The Sword of Truth/Phillip's Escape

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igMEWIQUw8M

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qbmkShzRA&t=26s

What I love so much about Sleeping Beauty is this sequence. The fairies arm Phillip with the sword of truth and the shield of virtue, and then their combined efforts help him to escape. Yes, he goes on to slay the dragon and save the day, but what strikes me in particular is that Phillip confidently gallops toward the exit, never hesitating when he encounters these obstacles because he knows the fairies’ power can protect him. Their magic even turns the fiery darts of the enemy into something easy to overcome.

How often, despite the special privileges and tools we’ve been given, do we hesitate to trust the Lord’s plan or power? Trusting is hard. There is no denying it. But we really need to remember who’s asking us to trust. There are no more capable hands than those of our Father in Heaven, and we are so fortunate to know that our lives are in his hands. He can help us to slay our own dragons, no matter how big. He’s got this.

“For with God nothing shall be impossible.” 

- Luke 1:37

I Can Go the Distance

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgnHF2CwrPs

“Mortal life is a period of testing where we will be proven to see if we will do all things that the Lord our God shall command us. This will require unwavering faith in Christ even in times of great difficulty. It will require that we press forward with steadfast faith in Christ, being led by the Spirit and trusting that God will provide for our needs.

At the conclusion of His earthly ministry, just before being taken prisoner, the Savior taught His disciples, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

- Ulisses S. Soares, Confide in God Unwaveringly, April 2017

Pain is temporary. Trials don't last forever. This life is a gift, with which we can do so much good. But we have to look at the big picture. Not every trial has to define you, nor is it given to you only for YOU. Sometimes it's for the sake of others - because everybody needs to be rescued, and sometimes God lets you be the hero. I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to that day when, after all this is over:

“A great, warm welcome will be waiting for me. The crowds will cheer when they see my face, and a voice keeps saying, ‘This is where I’m meant to be.’”

They are just waiting beyond the veil, they are screaming your name from the sidelines, and they are pushing the back of your handcart. I know every mile will be worth your while. You can endure anything to return home to the presence of God, where you really belong. It will all be worth it.

Ben Hur Reunion

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdhC8Tfa0Qc

Ben Hur crash course (if needed): 

Judah’s life as the head of a prominent Jewish family in Judea is turned upside-down when a childhood friend, Messala, betrays Judah and his family. Judah’s mother and sister are thrown into prison, and Judah is condemned to die as a slave in the galley of a Roman warship. Judah becomes bitter and hateful. He plans to take revenge on Messala. He survives slavery, managing to escape during a sea battle. Once free, he competes against Messala in a brutal chariot race in which Messala is killed, only just after revealing the fate of Judah’s mother and sister, who live as leper outcasts. Having heard rumors of Jesus, Judah takes his mother and sister to see him. In that very hour, they witness Jesus as he is crucified. Judah hears the words of Christ on the cross: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” In that moment his anger is taken away (“I felt his voice take the sword out of my hand”)  and during the storm following his death, Judah’s mother and sister are healed of their leprosy.

 "If you feel unclean, unloved, unhappy, unworthy, unwhole, remember - all that is unfair about life can be made right through the atonement of Jesus Christ."

- Elder Timothy J. Dyches

Because of his infinite and eternal sacrifice, our Savior knows “the deepest and most desperate desires of our hearts.” Because he too has carried the weight on our individual shoulders, He knows how to relieve us from it. He is the Prince of Peace because he is also the Prince of Forgiveness and the Prince of Change, the Prince of Compassion, Empathy, and Understanding. Jeffrey R. Holland has said: “Christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep and we are not shallow people if we struggle with them.”

Jesus Christ is the Prince of Miracles. He is the Prince of Reassurance. He is the Prince of Goodness, Light, and Mercy. He is the Prince of Nothing is Impossible. He is the Prince of You Do Not Have to Do This Alone. Through Him, there is nothing that can’t be made right. There is nothing that can’t be healed. Miracles are possible. There is no suffering too exquisite, no sin too severe, no burden too great for the Savior. He paid for all of it. Jesus Christ owns the market on peace. He is the only one who sells it - and we all can buy it, without money and without price.

Peace in Christ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Waitmz6C100

For My Ally is the Force

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vj9wz5CT9w8

17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that they should cast him out; and they could not.

20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.

22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.

23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

- Mark 9:14-27

It’s understandable that the miracles of Jesus sometimes seem a little too good to be true. Part of the challenge of our mortal journey is learning to think in higher ways, as well as living them. The natural man in each of us has difficulty grasping those things which we can’t see with our eyes. We just have to remember that there is more to us than our physical bodies, more that surrounds us than the air and our physical surroundings. We are indeed “luminous beings” and the Spirit of the Lord and his power surround us, binding all things together, doing the impossible every day.

The Burning Bush

www.youtube.com/watch?v=poZr9HjMizQ

“Do you ever feel untalented or incapable or inferior? Would it help you to know that everyone else feels that way too, including the prophets of God? Moses initially resisted his destiny, pleading that he was not eloquent in language. Jeremiah thought himself a child and was afraid of the faces he would meet.
And Enoch? I ask all of you to remember Enoch as long as you live. This is the young man who, when called to a seemingly impossible task, said, “Why is it that I have found favor in thy sight, [I] am but a lad, and all the people hate me; for I am slow of speech?” (Moses 6:31).

Enoch was a believer. He stiffened his spine and squared his shoulders and went stutteringly on his way. Plain old, ungifted, inferior Enoch. And this is what the angels would come to write of him:

And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him. [Moses 7:13]

Plain old, inadequate Enoch—whose name is now synonymous with transcendent righteousness. The next time you are tempted to paint your self-portrait dismal gray, highlighted with lackluster beige, just remember that in like manner have this kingdom’s most splendid men and women been tempted.” (Joshua 3:5)

-         Jeffrey R. Holland, For Times of Trouble, 1980

There have been times when I have felt like I was the most unlovable slug. I’m sure I would still think that if I didn’t know the truth, and hadn’t had opportunities given to me to learn I’m something more. The Lord knows our weaknesses and strengths and knows how to utilize each of us in his glorious plan – his plan which ultimately means growth and joy and awesomeness. You are infinitely more than your weaknesses, and have greater power to do good than you think.

Gandalf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrOqnZdvI6M

Let us not forget the power of choice. How wonderful is it to know that no matter what circumstances befall us, we have the power to choose to make the best of them? We can’t control our circumstances, but we can control ourselves.

Albus Dumbledore’s words are perfectly true:

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”

There is so much we don't know about the future. There is so much we don't know about the pain that others suffer and how it might influence their choices. There is so much we don't know about God's plan for us personally, including which adversities he grants us by design for the strengthening of our faith, the showing of his power, and the better influence we can then have on others because of it.

No matter our trials, there is so much good that we can do. When all of this is over, I want my posterity to know that I chose to be optimistic about the future. I want to be remembered for choosing courage in the face of adversity. I want to use my own suffering for the uplifting of others in their time of need. I want to leave this world with a prayer of thanksgiving on my lips and a song in my heart. Every one of us has an important part to play. Wonderfully, mercifully, you get to decide what to do with yours.

The Mirror of Erised

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ck4Bk6SKO7o

“He was despised, rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

- Isaiah 53:3

I know that for most people, if someone were to ask what we would see if we looked into the Mirror of Erised, we would burst into a flood of heartbroken tears. We have all dealt with feelings of inadequacy and envy, rejection, depression, and desperate longing for something more. We think that if only we could change something - our marital status, our figure, our job, the past, our health - then we would not only have, but BE everything we wish we could be. The Savior knows how this feels. Living through mortality is not an easy task, especially when we feel we are failing at every turn. Jeffrey R. Holland has said:

“I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of us—insecurities, anxieties, self-image, and all. He doesn’t measure our talents or our looks; He doesn’t measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness ready and waiting for everyone, “robes … made … white in the blood of the Lamb.”

My mumsy used to say to me, when I went through a period of self-loathing and felt I wasn’t as good as my friends, “If Heavenly Father had wanted another Jane, he’d have created another Jane. If He had wanted another Betty, he would have created another Betty. But He wanted a Melissa.”

Heavenly Father wanted YOU. You have flaws and you always will in this life. But these make you REAL, unique, and beautiful. And the things we experience in mortality are meant to teach, strengthen, and help us to fulfill our unique destinies, whatever they may be. Now get out there and be YOU.