"If it Wasn't Hard"

I wrote a few months ago about my niece receiving her mission call:

http://thewholemissionary.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-life-ahead-on-coming-and-going.html

Two weeks ago she had her farewell, and I do not think that I am biased when I say that she gave the best missionary farewell talk I have ever heard.  She spoke about forgiveness and finding hope, about pouring out her heart in prayer after she made a choice that hurt someone else, and after her grandparents passed away.  She read from the book of Enos:

"And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.  And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.  And I said: Lord, how is it done?" (Enos 1:5-6.)

My niece then related that she, too, had wanted to know how it was done, how God could forgive her for the choice she had made.  The Lord answered Enos, my niece, and all others who wonder how it is done when he said:

"Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen" (Enos 1:8).

Before leaving for the MTC, my niece expanded on some of the thoughts she expressed in her farewell talk in a piece she posted to her missionary blog.  I am going to present that post in full here because I think it is just so fantastic:

"What is it We Should Hope For?"

Well this is it. I have 7 days left until I leave on my internship with the Lord as my teacher! It has been an incredible journey that has caused me to reflect on what truly matters in life - Jesus Christ and Family. 

As I've been reflecting, I also realized something very important. I realized that leaving on a mission is going to be hard; really hard. I’m leaving comfort, home, family, loved ones, friends, memories, my old self, and I’m leaving it all behind for the Lord.  

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before.” [Philippians 3:13]

Honestly speaking, this is going to be hard for me to forget what I’m leaving behind and to simply reach for the things in front of me. And I am so grateful it is hard. Because if it wasn’t hard, it wouldn’t be worth it. If it wasn’t hard, I wouldn’t learn anything. If it wasn’t hard, I wouldn’t gain anything because I simply wouldn’t lose anything. If it wasn’t hard I wouldn’t change.

The Savior Atoned for my sins, sorrows, and pains. If it wasn’t hard, He wouldn’t love me like He does. If it wasn’t hard, anyone could’ve taken His place. If it wasn’t hard, He would’ve simply been another prophet.

But it was hard.

And because it was hard, He loves me in an infinite capacity. Because it was hard, no one else could’ve taken His place; He was the only one who could do it, it is under His name alone that I can enter into my Heavenly Father’s presence. Because it was hard, He’s more than simply another prophet; He is the Son of God, Savior and Redeemer of mankind.

So I am grateful this will be hard and I am grateful for hard things because they teach us the greatest lessons in life. I'm also grateful for hard things because they bring us to our knees. Although this next step in my life is going to be the hardest thing I have ever done, I don't have to do it alone. We never have to do it alone.

Once again the Apostle Paul taught us, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." [Philippians 4:13]

Sister Elaine S. Dalton said, "I testify that we will be enabled and strengthened not only to do hard things but to do all things." ["A Return to Virtue," October 2008]

So it is with faith in Jesus Christ that I move forward knowing this is hard, knowing that I can't do this alone, and knowing that I don't have to.

That is Who I hope in and that is what I hope for.

“And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of His resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in Him according to the promise.” [Moroni 7:41]

Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God is real, He loves us and He gives me hope for a better life.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

In just a few short weeks, my niece has become one of the most impressive people I know.  I add my witness to her's, that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that He is real, and that because of Him, we can have this hope.

Accentuate the Positive

On a number of occasions, President Gordon B. Hinckley counseled us to "accentuate the positive":

"I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to 'accentuate the positive.' I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort." 

-- Be Not Afraid, Only Believe, CES Fireside for Young Adults, September 9, 2001.  
-- Let Not Your Heart be Troubled, an address at BYU, October 29, 1974.
-- "Words of the Prophet: The Spirit of Optimism" in The New Era, July 2001


“Don’t be gloomy. Do not dwell on unkind things. Stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. Even if you are not happy, put a smile on your face. ‘Accentuate the positive.’ Look a little deeper for the good. Go forward in life with a twinkle in your eye and a smile on your face, with great and strong purpose in your heart. Love life.”

-- I found this quoted in many places.  What I did not find was a reference to the original.


If I recall correctly, once, when giving this counsel, President Hinckley referred to the song of the same name.  It's a good song, with a snappy tune.  According to Wikipedia (I'm sure you will forgive the reference to Wiki since this is not a college paper), "The music was written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and it was published in 1944. It is sung in the style of a sermon, and explains that accentuating the positive is key to happiness. In describing his inspiration for the lyric, Mercer told the Pop Chronicles radio documentary "I went to hear Father Divine and he had a sermon and his subject was 'you got to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative.' And I said 'Wow, that's a colorful phrase!'

"Mercer recorded the song, with The Pied Pipers and Paul Weston's orchestra, on October 4, 1944, and it was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 180. The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on January 4, 1945 and lasted 13 weeks on the chart, peaking at number 2."

Since then, the song has been recorded by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters, Kay Kyser, Dinah Washington and Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Johnny Green, Connie Francis, Ella Fitzgerald, Perry Como, Aretha Franklin, Susannah McCorkle, Sam Cooke, Paul McCartney and many others.  The song has appeared in film and television: Here Come the Waves (1944), The Dean Martin Variety Show (1967), The Singing Detective (BBC, 1986), Bugsy (1991), The Mighty Ducks (1992).  The song was used as the theme song for the T.V. series Homefront (1991-1993), which was set in the years following World War II.

Here is a video with the recording by Mercer and the Pied Pipers:

 
These are the lyrics:


Gather 'round me, everybody
Gather 'round me while I'm preachin'
Feel a sermon comin' on me
The topic will be sin and that's what I'm ag'in'
If you wanna hear my story
The settle back and just sit tight
While I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right

You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
And latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium's
Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate my last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do just when everything looked so dark?

(Man, they said "We'd better accentuate the positive")
("Eliminate the negative")
("And latch on to the affirmative")
Don't mess with Mister In-Between (No!)
Don't mess with Mister In-Between

(Ya got to spread joy up to the maximum)
(Bring gloom down to the minimum)
(Have faith or pandemonium's)
(Liable to walk upon the scene)

You got to ac (yes, yes) -cent-tchu-ate the positive
Eliminate (yes, yes) the negative
And latch (yes, yes) on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, don't mess with Mister In-Between

I have found that singing this song makes it easier to take President Hinckley's counsel to "accentuate the positive."  Don't mess with mister in-between.

A Small Ray of Light

I had been in California for five months, and in Seaside, a town situated between Monterey and Fort Ord (long since closed), for about a month.  The work was slow, and my companion repeatedly led both of us to break some mission rules.  I was in crisis and I called out to God for help.  One night I prayed to know if the church was true and received an answer.  I have written about that night previously here:

A Witness from the Spirit

When I prayed, I did not receive an immediate answer, and I at first took this to mean that perhaps the church was not true.  This led to great despair; "Why couldn't it be true?" I asked.  But then I said, "No, you know that it is true."  Finally, I was prompted to ask again, and when I did I had a feeling of peace.  I likened that feeling to a match being lit in a dark room, but I could well have likened it to a small ray of light.

When we are feeling sorrow, we might feel that we are in darkness, and when our anguish is replaced by peace, we might feel that there is a new light falling upon us.  A simple little ray of light can go a long way.  As Alma the Younger taught his son Helaman, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass" (Alma 37:6).

There are many things that we could do as individuals that could make a great difference to others.  As President Thomas S. Monson has taught, "The needs of others are ever present, and each of us can do something to help someone."  Even so, we might not always know what it is that we can do to help.

Perhaps we think that a great effort will be required when, in fact, something small and very simple could make all the difference.  Do we realize how simple it is to smile, to greet people in a friendly manner, to wave? Yet by such simple actions we can raise spirits and build friendships.  What simpler ray of light can there be than a smile?

A friend wrote in my high school yearbook that "Every time I was down you were there with a smile on your face. You’ll never know how much I appreciated you."  Years later I heard that this friend was going through a hard time; I wondered what I could do to help, and I realized that I already had the answer.  The next time I saw this friend, I gave them a smile, a small ray of light.

A smile can let people know that they are not alone, it is a simple way to say

"We Will Stand By You"

Several years ago, when my mother passed away, I was impressed by those who came to either the viewing or to the funeral, folks who did not know my mother, but who did know a member of my family.  It is not necessary to have known the deceased in order to attend a funeral or go to a viewing, it is only necessary to know someone who is grieving.  It is a simple thing to go and give them support.

One thing we could ask is, "What would Tommy Monson do?"  The life of our prophet, President Monson, presents countless examples of things we can do to give others a small ray of light through small acts of service.

When we know how simple it can be to help others, would any of us withhold that small ray of light?  If we know that a smile could lift a spirit, would we refuse to smile?  Would we give a stone instead of bread, a serpent instead of fish (see Matthew 7:9-10)?

Is there anyone from whom we are withholding the light that we could give?  Should we not, even now, start giving that light?