Living After the Manner of Happiness

Gentle Healer by Greg Olsen I cannot explain how, but I found myself carried away to another place as soon as the dramatic organ started playing. What transpired those few minutes as I listened to the Tabernacle Choir sing “O Divine Redeemer” can only be described as sacred. This sacred tutoring continued during the thirty-minute drive home from that seminary inservice meeting. I had heard the song plenty of times before, but this time was very different. Little did I know how often I would return to this experience in the coming months.  The following week we received some news that made me stop and consider the days ahead. Life as I knew it was changing, and I wondered how we would get through this experience as a family. The next year was messy . . . really messy. Over and over again I found myself knocked to my knees with nowhere else to turn. Perhaps you have been there before. Maybe you are there right now.  Each time I prayed, I felt prompted to listen to this hymn agai...

“Can I introduce you to my daughter,” he asked, taking me by the hand. A recent convert, this young African man felt unsure of his ability when he accepted the call to teach seminary in his branch. As the only person he knew who attended seminary, this man reached out to my son for help and guidance. Knowing I was also teaching seminary, my son encouraged his African friend to email me his questions. Thus, we began our year-long adventure teaching seminary together – him on the west coast of Africa and me on the east coast of the United States. We stopped at the school where he taught that day in late May. He asked his wife to come to the school during his lunch break to meet us as well. Handing me his daughter, he said, “This is Emma. Like Emma Smith.” He had not even known who Emma Smith was at the beginning of the seminary year but had grown to love her as he studied and taught the Doctrine and Covenants. “I want her to grow to have the faith and courage of Emma,” he continue...