Lessons from Liberty Jail

I have felt so impressed by Elder Holland's Ensign Article called "Lessons from Liberty Jail."

These past few days have been filled with sickness and suffering for me, and this entire month has been dedicated to recovering from surgery. I am feeling VERY ready to be healthy again, but as I read this talk and then listened to the mp3 from when he gave this talk at a CES Fireside, I realized that the Lord is going to teach me how to draw close to Him during these hard times.

Even though the conditions in Liberty Jail were beyond anything I can imagine, several General Authorities have referred to it as a "prison-temple." Here is what Elder Holland says about that:

"So in what sense could Liberty Jail be called a “temple,” and what does such a title tell us about God’s love and teachings, including where and when that love and those teachings are made manifest? In precisely this sense: that you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced."

I'd like to record a sweet experience that happened Monday, September 21, here in my home that shows how that principle is absolutely true. I was crying in the bathroom because I felt so, so sick, and Spencer didn't know what to think. I said, "Spencer, I am so sick, and I don't know what to do." This little boy, barely two, who barely talks, looked at me with a solemn face and said, "Prayer." So I knelt down on the stairs with him, and I prayed aloud, and he repeated the prayer, and I felt the Lord help me that day to feel better. The Lord is teaching me that my home really is a temple--even when I am sick and frustrated and sitting on top of mountains of work. I'm so grateful for that.

More from Elder Holland: "...everyone, including, and perhaps especially, the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times. When that happens we can sometimes fear that God has abandoned us, and we might be left, at least for a time, to wonder when our troubles will ever end. As individuals, as families, as communities, and as nations, probably everyone has had or will have an occasion to feel as Joseph Smith felt when he cried from the depth and discouragement of his confinement: “O God, where art thou? … How long shall thy hand be stayed … ? Yea, O Lord, how long shall [thy people] suffer … before … thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?” "

These words really brought me extra comfort. "...it is imperative that we remember He is right there with us—where He has always been! We must continue to believe, continue to have faith, continue to pray and plead with heaven, even if we feel for a time our prayers are not heard and that God has somehow gone away. He is there. Our prayers are heard. And when we weep He and the angels of heaven weep with us."

My daughter Grace really wanted to help me while I was sick. She massaged my legs, vacuumed the downstairs, did the dishes, picked up all the toys, and gave me a bell from her toy restaurant set so I could ring it if I needed her. And she said, "I don't even want you to pay me. I just want a hug." She was so happy to serve me, and it really touched me that she would want to spend her whole afternoon making me happy.

Then yesterday, our Primary President and our other good friend came over and secretly cleaned my whole downstairs while I was taking a nap. I woke up to the smell of pine, and I could hardly believe how good the house looked. It brought tears to my eyes to see how much the Lord blesses us through other people.

The entire article is wonderful, but I'll close here with one more thought: "When what has to be has been and when what lessons to be learned have been learned, it will be for us as it was for the Prophet Joseph. Just at the time he felt most alone and distant from heaven’s ear was the very time he received the wonderful ministration of the Spirit and the glorious answers that came from his Father in Heaven."

I know the Lord is with us when times are hard. I don't like going through these times. I don't like feeling sick, laying in bed all day, and wondering when this will end. However, I have felt the Lord's love so profoundly during these past five weeks. I know He is with us, and I know as we bear things cheerfully and praise God in our afflictions, we will be blessed.