tightly to the hope that things will 'work together for [our] good' (D&C 90:24) as we follow the counsel of God's prophets. This type of hope in God, His goodness, and His power refreshes us with courage during difficult challenges and gives strength to those who feel threatened by enclosing walls of fear, doubt, and despair." - Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Infinite Power of Hope," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 23

Emissaries From God

"I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. '[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved' (Moroni 7:36). On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."May we all believe more readily in, and have more gratitude for, the Lord's promise as contained in one of President Monson's favorite scriptures: 'I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, . . . my Spirit shall be in your [heart], and mine angels round about you, to bear you up' (D&C 84:88). In the process of praying for those angels to attend us, may we all try to be a little more angelic ourselves—with a kind word, a strong arm, a declaration of faith and 'the covenant wherewith [we] have covenanted' (D&C 90:24). Perhaps then we can be emissaries sent from God."
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Ministry of Angels," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 31