Comfort

I listened to the Follow Him podcast this afternoon on a bike ride (I was going up the canyon for over 2.5 hours...) The guest was Morgan Pearson. I really liked (at 54:09 of part 1) John talks more about the command from the Lord in D&C 25:5 "the office of thy calling shall be for a comfort unto my servant, Joseph Smith, Jun., thy husband, in his afflictions, with consoling words, in the spirit of meekness." If you look at the etymology, comfort means together strong. Just from my knowledge of Spanish I could see that: Com - with and Fort like fortaleza - strength. 

The word "comfort" originates from the Late Latin "confortare" meaning "to strengthen greatly," itself derived from the Latin "con-" (together) and "fortis" (strong), evolving through Old French "conforter" and Middle English "comforten". 

Here's a more detailed breakdown of the etymology: 

• Late Latin confortāre: "to strengthen greatly":
  • Latin con- : An intensive prefix, meaning "together" or "intensively".
  • Latin fortis: "strong"
• Old French conforter: "to comfort, to solace; to help, strengthen"
• Middle English comforten: "to strengthen spiritually, inspire with courage, exort, cheer up, encourage, invigorate"

They said that Emma said once that some people didn't like the influence she had with her husband, but I really like this idea that she was there with him, making him stronger. They were stronger TOGETHER. Joseph and Emma, together strong. Be a comfort. Be together strong.

It also made me think of how Christ called the Holy Ghost "The Comforter". (John 14:26) The Lord was not just thinking of helping us have a soft place and make us warm. As a friend Jill Gygi said years ago at a study group "I'm learning that the Lord doesn't really care about my comfort..." He doesn't want us comfortable, he wants us STRONG! And strength usually comes from hard things that are NOT comfortable! God's purpose is TO MAKE US STRONG! We are STRONGER with the Holy Ghost with us! Wesley said that in their mission they have been trying to emphasize not just the baptism, but the gift that we receive after baptism - the gift and blessing of having the companionship of THE HOLY GHOST with US ALWAYS! We are stronger when we have the Holy Ghost with us - when we are together with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is the spirit of TRUTH, and truth makes us strong too. Anyway, I really liked that insight.