Are We Not All Beggars?

Image from LDS.org, used with permission

In Relief Society recently, we studied Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk "Are We Not All Beggars?" from October 2014 General Conference. It was a wonderful lesson. Our instructor asked us to think of a time in our lives when we have needed something, whether that was spiritual, temporal, emotional, or physical, and how our needs were met, and then write it down on some cards she provided.

The response was overwhelming, and only a few could be shared in class. Following are twenty-one different responses to that question. They are amazing and show not only how we all are in need, but also how much our Heavenly Father loves us and meets our needs Himself or through those around us. They also show that we hold great power to affect others' lives for good if we will but reach out!

"Are we not all beggars? Don't we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don't we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? don't we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at lease in our case?" --Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

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My family is not close by (we are in four states). Many times I have needed my mom, but I feel terrible asking her to spend the money and time to come help. She has never said no and is always willing to hop on a plane or drive the eleven or twelve hours to be here.

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I appreciate a faithful man who is my son's home teaching companion. He not only ministers to his home teaching families, but he is also the hands of Christ reaching out to rescue a young man who is struggling. He has continued to make the effort to be a friend to my son for many years. My greatest desires for my children are met through the kindness and service of this wonderful man and other caring people in the ward.

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I was slowly growing more ill day by day when I was only two years married. I was substituting at the time at a junior high school, limping into the school each morning. Eventually I couldn't walk, not even get myself to the bathroom. I could only lay on the couch in pain. My mother-in-law came and sat by my side for a couple of days to be there for me and help me.

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When I was about 19 I had made some poor decisions. I knew they weren't the best decisions, and one bad decision led into another. I felt like a horrible person. I started to withdraw from my family and people I loved the most because I felt ashamed and unworthy. My good friend asked me one day how things were going, and I eventually spilled the beans. She reminded me that just because I had made a few bad decisions and mistakes that all was not lost. I was still a good person. Knowing that she believed in me and loved me helped me to love myself again and see that all was not lost.

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The Better Choice Was to Quit My Job

by Marisa Sharpe
I always knew that when the time came for me to start my family, I would quit whatever job I had and be a stay-at-home mom. I knew how important it was to be home because my own mother was not able to be a stay-at-home mom when I was growing up. I did not want the same for my children. I had earned a master's degree and was working as an elementary teacher when I married, and I loved my career. My husband spent the first two years of our marriage finishing school and had a job waiting for him upon graduation.

 Four months later, while on vacation in southern Utah, on the side of a dirt road, by cellphone, he was laid off. No warning, no severance, no nothing. Three days later when I didn't start my period, I told him we might be pregnant. His exact words were, "I just got laid off; of course we're pregnant!"

To our great joy (we had been trying to conceive for three years), we were. My husband was very diligent about searching for new employment: networking, interviewing, calling, everything that goes along with the process. I continued working and being the emotional and financial support for our family. 

 Now, saying one will quit a job to start a family when the husband has a job with good prospects is one thing. Saying one will quit a job when the husband is unemployed is quite another. My husband had much anxiety over the matter; I remember being quite calm overall, but to have both of us unemployed just wasn't prudent. I knew it was just a matter of time before he had another job, but how much time? The baby was due in December. 

I Choose Faith

by Tara Scott
My dear sisters. I have felt that I needed to share some things that have happened in my life in the past year or so. There is so much, that I have had a difficult time trying to figure out which things would be worth sharing, and what the best way would be to share them so that they can be used as a help for others.

In the past few months I had been told that I was losing my job. Another large company took over the one that I have worked at for the past six years. I was told that the other lady would be keeping her job, because she had seniority over me.

It became harder and harder to get up and want to go to work. But I kept telling myself that things were going to be okay.

"Well," I thought to myself, "things will work out," even though we knew that we would be sending a missionary out about August of 2013. The Lord has never let me down before.

I was told that my last day would most likely be in the next 60 to 80 days, depending upon the Hong Kong government, who would give the last approval of the sale of our company. "It's okay, " I thought, "I have some time to get things together and start looking for another job."

Things kept dragging out and the sale didn't happen for quite some time. I kept working as if I still had a job.

There were things that happened in those last months that were very frustrating and hurtful. It was coming to the end of the year, and still I was waiting to hear when my last day would be. It became harder and harder to get up and want to go to work. But I kept telling myself that things were going to be okay.