His Window Being Open

I was touched by this story that Sister Susan H. Porter told in the most recent general conference: “Have you ever felt alone? One day when our granddaughter Ashley was six years old, she was the only one without a friend to play with on the school playground. As she stood there, feeling unimportant and unseen, a specific thought came into her mind: ‘Wait! I’m not alone! I have Christ!’ Ashley knelt down right in the middle of the playground, folded her arms, and prayed to Heavenly Father. The moment she opened her eyes, a girl her age was standing there asking her if she wanted to play. Ashley came to know, ‘We are important to the Lord, and we are never truly alone.’” What impressed me with this was the way that this girl Ashley prayed in public without worrying about what others would think. She was not ashamed of her faith in God. Like Daniel, she was not afraid of praying in front of others, even when there were risks. Even after Daniel knew of the decree against praying, “He went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime” (Daniel 6:10). Young children are a lot less concerned with what others think, especially when it comes to spiritual things, and they don’t mind the figurative window being open for others to see in. I remember many years ago when we took a walk between general conference sessions—living in a place where most people were not Latter-day Saints—our daughter who was about three years old happily announced to everyone we passed that we were watching general conference. That brought us some strange and confused looks, but she was excited just to share what was important to us. Now that same daughter, concerned as most teenagers are at her age to be well-perceived by her peers, nearly panics if I play a Church song in the car with the windows down within a mile radius of any living creature. Most of us struggle to some degree with a fear of what others will think of us if we share the gospel or publicly show our faith, and we would do well to remember this example of young Ashley as well as these well-known words of Paul: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16).

                Sister Porter also encouraged children with these words: “You can pray for help to show Heavenly Father’s love to others. Through His Spirit, Heavenly Father will help you notice someone who is sad so you can comfort them. He can help you show His love by forgiving someone. He can give you courage to serve someone and share with them that they are a child of God. You can help others come to know and love Jesus and Heavenly Father as you do.” Instead of hiding our faith from others, fearing that we will look weird or be judged, we should pray to know how we can show that faith in ways that will help and bless others. The Lord gave this warning to elders who had come to Jackson County in 1831: “But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against them” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:2). We must not hide what the Lord has given us by keeping our mouth shut for fear of what others might think. Instead we can open our mouths and show our faith in “normal and natural ways,” as Elder Uchtdorf has encouraged us. Elder Marcus B. Nash summarized our opportunity towards others similarly: “Hold up the gospel light—to love, share, and invite each of them in a normal, natural way.” We don’t have to kneel down on a playground in front of our peers like young Ashley did, but we can speak openly to others of our faith and of what matters most to us. As we do, we have this incredible promise from the Lord: “Nevertheless, ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you, and your sins are forgiven you” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:3). As we bear simple testimony to others, through our words and deeds—our figurative spiritual window left open for others to see—He promises to forgive our sins and send angels to look over us.