Today our RS lesson was based on Chapter 4 of The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson - Living Joyfully in Troubled Times.
President Benson shared his thoughts of when he was in Germany just after the end of World War II:
"The worst destruction I have witnessed was seen today....As I rode through the streets of Berlin and walked through some impassable by auto, I...saw half-starved women paying exorbitant prices anxiously for potato peelings...I saw old men and women with small hatchets eagerly digging at tree stumps and roots in an effort to get scraps of fuel and then pulling those home for miles on anything that would roll - from two wheels of a once baby carriage to small wagons - as beasts of burden.
"Later I faced in a cold half-wrecked third floor auditorium off a bombed street 480 cold half-starved but faithful Latter-day Saints in a conference meeting. It was an inspiration to see the light of faith...There was no bitterness or anger but a sweet reciprocation and expression of faith in the gospel.
" Not a single member registered any complaint about their circumstances in spite of the fact that some were in the last stages of starvation right before our very eyes. Our Saints...are full of hope, courage and faith and everywhere they look cheerfully forward with expressions of deepest faith for the gospel and for their membership in the Church."
Sisters - what an amazing and touching example of how we can truly live our lives and find happiness, even when the circumstances around us are heart-breaking. President Benson gave so much wonderful counsel on how we too can live this way. If you have not read the entire lesson, this is one we would strongly encourage you to...The lesson can be found HERE
A few quotes are shared below of the counsel received....is there something here that you could do that could enable you to feel peace and happiness?
"If we will have faith, our setbacks will be but a moment and success will come out of seeming failures. Our Heavenly Father can accomplish miracles through each of us, if we will but place our confidence and trust in Him."
"Faith gives us vision of what may happen, hope for the future and optimism in our present tasks."
"We have no cause to really worry. Live the gospel, keep the commandments. Attend to your prayers night and morning in your home. Maintain the standards of the Church. Try and live calmly and cheerfully....Happiness must be earned from day to day. But it is worth the effort!"
"Pressing on in noble endeavours, even while surrounded by a cloud of depression, will eventually bring you out on top into the sunshine...While you are going through your trial, you can recall your past victories and count the blessings that you do have with a sure hope of greater ones to follow if you are faithful. And you will have a certain knowledge that in due time God will wipe away all tears."
"Be cheerful in all that you do. Live joyfully. Live happily. Live enthusiastically, knowing that God does not dwell in gloom and melancholy, but in light and love."
"There are times when you simply have to righteously hang on and outlast the devil until his depressive spirit leaves you."
"We must lose ourselves in doing His will, We must place Him first in our lives."
Sisters, when we choose to live the Lord's way and follow the counsel from the Lord's servants, we can experience peace and happiness. We will find the strength to smile. We will find the will to get up and choose happiness the next day and the next.
Of course this counsel is to those of us who have circumstances in life which may be tough, he is not addressing those of us who may be experiencing clinically diagnosed depression. If this is the circumstances we find ourselves in at any given time, Elder Holland gave the most wonderful counsel we can follow and some wonderful words of wisdom, his talk can be found HERE
To end our lesson today we watched this wonderful Mormon Message based on the words of another of the Lord's servants - Elder Joseph B Wirthlin in his address Come What May and Love It:
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