The
Gospel of Jesus Christ
Funny how things
work out, I've been feeling like I really wanted to speak in Sacrament Meeting,
and more than just bearing my testimony. I kept thinking I should really talk
to someone in the Bishopric, but seriously who volunteers to speak? Do people
do that? Well I keep having this prompting, and desire to REALLY want to speak,
but I never acted on it. Well a couple weeks ago I received a phone call asking
me to speak, however this is a slightly bigger venue than I was
anticipating. However because I've been
wanting to speak I knew exactly what I wanted to say, but when I sat down to
write out my thoughts, something completely different came out...
“Our
strength and our peace and our happiness are in the Lord. ... If we will
acknowledge him, be thankful, serve him, love his children, and accept the
responsibilities of being truly Christian, we will be happy, notwithstanding
problems or troubles.” —Elder Marion D. Hanks
I want to tell you a story about a young girl whose path
to happiness was a long jagged road.
This girl came from a good family, in good home with
good friends. But she always felt a void inside. She felt lost and alone. She
searched and searched for peace and happiness everywhere. But when you look
everywhere, you look down the wrong roads. These roads led her down of path of
poor choices and putting her trust in the wrong people.
At 17, feeling terrified she became a mother.
When she was in her 20’s she continued looking for peace
and happiness, only to find pain.
At the age of 30 she reached her low. She lost her home,
her car had broken down and was unable to afford the repairs, and was out of
work and now had three young children in tow.
One night she sat alone watching her children sleep on
the floor, sobbing, and wondering how she had gone this far down the wrong
path, when all she was searching for was happiness.
Elder Costa of the Seventy said
“Many people in this world do not understand the difference between fun and
happiness. Many try to find happiness having fun, but the two words have
different meanings.”
Having
fun is an emotion you having in the moment. It’s the feeling you have when
participating in an activity that makes you feel temporarily uplifted. But the moment that activity ends,
the feeling ceases. It’s like when you take a child to an amusement park. They
will have fun all day, lots of smiles and laughs and memories made but when it’s time to go, their
attitude changes instantly to sadness, anger or frustration. This is because
the moment that activity stops, the fun stops so and those emotions they were
feeling stop. But true happiness is
something that endures beyond the moment and gives you a feeling of
satisfaction. Have you ever had a stranger give you a compliment? The moment
they walked away did that feeling stop or did it carry on? Most of the time,
that feeling will carry on with you the rest of the day. The feeling endures,
you felt real happiness.
The story I told you a moment ago is
my story. All of my life I have been searching for happiness in fun. And never
have I found the peace I was looking for. As I mentioned I have an amazing
family, true friends. I was even coming to church and church activities fairly
often, but I never made the choice to be baptized, I always held back. I had
this feeling of anxiety. A few days after that night where I broke down
watching my children sleep I asked advice from a friend. He said “when was the
last time you picked up your scriptures?” I laughed. He said “No, I’m asking
you seriously” I froze a little, and said “I don’t know… probably not since
high school??” He said very firmly “That’s where you need to start.” And so I
did.
A few weeks later I was offered a
job. It was seasonal but it was full time, and I could even bring my kids with
me if I needed to. When that job ended I was offered a better, permanent job.
Three months later I was offered my dream job, doing what I loved working for
an advertising agency. In that time frame I was able to borrow a car from my
parents, move into my own place and began dating an amazing man, who is now my
husband. Now I get to stay home with my children, and my husband and I have
just started our own agency so I can do what I love and be right where my
children need me. Things were far better than that night but I felt like I was still
missing a piece of the puzzle.
About a year and half ago, my baby
brother joined the military. And his first week was brutal. He was really
struggling and very homesick.I told him to pray. Pray for peace and strength.
We found out right before his boot camp graduation that he had been baptized
into the church.
And an idea hit me, here I was
giving advice to my brother on how to be closer to Our Heavenly father and His
Son, and my brother was making those sacred covenants and following the plan
laid out before us, I wasn’t. I decided it was time.
Shortly after my brother's baptism
our amazing relief society president asked if I would like to have the
missionaries start coming by. I knew in my heart that I was ready and it was
time. One afternoon there was a knock on my door. I answered to find the
missionaries standing there with smiles. I had met one of the missionaries
before but he was coming by to introduce us to his new companion. So I asked
the first question we always ask missionaries. “Where are you from?” With a
wide grin he said Tucson, Arizona. I excitedly said “ME TOO!” Then he asked
which high school I attended. His mouth literally dropped open as I told him.
He said “I JUST graduated from there last spring.” We chatted for several
minutes talking about places we knew and found out that we knew several people
in common, one was one of my best friends to this day. That evening I was SO
excited to tell my friend about my meeting with the missionaries. When I
messaged she promptly responded “NIC! All of those times in in school when I’d
invite you to activities or dances… his mom was my young women’s adviser. It
was his mom that kept encouraging me to reach out to you.” His family continued
to reach out to me. And Elder Gurvine picked up the work where is mom left off
all those years ago. 6 months ago I was baptized and I was so honored to have
Elder Gurvine be the one to perform the baptism.
Today, our lives are by no means
easy. But piece by piece we are finding true joy, true enduring happiness. That
void I have felt most of my life is shrinking little by little. Every time I am
doing something of service for those around me or am serving our Father in
Heaven, that hole inside of me shrinks a little more. This year has been beyond
for us. The adversary has no doubt been working overtime on our little family.
But every time we pick up our scriptures, attend church or serve others we gain
another small victory. Financially this year has been very tight, but two days
after I was called to serve in the Young Women’s Presidency in my ward, my
husband received a significant promotion at work, easing so much of our
burdens. Now I could go on and on about blessings we’ve received when we do the
work. But each one of you, in your hearts, already know this to be true. That
is the covenant we made. When we serve Him and those around us and He, in turn,
will bless us. And those blessings bring true happiness that will endure to the
end.
I want to leave you with one final comment. This was a
conversation with my brother when I mentioned to him how nervous I was about
speaking to you today:
Scott: Ok, so you really think that you are going to be
up there alone?
Me: What do you mean?
Yes I have
to stand at the podium alone.
Scott: Think about it, You're going to be speaking to
who knows how many people. About God. About what you feel and telling other
people how to find happiness in HIM. You really think He's going to let you go
through that alone? Ya it may be you saying the words. But it's Him speaking
through YOU..... You may be standing up there alone. But you won't be alone. He
is going to be right there beside you every step of the way. Every second you
spend up there. He will be right there with you. Speaking into your ear.
