Some Recent Pictures

William riding his bike at the church parking lot.

Gwen, me and William this last Sunday. Maxson was in a mood--so he didn't want to get in the picture.

The boys playing.

Fun Music

Here's another reason I'm a Jon Schmidt fan:

Whisperings of Consolation

I think this is my favorite part of the lesson:

The still, small voice whispers consolation to our souls in the depths of sorrow and distress.

Shortly after the Prophet had been allowed to escape his captors in Missouri, he recalled the feelings he had during his imprisonment: “During the time I was in the hands of my enemies, I must say, that although I felt great anxiety respecting my family and friends, who were so inhumanly treated and abused, … yet as far as I was concerned, I felt perfectly calm, and resigned to the will of my Heavenly Father. I knew my innocence as well as that of the Saints, and that we had done nothing to deserve such treatment from the hands of our oppressors. Consequently, I could look to that God who has the lives of all men in His hands, and who had saved me frequently from the gates of death, for deliverance; and notwithstanding that every avenue of escape seemed to be entirely closed, and death stared me in the face, and that my destruction was determined upon, as far as man was concerned, yet, from my first entrance into the camp, I felt an assurance that I, with my brethren and our families, should be delivered.

“Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered consolation to my soul, in the depths of sorrow and distress, bade me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave me great comfort. And although the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain things, yet the Lord of Hosts, the God of Jacob was my refuge; and when I cried unto Him in the day of trouble, He delivered me [see Psalms 46:7; 50:15]; for which I call upon my soul, and all that is within me, to bless and praise His holy name. For although I was ‘troubled on every side, yet [I was] not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.’ [See 2 Corinthians 4:8–9.]”10

Studying the lesson this week has made me think a lot about how I handle my own adversities and trials. I admit I can do better at enduring them well. One of the great reminders I received from studying this lesson is a phrase I often sing in my head from the hymn, Be Still, My Soul:

Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

To guide the future as he has the past--I can think of countless times when my life has been guided by the Lord. I just have to remember, He's still doing it. As I do, that is when I feel the whisperings of the Spirit speak words of consolation to my heart. This brings me hope and builds my confidence that things will work out.

The Savior understands all our suffering

Continued from Chapter 31:

The Savior understands all our suffering, and He will be with us forever and ever.

“If thou art called to pass through tribulations; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perils among robbers; if thou art in perils by land or by sea; if thou art accused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to prison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like wolves for the blood of the lamb; and if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

“The Son of Man hath descended below them all; art thou greater than he?

“Therefore, hold on thy way, and the Priesthood shall remain with thee, for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”9 [The paragraphs in this section are also found in D&C 122:1–9.]

Questions from the manual:

• How might our lives change as we remember that trials can give us experience and be for our good?
  
• What does it mean to you to know that the Savior has descended below all things?
  
• What do you think it means to “hold on thy way”?

The Truths of the Gospel Will Ultimately Triumph

Again, continued from the lesson:

God’s power is greater than any evil, and the truths of the gospel will ultimately triumph.

“I beg leave to say unto you, brethren, that ignorance, superstition and bigotry placing itself where it ought not, is oftentimes in the way of the prosperity of this Church, like the torrent of rain from the mountains that floods the most pure and crystal stream with mire, and dirt, and filthiness, and obscures everything that was clear before, and all rushes along in one general deluge; but time weathers tide; and notwithstanding we are rolled in the mire of the flood for the time being, the next surge peradventure, as time rolls on, may bring to us the fountain as clear as crystal, and as pure as snow (emphasis added, kind of timely with the weather!); while the filthiness, flood-wood and rubbish is left and purged out by the way.

“How long can rolling water remain impure? What power shall stay the heavens? As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven, upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints. [This paragraph is also found in D&C 121:33.]

The manual asks the following questions:

• Review Joseph Smith’s assurances to the Saints that the enemies of the Church could do nothing to hinder the power of God. Why do we sometimes forget this truth? What can we do to remember it?

One of these things is NOT like the other . . .

Here's a video of our family playing with rocket balloons, Monday, April 15th:

Here is a video of my boys playing in our backyard, today, Thursday, April 16:

Can you believe it? The picture below really says a lot--check out the grass below the tree:

A Small Moment

From the next section in the lesson:

Adversity lasts only a small moment; if we endure well, we will be exalted in the presence of God.

“… My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.”7 [The paragraphs in this section are also found in D&C 121:1–8.]

I admit, sometimes I wonder what "a small moment" is. However, when I look at trials I've experienced in the past--they seem small and insignificant. Mostly, because I learned from them and know what I should do if events transpire similar to those of the past. However, the lessons learned are very significant.

Chapter 31 Continued: Bind our Hearts

From the next section in the lesson:

No affliction can separate us from the love of God and fellowship with one another.
“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we are the more ready and willing to lay claim to your fellowship and love. For our circumstances are calculated to awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance of everything, and we think that yours are also, and that nothing therefore can separate us from the love of God and fellowship one with another [see Romans 8:39]; and that every species of wickedness and cruelty practiced upon us will only tend to bind our hearts together and seal them together in love.

The lesson manual asks the following questions:

• How do difficult circumstances sometimes “awaken our spirits to a sacred remembrance”?
  
• In what ways can trials and persecution “bind our hearts” to family members and friends?
  

The second question really stood out to me. Devlin was in a serious car accident 3 years ago. I was pregnant with our second son at the time. There was so many acts of service and prayers offered on our behalf. Casual relationships were changed and bound together as a result of the service rendered. It's amazing how trials in our past prepare us for trials in our future. Both to endure the trials we are given and to better understand how to assist others who are suffering.

“God Shall Be with You Forever and Ever”: The Prophet in Liberty Jail

I'm the 3rd Sunday teacher in Relief Society. So in one week I'll be teaching Chapter 31: “God Shall Be with You Forever and Ever”: The Prophet in Liberty Jail, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),358–68. I read the lesson tonight and was struck by the powerful images conveyed in the selected text. This week, I'm going to share the paragraphs that stood out to me after my first read. I'll post a couple every day.

From the Life of Joseph Smith

On December 1, 1838, the Prophet Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, and other brethren were taken from Richmond, Missouri, where they had been incarcerated in a log home, to the jail in Liberty, Missouri. There they would remain for more than four months, awaiting trial on false charges arising from the persecution of the Saints in Missouri. During this time, Church members were being driven from their homes in Missouri by their persecutors, causing tremendous suffering. The trials of the Saints were a source of great anxiety to the Prophet and his companions during their long imprisonment.

Liberty Jail was divided into an upper room and a 14-foot-square lower dungeon, where the prisoners were kept. The Prophet described their situation: “We are kept under a strong guard, night and day, in a prison of double walls and doors, proscribed in our liberty of conscience. Our food is scant, uniform, and coarse; we have not the privilege of cooking for ourselves; we have been compelled to sleep on the floor with straw, and not blankets sufficient to keep us warm; and when we have a fire, we are obliged to have almost a constant smoke. The Judges have gravely told us from time to time that they knew we were innocent, and ought to be liberated, but they dare not administer the law unto us, for fear of the mob.”1

The room was not tall enough to allow the men to stand upright, and Alexander McRae, one of the prisoners, said the food was “very coarse, and so filthy that we could not eat it until we were driven to it by hunger.”2

Mercy Fielding Thompson, a Church member who visited the brethren in the jail, later wrote: “It would be beyond my power to describe my feelings when we were admitted into the jail by the keeper and the door was locked behind us. We could not help feeling a sense of horror on realizing that we were locked up in that dark and dismal den, fit only for criminals of the deepest dye; but there we beheld Joseph, the Prophet—the man chosen of God, in the dispensation of the fullness of time to hold the keys of His kingdom on the earth, with power to bind and to loose as God should direct—confined in a loathsome prison for no other cause or reason than that he claimed to be inspired of God to establish His church among men.”3

During the Prophet’s imprisonment, his wife, Emma, was able to visit him only three times. Their only other communication was through letters. On April 4, 1839, the Prophet wrote: “Dear and affectionate wife. Thursday night, I sit down just as the sun is going down, as we peek through the grates of this lonesome prison, to write to you, that I may make known to you my situation. It is, I believe, now about five months and six days since I have been under the grimace of a guard night and day, and within the walls, grates, and screeching iron doors of a lonesome, dark, dirty prison. With emotions known only to God do I write this letter. The contemplations of the mind under these circumstances defy the pen or tongue or angels to describe or paint to the human being who never experienced what we experience. … We lean on the arm of Jehovah and none else for our deliverance.”4

From Liberty Jail, the Prophet also wrote letters to the Saints, expressing his love for them and his faith that God will always support those who trust in Him. Most of the following material comes from a letter to the members of the Church, dated March 20, 1839, containing the Prophet’s counsel to the Saints, his pleadings with God, and God’s answers to his prayers. Portions of this letter later became sections 121, 122, and 123 of the Doctrine and Covenants.