The ultimate Comforter

November 06, 2023

The ultimate Comforter

What up everybody! I know there’s two types of people out there. Those that love Halloween and those that are really not a big fan. I find myself in the second category haha! Either way, I hope you had a happy Halloween, and if you’re like me… happy it's over ;)

Lately, I’ve been thinking lots about heaven. I’ve thought about how close we are to it! I’ve been thinking about this, because over the past little bit I’ve really needed to rely on the powers of heaven. The past couple weeks have had some really tough days for me. We all have those times, dates, occasions, etc. that we wish the world would just skip right over. Well, I have had a couple of those recently. To be honest with you, I’ve been dreading these days on the calendar for months now, and I expected them to just be terrible! Every time I would think about the occasions that lied ahead, my anxiety would spike and I would get ready for the tears that would follow.

So, with that in mind, we can go back to talking about heaven. The reason I bring it up is because a couple weeks ago, I had one particular day marked on my calendar that I didn’t want to come. I remember going to bed the night before (like many, many other nights prior) and pleading with Heavenly Father to take the day away, or at least just help me to not notice! Well, the day came… it wasn’t taken away, and I was well aware when I woke up what day it was. But here’s where the miracle kicks in. I wasn’t all that torn apart. I was sad, for sure. I shed some tears. But... I actually felt an overwhelming amount of peace and love! I was shocked!!! How could this be?! The day that I had dreaded for months had finally come and it wasn’t breaking me down like I had planned. Not only was it not crippling me, but I was actually okay! After I had a little cry, I was swarmed by love and peace, and then realized a couple things.

Why was I so surprised to feel peace?! Let’s go to the scriptures and look at some cool promises the scriptures have given us! We’ll start at the New Testament in John, Chapter 14. There are a couple verses in this chapter that I absolutely love!

Verse 18: “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” This is Jesus Christ talking to his apostles, Jesus will be leaving and they’re all feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing. In the verses leading up to this, he leaves them a promise saying, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;... the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost". So here Christ promises His disciples that he will give them a comforter, which is the Holy Ghost (the third member of the Godhead). I don’t know about you, but when I think of the word comforter, I think of a specific blanket I have back home! It’s one of those weighted blankets, so when you put it on, you just feel all wrapped up! I think it’s cool that the Savior introduces the Holy Ghost as "the Comforter.” Out of all the ways to describe the Holy Ghost, He chose this. What a blessing that would have been to all of the sad and anxious apostles.
Verse 27: Christ says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” The peace and comfort that Christ gives us isn’t the same as what the world can give us. Meaning, if it seems incomprehensible to feel peace on your own dark and gloomy day, then we need to look another place other than mortal things. The world can’t really help with incomprehensible… but luckily, our God is much above the world. Our impossible is His average Tuesday. He gives us His peace and tells us to not be afraid. He has given us His sacrifice, and has even provided us with a constant companionship of the Spirit as long as we are worthy to have it with us.

Okay, now we’ll hope over to The Book of Mormon! In the book of Mosiah, Chapter 24, you have a group of people who are having a real rough go of it. They were chased out of their own city; they traveled in the wilderness and then eventually established their own city and were happy. That is, until their enemies found them and they were put into bondage. Talk about having it rough! So they start to pray, but their enemies aren’t a fan of that, so they tell them whoever they see praying, they will kill. Woah! So this people open their hearts up to Heavenly Father and ask for any sort of assistance! Well, does Heavenly Father know even the thoughts of our hearts?! Yes (Alma 18:32 - “He looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning)! And so, to this group of struggling people, Heavenly Father says: “Lift up your heads and be of good COMFORT, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me… I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs… and this will I do… that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.”

How cool is that scripture?! So cool! First things first, He tells them to be of good comfort. I love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ always lead with that! They always want us to know that they are there! Then they tell us that they remember the covenant (which is a word describing a promise that we make with God) which we have made with them! The cool thing about covenants, is that when we keep our end of the promise, Heavenly Father has to keep his as well (D&C 82:10 - “I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise.” Thus, when we do what He has asked to do, He is bound to fulfill his promise to us as well, but not only that... Heavenly Father is EXCITED to keep His promises with us! He loves blessing us!

So, now we’ve read some good scriptures and know that Heavenly Father is more than willing to help us out with whatever we need. He tells us time and time again that He will comfort us! So, how do we access these crazy cool blessings? Well, Heavenly Father wants us to ask for them. Luckily we have prayer, which is a direct line of communication from here on earth to the heavens! Prayer is essentially a super telephone that allows you to communicate with God. In Moroni Chapter 7, verse 26, we are told what Christ once told His people, “Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold, it shall be done unto you.” Well, that’s the coolest thing ever! If we have faith, and we are asking for good things, they will happen! Now we need to remember that God isn’t a genie or as Elder Christofferson (a modern day apostle) put it, a cosmic vending machine. We can’t do certain things and always get out exactly what we want. That’s because God knows exactly what we NEED. But it’s important to know that faith provides miracles, and when we hope for good things and desire good things (for example I really desired to not feel so heart broken and sad on the couple of days I was nervous about), God will answer those prayers! He will not leave us comfortless!

Now, you’ve been reading for so so long, and so I need to wrap this thing up, this is probably going to be a weekly email that lasts a couple weeks so I can give you all a little break ;) But it would be honestly quite rude of me if I didn’t put in one more thing. I want to add my testimony to Elder Holland’s (a modern day apostle). In his talk, “The Ministry of Angels,” he says:

“When we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.”

I am brought to tears when I think of my Angels who have helped me in my darkest moments. My amazing parents and siblings have been the biggest blessing to me. They were there ready for me on the morning of my tough day; they are angels to me. In addition to my family, I am grateful for the many friends and fellow missionaries that make life just a little bit sweeter. They are all a huge blessing in my life. I add my testimony to Elder Holland's when he closes his address:

“My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. '[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.' On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”

I know God loves me, He has made it so evident to me in recent months months. There have been many, many tough days where I can't get words out in between tears, and there are days like those in the past couple weeks where I have felt overwhelming amounts of peace that brought me to tears of gratitude. Through it all, I have felt the Lord’s comfort. Often, things still felt difficult, but that comfort was there and constant. I believe in Angels. Miracles are all around us. There is no need to be surprised when we have incomprehensible blessings come our way. Our loving Heavenly Father is just that... loving. "Speak, He is there. Pray, He is listening. You are His child. His love now surrounds you."

This is my testimony, which I know to be true. In the name of the ultimate Comforter, our older brother and friend, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

I love you all! Have an amazing week!
- 司长老