Pray not to miss the lesson

"Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your salvation"
Brigham Young

I had the privilege of going to Women's Conference at BYU last week. My mother and father in law took over for me at home. They did it all from running kids to lessons, Dr appointments and cooking dinner. I am eternally grateful for all that they did to allow me the privilege of going away and being spiritually fed for several days.

Of course all the classes were excellent and worthwhile but I find myself reflecting on one. The presenter was Colleen Terry and the topic was The Atonement and Personal Revelation. She was very insightful and much of what she said really spoke to me and the situation that we in our family are currently dealing with. She talked about her own dealings with Lymphoma of the neck. To be treated with radiation you have to be perfectly still and in proper position. They make a wire mesh mask of your face and then when you lie down on the table, the mask is put on you and you are bolted to the table. You are then ready to receive treatment. One day as she entered the treatment room, she noticed that her mask was not on the table. The attendant opened a cupboard and there was her mask with her name on it among several other masks. She couldn't borrow a mask. Her mask had to fit her perfectly. It had to be her mask They got out hers and proceeded. The lesson was the individuality of the mask and thus the individuality of each of our trials. Elder Neal A Maxwell said this about our challenges...

"I believe with all my heart that because God loves us there are some particularized challenges that he will deliver to each of us. He will customize the curriculum for each of us in order to teach us the things we most need to know. He will set before us in life what we need; not always what we like. And this will require us to accept with all our hearts the truth that there is divine design in each of our lives and that we have a rendezvous to keep, individually and collectively."

My trial is my individual curriculum. It's what I need to become the person I want to become. To become a person worthy of exaltation. I realized that we can embrace our trials knowing that they are the refiners fire and that all must pass through their own fire. At the end of the presentation my friend turned to me and said "well that one was for you". You know it felt like it was it was all the things I needed to hear. I have thought about her statement and I wonder if she might have missed something that will help her in the future. She isn't currently going through a large crisis but she will, we all do. Hers will be different from mine but it will be hard and challenging nonetheless.

Another thought that was presented that really made a difference to me was the idea to pray not to miss the lesson. I think that goes with embracing the challenge. I really do want to learn what the Lord would like me to learn. Is it more patience, greater charity, service or maybe greater compassion for the suffering of others? I'm sure the list could go on. I hope and pray with all my heart that I will learn the lesson that is encapsulated in my challenge.