Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Thoughts on Loss

Loss. Whether we like it or not, loss is something that we all have to deal with in our lives, in one way or another, at some time or another. Loss of time, loss of love, loss of a family member, loss of a dream, it goes on and on and yet...we know deep down, despite the pain and anguish we feel, that loss is a necessary part of our lives. We know from learning the gospel and from experience that loss helps us to grow and become the children of God that Heavenly Father knows we can be. Loss gives us the opportunity to rise above the circumstances in which we find ourselves in order to better them.

Loss gives us the beautiful oppportunity of discovering who we truly are and what we truly want in this life, what we are willing and able to endure to get what we want or need and what we are willing to do to obtain it.

Over the past few months I have endured a loss that I never thought I would have to deal with and it has almost brought me to my breaking point. This particular loss has motivated me to look beyond myself and look at what really matters, what I really want and what I am truly capable of. This heartbreak I have experienced has, as a surprise to me, solidified in me the knowledge that I am a daughter of God and as such, that I deserve the best. But depsite the crippling anguish I have felt in this experience, I understand the reason behind it and I have come to be grateful for the experience. Still, knowing the reason behind a trial or a loss doesn't always make it easier to handle, does it?



-Henry B. Eyring, "Mountains to Climb", April 2012:

"...I have another encouragement to those who now wonder if their faith in Jesus Christ will be sufficient for them to endure well to the end. I was blessed to have known others of you who are listening now when you were younger, vibrant, gifted beyond most of those around you, yet you chose to do what the Savior would have done. Out of your abundance you found ways to help and care for those you might have ignored or looked down upon from your place in life.

When hard trials come, the faith to endure them well will be there, built as you may now notice but may have not at the time that you acted on the pure love of Christ, serving and forgiving others as the Savior would have done. You built a foundation of faith from loving as the Savior loved and serving for Him. Your faith in Him led to acts of charity that will bring you hope.

It is never too late to strengthen the foundation of faith. There is always time. With faith in the Savior, you can repent and plead for forgiveness. There is someone you can forgive. There is someone you can thank. There is someone you can serve and lift. You can do it wherever you are and however alone and deserted you may feel.

I cannot promise an end to your adversity in this life. I cannot assure you that your trials will seem to you to be only for a moment. One of the characteristics of trials in life is that they seem to make clocks slow down and then appear almost to stop.

There are reasons for that. Knowing those reasons may not give much comfort, but it can give you a feeling of patience. Those reasons come from this one fact: in Their perfect love for you, Heavenly Father and the Savior want you fitted to be with Them to live in families forever. Only those washed perfectly clean through the Atonement of Jesus Christ can be there......

If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up.10 And He always keeps His word.

I testify that God the Father lives and that His Beloved Son is our Redeemer. The Holy Ghost has confirmed truth in this conference and will again as you seek it, as you listen, and as you later study the messages of the Lord’s authorized servants, who are here. President Thomas S. Monson is the Lord’s prophet to the entire world. The Lord watches over you. God the Father lives. His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, is our Redeemer. His love is unfailing. I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."