Finding Relief

I was asked to teach Relief Society today. Last time I taught Relief Society, my car got towed and I knew that satan did not want me to teach that lesson. That thought crossed my mind last night but things have physically been going well so I did not think much of it. I woke up this morning thinking a lot of negative thoughts and it continued for a couple of hours. The lesson that I was asked to speak on, was about Jesus Christ, and finding relief in him and the atonement. As I sat in the shower, remembering the talk and recognizing that my thoughts and emotions were spiraling out of control, I realized that I needed to put into practice exactly what I was teaching. So I prayed for relief. I don’t even know the words that I said, but I knew that I needed help. It didn’t happen immediately but I could tell the burden was starting to lift a little. 

I got back into bed to get re-dressed and had another negative thought that my mind ran off with. Just then one of my friends texted me to tell me that she is praying for me today and that she was specifically praying that I would have positive thoughts. Last night when I was with her, I had a moment where I got quiet because my mind was lying to me and playing with my head. So she knew that that was something that was a struggle for me at the moment. I didn’t even realize that my thoughts were negative, and that, even though my car didn’t get towed this time, and I didn’t have a lot of physical things happen to me to prevent me from teaching, satan still worked on me by getting into my head, and that was worse for me because I didn’t even realize it. She reminded me that I need to think positive and it reminded me of joy from inside out. So then I decided that I was going to wear my yellow shirt that I wore when I was Joy for Halloween. And then I remembered that I also have purple humongous earrings that I can wear that will match with yellow. Purple and yellow were my grandma Slater’s favorite colors. My grandma was always a very positive person in the face of trials. I’m grateful for her example today. I know that my grandma loves me and is still with me! I know she would strive to find joy in any experience she went through. 

 I’m grateful for the trials that I’ve gone through this morning to remind me that my savior is here to provide relief for me, and that there are angels on both sides of the veil to help us, so that we will not fall Into Satan‘s grasp. 

 Update- Relief Society was amazing! I wanted sisters to realize how much our Savior Jesus Christ wants us to rely on him. We started talking about the man who was paralyzed in the scriptures, and how his friends took him to see Jesus to have him healed. We talked about how his friends served him, and did him such a great service by showing up for him, and not taking no for an answer, and thinking outside of the box, even when it got hard. We talked about how good we feel when we serve other people and why we serve others. We talked about how sometimes it’s difficult though to ask for help from other people. I wanted them to think back to the last 20 minutes of us talking about service and how not one person said that they did not like serving their friends. I asked them to remember these conversations when they need help from others and feel bad asking. I wanted them to know that other people also benefit from us allowing them to helps us. That we can ask for help and by asking for help we aren’t putting people out or getting on their nerves or making them do something that they really don’t want to do. These are feelings and emotions that I often have when I have to ask people for help. I had this feeling that I really wanted to say some thing about Jenn because she is always serving me and I always feel like I don’t do enough for her, or my other friends for that matter! But I couldn’t say anything. This morning, while getting dressed, one of the negative thoughts that I was having was thinking about Jenn and how I don’t understand why she is friends with me because she does so much more for me than I do for her. I wanted to talk about that, but I could not open my mouth because I knew that I would start crying.

Just then Jenn raised her hand and asked if she could share something. I knew that she was going to start talking about the text message exchange that we had that morning about my negative thoughts about our friendship and how I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. So I gave her this side eye look and said yes. It was the kind of yes though that I knew whatever she was going to say, it was going to make me bawl!! She started by telling the class that I ask her to help change my sheets, and then she proceeded to say “ but what Sheri doesn’t know is how much I love coming over and being at her home. The spirit feels so good there.” She went on to talk about how often times when we serve we don’t let the people that we are serving really know how much we also are appreciating the opportunity to serve, and how it is benefiting the server. I was ugly crying in front of the class. It meant so much to me to hear that from Jenn. I had absolutely no clue that she felt that way. I have been blessed with such amazing friends who offer me relief all of the time! 

 At the end of the lesson I give each of them a small little cup that had candy in it, and I showed them that as they pour out the cup they receive blessings, they get candy! I then said, “As you pour out your souls to the Lord in prayer you will be blessed! Your burden will be lighter, you will find relief (it won’t be as heavy) and you will find more room to love, forgive, find peace and let go of those weights that are holding you down.” And I had the exact number of hand outs for the class. That was a tender mercy. 

 Today was a very emotional day from feeling so down before church to feeling such deep gratitude for wonderful people in my life who don’t complain about helping me! And feeling the love from my Heavenly Father by getting to learn so much from teaching. I get to associate with such special women in relief society. I feel so very blessed! I know this week is going to have ups and downs, but I am going to strive to pour out my heart unto Jesus Christ because no matter what I have to say, positive or negative, he wants to hear it! He wants to be the one to show up for me! He wants to be my best friend and offer unlimited relief! And he wants to do the same for you!