Disappointments Can Be Blessings In Disguise

     This past trimester at school I have been struggling in Chemistry.  I really wanted an A in that class because I love Chemistry, and it is important to me.  Anyways this past week we had a quiz in chemistry.  In preparation for the quiz I studied and prayed, a lot.  And when I finally took the quiz I failed it, terribly.  I remember going home for lunch crying, asking our Heavenly Father why He let this happen to me. I had been trying so hard to do what He wanted me to.  I had prayed for His strength as I studied and took the quiz.  But as I prayed I got this feeling that it wasn't over yet, there was still time.  So I decided to continue with my faith still in Christ.  I didn't stop studying or praying.  I kept going. Later that same week we had a test on the same subject, and I got a perfect score.  (And just so you all know that doesn't happen in that class.  My teacher purposely makes the tests really hard, so that when we take the AP test we will be more comfortable.)  I was so happy after.  And as I gave gratitude to my Heavenly Father I realized something.  Failing that quiz is what helped me.  Chemistry has a weird nature, because it involves a lot of math.  The quiz required plugging in a bunch of numbers to get an answer.  Because I failed it I looked into where those equations came from in order to remember it better.  It turned out that is what the majority of the test was on, the concepts not the math.  Because I failed the quiz I was able to learn the material better, and after that test my grade was up to an A.
     That miracle was simple and seemingly unimportant (after all what is an A in chemistry in the long run),  but it taught me a powerful lesson.  Our Heavenly Father knows what He is doing, and He will help us.  No matter what the trial is we can trust that it is for our benefit.  C.S. Lewis explains this concept by relating a childhood experience.   He recalls his repeated toothaches and his desire for relief, but likewise the nagging fear that if he disclosed his pain, his mother would take him to the dentist.  He said "I knew those dentists; I knew they started fiddling about with all sorts of other teeth which had not yet begun to ache...If you gave them an inch, they took an ell."  Then He makes this comparison:

 "Our Lord is like the dentists...Dozens of people go to Him to be cured of some one particular sin which they are ashamed of... Well, He will cure it all right: but He will not stop there.  That may be all you asked; but if you once call Him in. He will give you the full treatment....'Make no mistake', He says, ' if you let Me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for.  Nothing less, or other, than that.  You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through.  Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect, until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said he was well pleased with Me.'

 

     We are in the pursuit of Godhood! The refining process won't be easy but it will be worth it. As Al Fox says in her video Continue " You will not have to go through anything that would not be the best for you.  You will not be withheld from any of the very best ever created.  Continue in Him.  Those times when you are discouraged , when you feel your prayers are not heard.  Those are the times when your Father in Heaven is closest to you.  You are in good hands"

 

    Our loving Father in Heaven is really looking out for us.  He knows what we need to become like Him.  He lets bad things happen to us, not to punish us or that He doesn't love us, rather it is because He loves us.  He loves us enough to let us go through hard times, as bad as it hurts Him to do it, to hurt the children He loves so dearly.  He does it because He knows it is the only way we will be fully happy.  Faith in Jesus Christ is still the answer.

Sorry that this is all really jumbled.  It was written as more of a journal entry, this subject has really been on my mind since I read Josh's talk. 
-If it ain't cheeseman, it ain't cuddly 



Faith in Christ = Power to accomplish His work.

Read Josh's talk to understand this picture

Picks of me and my little brother, I love these guys

“The Process Will Change Us”

In the film “Mans Search for Happiness” Elder Evans states:

“Life offers you two precious gifts—one is time, the other freedom of choice, the freedom to buy with your time what you will. You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest it in greed. …

“Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are no bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

“Every day, every hour, every minute of your span of mortal years must sometime be accounted for. And it is in this‍ life that you walk by faith and prove yourself able to choose good over evil, right over wrong, enduring happiness over mere amusement. And your eternal reward will be according to your choosing.

“A prophet of God has said: ‘Men are that they might have joy’—a joy that includes a fullness of life, a life dedicated to service, to love and harmony in the home, and the fruits of honest toil—an acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—of its requirements and commandments.

“Only in these will you find true happiness, the happiness which doesn’t fade with the lights and the music and the crowds.”  Elder Evans “Mans Search for Happiness”

President Heber J. Grant said this:

“There is but one path of safety to the Latter-day Saints, and that is the path of duty. It is not testimony, it is not marvelous manifestations, it is not knowing that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true, . . . it is not actually knowing that the Savior is the Redeemer, and that Joseph Smith was His prophet, that will save you and me, but it is the keeping of the commandments of God, the living the life of a Latter-day Saint.” [Heber J. Grant,Improvement Era, November 1936, p. 659]

Much has always been asked of a true disciple of Jesus Christ. The accounts we have in the scriptures teach us of the blessings of performing our duty. Those that follow Christ are not free from heart ache and adversity but they know as Nephi said “in whom they have trusted”.

Let me encourage you by telling you a story. President Eyring told this story that his father shared with him. His father told it with the intent to chuckle at himself. It was a story about his trying to do his duty, just the way you try to do your duty.

Quote “Now you have to know a little bit about my father. His name was Henry Eyring, like mine. His work in chemistry was substantial enough to bring him many honors, but he was still a member of a ward of the Church with his duty to do. To appreciate this story, you have to realize that it occurred when he was nearly eighty and had bone cancer. He had bone cancer so badly in his hips that he could hardly move. The pain was great.

Dad was the senior high councilor in his stake with the responsibility for the welfare farm. An assignment was given to weed a field of onions, so Dad assigned himself to go work on the farm.

Dad never told me how hard it was, but I have met several people who were with him that day. One I talked to said that he was weeding in the row next to Dad through much of the day. He told me the same thing that others who were there that day have told me. He said that the pain was so great that Dad was pulling himself along on his stomach with his elbows. He couldn’t kneel. The pain was too great for him to kneel. Everyone who has talked to me has remarked how Dad smiled, and laughed, and talked happily with them as they worked in that field of onions.

Now, this is the joke Dad told me on himself, afterward. He said he was there at the end of the day. After all the work was finished and the onions were all weeded, someone asked him, “Henry, good heavens! You didn’t pull those weeds, did you? Those weeds were sprayed two days ago, and they were going to die anyway.”

Dad just roared. He thought that was the funniest thing. He thought it was a great joke on himself. He had worked through the day in the wrong weeds. They had been sprayed and would have died anyway.

When Dad told me this story, I knew how tough it was. So I said to him, “Dad, how could you make a joke out of that? How could you take it so pleasantly?”

He said something to me that I will never forget, and I hope you won’t. He said, “Hal, I wasn’t there for the weeds.”

Now, you’ll be in an onion patch much of your life. So will I. It will be hard to see the powers of heaven magnifying us or our efforts. It may even be hard to see our work being of any value at all. And sometimes our work won’t go well.

But you didn’t come for the weeds. You came for the Savior..” President Eyring

The refining process is different for each of us. The amazing thing, when we think of the billions of God’s children, is his plan accounts for us each individually and offers us each a personally tailored path back to him. Complete with the necessary trials and triumphs. The real challenge is to submit ourselves to the Savior and accept his will as our own. To make his duty our duty.

We read that the Apostle Paul sought to be healed from the “thorn in the flesh” that buffeted him (2 Corinthians 12:7). I’m sure he must of thought “if only I was free from this affliction just think of the people I could help and teach”. Yet on three separate occasions the Lord declined to heal him.

Have we ever thought to ourselves “if only I had more strength, if only I had better health, if only I was younger or if only I were older then I could make a difference”.

Paul later wrote that the Lord explained, “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (v. 9). Paul obediently responded that he would “rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me … for when I am weak, then am I strong” (vv. 9–10).

Years ago when I started my business we were just getting by trying to find work and get established. I spent a great deal of time praying for the Lords help to provide for my family and the families of those that worked for me.

During one particularly slow time I was praying and searching for a job to get us through the slow winter. I was presented with an opportunity to perform the demo work for a bag house.

For those that are not familiar with what a bag house is. It is a huge enclosed structure that sits about 40 feet in the air above burners. It contains filters to filter the air from the burners.

 Now this bag house was at a silver refinery and had been out of use for some time. The bag house had over 600, 11 foot long filters each about 8 inches in diameter that needed removed and the filter bags separated from the cages.

 I went and looked at the job, pulled one of the cages that was loose and cut the filter from the cage. I was comfortable with our ability to perform the work even though I had never before seen anything like this.

The most astonishing thing was that the payment amount offered was almost exactly what we needed to get through the next month. I saw this as an answer to prayer and agreed to start that next week.

We started Monday morning, but it wasn’t long before we realized how difficult the task before us really was.

 The filter I pulled while looking at the job was the exception. The remaining filters required unbelievable effort to remove them. We tried hammers, crow bars, pics, hammer drills, grinders and nothing seemed to help. As we worked and pulled the filters, the soot from the filters caused a dark, black cloud to fill the bag house. We would constantly take turns walking outside to get fresh air.

 We worked late into the evening only removing a few dozen that first day. We went home that night exhausted and covered in black soot. It was a sobering thought as we anticipated the next day’s labor.

The next day was much of the same. The work was draining. My fingers were blistered and sore from pulling the filters and my back was aching from hauling the long awkward cages.

At one point I found myself alone in the bag house kneeling down pulling on the filters. The others had gone out for fresh air. I started to feel as though I could do no more. My strength was gone. I prayed to my Heavenly Father “I Know this is a blessing from you but I don’t have the strength to go on and if we don’t finish we will not receive the payment we so desperately need. Please help.”

 As I closed my prayer, I felt a wonderful warm feeling inside me and new I had help from above. The work didn’t get much easier. We did develop some techniques that help speed up the process but day after day we went home filthy and exhausted and woke the next morning able to press on.

We finally completed the job! It did require, however, discarding every tool or item of clothing we used on the job as the thick layer of soot wouldn’t come off, but I was reminded of a valuable lesson that day.

 I keep a picture in my scriptures, which I would love to show anyone interested, of us as we finished on the last day working on that bag house. Covered in black soot head to toe with tools in hand and smiles on our faces. I wrote a scripture from Moroni 7:33 on the back with a note that simply says “faith in Christ = power to accomplish his work”,  and now when I am faced with difficult tasks or feel I have given all I can I look at that picture and remember the strength of the lord, the strength beyond my own.

 

 

 

 

Alma taught his son Helaman, as he began his ministry:

“Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.” [Alma 37:33–34]

President Eyring said:

“The good works that really matter require the help of heaven. And the help of heaven requires working past the point of fatigue so far that only the meek and lowly will keep going long enough.

The Lord doesn’t put us through this test just to give us a grade; he does it because the process will change us.”

The evidence of this process is all around us. We see it in our friends and family those we respect and admire most for their strength and determination. We can also see it in ourselves if, we look close enough. It’s often marked by challenges and trials. Not because we seek for difficulties but because doing the right thing often means making sacrifices or coming out of our comfort zone to reach out to those around us.

Most off the fruits of this process are found in quiet times of reflection. We can see the blessings. We know as the storm rages on around us the inner peace the Savior offers us. “Peace I leave with you, (He said), my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27

Brothers and sisters I have a testimony of this process. Each of us must accept the Lord’s sacrifice and the eternal gift of the atonement through more than word alone, but through action.

 I pray as we receive guidance from our prophet and, as we receive goals and challenges from our stake and ward leaders, that we will see them as part of our duty and remember“Faith in Christ = Power to accomplish his work”.

 I Testify, that he is, as the scripture says, “Him who is mighty to save.” 2Nephi 31:19

May the Lord bless each of us as we press forward calling on His holy name, is my prayer.

 In the name of Jesus Christ amen.                               -Joshua James Tidwell (The first)

"Peace Be Still"

I promised Mama I would post my talk I gave last week in sacrament so here it goes.

The book of Mark tells of a story of Jesus where after teaching a group of people on the shore of the Sea of Galilee tells his disciples to take their ships to the other side. As they journeyed a great storm arose intense enough to make these men (among which were seasoned fishermen) extremely nervous fearing that they were about to perish. When they looked to their Master for guidance they were astonished to find him asleep. They awoke Him and inquired as to how he could sleep when they were about to be swallowed up by the sea. Jesus then calmly arose rebuked the wind and said unto the sea “Pease be still”. The Lord then turned to his disciples and asked them why they were fearful questioning them about their faith. Now I want you to keep this story in mind because we will revisit it later but first, I want to address this famous line Christ used as he calmed the sea; Peace, be still.

In Doctrine and Covenants section 59 verse 23  the Lord gives us a promise it reads: “But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come”. In language as plain as it gets we are promised if we are righteous we will receive as our reward peace in “this” world. Well we need not look far to see that sometimes this doesn’t always “seem” to be the case. I’m sure we all know of righteous people that have gone through experiences that we would be hard pressed to call peaceful times. The history of the early days of the church is a perfect example of this. Here were a people who were driven from place to place, persecuted and slaughtered as a direct consequence of doing what God had asked them to do; that is to reestablish His church on the earth. It is also interesting to note that the Savior was not spared from this hard reality either. At the announcement of his birth to the shepherds the angles rejoiced and exclaimed peace on earth. When the announcement of His birth reached Herod however, he ordered the slaughter of countless innocent infants in Bethlehem. The rest of his life wasn’t so peaceful either. Throughout his ministry he was mocked and persecuted at every turn. In fact the only instance the scriptures referenced a time where he got a moment to relax he was awoken by his disciples because of a storm. Finally, the Savior paid the ultimate price for his righteousness as he was beaten, mocked and crucified. So what then is this peace we are promised?

In Elder Quentin L. Cook’s talk in this past April’s general conference entitled “Pearsonal Peace: The Reward of Righteousness”, he spoke of the “doctrinal difference between… world peace and personal peace”.  Moral agency is the defining gift of this mortal life and it is essential to God’s plan of happiness for us. For me agency provides two important roles in this testing period of mortal life: First, it provides us an opportunity to grow by our choosing to obey God’s will for us and to eventually align our will with His. This agency is given to all and sadly most of us abuse this gift and many to the detriment of others. Second, something that we often overlook is that this agency of others often provides us with the trials and experiences necessary for our growth. A muscle does not get stronger unless it is worked against resistance. We are not here to experience world peace but to experience peace in spite of the world.

Near the end of His life, in an attempt to prepare His apostles for his crucifixion and assention into heaven,  Jesus gives this council found in John chapter 14 verse 27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Now Christ new what the apostles were about to face; he knew that they were not headed for a life of tranquility. Again, and as he here specifically states, he is not promising worldly peace but he knows that the Atonement he is about to make will be the only means by which this personal/internal peace that He promised can be obtained. In Alma chapter 7 verses 11-13 we read: “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance…” As far as I can understand the Atonement provides us this peace in two ways. First, it is only through the Atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we can conquer death and be washed clean from our sins to be able to stand in the presence of our Father in Heaven. This gives us a hope that in spite of what the world may throw at us we may, if we will choose Christ, receive all that the Father hath.  What an empowering thought this is; to know that we are the only ones that can keep this ultimate blessing from ourselves there is nothing anyone else can do to take this gift from us. Second, we learn from this scripture that Christ suffered all our pains, sicknesses and afflictions; he also experienced our temptations and has a perfect knowledge of our infirmities. He did this, the scripture states, so that he would know how to succor us. We don’t have to settle for a well-intentioned individual trying to understand what we are going through. He quite literally knows exactly how we fill not how he would fill facing the same problem but what we with our individual personalities and weaknesses are going through. And he has promised over and over that he will always be there for us if we but seek him diligently.

The Lord has also provided a way for us to escape the troubles of this world if only for a small moment. As Karen just spoke of so beautifully, the Temple can be a wonderful refuge for us to escape the cares of the world and feel the peace of our Savior as we draw closer to him.  For our young children however it is our homes that must stand as this refuge. Anyone that knows Nelson can imagine that our home is not always what you might consider a peaceful environment this is compounded exponentially when he is teamed up with Emilyne, now it is not our children that drive the spirit away but the way we may sometimes respond to their actions. The environment we provide is what allows our young children to feel the peace that the Savior promises.  In the March Ensign of 1994 there is an article entitled "Helping Children Hear the Still, Small Voice" in it there is a paragraph that reads: Many teachers of foreign languages believe that children learn a language best in “immersion programs,” in which they are surrounded by other speakers of the language and called upon to speak it themselves. They learn not just to say words, but to speak fluently and even to think in the new language. The proper “immersion” setting for a spiritual education is in the home, where spiritual principles can form the basis for daily living. “And thou shalt teach [the Lord’s words] diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up”.  I know because my children have such a wonderful mother who is constantly teaching them of the love of the Savior and a love for others our home is a place where our children can escape to feel the love and peace that the Spirit offers.

Returning to our story; after rebuking the storm Christ turned to his disciples and questioned: “Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?” now I don’t think the Lord was questioning why they didn’t rebuke the storm themselves; I don’t even believe that he was telling them that they should have known that he would not let anything bad happen to them. What I believe he was telling them is that their faith could offer them the same peace he was experiencing asleep on the boat even while everything else seemed to be falling apart around them and I believe his message is the same to us today.

I testify that God Lives and loves each of us individually he desires that we may have peace in our lives. I testify that Jesus is the Christ the very Son of God who atoned for us so that we might have this peace. I testify that this is Christ’s church and that it is only through the ordinances offered in this church that we can receive the eternal peace that God has in store for us and I share that in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.