This week I studied the sermon I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee by Thomas S. Monson. Although I chose a few quotes like I usually do with conference talks, everyone should read this sermon so rich in admonitions and encouragement.
When our Katie died, a good nurse told us to never ask what if or why me. This advise stuck with me and has been a guiding principle of my life since that heart breaking event. President Monson seems to say the same thing in this sermon except he adds something more, something comforting, something building, something to hold close to the heart.
"...History...is replete with the experiences of those who have struggled and yet who have remained steadfast and of good cheer. The reason? They have made the gospel of Jesus Christ the center of their lives. This is what will pull us through whatever comes our way...May we have a commitment to our Heavenly Father that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives...Only the Master knows the depths of our trials, our pain, and our suffering. He alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity. He alone touches our tortured souls...May we ever strive to be close to our Heavenly Father. To do so, we must pray to Him and listen to Him every day. We truly need Him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain. May His promise ever be our watchword: “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.”"
Good scriptures to go with this study are: Jeremiah 8:22, Job 5:7, Job 1:1, Job 2:9, Job 16:19, Job 19:25, Joshua 1:5, Matthew 11:28–30, Joshua 1:5.
Good Timber by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
