This-ish

It's like this: everyone knows Heavenly Father loves them, but have you ever wondered what your real purpose is in life? Have you ever thought, Hey, I've heard that if I don't do my thing on earth, someone will take my place. And there are people who could. So what am I even here for? 

So it happened like this: I had searched "individual worth" on lds.org and clicked on and read through several of the results. The ninth one down was a Young Women lesson. So I read it thinking about how glad I was that "Come, Follow Me" is the new thing.

Then I found a quote I'd heard before, embedded in its context, and it all goes like this: "My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don't make another have to take your place. He or she can't do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here." (Comes from a New Era magazine article entitled "Your Life Has a Purpose" by Bishop H. Burke Peterson.)

I was astonished, like this:

And the lesson was like this: When your heart is sad, and you need help, ask for it. The Lord will answer, and miraculously lead you to a 1979 New Era article from a Young Women lesson.

Or something like that.

Antonio-ish

Tuesday I headed out of class to head to the Joseph Smith Building, where the weekly devotional would play in its huge auditorium. I was tired and not looking forward to writing a rough draft research paper and creating a PowerPoint presentation for Thursday. I was tired. I was...tired. The auditorium (how many seats does that thing have? At least 500) was almost completely empty.

Good ish #1: I opened my email to find a video of my niece from my sister. I plugged my earphones in and eagerly listened. Repeating after my sister, the little toddler told me "hi" and that she loved me. I watched it over and over and over and over and over.

Good ish #2: The devotional started, and I kept my earphones in to block out the way-too-loud volume they had goin' on. The speaker quoted the most amazing quote from George Eliot, referring to the famous violin-maker: "[God] could not make / Antonio Stradivari's violins / Without Antonio." (Listen to the whole talk here. It's worth your time.)

Why, that's blasphemous! I thought at first. Then I was like. Wow. Wait. That's. Actually true. I was amazed, because we all know that Antonio couldn't make Stradivarius violins without God--but do we ever consider the reverse? That He needs to use us to make wonderful things? Not because He is weak or incapable, but because He wants to do great things with us.

He wants us to do great things.