Awareness 2015 - The Seven Year Rescue Comes To An End

At 5:44 PM on Friday, August 21st, the Seven Year Rescue came to a glorious, hard fought end. It was a day I had hoped for, thought about, and eventually knew would arrive. It was the day I became completely DEBT FREE!


What I wasn't prepared for was the lessons that would come out of the journey, some of which came to me only today while sitting in Church.

Allow me to give you a little color on why this is all so important and why I am even bothering to write about it. My intention is to share this so that someone else who is even considering for a moment to do the same will think twice. I was challenged to write my raw feelings about what happened - and I will, if for no one else for myself.


The Backstory:

I loved a man I should not have loved. Our relationship was toxic, unequally yoked and like walking on eggshells. This guy was my best friend, my confidant, he could push my buttons like a champ, and he could be tender, sweet and attentive. To say our lives were enmeshed was an understatement. To be fair, sometimes God gives us exactly what we want in order for us to learn. I wanted this man in my life...for all the wrong reasons.


(What I now know was that the reason we were so close had more to do with the alcoholism we had in common, in his family and in mine. We spoke a common language which we understood at an emotional level. Both were/are codependent by nature and family upbringing.)

Over the course of 18 months, I spent $15,000 bailing him out of his life, his choices and making life better for him. I paid rent for him. I paid bills for him. I reconciled his finances for him. I dealt with creditors for him. I relocated to be able to be closer to him, even though I convinced myself it wasn't about him. It was a bill here, some money there. I put money in is bank account so his account wouldn't be over drawn and incur more charges. I even joined his business so that would have more reason to have him in my life. My payoff was being wanted. Was knowing I was making a difference in his life because I could. And he could throw me an emotional bone from time to time and I would stay. It makes me cry as I write this - to think I thought so little of myself to allow all of that to happen.


My thinking was that rather than watch him bottom out, I could handle it better than he could. It was a total and complete lie. I was paying everything with a credit card at 19.24% APR. I would fill out those little checks like there were endless funds. I upped my credit limit to 15,000 just to be able to accommodate even more. I not only maxed out this card, but another card for $7500 as well, by helping a family member and robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I helped him enter and win a contest where he won a large sum of money, just a little under my current annual salary. It my mind, it was a perfect opportunity for him to set things straight in his life and to pay me back. I mean, if someone had been helping you for more than a year, wouldn't it seem reasonable to pay them back ? Magical thinking on my part. When he finally got the money, I finally dared to broach the subject about him paying me. He was furious! How dare I even ask him ?!


I felt embarrassed for asking for what I wanted and then I was angry. REALLY angry! What the heck was he talking about? You can't even THINK about paying me back, even a little bit ?

Eventually and against his will, he gave me something, but it was a drop in the bucket.

By the time everything was said and done, I was over $32,000 in debt between my car payment and my credit cards. I was drowning so someone else could float. And then to add insult to injury, he met someone else, started a relationship with her and then married her.

I had given everything I could for love and in the end it didn't matter. I felt used, verbally abused and like a carpet that I allowed him to walk all over - except that I invited it and then thanked him for the privilege of helping him. My thinking was absolutely screwed up. My heart was broken in more ways than I could count. I lost my best friend, my confidant and I was left to pick up the pieces. I was embarrassed that I had given so much for so little in return. I was angry with myself for destroying my financial life in such a grand fashion and I had nothing but a mountain of bills to show for it.

Honestly, his marriage was the best thing that could have happened to both of us. I needed to find myself again. And I needed to figure out how I was going to undo the damage I had done.

I chipped away at the debt but it took really making some tough decisions that allowed me to finally get out of debt. I had to begin to use a budget. I needed to pay more than just the minimum on my cards at every opportunity. The 2 pivotal moments that made the difference were: paying off my car and changing jobs. Once I paid off my car, I was able to snowball my debt at an accelerated speed.

I dedicated my bonus to my debt, and watched the debt begin to really go down. As I finally hit under $10,000, I realized I had paid 2/3's of my debt. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. It became exciting. I shared my journey with a friend who kept me motivated and likened my journey to running the bases. As the amount kept falling, he said " You are rounding 3rd base", and I could see it ...and moreover, I was believing it. I was going to be out of debt. I could hardly believe it !!!

There were a multitude of lessons I have learned over the last 7 years. Here are a few of them:

1) A man who allows a woman to help him out of a financial hole loses respect for himself and eventually for her.

2) A man can accept financial help from a woman without being emotionally connected to her.


3) Never give someone you love money. It will change your relationship forever.


4) Unless I expressly set up an agreement for repayment, don't assume the other person has any intention of repaying.

5)There is only one Savior - and I'm not it.

6) If you feel you are over helping someone, you are.

7) Never take away another person's struggle. You have no idea what challenges God has given them to grow.

8) There are lots of healthy ways to support someone. Money isn't one of them.

9) A relationship that is unequally yoked will eventually end.

10) If both people aren't all in, then you don't have a relationship. You are dreaming to think you do.




Current lessons:

I realized today that I carried a low simmering anger in my heart for years about this entire situation. Today, as tears fell from my eyes, peace and forgiveness filled my heart. I felt the weight of 7 years come off my shoulders and empty out of my heart.

I felt sadness that had wasted so much time being angry at him and angry at myself. I resented the fact that he was able to take so easily, and was embarrassed that I gave so much. And today, I put that into perspective. I did what I did. It's done. I can't go back and undo any of it. I forgave myself for not taking better care of myself and my heart. I forgave him for a multitude of things.

I am grateful to know that chapter of my life is over. I have learned to value myself, my worth. I have learned how to love without rescuing. I have learned how to say no. I am learning how to balance my desire to help with asking others if they actually need or want that help.

And I have learned that my Savior, Jesus Christ, gave his life so that each of us can work out our salvation here on earth. I have felt his love and support as my heart healed and my life changed.

I am preparing for my future with a lightness of heart and in my step. It is a new place for me and I am stepping fully into my own.

What a beautiful place to finally be!




Rachel

Insights Into Me - The Road to a Paradigm Shift - May 25, 2015

The story of the Golden Goose... do you remember it ?  The poor farmer who discovers one of his geese is producing eggs of pure gold.  Initially he doesn't believe it until he has the egg appraised.Once he has had the value validated, he cannot believe his good fortune and day after day he returns to the nest to find another gold egg. He becomes fabulously wealthy; it all seems too good to be true.

With his wealth comes greed and impatience.  He is finally unable to wait  any longer for the goose to produce and he decides he will kill her and take all the eggs at once. But when he opens the goose, he finds it empty.  There are no golden eggs - and now he has effectively in one moment of sheer insanity forever changed his ability to get any more. The goose is gone and so are the golden eggs.

This story turned on a light for me in several areas of my life. First, my job.

I love my job. I come to work each day with a sense of purpose, with energy, feeling happy and ready to go. There hasn't yet been a day when I have not felt that way. It is a definite positive in my life. I also spend many hours at work.  And when I spend 9-10 hours a day at work, what I bring home is
not nearly the same as what I brought to work in the morning.  I am bringing home fatigue, exhausting, lack of desire to talk to anyone, no desire to cook or do any menial tasks, occasional irritability... I sound like a blast to live with, hmm ?   With all of the "pros" I get with my job and from my job, there is a price I pay on the flip side.

I am the goose. I am the one who brings home the bacon, makes the golden eggs. And I am happy to do it for myself and our family.  But is this overworking because of external forces or is it that validation that I get personally from the long hours that eventually takes a toll in my home ? Is it my boss telling me I "must" stay ?  No...it's not his voice I hear in my head.  I cannot tell you the countless number of times he would tell me to go home, only to have me tell him, " I only have one more thing to do...", which never ended up being one more thing.

I need to own up to being a workaholic and that I work with other workaholics. We don't see it as a problem because we make up our own truth about it.  It is perfectly okay in my mind to responsible, to work hard and even work long hours as needed,but that is not every day OR ever week. By owning up to my underlying intentions about why I work long hours i.e., getting a break from being at home, needing time that is just for me, getting interaction with other people, handling the stress of living with someone who is chronically not well, avoidance, procrastination, I can make a different choice about how I spend my time and what my days look like.

If I burn myself out to the point I am unable to be healthy in all aspects of my life, then I become the farmer. I will effectively have nothing left for myself, my family or others   And I cannot blame anyone for that happening. The control is 100% mine.  I can make a change that keeps everything alive and in balance.

So which one are you ? The goose or the farmer ?

Insights Into Me - The Road to a Paradigm Shift - May 18, 2015

Growing up, women in my family didn't exercise on a regular basis. I remember years ago Mom swam, but that stopped once her head/neck would get too cold.

I loved gymnastics as a child. The energy, the drive, the challenge, the friends. We didn't have the money for me to go very far with it. And eventually, I was drawn away from it by people who were better at it than I was.
My self held belief is that women in my family are curvy and it's hard for us to lose weight.  The truth is that I lose my drive to commit myself daily to good health. And it frustrates me when I bump into the results. This is entirely my doing.

Underneath that lack of commitment is the belief that I am not really worth taking care of. It's a self esteem piece that is attached to a very old abandonment tape.

I will not give up on myself. Even if you walked away from me, our family and your responsibilities, I am no longer carrying that "map".It has had me "lost" for too many years.  I have to create a new map of the territory of my life. I don't know what it looks like, and today I am not going to figure it out. All I care about is that today that I am shedding light on a corner that has been dark and under cobwebs for a long, long time.

Today, I found a flashlight. Today I start to clean house.

Insights Into Me - The Road to a Paradigm Shift - May 17, 2015

I was talking with a friend about an entirely different topic and the book " The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" came up. I had read it about 10 years ago and truthfully, it wasn't life changing at all for me
at the time. My head/mind/heart wasn't into it. 

Fast forward to May 17th, 2015.  This book was going to become a door that needed to be opened, corners that need to be explored, and some dusting was probably going to be happening in the rafters. And I'm not talking about a Swiffer. I mean some serious cobweb removal!  Except I had no idea any of that was lingering in the pages of this book. Now that I think about it , I am pretty sure my friend was silently laughing at my innocence of taking on the task of reading it in 6 weeks. Because he knows I don't just read... I digest, devour, dissect, inquire, tear apart, unearth...

Because I know my own struggle in keeping my commitments, I said, as if it was no big deal, " Give me a deadline. "   I thrive on deadlines. The procrastinator in my knows just how much time it will take me before I am in panic mode to finish the book.  Fortunately, he gave me June 30th as a finish date.  That is quite literally an eternity in a procrastinator's life ! 

And so on Sunday, May 17th I read my first 51 pages. It was like I couldn't get enough. There was so much that was resonating with me. Honestly, there was a voice inside my head that said, " Are you sure this is the same book you read 10 years ago ?" I had highlighted key words, made notes of important stories and really took note of the "aha" moments that happened in my first night of reading.

It became clear that as I learned more about Character Ethic and Personality Ethics, I could see where my path had lead. I could see that quite possibly my weight and all the ups and downs I have had with that could be buried in all of this. The story that lingers in my head about not being financially stable, about not having enough, lack of abundance. Yeah.. all those creatures came out for a moment into the light. And I realized that next 6 weeks were going to be work. 

I put my highlighter away and closed my book. 

And I wrote in my Impressions book: I am curious and afraid to open Pandora's box. For today, that says it all. 

Awareness 2014 - Insight Comes At The Strangest of Times

I'm at the gym... on the elliptical and it is day 3 of the GCC challenge.

When I work out, I listen to music. - often iHeart radio because there are so many different
channels I can listen to...variety keeps me motivated and interested. I'm pretty sure most of you have done or do the same thing.

Not expecting this day to be any different than any other, I continue to channel surf, until I fall upon the song, " A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. 

As I continue with my pace, the words catch my attention as the song starts:

Heart beats fast
Colors and promises
How to be brave?
How can I love when I'm afraid to fall?
But watching you stand alone,
All of my doubt suddenly goes away somehow.

One step closer

Then all of a sudden as I listen to the words, " one step closer" begins to take on new meaning to me. And realize this song is revealing a truth about myself, a window I don't often look in.. more lyrics continue to stir my thoughts

[Chorus:]
I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And I realize that this song for me is about the love that Christ as for me. He has loved me for a thousand years, and will love me for a thousand more ...and he is asking me to be brave. Stand in that place of fear and possible failure and replace it with the pure love that He is trying to show me...for myself. The song continues:

Time stands still
Beauty in all she is
I will be brave
I will not let anything take away
What's standing in front of me
Every breath
Every hour has come to this

One step closer

I realize as I stand on this machine that there is a deeper truth for me. I have a hard time losing weight because I don't believe I am worthy of love. My weight is my mask. It keeps me from being fully confident, keeps me from trying new things, gives me excuses. I am afraid of words such a beautiful, attractive, sexy, hot , gorgeous - let alone others such as inspiring, a mentor, a leader. And here I stand on this machine and I realize I am being given a chance with every single step I take ..one step closer to being who I REALLY am. I see my reflection in my phone as I sing the lyrics and tears are in my eyes, because I cannot see my gold.

In this moment, I realize that the love of my Savior is pure and for me to be who I can be, I want to develop that kind of love for myself. FREAK! I was not expecting this experience here on the elliptical. The song continues:

I have died every day waiting for you
Darling, don't be afraid I have loved you
For a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

And all along I believed I would find you
Time has brought your heart to me
I have loved you for a thousand years
I'll love you for a thousand more

One step closer
One step closer

And then the toughest realization of all - I am afraid of being loved. I know how to be the great friend, to give advice, to be a good listener, to help someone else and I am scared to death to be loved and to let someone love me. And again I realize this is another of the lessons, I learn from both the Savior and Heavenly Father. The very idea of not being afraid of their love. Of allowing them to love me, to care for me, to help me to bless me , to counsel me , to guide me. If I trust them and can put my trust in them, then why not trust a man ? The song ends like this:

And all along I believed I would find you

Time has brought your heart to me

I have loved you for a thousand years

I'll love you for a thousand more

"Time has brought your heart to me". That's it. This time in my life is about bringing my heart to Him, and for finding my heart within myself and recognizing that I am worthy of love. It is my time to go "one step closer" in making the changes I want to make for my health, to be more confident in my skin and to shed the fears that have masked who I am underneath the weight I carry. The food I eat when I am not hungry, the stress I feed with food that doesn't satisfy, the excuses I have for never trying certain things because of how I might look, i.e., rock wall climbing, wearing a bathing suit, feeling the uncomfortableness of my body as I stretch and move in new ways.

God's and Christ's is example is for me to love them and for me to love myself.


Today I am one step closer to those goals. As I take on this 100 day challenge, I look forward to more insights, peeling away more layers and transforming myself in ways I can only imagine today. 

 

Awareness 2014 - 100 Days of Change

I know myself.

I know myself really, really well. 

And if there was any other way to do this, I would do it, but for me, there wasn't another way. 

So I chose the path that made the most sense to me and would yield the best results because my pride would not let me give up. You see, when left to my own resources, I can be lazy. Not garden variety lazy, but grab a carton of sea salt caramel chunk ice cream and plant my carcass in front of mindless television, kind of lazy.

And thank goodness, it doesn't happen often. 

I want to love exercising. I really do. I want to be one of those people who just "can't live without it". And 

I am so much more the gal that will over do, have aches and pains for several days because my muscles are sore and then give myself an excuse to give up.  And I have done it sooo many times... as I said, I know myself well.

So... back to what I did to help me overcome the natural woman, so to speak.

Our company participates in something called the  Global Corporate Challenge, or GCC for short.

Over 300, 000 employees from hundreds of companies worldwide participate in a 100 day fitness challenge. The goal ?   10,000 steps per day/ per person. Each person belongs to a team of 7 and the teams compete

against all the other world wide teams and against other teams within the company. 

When I heard this was going on, my first thought was, " 100 days ? How in the world am I going to walk 10K steps for 100 days ? I can't even get to the gym 5 days in a row."

My solution ? I will be the Captain of a team - and I will motivate myself and my team to strive to do our best. I know I can do it - I have it within me. But honestly, I have not bothered to push myself in a while to really get going on my personal health goals and my pride is now involved. I can't be a leader and then be hypocrite. I need to walk the talk... literally. 10k steps a day for 100 days. GULP!

We started on Wednesday, May 28th, so today is Day 4. So far, I am at 100% for my targeted steps. 

I'm leading my team in the number of steps and watching the scale show the results of all the work I have been doing over the last week or so (since I started working out about a week before the challenge started.)

I had a lovely walk with one of my teammates on our launch day, and she is really committed to using this

as a platform for better health and to making some changes she has wanted to make, but really has not pushed herself to do so. (Does that sound familiar ?)

And at 3:30 p.m.today, I have met my goal.  10, 533 so far today. I am beginning to plant the seeds of enjoying exercise. It could happen.

So my awareness today is that sometimes I choose the tough route so that I can overcome my natural tendencies. I am grateful to know myself - and know what works for me.  I am excited to participate as part of my company, to be a leader and to practice supporting and encouraging even when people do absolutely nothing. I will practice giving them to same love I give to myself  - an "atta girl" goes a long way! And I'll invite...and I may be alone. And I am okay with that. 

It feels good to see short term success - and I look forward to checking in on  day 23,  day 47,   day 59,  

day 71...and see the progress we are making as a team. 

Here's to team  Lost In Pace!  WE CAN DO ANYTHING WE  PUT OUR MINDS TO !

Awareness 2014 - My Journey With The Book of Mormon

I spoke in Church last weekend and I promised I would put my talk on here so folks could read it.  I'll add my comments at the end . Here's the talk - although I did not stay exactly with this outline.

My Journey With The Book of Mormon

By Rachel Campbell

February 23, 2014

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters:

My name is Rachel Campbell and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you this morning. I pray that the Spirit will be with me as I share a few thoughts with you and will bear witness of those things that are true.

Many years ago, I was born in Maine. Yes, I am clearly a long way from where I started. I wasn’t brought up in an LDS family and didn’t have a clue about the Church at age 8, when most LDS children are baptized. I grew up knowing God, Jesus Christ and on the occasion we went to a Church, it was usually Mass with other family members.

My mother joined the Church when I was 10 years old, and my sister Kelly joined with her. And I wasn’t ready – at all.  I was still figuring things out for myself.  During that next year, I read passages in The Book of Mormon still not convinced that I needed to join the Church. And then one day, I knew I was ready and remember asking my Mom if “ those guys could come back and give me the lessons like they did with you.”   While I did not know much about it at the time, I felt the Spirit touched my heart when I was reading the Book of Mormon and I liked how that felt. I was baptized on June 26, 1977 at 11 years of age.  And thus began the influence of the Book of Mormon in my life.

I went through an unusual amount of teenage angst as we moved from Maine to Utah. It was a very difficult time in my life and I was mostly inactive when it came to Church…I will say that my Mother earned every single one of her gray hairs during my teens and that I am the successful person I am today because she never gave up on me.

My scriptures had been on the back burner for a while – but I didn’t forget them entirely. My Book of Mormon, the familiar dark blue cover, words printed on the side would always stand out, no matter where they were in my room. I believe that those tender feelings as a child have attached me to that book of scripture like none else.

I found myself making less than stellar choices at 19 years of age, but gratefully I was employed and taking care of myself the best I could. One night, in the quiet of my room, the outside light illuminated my bookshelf

and I could see the gold letters from across the room.  It had been a while since I had opened the Book of Mormon, and randomly opened a page:

Alma 37: 37

“ ^aCounsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for ^bgood; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the ^cmorning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day. “

I wept. And I continued on my path for a little longer. That scripture would come back in my life in a way that I had not expected.

I’m still inactive, and somehow I find myself at the Oakland Temple. I am sitting on the grounds of the temple and have this distinct impression: “If you ever want to be in there, you will have to change what you are doing out here. “   I knew my heart was being touched and was reminded again of the scripture in Alma. “Counsel with the Lord in ALL thy doings”.

Was I doing that? Did I even know he cared? Did he care that I wasn’t in Church? Did I matter? 

I went home that night and prayed like I had never prayed in my life. If  God cared about my life and my journey and wanted me to make the changes that needed to be made, I was going to need help.  I laid out my “ wish list”

and went to bed, assured that nothing was going to change.

The very next day my “ wish list” had be fulfilled and I kept my part of the bargain, and left the life I was currently living and walked away from what was keeping me from being an active member of the Church.  I was and am a living proof that answers come from the Book of Mormon. My life is a miracle.

As I turned the corner in my life and made all the necessary changes, I felt prompted to want to serve a mission. After receiving confirmation that was the Lord’s will for me as well, I entered the MTC on March 16, 1988 in Provo, Utah.  I was going to the Switzerland Geneva Mission and I was going to speak in French.  Our MTC President gave us a challenge upon entering the MTC.  He asked us to read the entire Book of Mormon while at the MTC, and to pray about it. The wall behind his desk had all these pictures of Book on them that said “ I took the 30 day Book of Mormon challenge”.

I’ll be honest – until this time, I had NEVER read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover. Let alone in 30 days.  Mind you, I knew it was true a long time before, but I had never had that experience of reading it cover to cover and following Moroni’s promise at the end:  

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

 4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

I knew that I wanted and needed to read the entire book. I wanted to get to the end so I could put that promise to the test myself.  I wanted that witness.

I diligently read every chance I could. I would read and then read some more. And it didn't all sink in. But I knew that I was going to have to work hard to attain that goal. I found stories that spoke to my soul. The first time I read the story of Abinidi, I cried. He was not leaving until he delivered his message.  And here I was, a 22 year old missionary heading to Europe to share my message. Would I have his strength ?

I read the book of Jared – and his endless questions of the Lord. I loved that the Lord put the solution back on him.  Oh my goodness, is that me!

And then I read the Savior’s visit to the Nephites.  And we’ll read that because it is one of the most profound moments in the Book of Mormon.
 

** Read 3 Nephi 11 1-15 **

I could only imagine what it would have been like to be in the presence of Jesus Christ, to watch him come.  The entire image brings tears of joy to my eyes.  And to hear the Father introduce him to the people, in such a beautiful way.

It is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon.

On the 30^th day of the challenge, I have the entire 10 chapters of  Moroni to read…and okay so he is going to pass away, and he wants to preserve the record and then he talks about charity,  am I ever going to finish this ?

And then, I get to Moroni 10: 3-5.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

 5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

And once I finished that chapter, I went to my room to have a prayer, to ask my Heavenly Father if what I read was true.  And no sooner had those words come out of my mouth, there was a warmth and a feeling that came over me that was undeniably not my own. I KNEW it was TRUE!  And what I realized is that I had always known it was true. But this was MY experience. And I wanted others to have it and to know about the life changing things that had come because of this book.

During my mission, we followed a program called “ Flood the Earth with the Book of Mormon”.  We carried these heavy books everywhere. In our backpacks, on buses, trains, bikes, in cars. We shared the love for the Book of Mormon in a park, at a pizza place, walking down the street and in the quiet humble circumstance of many who would listen.  It was 18 months of testifying of this book. And my testimony strengthened.  And we saw many come unto Christ and were baptized as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The Book of Mormon has been the stabilizing force in my scripture reading. As I read it and cross reference it with the other scriptures, I am able to get a better sense of the messages found therein and it strengthens my testimony that His words are found in more than one book of scripture. " By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." 

As  a member of the La Crescenta Stake, we are asked to read the Book of Mormon during the year. We have had repeated counsel about reading it - and I hope many of you have taken up that challenge. 

I will add to that that specifically the Book of Mormon will strengthen you. I have felt its strength in my life as I read it, I have felt more emotional support during my challenges and trials, and I have a greater sense of love for those around me. I have found specific answers to my prayers from the Book of Mormon.  However you are able to read it, read it. Listen to it. Have someone else read it to you. Read the children’s version of it , if the adult version get confusing. Read it in your homes, with your children, with your spouse and pray for the strength to continue to read. Allow the witness of the Holy Ghost to act in your life and in your heart.

I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, called forth in the latter days to translate the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God and  by reading it and the other scriptures, we are better able to handle the challenges that life throws to us. I testify that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he visited the Nephites to fulfill prophesy. And I know that we too await the day of the Savior’s return. May we prepare by daily reading the Book of Mormon, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

Amen. 

** Now my message ends and I am going on to my other classes. I hope that it has been something of use to those that listened. One of the Sister Missionaries approaches me and shares with me a story about her investigator, who is 10 years old. She listened intently as I related my experiences, but of particular interest to her was the fact that I read from the Book of Mormon at only 10 and 11 years of age. She asked the Sisters if she could have her own copy to read - and that brought tears to my eyes. If my message was important to no one else, it was important for that little girl. Such a blessing to be an instrument in God's hand for a brief moment.