"I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18)

Day 9 (Dec. 9th) #LIGHTtheWORLD
"Jesus Visited the Lonely and So Can You"

Just a couple of thoughts about visiting the lonely-

As I thought about the word lonely I looked to see what some of the synonyms would be: abandoned; alone; apart; by oneself; comfortless. It was the last word that caught my attention- comfortless.

Christ promised that we would not be left comfortless. He said, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18) or in other words, "I will not leave you [alone]". Or perhaps even, "I will not leave you lonely". The little footnote says for the Greek Translation for the word comfort is "orphans" (see footnote a). To be an orphan is to truly be alone. Hence, He will not leave us orphaned.

As any good parent would choose for their child, He wants to comfort us. I like to comfort my children with a hug, by drawing them closer to me. But sometimes they push me away. Is that what we might do sometimes when we are alone? We push Him away because we want to have Him comfort us differently?  He promises: "I will come to you" (John 14:18).

As I have pondered this today, there are so many ways that He comforts and comes to me. A beautiful sunrise. Warmer temperatures when I have such a hard time getting warm. The ability to make dinner for our family. Time to visit my mother as she recovers from a fall. Being able to hug my mom. A hug from my children. A phone call from my husband in the middle of the day. Time to visit with friends. I encourage you to ponder the ways that He comforts you. Will you receive Him and let Him in? Indeed, He will not leave us comfortless. We are not alone.

"...I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up" (D&C 84:88)

Riding around Bear Lake has become somewhat of a tradition for my dad, my brother David, my brother-in-law Kevin, and the past two years has increased with my nephew Garrett, and this year two of my sons- Stockton and Ethan. Often we ride fast, and there is a bit of a competitive edge about doing it to see how fast one can finish the ride. But this year was a little different in that my son Ethan has absolutely no desire to go fast. He goes at his own pace. I stayed behind him, and for the first 15 miles thought he may turn around because everyone had gone ahead of us. We caught up with them, they started again and passed us, with the exception of my brother David (therefore Ethan's Uncle). He stayed with us. He told Ethan, "Riding is suppose to be fun. You go at your own pace. Especially with this being your first ride, don't worry about how fast you're going. I will even ride back to the cabin with you if needed". With these words of encouragement, Ethan settled in and kept pumping away, slow and steady.

This was a ride in the true sense of the word. It was not a contest, but a ride. All too often in life the competitive side of our natural man comes charging in and wants to take control, or be the best, fastest, better than, or greater than all other participants when in reality, it's a ride...not a competition and there is no need to contend for one's place or position while on a ride. When David told Ethan to "enjoy the ride" I couldn't help think of this scripture: "Adam fell that men might be; men are, that they might have joy" (2 Nephi  2:25). The joy comes in the journey!

I had started out on this ride expecting to ride fast, keep up with everyone, and be back in time for lunch. Well, it turned out to be different and in the long run (or ride in this case), one that will stand out in my mind forever. It was an incredible experience to watch my son continue pedaling hour after hour, enduring the heat, and receiving encouragement from his Uncle David. Pres. Monson says it so beautifully about enjoying the journey now: "This is our one and only chance at mortal life- here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey- now" (Finding Joy in the Journey).

On that ride I learned so many subtle, but powerful lessons and the ride ended up being one of incredible joy. While seeing my son Ethan with his Uncle David encouraging him and patiently riding beside him, I understood more clearly that the Savior will always be there for us. He says, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18). There are so many times when we think we are on our own, and yet he will always be there to comfort and guide us on our life's journey.  We are told, "...I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up" (D&C 84:88). Most often, the angels beside us are our family members, friends, and people we associate with on a regular basis. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland teaches us this about angels:

"But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with-here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems close than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind" (The ministry of Angels).

This ride called life is meant to be enjoyed, and yes, endured well. As a mother who witnessed a miracle of her son finishing the longest ride he had attempted (the longest he had ridden was 4 miles prior to attempting this 50 mile ride), I testify that we are never alone, we will never be left comfortless (see John 14:18), and there will be angels in our lives to "bear [us] up".

Riding behind Ethan and David

We did it! Ethan, David, and me. It was a journey of great joy :)

P.S. Know you are loved!

"Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours" (D&C 109:44)

At the end of last summer I had completed three century rides. Each century ride consists of riding approximately 100 miles on a bike in one day as fast as one can; two of which I did two weeks apart. I was probably in the best shape of my life. There is a feeling of power, exhilaration, and freedom, that comes when I ride; and my communication with God would be for hours. I lived, for those rides. I loved training and preparing for them. Riding for me was so much fun, was such a blessing, and gave me something to strive and set goals for. I wish I could explain how much I love riding. I think about it every day. But, sometimes things change and the things we love are taken away or not even granted for whatever reason, and it gets really difficult and perhaps a bit confusing...

I have been dealing with a soft tissue injury for about 5 months. It makes it very difficult to sit for extended periods of time, and riding a bike is out of the question. Pain is pretty constant. I share this with you only because this is how my love for riding has been removed from my life and many other aspects of my life have been changed as well. I don't want sympathy because it is a very poor substitute for all the changes in my life; what I really want is to ride, but that isn't possible right now. I have good days and bad days as I adjust to what may be a new way of living. What really gets my through not only the physical changes but also the mental and emotional changes is my scripture study because constant pain really messes with my brain and spirit.

Frequently in the church we say that if you will be obedient you will get all the blessings you want. But that is false. God never says, Do all I say and you will be blessed with all that you desire. What we are here to learn and is even more difficult to apply, it is to say and live: "Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours" (D&C 109:44). But we often think if we are obedient He will bless us with our will, even if it is a righteous desire. We frequently hear of people sharing their stories of how they were obedient and prayed and exercised faith then their desires were granted. But this doesn't always happen. Riding isn't an unrighteous desire, let alone being free from pain. But what about those who can't have children or are unmarried, and remain so? What about those who are unhealed or have a child that is disabled and don't get what they desire?

Elder Robert D. Hales said this: "As we ask these questions, we realize that the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we "wait upon the Lord" (Psalms 37:9; Psalms 123:2; Isaiah 8:17; Isaiah 40:31; 2 Nephi 18:17)  Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, "all these things shall [be for our] experience, and ... [our] good" (D&C 122:7) (Waiting Upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done).

Things don't always go the way we want. The Lord doesn't say He will take away our pain, but He does promise and say, "I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you" (John 14:18). He wants to give us way more than a pain-free life or even all that we want. He wants to give us "all that my Father hath" (D&C 84:38). He wants to give us His greatest gift, eternal life.

Just like riding those century rides that were sometimes so long and very difficult, and it would have been way easier to quit, to give up at certain points, but I never did. Enduring is where we really prove how much we have grown and the reward is finishing all the way to the end no matter how painful. I testify it is the most amazing feeling to finish! Thus we are able to say, "Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours" (D&C 109:44)" because we recognize His will is always better than ours.