A longing to do something really important

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Sunday Morning Session of the April 1987 Conference.

Elder David B. Haight's talk was about learning to love our neighbors, and learning to expand who we see as our "neighbors" in this world. But the specific context in which he talked about that was inviting more people to serve as couple missionaries. I have thought a lot about getting a chance to serve a mission with Sam someday, and I think I'm excited about it—though maybe more fear will set in as it gets closer to reality. But for now, that time seems very far away. This part of the talk, though, really spoke to me now:

Deep inside the human soul is a longing to be identified with and involved in something really important. There comes a time in our lives when we are spiritually prepared and ready to be lifted from comfortable and sometimes mundane activities and to make a major decision to respond to a call from our prophet that will ennoble our souls as well as bless others.

One of my favorite talks in this most recent conference was by Elder Terence M. Vinson, who talked about being fully committed to the gospel. He said:

I learned that when I played my hardest, when I gave my all, my enjoyment of the game was greatest.

When he said that, I started thinking about the most satisfying days I've had, and I realized that almost all of them have been days full of hard work or some kind of struggle. The amount or importance of the struggle can vary: the day we laid sod in our backyard—making a really delicious meal—various piano recitals—giving a lesson or carrying out a church activity I was in charge of—the labor and births of my babies. And they've often been days where I'm really relieved to have them over with! But Elder Vinson is right: there is great satisfaction in going to bed knowing "I gave my all" that day.

I've been trying to keep this in mind when I feel frustrated or overwhelmed with challenges: "I'm going to be grateful for this hard work someday!" Or as another conference talk said, "Hard is good!"

So, back to Elder Haight's quote above—I think my soul does feel this "deep longing" to be "involved in something really important." I don't always manage to overcome my natural fear and laziness to actually SEEK OUT those uncomfortable and hard situations. But I'm always (or…usually) happy to have been forced into them. And really, deep down, beneath the fear and laziness, I DO want them; I DO truly want to "ennoble [my] soul as well as bless others." I want to participate in God's work even when it's difficult.


Other posts in this series:

"God's greatest gift is to try again"—by Jan Tolman