"This week was a doozy" Isaiah 40:29 & 41:13

August 02, 2022

"This week was a doozy" Isaiah 40:29 & 41:13

Hello hello everyone! I hope you have had an amazing week! If you haven’t had the best week ever… I hope this email can help you just slightly! Let’s go over some highlights for the week:

Elder Stevens and I had our second appointment with Yomi C and, I’m happy to say, it went better. I think we at least could mutually laugh this time through all of our struggles!
I got to go to the temple (this morning in fact) which was so amazing! There is just a different sort of peace and comfort you can feel in the temple! It was reaffirmed to me that the temple truly is the house of the Lord!
I had a terrifying interaction with the President of the MTC. He thought I was someone else but once we got squared away, I was able to breathe again, which felt like a highlight for sure! I really do love President Porter, but I would not want to be that poor elder he was after!
We have a little pet! Go check out the pictures! She’s a cute little deer named Gail! We’ll have to see how long she sticks around! She sits just right outside our building haha!
I felt the hand of the Lord in my life extra this week. I felt my testimony strengthened so much, which brings me to the main part of this email:

This week was a doozy. I think that would probably be the best way to put it haha! But I’ve felt a lot of comfort through multiple different things and I’m excited to share some of those things with YOU! Life isn't always peachy. But that’s because this life was meant to be a time for all of us to come to earth and grow. And during that growth, there is a lot of happiness but sometimes, you have bad moments. To any of you who are having a bad moment… I hope you know it’s normal! This week I had to say goodbye to my very best friend in the entire world. Without Sister Benson (my best friend), I don’t think I would be writing you this email right now. I mean maybe I’d be writing you an email, but it would just be trash! Sister Benson has been such a blessing in my life, and has helped me draw closer to my Savior in so many ways! So needless to say, that was tough! And it made me wonder, why do hard things have to happen? Why can’t life just be great? Why can’t we just have maybe some minor bumps in the road and then be all good to go the rest of the way through this mortal life? Well, we simply wouldn’t learn anything! That’s why! However, is it just terrible when you are going through those difficult times? You betcha it is! But lucky for us, we are not alone. In fact, we are never alone!

I read a couple of amazing talks and I’d like to share some highlights (I’ll provide the links for you because they are just so good!) For everyone who is struggling, or for everyone who will struggle (spoiler alert, that’s everyone), this is for you! The first talk I want to highlight is, “Do We Trust Him? Hard Is Good” given by Elder Stanley G. Ellis in October 2017. He asks us a very important question: “Do we trust that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do know us and want to help us? Even in the midst of trials, challenges, and hard times, do we still trust Him?” I was forced to ask myself this exact same question. Do I truly trust my Heavenly Father and his Son, that they truly know what I’m going through and will help me? I’m sure there have been many of us who have asked this question or one very similar to it in our lives. So what’s the answer? Well, it’s a resounding yes! Not only are they there to help us, but they are also no strangers to hard things. I love this thought given by Elder Ellis in his talk: “Members of the Godhead are no strangers to hard things. God the Father sacrificed His Only Begotten Son to the terrible suffering of the atonement, including death by crucifixion. The scriptures say Jesus Christ learned ‘obedience by the things which he suffered’ (Hebrews 5:8). He voluntarily suffered the agony of the Atonement. The Holy Ghost must be long-suffering to prompt, warn, and guide us, only sometimes be ignored, misinterpreted, or forgotten.” Each of these people has experienced their own pains that I am positive shook them to their core, that made them ache, and made them want to lean on someone. Elder Ellis later says, “Through these examples, we see that hard is the constant! We all have challenges. The variable is our reaction to the hard.” We all have these moments, no one is exempt. We’re not exempt BECAUSE God loves us!

The other talk I want to highlight is, “Is There No Balm in Gilead?” by Elder Brent H. Nielson in October 2021. I don’t want to give away the story, but even after prayers and fasting and priesthood blessings, he still had misfortune happen in his life. But Elder Nielson came to this conclusion: “The Savior’s healing power was not just His ability to heal our bodies but, perhaps even more important, His ability to heal our hearts”. I know that the Savior was there for ME this week. When my heart was broken, when I kneeled down to my Father and I pleaded for his love… I felt it. It was small, and it didn’t stick with me permanently. I was still very sad, but it was exactly what I needed right then. He allowed me to feel just the smallest sliver of His love for me. He allowed the enabling power of our Savior’s atonement to rest in my heart. Elder Nielson says, “The Savior’s redeeming and healing power can cover any sin, wound, or trial - no matter how large or how difficult - and there are leftovers. His grace is sufficient.” I add my testimony to his. I know that the Savior’s healing, love, charity, empathy, and any other good virtue, do not fall short of anyone. Our trials are never beyond his reach to help us through.

Now I’ll wrap things up because I know it’s getting lengthy and you’re ready to go do something besides read this. This week I decided to double up on scriptures because these two scriptures are what I needed to hear this week. Isaiah 40:29 says, “He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” I needed an increase of strength this week and I know I was supplied with just that. Even more so, I know that the Lord did just what he said He would do in Isaiah 41:13: “For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee.” I definitely feared this week. I feared that I wouldn’t be able to move on, that I wouldn’t be able to feel as happy as I had been, or that I could feel comforted in the midst of my sorrows. But after reading this, I was reminded there’s no need to fear, the Lord is always there, holding our hand and getting us through our trials. I want to close with one of my very favorite poems by Mary Stevenson. It goes like this:

One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
'Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me.'
He whispered, 'My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.'

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I love you all, and God loves you all. Fear not, for He is there beside you when you need him. I have witnessed this truth, and I know you can too! I love this gospel and the joy it brings into my life! Have a great week everybody and remember: GOD IS GOOD!

Zàijiàn,
Elder Steadman