Member Testimony

This week's testimony comes from Sister Meagan Vaughn.

I LOVE this time of year. The holiday season puts me in the greatest of moods. There is joy and hazelnut steamer running through my veins! Although I am a person who likes to milk each holiday and I am one of “those” people who puts their Christmas tree up before Thanksgiving just because it makes me happy, I realize this time of year can be difficult and sad for some people for one reason or another. For some, the holidays bring back painful memories of childhood or the loss of a loved one. For others, the burden of finances and stress can be overwhelming and make it hard to be thankful. Cultivating an attitude of gratitude is a gift that will bless our own lives and those around us continually and especially during this time of year.

          

Elder Bednar recently taught us that gratitude is a spiritual gift. He says, “a subtle but significant blessing we can receive is the spiritual gift of gratitude that enables our appreciation for what we have to constrain our desires for what we want. A grateful person is rich in contentment. An ungrateful person suffers in the poverty of endless discontentment.” I believe that some people are given this gift while others have the opportunity to develop it. If we have the desire we can learn to change the way the natural man in us sees the world. The beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ is that through it and through our Savior, we can change the very nature of who we are. We can learn to see our glass as half full even when there are storms of trial upon us. Gratitude to me is much like the principle of tithing. Giving away ten percent of what we have can be very difficult, especially if what we have is not much to begin with, but once our eyes and heart are opened  to the fact that EVERYTHING we have is literally a blessing and gift from Heavenly Father then, suddenly, returning a small portion of what he has blessed us with doesn’t seem so hard after all. I think showing gratitude is much the same way; being thankful (even in times of hardship) is very difficult but when we understand that all the good things in our life come from Heavenly Father, it makes weathering the storms a bit easier. I love the scripture in the Bible in 1 Corinthians 10:13.

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

We know our struggles and trials in this life are but a small moment in the expanse of eternity. We also know the only source that we can turn to in times of darkness to soften and heal our hearts and to help us be thankful for our blessings.

There are two specific things that help me in the process of trying to have a thankful heart.

1. I remember, as a youth, hearing someone suggest that when we recognize the Holy Ghost working in our lives and guiding us, we pause to thank him. I remember the first time I actually stopped and said out loud, “Thank you!” to the Holy Ghost. It made me laugh and feel bizarre but as I have made that a habit, the blessing that has come from it is that I see far more often how many times the Holy Ghost has helped me and directed me with the promptings that I needed.

2. I also remember, as a primary aged child, learning that we could make decisions about things our life BEFORE they happened. For example, I knew that if/when I was ever offered drugs/alcohol/or immoral temptations that my answer would be no. I decided ahead of time that those choices were not for me.  As I got older, sure enough those situations became available to me. It was much easier than I had ever anticipated to refuse the things that I knew were bad for me because I had already decided to do so. We can do the same thing with gratitude. We can decide AHEAD of time to be thankful, to search for the silver lining, and to give thanks to Heavenly Father ALWAYS (even in the most difficult times).

I know people who have lived through some of the darkest most unspeakable things that this earthly life has to offer. I have seen those experiences destroy people/families and I have watched others choose gratitude. They choose to practice their faith…to forgive, to be thankful, and to endure. I have decided that when the greatest trials of my life come, I will not push out my faith…I will choose to be thankful even in the face of adversity. I sincerely hope that I can do that when those times come.

One of my favorite hymns inspires gratitude.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,

When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,

Count your many blessings; name them one by one,

And it will surprise you what the Lord has done. …

So amid the conflict, whether great or small,

Do not be discouraged; God is over all.

Count your many blessings; angels will attend,

Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Although the Lord blesses us many times when we don’t deserve it, I imagine how much he must enjoy blessing us when we are thankful to Him. I know when my children show gratitude, I am more apt to repeat the thing that made them so happy. I try to remember that Heavenly Father probably feels the same way. We teach the primary children to begin their prayers by saying “Dear Heavenly Father, then thank Him for blessings he sends.” Showing thanks should be the first and most important part of our prayers.

Having an attitude of gratitude make us better disciples of Christ. When we realize how abundant our own blessings are, and are grateful for them, it gives us a sense of empathy for those around us. Hopefully that inspires us into action. The culmination of our gratitude is when we pass those blessings forward by serving others. This is my favorite thing about this time of year. It seems as though we all come together in the spirit of thankfulness and service. I hope that we can all follow the example of Savior, Jesus Christ and help the needy, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, and impart of our substance to those who need it. May we be ever thankful to our Father in Heaven… “We truly need him every hour, whether they be hours of sunshine or of rain." (President Monson)