Gratitude & Happiness

As I was studying Come, Follow Me this week and contemplating a concern our missionary had just shared with us, a few verses stood out to me. As Elder Bradford has been adjusting to his missionary training schedule, he related to us that he was worried about how he was going to do this for two years. Being a missionary is hard work, spiritually, mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting, and he is feeling a little bit overwhelmed with the prospect of doing this for another 24 months.

After this conversation, I was reading D&C 78:18-19 and I thought it applied perfectly not only to his situation, but to any of us that feels daunted or overwhelmed with something we've been asked to do or any number of situations in life that we might be going through.

The Problem: "ye cannot bear all things now" (v. 18)

The Solution: "be of good cheer" (v. 18), "receive all things with thankfulness" (v. 19)

The Promise: "I (the Lord) will lead you along" (v. 18)

As we encounter situations that we feel we simply cannot bear, the Lord asks us to focus on two things; being happy and being grateful. But what if we can't even begin to think of how to be of good cheer? In my personal experience, sometimes its really hard to be happy when faced with extremely difficult situations. For that reason, we're also asked to be grateful. Recognizing our blessings and expressing gratitude for them can crack open the doors of happiness and help facilitate our ability to be of good cheer.

My husband and I just recently took the "Emotional Resilience" class that the church offers as one of their self-reliance courses. During this 10-week course each participant is encouraged to make a weekly goal to “write one thing I am grateful for each day and thank God for it.” This is the only goal that you are asked to repeat each week. What I understand from that is that gratitude is a basic principle that helps to lend us emotional stability.

So, as we encounter challenging situations that can feel overwhelming, we need to remember to be of good cheer, give thanks to God for our blessings and He will lead us along. I'm doing my best to follow this counsel and have felt the results in my life. Even though sending out a missionary has been something I didn't think I could bear, as I've tried to stay cheerful and think of things to be grateful for, I can testify that the Lord has been leading me and giving me strength, comfort, peace, and happiness that I didn't think that I'd feel so soon after sending off a missionary. I can testify that the Lord will fulfill His promises as we do the things He asks us to do.