From Dad

We had an exceptional Stake Conference this weekend. Elder Jeffrey Holland was here along with an Elder Godoy, a newly-called member of the First Quorum of Seventy, and a native of Brazil.

Elder Holland gave a great sermon on Saturday night at the adult meeting, and I hope that you will read the summary that I present below.

Elder Holland began by saying that we hear a lot about faith and charity, but very little about hope. That caught my attention, because I have stated the exact same words several times in my Bishopric responsibilities. Elder Holland spoke on Hope, and stressed that all of us are going to undergo or have already undergone trials of a very stressful nature. And, trials will come more than once. Those may be trials of pain or illness, of discouragement/disappointment, or of loss. He encouraged us to understand that we cannot hope to become Gods unless we have experienced the longsuffering and compassion that characterizes the Gods. Trials are essential to help us to understand. He jokingly told us that we would be “stupid” (he later repented of using that term) to jump out of the boat just because we did not like the ride. After all, the boat is where we can be most safe. (Obviously, the boat he refers to is the Church.) When we are in pain, or feel a deep sense of loss or discouragement, it is foolish to work at convincing ourselves that God does not love us. [Kind of like Mel Gibson in “Signs”.] Only fools blame God. Why should we think that we are any more entitled to a trial-free life than any of the prophets in the scriptures or the Savior himself? We should be grateful for trials, because we learn more from those tests than in any other way, if we will.

He encouraged us to “stand still and be patient, because you will be happy again!”. He emphasized that the happiness or joy for which we hope may not come for days, months, or years, and maybe not at all in this life. But, we need to be more far-sighted and realize that we shouted for joy when this plan was presented to us. The end result WILL be worth our patient endurance.

I think most of you know this, but it is worth being reminded again and again.

I love you all. Thanks again for the special Mother's Day that you gave to Mom.

Dad