Shape The Back

I want to start by expressing my love for the Prophet. I know that Thomas S. Monson is the Prophet of God and that he has been prepared by the Lord to lead us today. I am grateful for that. I am grateful for the Spirit that testifies of this and for the comfort it brings.

With my calling I have the responsibility to oversee one of our Home Teaching districts. One of the companionships in my districts has dissolved because both Home Teachers moved away. Two of the families they were teaching have also relocated which left one that was without Home Teachers. It happened to be Cameron and Chelsea Brown. Cameron is also in the Elder's Quorum Presidency. President Fawson and I decided we would go and visit with them. When I set the appointment I asked Cameron if there was a special message his family needed and he mentiioned that his wife was in the middle of student teaching and that she was having a hard time with it. He said if I wanted to give some encouragement there that would be great but if I allready had a message I didn't need to worry about it.

I find it interesting that today we studied Home Teaching in our Presidency meeting. Finding out from the head of the home if there are any special needs or messages that are needed is one of the things a home teacher should do. I have not always done this. I think I will do so more frequently with the experience of today. Naturally I took Cameron's invitation seriously but knowing the message this month was a call for Missionaries I didn't know exactly how the Prophets message would apply. I came home and read it again. I was moved by the following paragraph:

Now, some of you may be shy by nature or consider yourselves inadequate to respond affirmatively to the call to serve. Remember that this is the Lord’s work, and when we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help. The Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it.

Through my own experiences I have found this to be true. I believe that the Lord blesses those who delight to serve him and I also believe that when we go about on the Lord's errand he does help us. That help can come in a variety of ways. Further as the Prophet says, the Lord will shape the back to bear the burden placed upon it. I believe that those burdens are not limited to those directly tied to the errand we are on but to all burdens we may be facing.

Well, I talked to Sister Brown specifically about student teaching and some of what she is experiencing. She mentioned that she has been doing okay, she is learning a lot and there was a week that she did come home and cry everyday. I did not start with the forementioned paragraph, rather I started with a story about a couple that was called to serve a mission to Poland. Of their mission the Prophet said:

The work was lonely, their task immense. A mission had not at that time been established in Poland. The assignment given the Fusseks was to prepare the way so that a mission could be established.

Did Elder and Sister Fussek despair because of the enormity of their assignment? Not for a moment. They knew their calling was from God. They prayed for His divine help, and they devoted themselves wholeheartedly to their work.

In time Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elder Hans B. Ringger, then of the Seventy; and I, accompanied by Elder Fussek, met with the religious affairs minister, Adam Wopatka, of the Polish government. We heard him say, “Your church is welcome here. You may build your buildings; you may send your missionaries. This man,” pointing to Juliusz Fussek, “has served your church well. You can be grateful for his example and his work.”

Like the Fusseks, let us do what we should do in the work of the Lord. Then we can, with Juliusz and Dorothy Fussek, echo the Psalm:

“My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.

“… He that keepeth thee will not slumber.

“Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep” (Psalm 121:2–4).

We had discussed Missionary work and serving a couples mission when they reach that season of their life but there was a further application to the Prophets message and it is found in the Psalm that was quoted as well as the message previously mentioned, the Lord will shape the back to bear the burden. As we discussed this principle the Spirit was very strong and we all felt it. I did my best to not be a boob and managed though our eyes were wet. I shared my testimony, I expressed to the Browns that the Lord loves them and is aware of their needs and that he would strengthen Sister Brown, he would shape her back.

I am grateful for this experience as the Spirit bore witness of the love the Lord has for each of us. It bore witness of the inspired counsel we receive from His Prophet. I am grateful for the things I was taught tonight. My hope is that I can live worthy of the guidance of the Spirit in my life and worthy to receive the blessings of the Lord shaping my back. I don't know of anyone that I would rather have my back.