Happiness: God Will Provide the Miracle

Do you want to be happy? Are you happy?

The LDS Church Newsroom just wrote an article about happiness titled "The Surprising Science Behind Extremely Happy People." A mission leader discussed it at a recent Sisters' conferences, and I appreciated the thoughts shared. One man (Hank Smith) whom the article quoted said this:

“Sometimes people think if someone has depression, that person must be a broken Mormon [or believer]. We believe that righteousness is happiness, but what happens when people are righteous and they’re not happy?”

It is possible to be righteous and unhappy. I've been there! A belief in God does not keep depression at bay, and joining the church isn't a magic pill for happiness. Hard times will still come.

But there are some things that we can do. Faith is a principle of action and power--we are responsible for the action, and God provides the miracle. We must do the things within our reach, and then God will bless and help us. Here are some things that we can do:

1. Surround ourselves with happy people
2. Try to be happy
3. Spend more money on others
4. Have deep in-person conversations
5. Use laughter as a medicine
6. Use the power of music
7. Exercise and eat healthy
8. Take time to unplug and go outside
9. Get enough sleep
10. Be spiritual

I have felt the miracle take place in me. I still have hard days, and I always will; however, as long as I am taking steps forward, the light comes. It takes action to access God's power. That is FAITH. I echo Joseph Smith's words in the Doctrine and Covenants:

Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed (D&C 123:17).

I promise that Christ is coming, and it will be glorious.

Changing our Natures with the Leaves

It's the last quarter of 2014 (my complete calendar year as a missionary). President Riggs has challenged our mission to give "our greatest gift" to the Lord. It's inspired by a Christmas song whose lyrics say,

Our finest gift we bring
to lay before the king
so to honor him.

So what is our finest gift for Jesus Christ?

My thoughts turned to autumn and the changing of the leaves. Soon, Virginia will be flooded with color, but it won't last very long. It will be a brief, beautiful moment. So many of Heavenly Father's gifts to us happen in a single moment. He gives us an opportunity to change for the better, and it doesn't come back again.

Change is really the greatest gift we can give our Savior. He has taught us, "faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them" (Helaman 15:7). Christ wrought the atonement so that we could change! We can't allow that sacrifice to go to waste.

Judges at Brentville Courthouse

The Brentsville Courthouse is a historic courthouse (built 1822) that over a million dollars has gone into restoring. It's a two-story, Federal style brick building that was used until the Prince William County seat was moved to Manassas in 1890.

Our tour guide told me and my companion some wild stories while he took us through the building; some of the cases tried here in the 19th century were completely unfair. Other cases seemed like the stuff of novels.

This made my mind turn to our perfect judge: Jesus Christ. The ways of God are different than the ways of man; "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9). I am so grateful!

We can count on Christ to be the perfect judge. Christ has been called "the righteous judge" (2 Tim 4:8), the "judge of quick and dead" (Acts 10:42), our "advocate with the Father" (1 John 2:1), and many other names which lead me to trust Him completely (Names of Christ).

Letters from our Heavenly Father

Letters are really important to missionaries. Even President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "My heart goes out to the missionary who does not receive regular mail from home" (Sustaining Missionaries Through Letters). I love getting letters; it reminds me that people care about what I'm going through.

Just like notes from my family support and encourage me, messages from God can sustain us. Elder Uchtdorf shared this a few days ago: "Heavenly Father is constantly raining blessings down upon us" (Facebook). The Lord Himself has said, "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me" (1 Nephi 21:16). The word of God will guide us, and "letters" from Heavenly home are arriving every day--as long as we'll take the time to open them up.

Serving the Dead at Bradley Cemetery

This week, our wonderful Manassas 2nd ward helped to clean the Bradley Cemetery. Once overgrown, now the headstones have been cleaned, weeds have been weed whacked, and wood has been wood chipped. Everyone pulled together, and the work went quickly; it was a fun project, and it honored those who have passed away.

Of course, we can do more to honor our dead. I write of temple work! The scriptures say,

“You may think this order of things to be very particular; but let me tell you that it is only to answer the will of God, by conforming to the ordinance and preparation that the Lord ordained and prepared before the foundation of the world, for the salvation of the dead who should die without a knowledge of the gospel. … 

“… For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers—that they without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect” (D&C 128:5, 15).

The doctrine that we can do essential work for our deceased relatives is one of the most comforting aspects of the gospel. Everyone, no matter when or where they lived, will have the opportunity to accept Christ. This is a principle of love!

Hidden Entrances at Liberia

Manassas, Virginia is a quilt of historic sites: one shade "train depot," one shade "battlefield," one shade "candy factory," and so on. What a fun pattern! Looking at the visitor's center map, I couldn't decided where to go in our limited preparation-day time—until I noticed Liberia, an antebellum plantation. "There," I announced authoritatively.

"There" was very difficult to find. The driving instructions were not clear! We drove up and down Liberia Avenue, and we only saw shops and apartment complexes. Frustration.

Finally, we turned down a side street. As we were driving, we saw a fleck of sunlight glinting off a brown sign. "There it is!" I pointed. I knew that historic sites are always marked with brown signs—and this one was nestled on the edge of a huge green space.

We parked at a nearby shopping center and walked closer. As we neared the sign, we could see that it marked a long driveway. At the end of the lane, we could just see a few of the faded bricks of Liberia.

We never would have found it if we didn't know that we were looking for a brown sign. We have to recognize the signs, or they are meaningless.

One sign to guide our life is the scriptures. The prophet Nephi instructs us, "Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). The scriptures give us directions for our life . . .

. . . and they are written clearly enough for us to find the entrance.

Balancing at Manassas Depot

Manassas, Virginia owes its existence to the railroad line. The little depot here burned to the ground three times, lasted through the Civil War, the Great Depression, two World Wars, and continues to walk the line between tolerance and truth. It had to tolerate the consistent destruction and persistent threat without giving up on being a worthy place. Today, Manassas thrives.

One of the biggest challenges of being a missionary is standing up for what I believe in without reacting poorly to others' negativity and rejection. President Gordon B. Hinckley said,

“Let us reach out to those in our community who are not of our faith . . . There may be situations where, with serious moral issues involved, we cannot bend on matters of principle. But in such instances we can politely disagree without being disagreeable. We can acknowledge the sincerity of those whose positions we cannot accept. We can speak of principles rather than personalities" (Gordon B. Hinckley).

I'm working on my balancing act. One foot in front of the other, I invite people to come to Christ, and I hope every person with whom I speak feels comfortable enough to call me a friend.

Patiently Waiting for Deliverance at the Sully House

Across the road from the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly is the Sully House--a home built in the late eighteenth century. Once the property of Robert E. Lee's uncle, the farm is now a historic site of Northern Virginia.

In this photo, I'm standing in front of the slave quarters. I couldn't tour the inside because the gate was locked (and I thought it unwise to hop over), but I could look; what I saw was cramped and uncomfortable. My body ached as I imagined living this way.

The situation reminded me of a verse in the Book of Mormon. Alma, a prophet, told his son Shiblon,

"For I know that thou wast in bonds; yea, and I also know that thou wast stoned for the word's sake; and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee; and now thou knowest that the Lord did deliver thee" (Alma 38:4).

Eventually, the Lord did deliver the people enslaved at Sully House. The Lord has been over this nation, which was "conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" (Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address). Often, God delivers His people from slavery and physical destruction; every day, He delivers His children from the slavery of sin and the destruction of hopelessness.

I am developing patience as I trust that Heavenly Father is with me. It's taking every day, but I hope at the end I can say that I knew the Lord delivered me, as Alma said to Shiblon.

The Flight of God's Children

On Monday, my companion and I visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Airplanes were everywhere, and at the forefront of our mind was the childlike question "how do they stay in the air?"

I studied physics in high school, and I remember learning about shape and air currents. However, even with this scientific explanation, the movement of airplanes amazes to me. I still feel like the airplanes should stay grounded.

This is similar to our destiny. We are children of God! Our Lord has said, "Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High" (Psalms 82:6). Children are meant to become like their parents. However, as the psalm continues, "But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes" (Psalms 82:7). Death has become a part of our life, and just like these huge planes stuck on the ground, our human logic would tell us that death is the end. However, the intelligence of God teaches us to fly, and our spirits resist the ending of death.  

The apostle Elder Uchtdorf explains why we naturally resist: "We are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny" (Grateful in Any Circumstance; emphasis added).

I am so grateful that death is not the end. We are not meant to stay tied to the ground, fallen like princes, but we are meant to soar through the air into eternity.

The Hospital of Christ's Gospel

Stone House: Intersection of Sudley Road and Lee Highway. Manassas, VA. Can you see the traffic lights?

The Old Stone House stands on the intersection of Sudley Road and Lee Highway--two roads I've driven down hundreds of times. Well . . . both those roads were critical in the two Civil War battles here in Manasssas. I had no idea they were that old!

Me at Stone House. Too bad my raincoat is not cerca 1800s.

The Stone House was a Union hospital during both battles. It's a smaller building than I expected. I can imagine the wounded soldiers cramed together on the narrow floors of the non-wartime tavern. Without modern lights, it would have been dark, and there is little ventilation to air out the smell. The medics were just beginning to abandon old methods of bleeding and cutting and to learn the importance of sanitation. How frightening must this house have seemed to a single wounded private!

This made me think about our ultimate healer, Christ, who knows each of us perfectly. To Him, we are not a number; He knows our name. Christ knows when we fall victim to the enemy of our souls (aka Satan), and He knows when we suffer awful wounds (aka Sin). The world does not have the tools to heal us. Only Christ can do that.

When Christ appeared in the Americas, He proclaimed,

"O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (3 Nephi 9:13).

It is only by coming to Christ that we will be made whole. He will heal us of our wounds as we have faith in Him, repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end (2 Nephi 31). I'm so grateful for the healing He has don in my life!