Gratitude

We had our High Councilman from Buna to come speak to our Branch this past Sunday. Wow, did I ever need that! Brother Peterson (who reminded me of a young Pres. Eyring) spoke about gratitude. He gave many awesome quotes and humble stories of his humble missionary experiences in Russia.

What stuck out the most was his account of the Brother of Jared. In Ether 6 starting with verse 5 Moroni writes, "...that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land..."

Verse 6 says, "...mountain waves which broke upon them,...great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fiercesness of the wind."

Then Verse 8 says, "...the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land...they were driven forth before the wind."

Verses 6 and 7 tells us of the very trying experiences and hardships of their travels because of the wind. But in Verses 5 and 8 Moroni tells us that the Lord provided this great wind.

Why were they so tried? Why was their journey so hard? The were uncomfortable. The very thing that brought them to the promised land, was the very thing that gave them so much trouble. Or what they thought was trouble. They were just stretched a bit.

We humans have selfishness issues!

This is the WHY of why we need to be thankful for our trials. Not because they're hard and it humbles us and we can learn from them. That's great, but we need to be thankful because they were given to us by the Lord. Sometimes remembering that is really difficult.

What just makes me cry, continuing with story starts in Verse 9. "...they did sing praises,...he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord."

Verse 10 just slaps me in the face. Sometimes its the blessing we're given that we don't see that can get us in trouble. Because we're so ME focused. It says, "...they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above water or under the water."

Verse 11: "And thus they were driven forth..."

Verse 12: "And they did land upon the shore of the promised land." They were driven so hard and so fast BECAUSE they were righteous. They reached the promised land and obtained their blessings that much faster. What if they hadn't been so righteous? There could have been the best seas ever, but instead of taking 344 days, it could have been 688 or more days!

"And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord..."

"...because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them."

We can liken this experience to our lives. Our trials are quickly preparing us to receive blessings from our loving Father in Heaven. Blessings that could be held from us if we choose unrighteousness.

I need to remember these monsters of the sea that are being held back by the Lord so that these great tempests can carry me to my promised land faster. Isn't that what we all want? To be blessed NOW! Well, let the Lord bless you... NOW!

Endure the waves!

Enjoy the Journey!