Sunday, December 22, 2013

Right for You

Just a couple of Sundays ago as I was getting ready for church, I was listening to several episodes of Mormon Channel Daily and this one stood out to me. It's an interview with Joe Fowler and Joe Sines, who made the recent Mormon Message that some of you may have already seen called Wrong Roads, in which Elder Jeffrey R. Holland retells a story that happened to him and his son in the Grand Canyon.
I won't tell the story since it is told so well in the video. It was originally told by Elder Holland's son Matthew Holland (currently the President of UVU in Orem) in the New Era (a gospel magazine for youth) in the article Wrong Roads and Revelation. It discusses how sometimes Heavenly Father may send us down a path that isn't the right one in order for us to know which is the right path.  

Joe Fowler and Joe Sines talk in the interview about making the video and even before that about how they were sometimes inspired to go down an alternative path before realizing it wasn't the right path. (Click on their names in the first paragraph to listen to the podcast.) One of the Joe's talks about how he and his wife felt that it was right for him to get a better job so they started to do all of the necessary things for that change. Then it was soon obvious that it wasn't working out and they needed to stay where they were and he needed to keep his job. Because of the confidence they felt that this was the right job, despite other good opportunities being out there, they were able to be happy where they were. If they had not started down the path (a few times) to other employment, they might not have been sure that they were where Heavenly Father wanted them to be.

Although it is not in the video, I appreciated that the 2 Joe's emphasized that when they spoke with Elder Holland for the video, he mentioned that Heavenly Father will not inspire you to sin. That is a different kind of wrong road and is only prompted to be taken by the Father of Lies. The type of wrong road that he is talking about is one that is a good option, just not the correct one for that person at that time. 

At the time I was listening to the interview, I hadn't seen the Mormon Message they had made, so right after listening to it, I searched for it and found it right away.

      

I really liked the message and decided that I would use it for a Family Home Evening message and told Alexander, my son, that I was going to use it, but didn't want to tell him about it until the lesson. I just said that I had watched it and it had a great message. Then we went to sacrament and my visiting teaching companion gave a great talk and talked about this video and its message. As she started to talk, I told my son not to listen because that was the video. (Of course, I was kidding.)

Then the next day one of my friends shared it on Facebook, and then another friend. It was a message that is for everyone, and one that I felt was very personal and needed for me. I love that Heavenly Father cares enough about us to want us to be happy, confident and sure about the road that is right for each of us.

We have so many choices in this life and so many difficult ones are not between good and evil, but between two or more that could be good. Only our Heavenly Father knows which one is truly right for us and He will guide us to that, sometimes directly and sometimes after a bit of winding around or going down a different road.

3 comments:

  1. I love your testimony of this video Valerie. It's a wise Heavenly Father who allowed His Son to present the plan of salvation along with free agency and allowed us to make choices and learn from them. I love this message, especially at the Christmas Season. Merry Christmas.

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  2. I really like this story! As I watched it, I imagined what might have happened if they had NOT taken the wrong road first. I had a road I used to bike repeatedly. It was a loop around a lake, and since it was a loop I only went ONE WAY. Then one day, I decided to go around the lake the opposite direction. It was amazing. This road which I had biked REPEATEDLY, I suddenly did not recognize at all. It looked completely different! With this in mind, I wonder if perhaps this father and son, in their confusion and eagerness to be sure they were going the right way - may have continued to not recognize the scenery (especially if it began to get dark soon), and perhaps gone FAR down the road in the right direction, but NOT being certain of this turned around and gone back. What a lot of time and energy this would have wasted. Heavenly Father made sure they knew which path was correct so this would not happen. I LIKE WHAT HE SAID ABOUT HOW HEAVENLY FATHER WANTS US TO KNOW WHEN WE ARE ON "RIGHT" ROADS, AND NOT GIVE UP WHEN THINGS GET DIFFICULT. :) Even right roads have their challenges!
    Corine :D

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  3. PS. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas! :D

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