Come What May, and Love It

We try to read Ensign articles every night.  (If we at least try to do this, then I figure we can probably get through the Ensign cover to cover in a month's time.)  Tonight Spencer felt it only appropriate to read the Conference talk of Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin. Elder Wirthlin passed away last night. He will be very missed.  We hadn't read his talk yet.  I absolutely loved it. I summarized it a bit.  It starts out with a story of when he was a boy:

When I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.

When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.

“Joseph,” she said, “come what may, and love it.”

I love it.  The rest of the talk goes on to say that the way we act in adversity can effect how happy and successful we are in life.   He gives simple steps on getting through adversity and living happily.

Learn to Laugh   The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable.

Seek the Eternal   Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief. We experience hard things so that we too may have increased compassion and understanding for others.

Remember the sublime words of the Savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith when he suffered with his companions in the smothering darkness of Liberty Jail:

“My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

“And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.”1

With that eternal perspective, Joseph took comfort from these words, and so can we. Sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that will ultimately suffer us to overcome.

The Principle of Compensation  The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss. That which is taken away from those who love the Lord will be added unto them in His own way. While it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.

Trust in the Father and the Son  The fourth thing we can do is put our trust in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.”2 The Lord Jesus Christ is our partner, helper, and advocate. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to be successful. If we do our part, He will step in.

He who descended below all things will come to our aid. He will comfort and uphold us. He will strengthen us in our weakness and fortify us in our distress. He will make weak things become strong.3

His Conclusion

Although my mother has long since passed to her eternal reward, her words are always with me. I still remember her advice to me given on that day long ago when my team lost a football game: “Come what may, and love it.”

I know why there must be opposition in all things. Adversity, if handled correctly, can be a blessing in our lives. We can learn to love it.

As we look for humor, seek for the eternal perspective, understand the principle of compensation, and draw near to our Heavenly Father, we can endure hardship and trial. We can say, as did my mother, “Come what may, and love it.” Of this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 This talk really hit home for me. So many times in my life, when going through adversity, people would ask, "how can you joke and laugh about something so serious and/or life threatening"?  My family has a unique way of coping with adversity and life trials.  We like to joke around, laugh and enjoy the small moments in life that can usually get us down. Positive thoughts, or PTO's as my cheerleading coach would call them. Don't get me wrong we have our times of tears and pain as well. We are only human, but I could let my illness get me down and kill me, or I could try to live every moment I had with a smile on my face. 

This talk explained something that I could not explain to people at the time.  I always knew that no matter what everything would be ok. Whether we live or die, Heavenly Father has a plan for us.  I have seen many of my blessings and compensations from my trials in life.  I have an amazing husband, a wonderful bond with my family, and a different outlook and perspective on life.  Some days I do have to remind myself that life is great.  Lately I have been a little down and I needed to read this talk to remind me what a blessing life really is.  OK, blah, blah, blah I have talked way too much now.