GrOwInG pAiNs

Have you ever heard the phrase, "Grant me patience, Lord, but hurry?" 
It is one of those things we hear all the time and chuckle at because it's funny.

Well, it's time for me to admit something, I have been praying for patience for quite a while now. One thing I have learned more than ever is that Heavenly Father answers prayers. He rarely does it in the way we anticipate, but He always answers.

When I made the decision to pray for patience I did not anticipate developing an amazing capacity for patience overnight. I expected to be placed in some situations that I would have to try to be patient with. I knew that God loves me so much that He was willing to bless me with the opportunity to LEARN patience.

One thing I didn't anticipate was how hard it would be....

Yesterday we met as a district* to discuss our missionary work and learn about how we can be better and more focused on the Savior. One of the more experienced missionaries taught us about how true followers of Christ react in times of difficulty. He taught us about a great missionary from the Book of Mormon named Ammon.

Ammon was a missionary who left his country to go teach the gospel. When he got there he volunteered to be a servant for the king. There was a time when he was watching the sheep of the king with other servants and some enemies of the king came and scattered the flocks. Most of the servants of the king began to panic. Other servants had been killed for losing the flocks, so they began to fear for their lives. Ammon's reaction however, was this,

"Now when Ammon saw this his heart was swollen within him with joy; for, said he, I will show forth my power unto these my fellow-servants, or the power which is in me, in restoring these flocks unto the king, that I may win the hearts of these my fellow-servants, that I may lead them to believe in my words." Alma 17:29

Ammon was in a very hard situation, but rather than allowing himself to be overcome with debilitating fear, his heart was filled with joy, he was excited for his trial because he had faith that the Lord would help him get through it and he would come out a stronger disciple of Christ. The Elder who was teaching us asked us to consider if we were like Ammon when faced with a trial or if we were like the other servants.

So as I alluded to earlier, I have been faced with many opportunities to learn patience ever since I began praying for it. Some of these opportunities have been harder than others and I have bounced back and forth between reacting like Ammon and reacting like the other servants. One thing that I have learned through it all is that when I choose to react with gratitude rather than annoyance or fear I am blessed with a sense of peace that everything will work out.

*A small group of missionaries determined by geographic location.