strength

I can do all things through Christ

which strengtheneth me

(Painting by Greg Olsen)

On Tuesday I was able to attend a mission-wide transfer meeting in Franklin, TN. Ten missionaries went home, fourteen new missionaries arrived, and the rest of us were all reassigned areas and companions within Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. As I sat there observing the situation, particularly the new group of missionaries, I couldn't help but think back to the day I first arrived in Tennessee.

Nothing in my life could have fully prepared me for that experience. After a whirlwind of events from May through the beginning of July 2010, I found myself in a land 1500 miles from home, completely surrounded by strangers. I was living and spending all of my time with two young women I'd just met, and we spent the majority of our days walking around in 113 degree weather in skirts, talking to every stranger we met about our religious beliefs. It was a life so foreign from anything I'd ever known. I knew that I was where God wanted me to be, but I wasn't sure exactly why. I felt homesick, exhausted, and alone.

As time passed and I became better acquainted with the people and the area, I started to enjoy the work a bit more. But I still struggled. One day I met a lady who gave me a bookmark with the insignia: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" -Philippians 4:13. I read that scripture I had heard so many times before, and this time it stood out to me with much greater force. The one thing that I needed more desparately than ever before was strength.

A few weeks later I had a similar experience. Elder C. Scott Grow, an apostle of the Lord, came to visit our mission and asked if he could interview me. I was a bit nervous at first, but he quickly helped me feel comfortable. He asked me a little bit about my life before my mission: my family, my school, and my desires. He also asked me if there were any questions I had for him. For some reason the question that came out of my mouth was, "How do I stay mentally and spiritually strong when there is so much opposition all around me?"

He pondered my question for a minute or two, and then he reached for his Book of Mormon. The scripture he turned to was Mosiah 24:14-15, and he asked me to read it out loud. These few verses talk about the people of Alma, who were being enslaved and persecuted because of their beliefs. All these people could do was turn to the Lord in prayer, and this was the response they received, "I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."

My eyes filled with tears as I recognized this inspired answer to my question. How do I stay strong when there is so much opposition? There really is only one answer to this question: turn to Christ for strength. Christ suffered everything that we go through so that he could strengthen us in our hard times. The Lord will not always take our burdens away, but he does promise us that he lighten our burdens. He will strengthen us if we turn to him.

As I have trusted in this these past several months, and prayed to my Father in Heaven fervently each day, the promise has been fulfilled. The Lord has strengthened me. He has turned my hardest days into my best days, and these strangers into some of my best friends. Christ has strengthened me, and I have found so much joy in sharing his beautiful gospel. I know that this promise is true not only for me, but for everyone who turns to Him.