This I Testify: "Charity never faileth" (Moroni 7:46)

In Relief Society recently we were talking about enduring to the end...and the sister teaching the lesson said that some days feel like eternity and that they will never end. How does one endure those kind of days? We all have them. No one is exempt from those days that can't end soon enough but sometimes last for more than a day, perhaps even weeks. And for some, they may even last a life time. I am thinking about all these incredible women I get to associate with and all of them have endured great difficulties in their lives. I admire them. I respect them. I love them for being who they are. I love them because they have and continue to endure all that is required and given to them (see Mosiah 3:19).

Enduring to the end. It doesn't have to be done with bells on, or even with a joyful noise. Sometimes, the enduring is done with outright screaming and yelling and perhaps even some cuss words may slip out. But it means we don't give up. Enduring is the longest part of the refining process. And this is often when we are truly chosen. The prophets teach us that we are chosen in this refining process: "Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction" (Isaiah 48:10; see also 1 Nephi 20:10). We are chosen when we are burning hot in the midst of our affliction and we endure!

I have to relate this to riding my trike because when I am climbing a steep hill, my legs burning, and I am pumping my guts out I think, "And you enjoy this?" And I have to reply, "Yes, I do!" Why?! Because I am enduring, I keep pumping and I might be slow, but it is steady progress. I get so happy that I am actually making progress, as painful as it is, that I exhale a, "Yeah!" between the gasps for more air. Sometimes I have had objects thrown at me or even been flipped off by the driver coming the opposite direction and I think, "Really?!"

There are also times when a rider passes me by and gives me emotional relief as I continue to pedal with words such as, "Awesome!", "Sweet ride!", or "Nice work!". I sometimes want to say, "This is so freaking hard! Don't you realize that I can't stand up and use my body weight, and my trike is 40 lbs heavier than your bike?" But I don't say those things. Rather, I usually say, "Thanks!" and "Enjoy your ride"! I realize that we are both climbing, we are both working hard, and it is so much work to pedal no matter what you are riding. Pain is pain, and work is work. What is really awesome is the encouragement from others which helps me get to the top, endure and keep making progress even when the climb seems endless. This is charity at its finest (see Moroni 7:45-47).

When I get to the top I am so happy!!!! I actually have been known to let out a loud, "WAHOOO!" as I sail down the other side. I am happy because I have endured and I am actually stronger for having climbed the steep hill. James said it best, "Behold, we count them happy which endure" (James 5:11). This is true.

I love Relief Society because it is about relief. Elder John A. Widtsoe said, "[The] work of...Relief Society...[is the] relief of all that hinders the joy and progress of woman" (Daughters in My Kingdom, pg 25). As sisters in the Lord's organization for women and as sisters in the gospel we get to help each other keep going up the hills, the long climbs, and sometimes those climbs that never seem to end. In so doing we are fulfilling our covenants in which we are "willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death..." (Mosiah 18:9).

Keep climbing sisters! We are in this together. And we will make it through those days or climbs that feel like eternity because we love one another and encourage each other. Truly, "Charity never faileth" (Moroni 7:46). This I testify.