Difficult Things

 I had a seminary lesson this week and it was about plural marriage (polygamy).  Last time I taught Church History I don't believe we studied this concept.  I spent quite a lot of time studying over the weekend so I could understand this concept better.


I thought about how I would respond to this if I lived at that time and was asked to allow my husband to take an additional wife/wives.  I certainly responded as any woman would, with absolute repulsion. As I talked about this concept with my students, I came to understand that the Lord never makes things easy for us.  He expects us to make decisions that are difficult.  I am very thankful for the Spirit that bore witness to me of this concept of doing hard things.

Each of us will be asked of the Lord to do hard things.  I thought about Andrew going on a mission. He was very nervous and homesick in the beginning and it was very hard for him.  It was a hard thing!  When I knew I was going to be called as the Relief Society president, I cried.  I did NOT want to serve in that capacity.  It was only because the Spirit prepared me that I was able to accept.  I did NOT want to serve as a stake missionary.  It took me a whole week to accept that call.  I did NOT want to teach seminary.  I didn't think I could do it but then again, the Spirit spoke to me four years before I was called to let me know that one day it would be my opportunity.  What was the result of those callings?  I LOVED being a stake missionary.  I learned to LOVE the sisters in my ward.  I LOVE teaching seminary and being in the scriptures every day more than just reading.

The Lord does ask us to do hard things.  Perhaps not to be in a plural marriage, but still there are things that may not be hard for me that are very difficult for you and vice versa.  I am grateful that I have gotten through the hard things.  I am thankful for the opportunity and responsibility to get on my knees and find out the Lord's will for me.

What's your hard thing?

Popular posts from this blog

Who is the Sower?

Image
Yesterday I had a thought different from the one I've always had and it makes so much sense.  Andy Thompson was talking about the parable of the sower from Matthew 13 in the New Testament. He said we have to decide what kind of soil we are so that when the sower comes with the seeds, we will be ready to make those seeds grow and blossom and become all that they can be.  I love that! Here's the rub.  I always that I was the seed not the soil.  I had to decide what kind of soil I wanted to be planted in.  How deep is my faith in Jesus Christ?  How solid is my testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ?  Do I know that the Book of Mormon is a second witness?  Do I know that we have continuing revelation through modern day prophets?  Yes!  I want to be planted in the best soil so that I can become better, stronger and feel the spirit more in order to do more good and give more meaningful service.  After some consideration, I guess both way...
Read more

What God Can Do

Image
   I have never been to the Provo Tabernacle.  It is a building used for conferences, seminary graduations, concerts and other civic and church events.  It was built by the Mormon pioneers who settled there.  In fact, General Conference was held there.  Clare recalls having her Stake Conference there when she lived in Provo. Five years ago in the middle of the night, a fire started, completely gutting the facility.  Much of the community was devastated.   With all those flames, I can't imagine that there was anything left.  But actually there was.  There was a set of scriptures that survived the fire with just a little charring on the edges.  The pulpit was also left completely in tact.  But really is was a burned out shell of a building. President Monson announced a few months later that it would be rebuilt and turned into the second temple in Provo.  They would call it the Provo City Center Temple.   After an engine...
Read more

Manna

  This week I taught a lesson about the Lord providing Manna to the children of Israel.  I learned some very interesting things as I prepared to teach this lesson.  As with most things, the Lord gives us principles through symbolism.  Manna was to physically feed the people each day.  He could easily have given it once or twice a week but instead gave it every day except the Sabbath. I learned several things.  First of all, the Lord provided manna every day because he wanted the children of Israel to remember Him every single day.  He wanted them to see His hand in their daily lives by providing for the physical needs. Secondly, He gave an example of just how important the Sabbath is by providing a miracle each seventh day.  They couldn't gather more than they would use in a day or it would become wormy and stinky.  But, on the sixth day, they were instructed to gather and prepare enough to be used for two days.  How many people didn't l...
Read more