Will Ye Go Away Also?

 

“Will ye also go away?”  Was a poignant question the Savior asked His twelve disciples as He watched many of His followers turn and walk away from Him because “His teachings were too hard.”

As I reflected on that passage of scripture, I found my heart aching as I sensed the anguish in His voice and the pain in His eyes as He turned to His beloved twelve and asked that question.

I recently had an experience that brought this passage home to me.  I had a beloved friend who I had the honor of journeying with for many years.  We shared many joys and many sorrows.  I felt we were family.

Here recently this friend informed me that a spontaneous decision had been made.  Excitement filled this beloved friend and I found myself excited also; but then an uneasiness started to fill my soul.  As I tried to talk with my friend about it, I found my questions being averted as the subject was changed.  That was when I started feeling the great distance that was between us.

As we parted there was not even a goodbye said.  As I watched this beloved friend walk away a forlorn feeling filled my soul and then I heard my beloved Saviors loving voice asking me, “will ye also go away?”  and my sorrowful heart replied like Peter, “No Lord, where would I go…”

I wish my friend all the best and I hope that one day my friend will come to know as I know that there is only one friend our beloved Savior who can truly fill that sorrowful void.

I Appreciate you

 

Five Little words that warm one’s heart when heard, “Thank you, I appreciate you.”

I was in the Nauvoo temple when a total stranger said, “Thank you, I appreciate you.”

I know I’ve heard those five little words many times before.

Yet in that sacred place they touched my soul deeply as though being engraved in my heart.

One day at work, a customer thanked me and then simply said, “Thank you, I appreciate you.”  Instantly, I found myself back in Nauvoo hearing those five little words echoing through my mind with peace and joy filling my soul.

May we all feel the joy and peace that comes when people who pass through our lives  say these five little words, “thank you, I appreciate you.”

My Church Site Thoughts

 

A couple Sundays ago I was asked to speak about my experiences at the various church sites I have visited.   In preparing for this talk I was amazed at how much insight the Spirit added.  I hope I can capture that same Spirit here in my writings.

In 2021 I went to the Sacred Grove.  As I walked past the Smith home I heard Michael S Wilcox share his experience as he was touring there many years ago.  He had placed his head against the same fireplace Joseph had when he shared with his mother, “none of the churches are correct…For I have seen a vision.”  As I continued on the path to the Sacred Grove, I observed a wooden fence and once again I was taken to the Jospeh Smith story where he had fallen over the fence and the angel Moroni had appeared him to him and instructed him to “tell his father all that had transpired.  As I entered the grove I felt as if I was entering the temple.  It is truly a sacred place.  I wandered all around the pathways and sat on the benches and reflected on what had transpired there so many years ago.  “Oh, How Lovely was the Morning” played out in my mind.  I came across some benches as if they had been set up for a church service and I sat there wondering how cool it would have been to have been there to listen to the Prophet teach.  Then “Praise to the Man” started playing out in my mind.

I then made my way to the Hill Cumorah where Kenneth Copes song “Come with me” played in my mind.  My definition of hill is totally different than what I climbed.  I found myself on a steep trail.  As I huffed and puffed with multiple breaks, I found myself wondering, “Brother Jospeh how did you do this?”  The Spirit responded, “He was a young man.”  (Hinting that I was an old woman.”  At the top I was greeted with a circular statue with a golden Moroni on top with various pictures of the prophet all around it.

On my flight home I decided I wanted to go to Nauvoo, so April of this year I made the drive to Nauvoo.  My first stop was the Winter Quarters temple.  Behind the temple were the grave sights of our pioneer ancestors.  In the middle was a statute of a husband comforting his wife and at their feet was a marker that read “Grave on Unknown Child.”  This was truly another a sacred place  To enter, you walked between two cherubim with their wings extended towards each other covering their face and all around were sayings from “Come Come Ye Saints”, bible scriptures and my favorite, “Oh Lord responsive to thy call in life or death what er befall our hopes for bliss on thee depend thou art our everlasting friend.”  Their faith was life changing.

I then went to Liberty Jail which was a dingy dungeon with no light.  Tears flowed as I gazed at that hole where the Prophet spent so much time with D&C 121 and 122 started running through my mind:  “O God where art thou?....because of thy righteousness; and thy God shall stand by thee forever and ever…And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit or into the hands of murders and the sentence of death passed upon thee, if thou be cast into the deep, if th billowing surge conspire against thee, if fierce winds become thine enemy, if the havens gather blackness, and all te elements combine to hedge up thy 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?”

I then went to Carthage Jail where in the visiting center they opened with a talk given by Elder Holland which hit home.  I shall just share a part of his powerful testimony that solidified mine:  “May I refer to a modern ‘last days’ testimony?  When Jospeh Smith and his brother Hyrum started for Carthage to face what they knew would be an imminent martyrdom, Hyrum read these words to comfort the heart of his brother: ‘Thou hast been faithful, wherefore…thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.  And now I Moroni, bid farewell…until we shall meet before the judgement seat of Christ.’  A few short verses from the 12^th chapter of Ether in the Book of Mormon.  Before closing the book, Hyrum turned down the corner of the page from which he read, marking it as part of the everlasting testimony for which these two brothers were about to die…Joseph the Prophet turned to the guards who held him captive and bore a powerful testimony of the diving authority of the Book of Mormon.  Shortly after pistol and ball would take the lives of these two testators….In this their greatest—and last---hour of need, I ask you:  Would these men blaspheme before God by continuing to fix their lives their honor, and their own search for eternal salvation on a book (and by implication a church and a ministry) they had fictitiously created out of whole cloth?  Never mind that their wives are about to be widows and their children fatherless.  Never mind that their little band of followers will yet be ‘houseless, friendless, and homeless’ and their children will leave footprints of blood across frozen rivers and untamed prairie floor.  Never mind that legions will die and other legions live declaring in the four quarters fo this earth thay they know the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses is to be true.  Disregard all that, and tell me whether in this hour of death these two men would enter the presence of their Eternal Judge quoting from and finding solace in a book which, if not the very word of God, would brand them as imposters and charlatans until the ends of time?  They would not do that!  Thery were willing to die rather than deny the divine origin and the eternal truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.”

We then entered the jail.  You could still see the bullet holes through the door and which stopped the clock.  The missionaries then played a tape of an elder singing “A Poor Wayfaring Man.”  Tears flowed as I gazed around the room and then my eyes fixed on the window the Prophet tried to leap out off.  Once outside by the well where the prophets body had; landed D&C 135 ran through my mind:  …”Joseph Smith the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only for the salvation men in this world, than any other man in this world…”

I then made my way to Nauvoo.  A truly beautiful place.  As you enter and leave the temple you face a stature of Hyrum and Jospeh on horseback looking over his beautiful “City of Nauvoo.”  Before the headed to Carthage.  It is truly a remarkable site.  I spent two days in that magnificent temple and found myself totally overcome with emotion.  You see I had taken my endowment out in Brigham’s temple in Salt Lake and now here I was in Joseph’s beloved temple.  Elder Hinckley’s words ran through my mind: “…We were to rebuild the house of the Lord as a memorial to the Prophet Joseph and as an offering to our God.  On the recent 27^th of June, in the afternoon at about the same time Joseph and Hyrum were shot in Carthage 158 years earlier, we held the dedication of the magnificent new structure.  It is a place of great beauty.  It stands on the exactly the same site where the original temple stood…It is a fitting and appropriate memorial to the great Prophet of this dispensation, Joseph the Seer.  How grateful I am, how profoundly grateful for what has happened.  Today, facing west, on the high bluff overlooking the City of Nauvoo, thence across the Mississippi, and over the plains of Iowa there stands Josephs temple, a magnificent house of God.  Here in the Salt Lake valley, facing East to that beautiful temple in Nauvoo stands Brigham’s, temple the Salt Lake Temple.  They look toward one another as bookends between which there are volumes that speak of the suffering, the sorrow, the sacrifice, even the deaths of thousands who made the long journey from the Mississippi River to the valley of the Great Salt Lake…”

I stood at the gravesites of the Prophet and his family and stood in the home of Lucy Mack Smith.  The Spirt in her home was very powerful.  I found myself for the first time understanding the great women’s organization that the Prophet started and its true mission.

I then went to the Farr West temple site.  One day it will be a beautiful temple in an idyllic spot.

I then went to Haun’s Mill which was a beautiful green pasture.  The river was now a creek but it was hard to comprehend the massacre that had happened there due to the peaceful beauty of the place.  I then drove to a small town in MO where the mob had travelled to slaughter the saints at Hauns Mill.  I found myself in a dying little town but there in the park was a monument with an original stone from the mill and two headstones.  One which listed those who had died and the other the names of the woman who ha survived and across the top was written “And they ever lost their faith and never left the church.”  Inspiring women.

I then ended my tour with a drive through Adam Ondi Ahman.  In my mind’s eye I could envision the Garden of Eden.  It is truly a place of beauty and peace.   How grateful I am that a door was opened that I could visit these historic church sites and feel the pioneer spirit that attended each.   

Forgiving as Jesus Forgives

 

Years ago, I shared some thoughts that came from the song “I’m trying to be like Jesus.”

Here this past week the chorus of that song has been running through my mind:

 

“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

 

One of my struggles is with patience and forgiveness.  A few months ago in a book I have been studying by Elder Holland, he shared this thought on forgiveness:

 

“… and bear one another’s burdens.  The way you can bear mine is to forgive the sin with which I hurt you.  You should shoulder the fact that I somehow used you and yet you forgive me for that.  At first blush, we say, ‘what sense does that make?  You have committed some sin against me, but you want me to take that off your shoulder and, at least temporarily, place it on me?  You want me to bear your burdens!’  The Lord says, ‘Yes, in some strange way that is what I want you to do, because that is what I do.  So, forgive his offense.  Take from him the things under your control that would keep him from the kingdom, and I will work out with him the rest of it which is under his control and mine.”

Ouch, that is going to be a hard pill to swallow so to say, but as the song goes, “Love one another as Jesus loves you…”

I am learning that trying to be like Jesus is a work in progress.  How grateful I am for His loving patience and meeting us where we are.

 

Mothers Day Thought 2023

Here I am sitting quietly in my room reading my scriptures and listening to my music that soothes my soul.  Alas another Mother's Day is here and I still prefer to stay home and reflect.  I just don't have it in me for a "Mother's Day" program.

This  April I drove myself to Nauvoo and other church sites.  It was an amazing experience that opened my eyes and touched me deeply.  Not knowing radio stations I found myself listening to Elder Hollands newest book "Our Day Star Rising."  I listened to it three times and now that I'm home, I am reading it.

I have always admired Lucy Mack and Emma Smith but as I found myself standing in Lucy's house in Nauvoo I was overwhelmed with love and admiration for this great mother.  She was truly loved by all those around her and what an inspirational woman.  I then found myself at Haun's mill where so many Saints were slaughtered.  At their memorial I found an original wheel and two headstones.  One with the names of those who were murdered and the other of the woman who survived the massacre.  At the top in bold print it stated, "They never lost their faith and they never fell away."  What remarkable woman.

I spent two days in the Nauvoo temple and you could say "my eyes of understanding were opened..."  As I felt those inspirational pioneer spirits all around me I kept hearing, "They were endowed with power from on high."  One would wonder how after losing everything and being chased from their homes they would keep their faith.  Within those hallowed walls I found my answer.

I attended an activity with a friend where a sister who had just returned from Africa was sharing her experiences with her beloved African Saints.  She commented that they had a "Circle of Sisterhood."  In which when one of their sisters were struggling they would surround that sister, uplift, encourage and cry with her.  There were no judgements, no criticisms, just unconditional love and support.  They exuded the pure Love of Christ.  Lucy Mack Smith, Emma Smith and those early pioneer women who first started the "Women's organization aka The Relief Society."  Came into my mind along with the Prophet Joseph's counsel for these valiant sisters:

"All difficulties which might and would cross our way must be surmounted, though the soul be tried, the heart faint, and hands hang down. Must not retrace our steps; there must be decision of character, aside from sympathy. When instructed, we must obey that voice, observe the laws of the kingdom of God,17 that the blessing of Heaven may rest down upon us. All must act in concert, or nothing can be done, and should move according to the ancient priesthood; hence the saints should be a select people,18 separate from all the evils of the world—choice, virtuous, and holy. The Lord was going to make of the Church of Jesus Christ a kingdom of priests, a holy people, a chosen generation, as in Enoch’s day, having all the gifts as illustrated to the church in Paul’s epistles and teachings to the churches in his day19—that it is the privilege of each member to live long and enjoy health. He then blessed the saints.”20

Our little branch had a activity in which we wanted to honor Sisters and womanhood due to families and women are being attacked at every angle.  During our conversations I found myself reflecting on Elder Hollands words in regards to the parable of the householder.  For many years I had found myself bitter and envious of woman who had given birth and had the remarkable blessing of having children.  It has been a struggle for me and many like me.  As I was reading Elder Hollands words, I gained a new insight.  In this parable workers are called throughout the day and at the end of the day those who only labored for an hour received a penny same as those who had labored for many hours.  Seeing that the last laborers had been paid the same as those who had labored all day there was some grumbling.  I am  guilty of grumbling and murmuring.  Elder Holland had this inspirational insight:  "It is with that reading of the story that I feel the grumbling of the first labors must be seen.  As the householder in the parable tells them...'My friends, I am not being unfair to you.  You agreed on the wage for the day, a good wage.  You were happy to get the work, and I am very happy with the way you served.  You are paid in full.  Take your pay and enjoy the blessing.  As for the others, surely I am free to do what I like with my own money.'  Then this piercing question to anyone then or now who needs to hear it:  'Why should you be jealous because I choose to be kind?'  Brothers and sisters, there are going to be times in our lives when someone else gets an unexpected blessing or receives some special recognition.  May I plead with us not to be hurt--and certainly not to feel diminished when someone else gets added upon.  We are not in a race against each other to see who is the wealthiest, the most talented or the most beautiful or even the most blessed.  The race we are really in is the race against sin, and surely envy is one of the most universal of those.  Furthermore, envy is a mistake that just keeps giving."  (Ouch.)

At our activity a dear sister asked, "How many of you here dislike Mother's Day?"  I was surprised at the hands that went up.  One sister was unable to have the family she yearned for, one sister lost her mother when her mother was my current age 57 in an unexpected accident.  I found my heart aching for these beloved sisters and then realized that I had a severe case of tunnel vision and had felt diminished during my years of anger.  Our beloved Savior has counseled us to "mourn with those who mourn."  Because of my tunnel vision instead of mourning with my beloved sisters who I perceived had been "most blessed" I had been throwing stones.  My thoughts then turned to Emma who faced heartbreak upon heartbreak, yet she still opened her heart to her sisters in need.

In my studies today with Elder Holland I found myself in James and throughout the reading I was directed to scripture upon scripture that stated in black and white: "And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God."

It is so easy to get caught up in what feels like "unfairness" during our mortal journey.  But again and again in black an white we are assured that "Our God is fair and just God."  This mortal journey is just that a journey.  The best is yet to come.

How grateful I am for a Heavenly Friend who meets me where I am and teaches me line upon line and precept upon precept.  I am in hopes that with my new insight I will go forward with faith and let envy go as I strive to be more like my Heavenly Best Friend.

Because of Him

 

Today is Easter Sunday and I have been reflecting the last few weeks on what message I would like to share which would be in line with our preparations for Easter Sunday and the week that led up to this beautiful day.

For several weeks I have found myself surrounded with sadness, despair, lost hope and fear.  As I have found myself trying to support those around me, I have found myself facing some of my greatest sorrows and greatest joys.

Today as I was listening to our program, I found the Spirit whispering “Because of Him” and these are words that started pouring into my mind:

Because of Him:  I know that thou my sins be as scarlet they shall become white as snow.

Because of Him:  I know that I will once again greet my family and friends who were called to their Heavenly Home.

Because of Him:  I know that all my adversities shall be but a small moment and that He shall never forsake me.

Because of Him:  I know that this life is just a test.

Because of Him:  I know that He hears my silent heartfelt pleas.

Because of Him:  My soul is filled with His great peace.

Because of Him:  My eyes are open to the divine nature of everyone I meet.

Because of Him:  I can walk and not be weary and run and not faint

Because of Him:  I will come to know the purest love and greatest joy only He can give,

How grateful I am for all the wonderful blessings that have come.

Because of Him.

 

I Will Never Forsake Thee

 On my birthday last year as I was sitting in the temple the spirit whispered, "enjoy today for tomorrow is just another day."  He was not kidding.   The next day friends I love and cherish started getting hit by the winds of adversity which continued into the New Year.

For the last several weeks I have been praying over my beloved friends who are facing so much adversity.  I found my heart crying out, "Father O Father why hast thou forsaken them?"

As we journey together my heart has been racked with grief  helplessness.  Wanting to know how I could best support them.  The Spirit led me to Job to the passage where his friends came and just sat with him.  Offering their silent support and love.  I am trying to be that friend but as my friends know there are times I'm at the tale end of that passage by being vocal and wanting to "fix" their ailments.  

I'm a work in progress as I feel the need to "fix" start to arise, the Spirit gently says "be a friend like Jobs,"  (He is so aggravating at times but how I treasure my friendship and trust with him.)  I can feel Heavenly Father's smile as He watches this "fixing" child try to follow the Spirits direction.

As I have been sitting in the temple these last few weeks.  The spirit has been whispering other thoughts, " bitter, patience, endure" and then I'll have a snapshot of our beloved Savior kneeling in the Garden, all alone.  I then find my mind trying to organize and arrange these words and cues into what I hope is a poem.  I cried the first rough draft as I remembered I was the "angry and bitter one" at one time and then a beloved friends face flashed into my mind:   "those who patiently endure."  I was sobbing by the time I penned the words:  "seeing our beloved Elder Brother kneeling in the garden, great drops of blood pouring from every pour and hearing His cry  Abba, Abba why hast thou forsaken me,"  Then this amazing peace and love filled my soul as I penned these words, "Fear not my child, I trod the winepress alone, so I would know how to succor thee.  You have my word I shall never forsake thee."  There was my answer and a deeper appreciation for the Atonement.  Some of those great drops of blood were me during my bitter and angry stage where I was "lost and all alone."

I opened my March Liahona and Elder Uchtdorf's talk immediately spoke to me,  It was like a second witness to the words I had penned.

Below are the words I penned this last Sunday, followed by Elder Uchtdorf's inspired words.  Maythey speak peace to your wounded heart.

                                        I Shall Never Forsake Thee

 

Many a time people find their hearts are turned heavenward when a heart wrenching situation occurs.

One question they share, “Why O Father, why hast thou forsaken me?”

When their pleas fall upon deaf ears, many become bitter feeling lost and all alone.

There are those who patiently endure as they wait upon their Eternal Father to answer their silent pleas.

Many a year pass by and your answer is then received. 

You find your eyes opened and you witness your Elder Brother, kneeling in a Garden with great drops of blood pouring from every pore.  Your anguished racked heart is drawn to Him as you hear His anguished plea, “Abba, Abba, why hast thou forsaken me?”

An overwhelming love fills your soul when you hear these words, “I have trod the winepress alone, so I would know how to succor thee.  Fear not my child for I shall never forsake thee.”

Lorie Bishop

2023

“My Peace I Give unto You”

By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The same words Jesus spoke to the Sea of Galilee that stormy night, He says to us during the storms of our lives: “Peace, be still.”

Photograph via Getty Images

For my family and me, the cold winter of 1944 was a time of fear and uncertainty. With my father far away on the western front, my mother struggled to keep her four children fed and warm as war threatened our home in Czechoslovakia.

Each day the danger grew closer. Finally, my mother decided to flee to her parents’ home in eastern Germany. Somehow, she managed to get all of us on one of the last refugee trains heading west. Nearby explosions, worried faces, and empty stomachs reminded everyone on the train that we were traveling through a war zone.

One night after our train had stopped for supplies, my mother hurried off to search for food. When she returned, to her horror, the train carrying us children was gone!

Fraught with worry, she turned to God in desperate prayer and then frantically began searching the dark train station. She ran from track to track and from train to train. She knew that if her train departed before she found it, she might never see us again.

Storms in Our Lives

During the Savior’s mortal ministry, His disciples learned that He could calm the storms in our lives. One evening, after a full day of teaching by the seaside, the Lord suggested that they “pass over unto the other side” of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35).

After they had departed, Jesus found a spot to rest on the ship and fell asleep. Soon the skies darkened, “and there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full” (see Mark 4:37–38).

We don’t know how long the disciples struggled to keep the ship afloat, but at last they could wait no longer. Panicked, they cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38).

All of us face sudden storms. In our mortal life of trials and tests, we may feel distressed, discouraged, and disappointed. Our hearts break for ourselves and those we love. We worry and fear and sometimes lose hope. During such times, we may also cry out, “Master, carest thou not that I perish?”

In my youth one of my favorite hymns was “Master, the Tempest Is Raging.”¹ I could picture myself in the boat when “the billows [were] tossing high.” The crucial and most beautiful part of the hymn follows: “The winds and the waves shall obey thy will: Peace, be still.” Then comes the important message: “No waters can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.”

If we welcome Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, into our boat, we need not be frightened. We will know that we can find peace amidst the storms that swirl inside us and around us. After His disciples cried out for help, Jesus “arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

The same words Jesus spoke to the Sea of Galilee that stormy night, He says to us during the storms of our lives: “Peace, be still.”

“Not as the World Giveth”

With the disciples, we may ask, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41).

Jesus is a man like no other. As the Son of God, He was called to fulfill a mission no other could fulfill.

Through His Atonement, and in a way we cannot fully comprehend, the Savior took upon Himself “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” (Alma 7:11) and “the cumulative weight of all mortal sins.”²

Though He owed no debt to justice, He suffered the “whole … demands of justice” (Alma 34:16). In the words of President Boyd K. Packer (1924–2015), President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “He had committed no wrong. Nevertheless, an accumulation of all of the guilt, the grief and sorrow, the pain and humiliation, all of the mental, emotional, and physical torments known to man—He experienced them all.”³ And He overcame them all.

Alma prophesied that the Savior “will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities” (Alma 7:12).

Through a divine endowment born of searing torment, and out of love for us, Jesus Christ paid the price to redeem us, to strengthen us, and to save us. It is only through the Atonement that we can find the peace we so badly want and need in this life. As the Savior promised, “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” (John 14:27).

The life and teachings of Jesus Christ give us ways to feel His peace if we will turn to Him.

Christ’s Image, by Heinrich Hofmann

Ways to Peace

Jesus Christ, who controls the elements, can also lighten our burdens. He has power to heal individuals and nations. He has shown us the way to true peace, for He is “The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). The peace the Savior offers could transform all of human existence if God’s children would allow it. His life and teachings give us ways to feel His peace if we will turn to Him.

“Learn of me,” He said, “and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:23).

We learn of Him as we lift up our souls in prayer, study His life and teachings, and “stand … in holy places,” including the temple (Doctrine and Covenants 87:8; see also 45:32). Attend the house of the Lord as often as you can. The temple is a peaceful refuge from the growing storms of our day.

My dear friend President Thomas S. Monson (1927–2018) taught: “As we go to the [temple], as we remember the covenants we make therein, we will be able to bear every trial and overcome each temptation. The temple provides purpose for our lives. It brings peace to our souls—not the peace provided by men but the peace promised by the Son of God.”⁴

We listen to His words as we heed His teachings in the holy scriptures and from His living prophets, emulate His example, and come to His Church, where we are fellowshipped, taught, and nourished by the good word of God.

We walk in the meekness of His Spirit as we love as He loved, forgive as He forgave, repent, and make our homes places where we can feel His Spirit. We also walk in the meekness of His Spirit as we help others, joyfully serve God, and strive to become “peaceable followers of Christ” (Moroni 7:3).

These steps of faith and works lead to righteousness, bless us on our journey of discipleship, and bring us abiding peace and purpose.

“In Me Ye Might Have Peace”

On a dark night in a grim railroad station many years ago, my mother faced a choice. She could sit and bemoan the tragedy of having lost her children, or she could put her faith and hope into action. I am grateful that her faith overcame her fear and that her hope overcame her despair.

Finally, in a remote area of the station, she found our train. There, at last, we were reunited. That night, and during many stormy days and nights to come, my mother’s example of putting faith into action sustained us as we hoped and worked for a brighter future.

Today, many of God’s children find that their train, too, has been moved. Their hopes and dreams for the future have been carried away by war, pandemic, and loss of health, employment, educational opportunities, and loved ones. They are discouraged, lonely, bereft.

Brothers and sisters, dear friends, we live in perilous times. Nations are perplexed, judgment is upon the land, and peace has been taken from the earth (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:35; 88:79). But peace need not be taken from our hearts, even if we must suffer, grieve, and wait on the Lord.

Because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, our prayers will be answered. Timing belongs to God, but I testify that our righteous desires will one day be realized and that all our losses will be made up to us, provided we use the divine gift of repentance and remain faithful.⁵

We will be healed—physically and spiritually.

We will stand pure and holy before the judgment bar.

We will be reunited with loved ones in a glorious resurrection.

Meanwhile, may we be comforted and encouraged as we rely on the Savior’s promise: “In me ye might have peace” (John 16:33).