Trials

I just taught the lesson this past Sunday in Relief Society about Joseph's letters to his family.  I am not much of a church historian - it is certainly something that I want to be a strength - and so I learned some things that I had not known about Joseph's travels within the first years of growth of the church.  The Spirit works on each of us differently but recently I have found that He speaks to me in some of the simplest words.  I was reading about Joseph's efforts to strengthen the church and in the very next paragraph, it speaks of some of Joseph's trials.  I was so impressed by this passage - no matter what Joseph was doing, no matter how much he served the Lord, no matter what work he was about for the Lord, Joseph's trials continued and even seemed to increase.  The next thought that came to my mind as I was preparing to teach was that sometimes our trials seem to increase when we are about the very work of the Lord because part of the Lord's work is bringing each of us closer to Him.

This summer.....which we still feel we are in the midst of.....has been a long and trying one.  I cannot even begin to describe all that has happened but at times, I have not felt strong enough to continue.  I have wanted to give up and at times, I felt like I have.  The burden, it seemed, was too much to bear on my soul.

One of my favorite talks is "Sunday will Come" from Elder Wirthlin, October 2006 General Conference.  In it, he describes the last few days of our Savior.  He says that the Friday of his crucifixion was the darkest of all Fridays; it was filled with despair, grief, consuming sorrow; however, it did not last long because on Sunday, He was resurrected.  Then he said:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays - those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world  lie littered about us in pieces.  We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put back together again.  We will all have our Fridays.  But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death - Sunday will come.  In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.  No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come.  In this life or the next, Sunday will come."

Even now, I feel like I am going to break BUT I do know that Sunday will come.  I do know that I can still conquer and that I am still supported by the Lord.  I know that this too will end.  It just takes time, patience and prayer.  We cannot do it alone.  Only in the Lord, will we ever find rest.

This gives me the hope that I need.  This gives me the courage that I need to keep going.  How grateful I was to teach the lesson and be reminded of this very special talk and its words once again.

Sunday will come.