Sunday Fast and Testimony Meeting

As always, we had a wonderful meeting at church today and it nourished my soul. I really love to fast with the world wide church on fast Sunday and love the spirit of testimony meeting. So here are a few of the testimonies in our ward that I was able to hear (through interruptions from children!) and that touched me.

Brother Ensign has shared before that he was in a bank once when it got robbed. He was the only patron there at the time and was more concerned with his briefcase at his feet than about taking mental notes about anything the thief was doing. When the police came, they kept him for questioning and Bro Ensign wasn't very much help. After the cop was done with him, he told him "You're a bad witness!" and Bro Ensign joked that he said some not very nice things back at him. But he's thought about that accusation and wanted to get up and share his witness of Christ. He said he probably doesn't do it enough. And although he might not have been a good witness in that moment at the bank, he's determined to be a good witness in the world for Christ so that when he stands before the Savior, the Savior won't have to chastise him like the police man did.

Unlike people who feel like they don't share their testimony enough, I probably share mine too often. Corey teases me and calls me "Testimony Tiff", and says he can tell when I've got "the look" and am going to get up. It's true, I probably am too eager to get up to share the feelings in my heart. But I just love the Gospel and the things that the Lord teaches me. But it was easier for me to stay seated today because Corey shared his testimony. (Socially I'd say you usually shouldn't have two people from the same family get up, ha) So Corey started by saying that when we were in Brazil, even before the member of the bishopric was done, people were headed up and would fill the stand. You had about 1 minute to get up or you'd have to wait for next month! He mentioned how it was nice to not have that pressure and to have the spirit be able to work on you a little bit first. So, I'll try to retell it in my own words. First he mentioned how someone who is very dear and important to him is struggling with their testimony. He shared that when we struggle with questions and doubts, we might become frustrated and give up when the answers don't come quickly, easily, or without work on our part (sometimes more work than we would like! As Corey and I are feeling with his business especially this past week). Once as a family we watched the Christian movie "Facing the Giants". It's a story about a football team and coach that are down on their luck. They're loosing games, the coach is having a hard time in his marriage cause his wife can't get pregnant and he drives a lousy car. The team decides to pray for help to win and serve Christ. Then things start to happen - they start winning games, and at the end of the movie, the wife has a baby, the coach has a nice new red truck, and he's got lots of trophies in the case behind him. Sweet! That looks like it is pretty easy! From Corey's experience, though, life and the struggles it give us are more like the movie 17 Miracles. There is a lot of pain, stretching, and suffering involved. Some people turn back. Some people die on the trail. Some people make it to the valley, but they endured unimaginable hunger and cold. There were the occasional miracles though. One miracle that Corey referred to was of the apple pie. It occurred when a mother, Mary Ann Mellor, who among the current trials of the trek, had also given birth to conjoined twins before they left England and lost them. She was weak and still recovering from that. Eventually she could not carry on any more and let the party move on without her as she sad down and cried.

Her older daughters worried the wolves would come. Her 16 year old daughter, Louisa, stayed with her to help. Louisa knelt and prayed. After her prayer, she miraculously found a warm apple pie in front of her there on the trail in the middle of nowhere.

She accepted it as an answer to her prayer and took it back and gave it to her mother.

They ate it and wept and rejoiced, knowing the Lord was aware of them.

Then they stood up to carry on. At other times when that mother felt to give up and turn back, she would remember the apple pie, and it gave her strength to continue. Like that mother and many of the other pioneers and people everywhere in the world today, we will have great challenges! We are here to be tested and gain an experience to prepare us for eternity! We must not loose sight of that goal. We must remember the apple pie miracles as we face our doubts and trials. Corey ended with his testimony that he knows the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true, and that he "wants it to be true and looks for ways that it is true" - he looks for the apple pies and will focus on them instead of the struggle of the journey.

One other testimony that I took some notes on, Brother Dummer - he said he wants to be a defender of the truth in social media, he wants to be a good witness in his testimony, referring to Bro Ensigns words. He's been researching his family history and there is one great grandfather that they don't know anything about other than where he lived and that he died of heat stroke. We need to share our witness! "What will our posterity know about us? Will they know what we believe and what we stand for?"

I'm grateful for the internet and this blog and that I can share my testimony and witness with those who might come across my words. I was able to go to the temple twice this weekend when Corey was gone in California. I went on Friday night for "date night" cause the kids kick me out of the house even when Corey is out of town! I did an endowment session at the Draper temple. The endowment is presented in film format, and the church released 3 new endowment films a few years ago. My favorite one was shown on Friday night, (the one with the bald devil). I love Adam in that one. After he has left the garden, he just looks so weary. He's prayed for help and guidance, but instead of an answer from God, Satan comes and tries to influence him. So does prayer even work? Adam continues to pray and believe, even though God appears to be silent. Adam prays and waits. Sometimes we just need to keep praying and waiting. We've been doing that with Movie M0uth for over 10 years now, and who knows maybe we'll have to do it for even more years. But we will press forward with faith. A friend Michelle texted me this weekend, and shared how Elder Christofferson said "challenges are at times an indication of the Lord's trust in you." We all know the Lord is aware of the details in our lives. We, like Adam, may be weary, but remember what we know. God lives, he loves us, we are his children, and if we have eyes to see we will recognize the many miracles around us despite the challenges that we also face.

Fear Not!

We turned on the television this morning as we were getting ready for church and were blessed to catch this talk that President Worthen gave last Tuesday at BYU. It was sooo good! Corey and I especially loved the story about Sister Sheri Dew and how she didn't try out for the basketball team - President Worthen's telling of this story is posted below:

A number of years ago I had an assignment on campus that involved athletics. In that role I was invited to attend a banquet for the women student athletes at which Sister Sheri L. Dew was the speaker. Any of you who have heard Sister Dew speak would understand how excited I was to be invited. She is a gifted speaker and a wonderful gospel scholar. I very much looked forward to hearing from her. Unfortunately, at the last minute a conflict arose, and, much to my disappointment, I was not able to attend. As you can imagine, then, I was especially excited when I was invited to the exact same event the next year and learned that one of the speakers was again to be Sheri Dew. This time I was able to attend. I was particularly thrilled when Sister Dew started off her remarks by saying that she was going to begin by telling the same story she had told the year before—allowing me to catch up. I was pleasantly surprised, thinking maybe she was doing this just for my sake. However, she quickly made clear that while she was going to tell the same story she had told the previous year, this year she was telling it to make an entirely different point from the one she had made the year before. Sister Dew explained that she had begun her remarks the prior year by telling the women student athletes how thrilled she was to be invited to speak because she had long wanted to be a part of BYU athletics. She said something to this effect: 

"You will remember that I told you that when I arrived at BYU, I felt like I was the most ill-prepared, socially awkward freshman who had ever set foot on this campus. I told you then that I was from a very small town in Kansas—a town much smaller than the student population of BYU—and I felt completely overwhelmed, wondering if I would ever fit in. But there was one thing I thought might provide an entry into the BYU community, and that was basketball. I had played basketball in high school in Kansas, and, quite frankly, I thought I was pretty good. So I decided I would try out for the women’s basketball team. I learned all I could about the team: who the coach was, who had left the team, who was returning, and when the tryouts were to be held." 

Sister Dew then said: "You will recall that I told you last year how I summoned up all my courage and went to the appointed gym in the Richards Building where tryouts were to be held. Wanting to make sure I maximized my chances, I had arrived early. You will also remember how I told you that I opened the door to the gym with some confidence, and then I watched the girls who were playing there. I thought to myself, 'Wow, they are really good.' You will remember how I told you that I closed the door and then spent the next three hours walking up and down the hallways of the Richards Building trying to muster up enough courage to go back for the tryouts but that I finally gave up and returned to my dorm room without making the effort to try out. I told you that story last year so that you would understand that I truly meant it when I told you that I was thrilled more than you knew that I had been asked to speak to the women student athletes at BYU and to be made an honorary member of that group. I wanted you to know that it really was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. But I am telling you this same story this year for a much different purpose because of what happened immediately after I spoke last year. After I had spoken last year, Sister Elaine Michaelis came up to me."

Now many of you here will know Sister Michaelis. She is one of the legendary figures in BYU athletics. She worked in the Athletics Department for more than forty years, serving as women’s athletics director for much of that time. She was such an impactful and ­successful ­women’s volleyball coach that the volleyball court in the Smith Fieldhouse is named for her. During her coaching career at BYU, Elaine Michaelis at one time or another coached every single women’s sport. Now, with that background, let me share what Sister Dew went on to say: 

"Sister Michaelis had spoken after me last year, and she then engaged me in a conversation while we were still on the podium. Sister Michaelis asked me, 'Sheri, is that story true?' 'Of course it’s true,' I replied. Sister Michaelis then responded, 'Do you know who the coach of the women’s basketball team was the year you were a freshman?' 'Yes, I do,' I said. 'It was you. I knew everything about the team that year.' Then Sister Michaelis said, 'I should tell you something, Sheri. In all my many years of coaching and of all the teams that I coached, there was only one year and one team that did not have a full roster. It was the women’s basketball team that year. We were one player short.' 

Elaine Michaelis coached BYU women's volleyball and basketball

Sister Dew then said, pretending to stab ­herself in the heart: It would not have hurt any more to be stabbed in the heart than to have heard those words. There was a place for me on that team. God had prepared a way for me to fit in and had given me inspiration as to what I should do, and I let my fears keep me from that blessing. 

Sister Dew’s life turned out okay—we don’t need to worry about her—and the women’s basketball team survived without her as well. But that is just evidence that God truly can make “all things [including our own mistakes] work together for [our] good” if we will love and trust Him. But He will also bless us in the interim—in the short run and in the long run—if our choices are directed by our faith in Him rather than by our fears about ourselves. Be alert to the times during which you must choose between fear and faith. Those times confront us more often than we usually recognize.

This talk was so great and reminded me that we should take courage, even when we think things don't look to be in our favor. We should listen to God's promptings and trust in Him.