To Comfort Those Who Stand In Need Of Comfort...

Part of the essence of being a true Latter-Day Saint is to follow the admonition of Alma when he taught the people at the Waters of Mormon. In Mosiah 18:8-9 he taught what it meant to be 'disciples of Christ':

"8 And it came to pass that he said unto them: Behold, here are the waters of Mormon (for thus were they called) and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light;

9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life..."

In an earlier post I shared the experience of our son who lived only a few hours, and what a great spiritual experience it was to be able to give him a name and blessing in the hospital room before he returned to his heavenly home. Another touching part of the story is how our ward family stepped in to help our oldest child, a daughter, who was to celebrate her 16th birthday that same week.

Without being asked by us (we didn't even think about it under the circumstances), the young women leaders and girls of the ward threw a 'sweet 16' birthday party for our daughter. That doesn't sound like much in the big scheme of things, but it was huge to me, as an act of love and compassion. The ladies in our ward were anxiously engaged in a good work - they mourned with us when we had cause to mourn, the helped bear our burdens and indeed made them lighter. I will never forget that gift of a birthday party. It is one of those defining events that instilled in me a desire to serve God - by serving His children - throughout my life.

It is a blessing to be able to serve others. It is humbling and touching when you see that service come back to you.