Continue in Patience

In the Priesthood session of the most recent general conference, President Nelson invited us to reflect on what we have learned in the past two years. He said this: “Think back on the past two years. How have you grown? What have you learned? You might initially wish you could go back to 2019 and stay there! But if you look at your life prayerfully, I believe you will see many ways in which the Lord has been guiding you through this time of hardship…. Adversity is a great teacher. What have you learned in the past two years that you always want to remember?” After discussing some of the lessons he hopes we have learned, he gave this invitation: “My dear brethren, there are many things the Lord wants us to learn from our experiences during this pandemic. I have listed only four. I invite you to make your own list, consider it carefully, and share it with those you love.” As I consider the past two years and especially the time of the pandemic, I am led to wonder if I have make any real progress or if I have grown spiritually in the ways the Lord has desired. One word that come to mind is this: patience. I don’t know that I have really become as I need to in developing these this Christlike attribute, but this past year has at least helped me understand better my need for patience and allowed me to see my own weaknesses more clearly.

                As most of us have spent a lot more time with our families during the pandemic, our need for patience with each other has undoubtedly increased. For me trying to work at home with children frequently trying to get in my room and interrupt me, not to mention their frequent fighting amongst themselves, has given me plenty of opportunities to work on my own patience. For example, my little boy, now three years old, quickly learned to pick the lock and break into my office, and he is a not too uncommon sight for my coworkers in some of my meetings. One time he jumped up on my lap trying to tell me he needed breakfast while I was in a meeting talking to others. I tried to focus on the conversation until suddenly it ended—he found the power button to the computer and shut it off, telling me again that he needed breakfast. He had my attention then! Part of developing patience means to be able to put things in proper perspective—some things just aren’t that big of a deal and we need not stress ourselves over. At the end of the day his interruption in that meeting was not that important, but how he feels that I pay attention to him surely is. Many other small incidents in my extra time at home have likewise shown me that developing patience means letting go of the things that others do which might bother me—like that same son making a mess out of the waffles I was making last night because he insisted on doing it himself—but really aren’t crucial or important in the long run. I have certainly learned this past year that I need to show a lot more patience towards those I love in the small annoyances of family life and to focus on what really matters.

I know that these words of the Lord are surely for me: “Ye are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore, continue in patience until ye are perfected” (Doctrine and Covenants 67:13). I have a very long ways to go spiritually and the only way forward is to continue in patience, patience with those I love most and patience with myself. A similar invitation from the Lord reads this way: “And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life” (Doctrine and Covenants 101:38). The only way forward is to “overcome through patience,” and I hope that I can learn to better live with patience as I continue to seek the Lord each day (Doctrine and Covenants 63:66).