There are few talks that have repeatedly touched me more than this one by Jeffrey R. Holland:
I do not believe that that man has a single evil bone in his body. I hope when I am that age, that I am as finished as he is (Christ, being the finisher of our faith).
Last night, our family hosted a dinner in our home and invited one of the local families who has been "called out" by the Lord to gather to our area in Western Montana about a year after we were and a year before "Visions" was published. They used to live in Ogden - and left there before they knew of what has been predicted for that area. She is a midwife, he was a professor of law at the U of U. They had a series of miracles in relation to her job and how their home sold so that they could be released from that area - just as we had and were released from ours as I had predicted to my wife years before we received our personal revelation to leave. Anyway, this gal was raised off the grid and has so much knowledge in almost any area that she could discourse for days and I am sure you could not scratch the surface. She is mild-mannered and not arrogant or smug in that knowledge that she possesses - a rare combination. The reason I say that is that her knowledge gives her a depth of confidence that is rare in an individual. When we are prepared - and knowledge is the foundation of preparedness, then our confidence will wax strong in the face of adversity. I respect that greatly. Even though her husband is a JD and is writing his thesis for another degree, I think he is a little frustrated that people from all over seek her out for her knowledge which pales him. She is becoming on par with the likes of Eliza R. Snow and many others who acquired great power and shadowed many of the men in the Church of the day. If there were more like that - women of great power, we would see many more miracles in the Church than we do today - and as were witnessed by the early greats who "let it all hang out" and did not throttle back. All of us - both men and women are living below our lofty station - and can use as many examples as we can get to urge us forward.
She shared her conversion story - her father was a pastor in Colorado who sent her on a mission to Mexico as a 17 year old young woman. While there among the Mayans, she witnessed a Priesthood holder lay his hands on another man who was blind and instantly gave him sight. While she had been told all her life that Mormons were a cult, she could not comprehend how satanic, backwards people could have wielded the power of God with so much command. She began to question everything she had been taught and came to the conclusion that she had been lied to. She joined the Church and was tossed from her home. Through her trials afterward, she was built into the woman she is - and who will be a great leader in the events that will shortly transpire. The Lord is raising up many people to this end. People with vision - so that the people do not perish during coming trials.
And back to the reason I started this piece - to look beyond our trials and to realize that they are there to make us stronger and that we should always put them in perspective to the greater picture. Like Elder Holland, I had one of those moments as a younger father. I had just rebuilt an engine in a minivan that I had acquired to take care of our expanding family. I got it done when the 3rd child arrived - the one that died almost 9 months later from SIDS. I decided to road test it after taking it on several short runs around the neighborhood and I drove it to work one morning. It was my first major rebuild and I was in a hurry to finish it and didn't tighten down a radiator hose completely - which then blew on the way into work in front of the office. The temp gauge was pegged when I saw the steam coming out from the hood at the stop light and I nursed it into the parking garage - and I have not heard those kinds of noises come from an engine compartment before. I was sure I had roasted it - but I backed it into a parking slot and let it cool - as I did myself during the work day. My wife came and brought some tools, coolant and a new thermostat. I was cussing myself out for stupidity and feeling quite sorry for myself and my predicament. Just trying to do my best and falling so short as a provider - I really felt like a failure at that point. I remember locking my gaze on my little guy who was sitting on the ground next to the van in his car seat and asking him (not out loud), "Dallin, why do I have to go through these things??". We stared at each other for what felt like a few minutes - but it was more like 10-15 seconds. If he had the ability to know what I was thinking - and he may well have where the veil was so thin for him, I can only imagine what he may have been thinking in return...... In any good man, there is something primeval that drives him to provide for all the temporal needs of his family; including their physical and spiritual protection. It is put there by God to ensure that we perpetuate on this lesser sphere where so many dangers can lurk around any corner. Well, where I was complaining about that trial that I felt I was floundering in, two days later, I would lose all sense of control over my role as provider and protector as I went to the room to find our child cold and lifeless in his bed. I was introduced to a whole new measure of perspective - and would have taken 100 other of the lesser trials thrust upon me in any cruel manner other and sequence if I could avoid the cup that was pressed to my lips at that time. Anything else, but what I was experiencing at that moment. The best representation of how I felt was portrayed best in City of Angels when Seth discovers his loved one was slipping away and there was nothing he could do to change it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SdWr12vjhw&feature=player_detailpage#t=236
So - when life gets dark and dreary; and it will. Remember perspective and count your blessings that your trials will melt away as the hoar frost fleeing from the morning sun - after you have seen them through and gained that new, higher perspective that brings you the serenity and peace that only experience and wisdom can give you. This will be the legacy of those who make the terrestrial grade and pass the test that is coming shortly.
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