Getting Unstuck

Today I listened to the story shared by Elder David Bednar, an apostle in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, about a man who took his new 4-wheel drive truck into the mountains.  In Elder Bednar's words,  "He [had] decided he would cut and haul a supply of firewood for their home. It was in the autumn of the year, and snow already had fallen in the mountains where he intended to find wood. As he drove up the mountainside, the snow gradually became deeper and deeper. My friend recognized the slick road conditions presented a risk, but with great confidence in the new truck, he kept going.

Sadly, my friend went too far along the snowy road. As he steered the truck off of the road at the place he had determined to cut wood, he got stuck. All four of the wheels on the new truck spun in the snow. He readily recognized that he did not know what to do to extricate himself from this dangerous situation. He was embarrassed and worried."

As I heard this story, I remembered an experience as a teenager.

I grew up in Rock Springs, Wyoming in the Red Desert. The Red Desert is a high altitude steppe, which because of the low amount of rain and snow has little growing on it besides sagebrush and some dry bunch grasses. In this 9,000+ square miles of desert is the largest living dune system in the United States, the Killpecker Sand Dunes.

The Sand Dunes are just north of Rock Springs. I've visited many times over the years. The memory today involved a trip my youth group took out to play on them one evening. A missionary had just returned from the field and was home for the summer. Because they needed more drivers and he was old enough, he was asked to take his parent's 2-wheel drive Suburban and bring a load of youth out. We had several other 4-wheel drive Suburbans and trucks carrying us instead of cars because the dunes are ever moving and shifting and you just never know if one is going to be drifted across the road or encroaching on the parking lot.

This year the sand was fairly deep where we parked. For whatever reason this young man ended up farther into the sand than the other vehicles. At some point, and it seems like it was fairly early in the evening, he decided that he needed to get his vehicle moved. So he proceeded to try and back it up, but only succeeded in spinning the wheels deeper into the sand. Instead of stopping and looking the situation over or asking for help, he continued to spin his wheels until he was buried up to the axels.

Thinking about these two stories, I pondered on the ways
I  deal with problems. Sometimes I find myself in a difficult situation and instead of stepping back to taking an objective look at my options, I go over the edge pouring more energy  into emotional melt down and worry about how this will ever be solved, essentially spinning my wheels and burying my abilities to recover from the situation ever deeper.

Sometimes the best option is to drop everything, get a shovel and cardboard and jump right into digging.

Sometimes it is to follow the already decided plan step by step, day by day, until eventually things become unstuck.

In Elder Bednar's words again, "My friend decided, 'Well, I will not just sit here.' He climbed out of the vehicle and started cutting wood. He completely filled the back of the truck with the heavy load. And then my friend determined he would try driving out of the snow one more time. As he put the pickup into gear and applied power, he started to inch forward. Slowly the truck moved out of the snow and back onto the road. He finally was free to go home, a happy and humbled man."

When chosing to basically ignore the situation or problem, it can become a concern whether the plan we are following is the right plan, but if the plan happens to be the plan of salvation, we can continue with confidence and gratitude knowing it is a trustworthy plan.

Which brings me to the last way to get unstuck. And probably the most important one. Probably the one that we should use every time in conjunction with either of the other two.

It's is known as --- CALL FOR HELP!

Fortunately for the young man stuck in the sand, one of the other Suburban's had both 4-wheel drive and a rope, and probably a little more experience with getting out of a situation like that.

While Elder Bednar doesn't mention it, I'm reasonably sure the whole time the friend was cutting and loading, he was also praying.

Whether we call in others or only the Lord, we can get help to get us out of the mire we feel we have gotten stuck in the form of a blessing, a helping hand, or just the calm assurance of the Holy Spirit who will come as we quietly wait in stillness for the Lord.

So the next time, I find myself in a sticky situation and starting to bury myself, emotionally spinning my wheels, I hope I'll remember to stop, evaluate, pray, and then CALMLY follow my heart and head and hopefully the Spirit to a happy and productive conclusion.

Looking for the Blessings

Today I came home from work with an overwhelming urge to call an individual who had aggreed to help one of my children. This child has been silently struggling.

I had done all I can to fix the struggle, but it was beyond my abilities. I reached out to several people and organizations for ideas on what to try next. I was exploring several options and avenues hoping to find something that would work. During one of those calls a glimmer of a path appeared.

I have often felt the influence of the Holy Ghost in the way I felt it that day last week. For me that influence is like going to the eye doctor. There I sit, peering through the optics trying to make out something as the optician says, "Is one clearer, or two?" Blurry images swim in front of my eyes, until a quiet click opens a clear view and I say, "That one is the one."

Talking with a helpful advisor last week, a person was mentioned, and I thought, "There. She is the one."

So on Monday, I called her and left a message. And waited. And waited. And got distracted by other issues and other children. Today as I drove home I felt a need to call right now. So I came in the house and checked my messages. Nothing.

I got distracted by the things that always distract me when I get home from work, but the urge was still there. So I looked for the number, which fortuitously was right on my bedside table, and Ms. V answered. She was so gracious and kind and willing to help.

I hung up grateful to her and grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who was mindful of my family's need and sent much help this week from many directions, but most especially remembered this important need and sent promptings at the perfect time to remind me to make a call for my child.

Gotta Have Faith

All of the pictures for this post come from here-

Today I finished reading the Book of Mormon. I don't know how many times through this is. I haven't kept track. It isn't that important to me to remember that.

What I want to remember is the feelings I have had over the last week about faith.

Faith is and has been a concept that has jumped out at me for many years since I was in high school. By faith I mean, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His, our, Eternal Father.

"Faith is knowing the sun will rise, lighting each new day," says a line in a children's song. A simple yet profound thought.

Do I have faith that the sun will rise each day? Yes I do... but, then, maybe I don't. On the dark and hard days do I know that good things will return or that maybe they won't, yet all is still well? Do I really have faith or just an expectation due to something that happens over and over without fail, and then when it doesn't come as expected do I wait upon the Lord or not? What is my reaction in the trial of daily life? Is it one filled with faith and hope?

As I've read the end of the Book of Mormon, my heart has anguished for the pain filled stories of Mormon and Moroni, a father and son living at a time of great turmoil, evil, and war. Their lives were never easy. Mormon began leading armies as a young man. He obviously married and had at least one child. The story of his wife is never told. Did she die in child birth? Did she die later during the never ending war? Did she leave him alone with this son to raise by her own choice? The story doesn't say. I hope that she was a faith filled support for Mormon and Moroni for all of her days, but that history isn't written in the pages we have.

I was born of goodly parents. I was raised with truth and knowledge of a plan of happiness for all mankind in my life. I was taught about having faith in this plan. I remember reading and underlining lots of scriptures about faith. When I first began underlining I used both red and blue for scriptures about faith. There are so many of them.

Today as I read the book of Moroni, I came upon many of those old favorites. They shined forth as beacons of hope amid the depravity and terror of the stories of war and hate. I know that Mormon and Moroni saw God. I know that the Brother of Jared saw Jesus Christ. Those men believed and hoped and worked until they knew. But despite their faith, it still was hard to live through the grief and pain.

The Jaredites were planning to leave their home land. They built - according to the direction of Jehovah, the creator of the earth - eight barges to carry them across the sea. Now one has to wonder how long these builders took in noticing that it was really dark and awfully stuffy in these barges. For whatever reason, they didn't ask until they were finished. It could had something to do with the fact that they seemed to think that the Brother of Jared, their leader, was the only one who could talk to God.

Maybe that wasn't it. Maybe others prayed. Maybe they got direction. Most likely, if they did, the direction was to "be still, and know that I am God." In other words, "Be patient. I have it covered. In due time, I will make known the plan. And in this case it will be to your leader."

So they finally asked through the Brother of Jared. If you have read the story, you know that he was told to make holes in the top and bottom of the boat. I don't understand how that really helped, but I watched a youtube video that made some interesting suggestions. Maybe youtube man, the Brother of Steve, is right. I don't know. I choose to have faith and believe that this really happened regardless of my lack of scientific knowledge in how it actually happened.

I chose to accept that when Mahonri Moriancumer, the Brother of Jared, came in prayer, having worked through the problem of getting light in the barges, that he truly saw the finger and then the actual body in spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have chosen to have faith in this story.

But here is another thing, that I haven't heard anyone ask about in this story.

There were eight barges. From everything we read, they were not hooked together. I know if I had been one of the Jaredites, I would have wondered how they were going to stay together in the time it took to cross the sea.

Maybe the spiritual high of the rocks shining after Mahori's conversation with the Lord got them to shove off, but at sometime during those 344 interminable days, they must have wondered if they would ever reach the promised land. Sometime during those days and hours as they were bashed about in the dimness, because how much light could two stones give off anyway, they must have struggled with doubts and worry? With little or no ability to communicate with their brothers and sisters in the other barges, they must have wrestled to keep their faith in the Lord and His plan.

And isn't that how it is today? We struggle to hold onto to our faith and hope through a world dim and dark. A world of noise and distraction. A world of pain and even evil.

I love Mormon and Moroni's accounts in the Book of Mormon so much because they lived through the awful kinds of things we live through today. The heart of men failed during their lifetimes. Men's affection towards each other became cold. They hardened their hearts toward the spirit and love, and fought until death. They tortured and killed innocent children. They raped innocent daughters and probably sons. They lost their humanity, and through it all Mormon and Moroni watched and prayed and probably cried.

Yet they never lost their faith, their hope, and their charity towards others.

Moroni repeats his father and finishes his book by saying about faith, "And Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which are expedient unto me." Maybe he was talking about the Jaredites. Maybe the Nephites. Maybe his father. Maybe himself. Maybe he was talking to us.

Truly this section of the plan of salvation, the one we are living, is trying. It is hard. Things happen that have no explanation. Things come that we don't want. We lose people. They die. They leave the belief system that we hold dear. They wander and become lost. It is saddening. It is grief and sorrow inducing, but we can not give up our faith and lose hope. We can not allow it to change our hearts toward hate.

We have been born onto this earth and placed in families like unto the barges of the Jaredites. We can't always control where those barges are going because we were also given agency. And as great as agency is, it causes pain too.

But through it, we can chose to have faith, ignoring the logic, and enticing, and pull of Satan and the world. God has a plan. Moroni says, "...he [God] worketh by power, according to the faith of the children of men." 

 God's plan will win in the end. His plan will end in happiness if we have faith. It will. I know this is true.

 

And if you need a few more stirring words to keep you going in the battle like Mormon and Moroni try these from Jeffrey R Holland.