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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God Has Devised a Means to Save Each of His Children

from LDS.org, used with permission

The Road Back Was Long and Difficult--But Worth It

Name Withheld
This story has never been shared before, but I hope that someday others may learn from my trials and mistakes.

In my junior year of high school, despite my better judgment, I began dating a boy who I knew had lower standards than what I had been taught and practiced as a member of the Church. I was just excited that someone had finally taken interest in me and made me feel special, comfortable and loved.

Although I did not realize it at the time, I was slowly being led down a slippery slope, and before I knew it, I had allowed what is considered most precious and sacred to be taken from me.  I felt numb and overwhelmed, and my mind flashed back to stories I had heard in Young Women regarding young ladies who lost their virtue and were seemingly no longer wanted or of good worth.

I convinced myself that this was the man that I was meant to be with.  I knew that if we could be married that in some way it would make what had happened all right. The relationship wasn’t perfect, but he had me, and he knew it.  He grew to become emotionally abusive.  I was kept under close watch and not allowed to do things on my own or with friends.  After some time I had no friends left and it was just the two of us.

I convinced myself that we were in love and our relationship was normal. In my mind, because of sins that were committed, leaving him was not an option.  I began to lose myself and do other things that I knew weren't right, since in my mind I had already committed a sin “second only to murder.”  I began to distance myself from the Church and anything that reminded me that I was doing things I was not supposed to.  I had no idea how wrong the way I was living was.

Don't Ever Give Up Hope

by Bonni Jensen
I am responding to the story "Faith for the Prodigal Child."

I was raised by an amazing mother who has been an active member of the Church her whole entire life. She always went to the temple, and we always went to church. Even if we were camping, I always remember her driving until we found a LDS church to go to--I even remember going in pants.

She has always paid a full tithing, and we blessed our food at every meal, and did family prayers every night before going to bed. She held many callings in young women and also Relief Society. She never raised her voice, nor ever hit or spanked us, and we always had wonderful home-cooked meals, fresh baked bread, and desserts.

But then, just like your worst nightmare, I wandered away from the Church. When I was nine years old, we moved to a new house they had built, and it put us in a new ward in a different building, and for some reason the kids in the new ward did not like me, or seem to like me.

Every kid needs friends, so I picked up some friends in my new school who did not do such nice things; therefore, I picked up their bad habits such as smoking cigarettes, and then came the alcohol, and by high school came the drugs. After a couple years, I had a bad reaction to the drugs, and of course, that just caused my mother more heartache. I did shy away from the drugs from that point on, but I did continue to smoke and drink.

My mother was always praying for me and putting my name on the temple prayer roll. And finally in 2008, my mother's prayers were finally answered, when some missionaries came walking by my house.

Come Unto Him

from http://ryanslds.tumblr.com

Faith for the Prodigal Child

Name Withheld
"I lived in Heaven a long time ago, it is true" the Primary song teaches us. We know the scripture story. Jesus Christ presented His plan to save us from sin and death. Yet even before mortality, one-third of God's children rejected Jesus's plan and were cast out.

I thought about this some years ago as I pondered my own children, so small and defenseless. The number haunted me. One-third of God's precious sons and daughters? In my private thoughts I ran the statistics on my own family. How could I bear the agony of losing one third of my children? How could I imagine one or more of them turning away from the love and safety of our family and the gospel and choosing to leave it all behind? The thought was unendurable.

I said to myself, "I just need to make sure I shore up my own little family so that could never happen to us." So I read to my children daily from the scriptures. I taught them in their church classes. I hung pictures of the Savior and the temple in our home.

My husband and I took our children to the temple and shared our testimonies of its importance in our lives. We followed the commandments and teachings of the prophet and taught our children to do the same. I thought none of my children could go astray with all of the things I was doing to bring them up in the right way.

But my children grew. And although I taught them, and am still teaching and testifying of the truth to them, what I didn't take into account was the inalienable agency of each individual. God Himself honors our agency so much that He allowed His children to choose whose plan we would follow before we even came to earth. The fact is that each of us will have our own individual, personal journey, uniquely tailored for the life lessons we need to learn--and for many, our conversion process may take a meandering route.

I am the mother of a child who is wandering, who has turned away from God and is seeking to somehow find identity and meaning in the world. It's just as painful to reconcile myself to now as it was when my kids were tiny.