While There is Life There is Happiness

To my son,

                Recently I have been listening to a book called War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. It is a work of historical fiction, meaning that the main characters were created by the author but the events in which they participate really happened. The most important of those events was the invasion of Russia by Napoleon and his French army in 1812. They made it all the way to Moscow and took over the city for a short time before having to retreat that winter. One of the characters, Pierre, was captured by the French in Moscow and became a prisoner for several months. He suffered a great deal during that ordeal. Another character and friend of Pierre’s, Natasha, lost both the man she loved and her younger brother. They died around the same time from injuries sustained in the war. She was devastated. One evening after Pierre was freed, he spoke to Natasha and recounted all that had happened to him and his experience as a prisoner of war. He had witnessed some pretty awful things but had also come to find God in his sufferings. He said this to her: “People speak of misfortunes and sufferings, but if at this moment I were asked: ‘Would you rather be what you were before you were taken prisoner, or go through all this again?’ then for heaven’s sake let me again have captivity and horseflesh! We imagine that when we are thrown out of our usual ruts all is lost, but it is only then that what is new and good begins. While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.” In other words, he had come to appreciate the growth he had made during his suffering as a prisoner so much that he would do it again if he had to. And I love the message he was trying to give to Natasha who was mourning the loss of two men she loved: “While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.” In other words, as long as there is life and we are alive, there is hope for happiness and much good in the future. No matter what sorrow has filled our past, there is always a promise of good days ahead through our faith in Jesus Christ. These words make me think of the message of Limhi from the Book of Mormon as he encouraged his suffering people: “O ye, my people, lift up your heads and be comforted; for behold, the time is at hand, or is not far distant, when we shall no longer be in subjection to our enemies, notwithstanding our many strugglings, which have been in vain; yet I trust there remaineth an effectual struggle to be made” (Mosiah 7:18).

                Today I hope to encourage you to be resilient in the face of setbacks and disappointments. Life will be full of those for all of us, and what matters most is that we keep going in the right direction and never lose hope. We can trust that even if we have experienced “many strugglings” and don’t feel like we can succeed in what we are trying to accomplish, there “remaineth an effectual struggle to be made” when we do what Limhi invited us: “Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your trust in God, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the Red Sea on dry ground” (Mosiah 7:19). In the New Testament, Paul described the Savior in an epistle to the Saints with this phrase: “an high priest of good things to come” (Hebrews 9:11). We can hope for good things to come through the Savior, no matter how difficult the past has been. The Savior made this amazing promise to those who trust in Him: “Therefore, let your hearts be comforted; for all things shall work together for good to them that walk uprightly” (Doctrine and Covenants 100:15). If we seek to keep His commandments and follow Him, everything will work out for us for good in the end. In a similar revelation He said this: “I will order all things for your good, as fast as ye are able to receive them” (Doctrine and Covenants 111:11). I know that the Lord is guiding our lives, and if we will stay faithful and put our trust in Him, even when life doesn’t seem to be going how we want, He will make everything work out better than we could have imagined in the end. It will all work together for your good as you choose Jesus! 

Love,

Dad