Feeling Joy in the Midst of Struggle

I grabbed my hand phone when I woke up this morning, and I saw YouTube app notified me that, Mormon Channel has a new video upload – Feeling Joy in the Midst of Struggle.

I was thinking : Ok, this is the video I should watch now and especially what have I been through now. Thus, I just clicked in…

“The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives, and everything to do with the focus of our lives.”

~ President Russell M. Nelson

This was the first quote that Abby Stephen shared with the audience and she began with her struggle in her life. She was 23 years old and engaged to marry the love of her life, Cole. But one week before the “big day” their lives changed forever. While they were on a road trip together, Cole accidentally veered the car toward oncoming traffic, and then he overcorrected and flipped the car. Abby was rushed to the hospital with a broken neck. She and Cole were told that she was quadriplegic and would never walk again.

During the difficult days and months that followed, Abby wondered if she’d ever feel happy again. So, she decided that instead of feeling sorry for herself, she’d try to shift her focus to feelings of gratitude. Was she happy all the time? Of coarse not. Were there tears of heartache and frustration? Yes.

“If we sit in and dwell on all the pain, sorrow, angers, disappointments, heartaches and frustration, that is exactly what we would continue to feel…Instead of I allowed myself to feel of those things, then shifted my focus to happier things and my faith in Jesus Christ.” Abby said.

Abby shared about 3 of the things which can make us happier and allow to feel joy in the midst of her trials:

“The first thing I focus on is Gratitude. As bad as my circumstances were I chose to be grateful…I was grateful to be alive. I was grateful that my family and my fiancé were there to love and support me and to pray with me and for me. I was so grateful for my faith and testimonies of the loving Savior because that was going to get me through this trial. So what do you to have to be grateful for?”

“…Focusing on the things that we have to be grateful for would always allow us to feel joy when life is hard.”

“The second thing I focus on is Positive Thoughts. Instead of focusing what I can no longer do… I visualized myself on all the things I want to do… If I found myself dwelling in the negative things, I would immediately find something positive things to think about. And through it all, prayers is a constant.”

“There is power in faith and positivity…I chose to be positive attitude with all my heart because of our faith in Jesus Christ, a miracle was happening right before our eyes.”

“We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.”

~ President Thomas S. Monson

“Throughout all these things, we learned that the third thing we can find joy is Humour. Learning to laugh through in the toughest moment is an absolute necessity to find joy.”

“The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.”

~ Marjorie Pay Hinckley

“In all of living, have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.”

~ President Gordon B. Hickley

I felt amazed and I can feel that Heavenly Father is talking to me through this message. He knows me very well, even better than myself. He is asking me to feel joy instead of dwelling with the sadness myself.

I am lack of positive attitude and I always feel pessimistic with a sad face and mind in everything I do. And, here comes the Lord sending me a message on telling me where should I improve. These two are the weaknesses, which have been within me for years. I am aware about it but just did not do anything about it, as I did not treat it as weaknesses instead may be it formed part of my own characters.

Now, the Lord tells me that I have to change and be positive and laugh often. And, most of all trying to feel the joy in the midst of my struggles in having faith in Him, focus on gratitude and be positive thinking and learn to laugh my way through the hard time.

I could not agree more that this is definitely and truly from the Lord. He knows what are best for me. I need to repent to Heavenly Father for the things that had blinded my eyes and my ears, and most importantly start to work on it.

This reminds me of one of the scriptures, Ether 12:27 : “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weaknesses. I give unto men weaknesses that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Heavenly Father really hears me. He answered my prayers. He knows what have I going through, and all these I have been through right now He wants me to grow to be the daughter He wants me to be.

Heavenly Father knows my talents and potentials. He keep on telling me without fail that - I am daughter of God, that have divine potential that I just need to explore it.

I am so touch and all I need to do now is to work on my weaknesses and walk towards it! I am so grateful for the things He wants me to know and I love Him so so much. I say all these in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Bringing Hope

I felt so stunned when I opened this video notification from the YouTube Mormon Channel. I seldom watch the YouTube when it come from Mormon Channel as I have a thought like as it is for the investigators. But anyhow I am grateful as I had watched it.

Ben Taylor tells of how he listened to his heart and turned the efforts of a presumed scam artist into a chance to help a whole village. “Hello sir my name is Joel I want 4 us to get into some business, if u can get some used Laptop, Computers, Printers, P.A. Sets and other Electronic Devices so dey can b sold faster.”

Ben Taylor heard about these internet scams before and felt he needed to teach the scammer a lesson. So, when he messaged back, little did he know he’d set off a chain of events that would empower an entire village. “Joel I’d like to talk with you about a different business opportunity…if you’re interested.”

Ben lied that he worked in the photography business and collected pictures from around the world. He asked Joel to take some photographs from his part of the world. Joel told him he needed a new camera to take pictures. Would you send someone you’ve never met a camera? Neither would Ben. “Joel, any camera will do, even the camera on your phone.”

“BING!” Joel’s first pictures came through and they were terrible! Maybe Joel really did need a better camera. So, Ben invested in a camera and some basic photography textbooks and shipped them to Joel. As Ben sent the package off to Liberia, he thought it would be the end of their communication, “This guy’s going to sell that camera and make some money and I’ll be out money.”

“BING!” a message from Joel came in a few weeks later. Bing, Bing. More messages with better and better images. Joel took that cheap camera, read the books and began taking really good photographs!

As Joel became a better photographer, Ben made good on his offer and compiled the images of village life in Liberia. Pretty soon Ben had enough good images to publish Joel’s book of photographs. When Ben took to social media and shared the story of their unlikely friendship, they inspired thousands of people, and made $1,000.

Ben and Joel planned to split the money from the book sales. But when Ben learned that $500 was the average earning per year in Liberia, he couldn’t, in good conscience, take his cut. “Give it to a charity or someone in need”, Ben was uncertain whether Joel would really give it to charity or pocket it for himself.

“Bing!” a message from Joel with picture after picture of school children holding new book bags and notebooks. Joel had supplied five local schools with much needed supplies.

Joel told Ben the opportunity to be charitable was one of the best things to come out of their friendship. Ben thought he was going to teach this internet scammer a lesson. But instead he learned the lesson. When you give someone a chance, sometimes they might let you down, or they might just surprise you.

I love the most what Ben was shared in the end of his story telling about this amazing journey of his:

“I think this story shows how prayers works. What Joel really wants and want he earnestly pray for was money. And instead what he got was a cheap camera, but with that camera he was able to inspire hope in million of people and changing his family life.

Sometimes I think instead of giving what you want, God will give you a cheap camera and He will expect you to figure out the rest. And then the journey it all take, will make all the difference.

God will answer prayers but sometimes He would need you to be that answer, my message today is that you should be that answer.

On days when I can’t find God and it seems like He doesn’t hear me and care about me in what is going on in my life, I return to situation a year ago when I know that He thought enough of me to send me a request for help. So take a chance on people, you will find something in your own life that you don’t even know what is missing.”

Instead of struggling what dwell in my own sadness, pains and keep on wondering why this thing happened to me, I should just focus the things that I can do. It is the same message that I feel as the Lord wants me to know.

Clara knows that she herself was her own answer to the path ahead of her in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms as I watched last Saturday. This is the same message that I get from this YouTube video. The Lord repeatedly telling me that I am His daughter. I am the answer of my path ahead. And, He knows that I can manage the trials that in front of me. I indeed feel His presence during the time of need.