Where do I start?

Wow, life is an ever-changing experience. Never a dull moment. But it is good, and we certainly can't complain. There is so much that is going on, I am not able to keep up. So this info may be old news, but I need to get it down.

Kent accepted a job last week. He started, and went for three days. It was a great opportunity, but not the right one. After a very LONG and SLEEPLESS few days, Kent went in and spoke to them on Thursday. He let them know that it just was not the right fit for him. It has been a very interesting experience. The company was wonderful, and the people were so good to Kent. It just was not the right job. We have wondered why it had to happen this way. We are still working on that one. I know that this is all a learning experience, and we have been learning. So Kent is back to looking for jobs. He will be so glad when this is over. It is not easy. I appreciate how hard he has worked at it. He started looking for jobs the day he was laid off, and has not stopped since. Hopefully something else will come along soon. He is so anxious to work.

After this is over, I am going to have a great post to write about what we have learned, and how we have been blessed with the way things have worked out.

In the meantime, I am humbled at how we have been blessed throughout this whole experience. Seriously, I am amazed that even through our challenges, however small they may be, Heavenly Father still blesses us. He can't take the trial away, but he can help you through it.

I had to give a talk last Sunday. The topic was finding strength beyond my own. It was a wonderful experience to get to reflect on how we are so blessed to have help when we just can't do it all on our own. I will attach it and if any of you are interested in reading it, you can.

I hope you are all doing well. I sure love all of you and don't know what we would do without friends and family.

Finding Strength Beyond my Own

I am extremely humbled and also very grateful to have this opportunity to speak to you on this beautiful Easter morning. It has been so good for me to prepare and contemplate the subject that I have been assigned. In going along with our yearly theme, Lord I would follow thee, the theme for this month and that I have been assigned to speak on is "Finding Strength Beyond My Own."

Our 6 year old son McCray attends kindergarten at Twin Peaks. Each day as I pick him up from school, he comes running out, full steam ahead, and says MOM! He runs and does not slow down until he reaches me, and nearly knocks me over. He is a strong kid! I literally have to square myself up, bend my knees a little, put my hands up to try and stop him, and BRACE myself so that I am not knocked over. I have told him over and over that I love getting his hugs after school, but that he CANNOT run at me full force. I am not strong enough. After a number of days with this same thing happening, and me telling him that I am not strong enough, he said, but Mom, I thought that you exercise and lift weights so that you can be strong. I explained that even though I do those things, sometimes it is still too much, and I will be knocked over.

Sometimes the challenges in our lives can be similar. We can prepare for trials and adversity that may come into our lives by being spiritually, emotionally, and temporally ready. Even though we may have done our best to prepare, each of us at times may face trials where we feel that we are just not strong enough to handle them, even though we have prepared the best that we could. These are the times when we have to find strength beyond our own. We just can't do it alone.

When Bishop Amis gave me this assignment, he asked that I consider how during our challenges and struggles we can turn to others for strength to endure and overcome our adversity. I think that it is human nature to have a hard time turning to others during times of challenge. It is sometimes hard to admit to others that we may be struggling. It's hard to not be able to just take care of things yourself. It is so much easier to give help than receive it. Gratefully, a loving Father knew that we could not make it through this life on our own. He knew that we would need strength beyond our own. There are so many sources of strength available to us when we need help or just can't do it on our own. I would like to discuss some of these possible sources.

One of the greatest blessings that we each have, is the ability to pray. I love the talk titled Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer by Elder Richard G Scott. In it he teaches "Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father. Actually, because He knows how desperately we need His guidance, He commands, "Thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private."1 Our Heavenly Father wants each of us to pray. Many times our most urgent and heart felt prayers come because we realize that we are powerless without his help. We are each so blessed to have prayer. We can express ourselves. We can receive answers. And we can feel his spirit. I have found that when I move away from my standard prayers, and truly try to communicate with him, that I feel him there and I feel comfort. I feel peace, and I feel that I have been heard. I feel strength beyond my own.

Another source of comfort and strength that we have available to us are Priesthood Blessings. Sometimes it is hard to comprehend the power of comfort and healing that we have available to us. A couple of weeks ago, I was having trouble sleeping. I have rarely experienced this. I was feeling overwhelmed, and the pressures I was feeling would not allow me to relax or rest. I had to work 10 hours the next day, and the thought of being tired, made it worse. As the night went along, and morning was approaching, I got to the point that I had tried everything I knew how to do. I could think of nothing else to help myself. I was desperate to sleep. Then I remembered that I could call upon the priesthood to bless me. I asked Kent to give me a blessing. That was an amazing experience for me. I was able to realize that the same priesthood that was used to create this earth, could be used to bless me. Little old me. Heavenly Father loves us that much. After receiving this blessing, I knew I would sleep. And I did. There is amazing strength and power in the Priesthood.

In the suggestions that Bishop gave me for possible sources of strength beyond our own, he asked me to speak about the Love of Family, Caring Neighbors, and Kind acts of friends. As I have gone over and over this subject, I have wondered how I could possibly speak about this. How could I convey my gratitude for this source of strength without being completely emotional? I have always loved the oft quoted statement by President Kimball which says: The Lord does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. I have seen evidence of this over and over and over in my life. None of us could make it without the strength we receive from our family, friends and neighbors. I feel that these relationships are some of the tender mercies that we receive from the lord. It is amazing to me that the Lord cares enough for each of us, that he puts people in our pathway to bless us and meet the needs that we have. The other day, I had an experience like this. It amazed me. I was having a hard day. I felt weighed down, and was on the verge of tears. I decided that we all needed to get out and have a change of scenery. When we reached our destination, and had only been there for just a minute, one of my Visiting teachers came walking in. She approached and we started talking. She was just the person that I needed to see. I was able to express my feelings to someone who cared. She gave me a much needed hug, and comforting words. I was so appreciative. I felt SO much better. It didn’t take much- just a few minutes and a kind heart to strengthen me. I KNOW Heavenly Father knows our struggles, however small they are or may seem, and he cares. He sends each of us on his errands to comfort his children.

During His ministry on the earth, Jesus Christ spent His time serving and helping others. True disciples of Jesus Christ do likewise. The Savior said, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another". My family and I have been blessed by true disciples of Jesus Christ. We have been shown love, been served, been be-friended, and have been strengthened by you. Our ward family has welcomed us, cared for us, and been our friends. I often feel overwhelming gratitude and amazement at the kindness we are shown. The only way to ever repay the kindnesses we receive is to be a disciple ourselves. To try to do, like it states in D&C section 81:5 to succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees. We usually can’t repay a person for their kindness. But we can prepare ourselves to listen to the spirits promptings and be ready, so that we can be the person to comfort another in their time of need.

The final, and most important source of strength that I would like to speak of, is the strength that we can receive through the Atonement, and the succoring powers of Jesus Christ. When I first looked at my assignment, I could think of many examples of how I have found strength beyond my own through prayer, family, and friends. That was easy. What I didn’t immediately recognize was how I had been strengthened in my challenges through my Savior Jesus Christ and his Atonement. I know how the Atonement works with sin. But how exactly are we strengthened in our struggles by it? I didn’t know the answer. So, I prayed that I would understand, and be able to recognize how this works. The next day in conference, Elder Jeffrey R Holland gave just the talk that I needed to help me understand. I felt the spirit so strongly, as I am sure each of you did when you heard it. From his talk, I was better able to understand how he knows our pain, and sufferings. In his talk, Elder Holland spoke of the necessity of the support around Jesus to grow smaller and smaller as he prepared for his lonely task. Quoting Elder Holland he said " The loss of mortal support He had anticipated, but apparently He had not comprehended this. Had He not said to His disciples, "Behold, the hour . . . is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me" and "The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him"?17

He goes on to say: With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal ministry the Father may never have been closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering. Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required; indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind-us, all of us-would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.

Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path-the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel. Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are. Truly the Redeemer of us all said, "I will not leave you comfortless. [My Father and] I will come to you [and abide with you]."20

Because of the Atonement, Christ made it possible for each of us to never have to feel alone. He suffered so that he could understand how to comfort each of us in times of unsureity, sorrow, pain, and grief. Each of us must go through times of refinement in our lives so that we may become as he would have us be. But we don’t have to do it alone. Not only is Christ our Savior, but he is also our friend. We can find strength beyond our own through Him. This Easter morning, I stand all amazed at the loves Jesus offers each of us. I know that he lives. I know that he loves each of us. This is my testimony.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen..