Daily happiness

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the April 2000 Conference.

Wow! We are starting into a new decade of General Conference. Now we are firmly in "this feels like just yesterday" territory. The 2000's are recent enough that I remember some talks really clearly, especially the ones after I got married (but before I had children…ha ha). This session was the first one in the new Conference Center. President Hinckley talked about how the pulpit was made from his own walnut tree. I have always loved that. He also read a whole bunch of prophecies about the coming forth of the Conference Center! He said that "all of [these] have come to our attention since we began this construction." Isn't that interesting? You can read them in his talk here.

President Packer gave a sober warning about the times to come—our time, I am sure:

We live in troubled times—very troubled times. We hope, we pray, for better days. But that is not to be. The prophecies tell us that. We will not as a people, as families, or as individuals be exempt from the trials to come.

But then he gives these comforting words:

We need not live in fear of the future. We have every reason to rejoice and little reason to fear. If we follow the promptings of the Spirit, we will be safe, whatever the future holds. We will be shown what to do.…

I fear this supernal gift is being obscured by programs and activities and schedules and so many meetings. There are so many places to go, so many things to do in this noisy world. We can be too busy to pay attention to the promptings of the Spirit.…

But each of us has agency; ever and always light presides over darkness.

The priesthood is structured to ensure an unbroken line of authority to baptize and confer the Holy Ghost. Always nearby are leaders and teachers called and set apart to teach and to correct us. We can learn to sort out the promptings from the temptations and follow the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

It is a glorious time to live! No matter what trials await us, we can find the answer to that question, “What shall we do?” We, and those we love, will be guided and corrected and protected, and we will be comforted.

I think my favorite talk, though, was Sister Coleen K. Menlove's. She structured her talk much like one I remember from Elder Uchtdorf (but she thought of it first!) about how to reach our "Happily Ever After." I always like that subject because I love to think about the days to come, when all will be well and God's eternal promises have been realized in our lives. But I especially liked how she urged us to find trust and happiness in our experiences now. She told a cute story about her grandson riding in the back seat of the car, murmuring "I am such a lucky boy! I am such a lucky boy!" to himself over and over again. I often feel like I should constantly be saying that same thing. I have so many blessings in my life! So much goodness!

Sister Menlove says,

…The good news is that the gospel can make us very happy.

But, you may be thinking, even within the Church there are people who aren’t happy or people who are usually happy but who experience intermittent times of stress, worry, challenge, and discouragement. That, too, is part of the great plan of happiness. Mortality is a time of testing and trial, which means that there must be times when we feel pain and emotional discomfort. However, by patiently trusting in the eternal plan, we can experience daily happiness and have hope for “ever-after happiness.”

I love that distinction between daily happiness and the hope for "ever-after happiness"—and how the two are connected. I have realized since becoming a parent (and really, I knew it before that—just didn't feel it fully) that times of unbroken and unalloyed happiness are rare, but if I stop expecting those, stop thinking that only the unbroken times "count," I can find great happiness during even emotionally wrenching times. I think daily happiness—if you define that as "at least one moment of happiness each day"—is a pretty achievable goal! I can think of a few times in my life where even that felt out of reach, but most of the time, even serious heartache and worry can be interspersed with moments of laughter, lightening, or hope every day, if you look for them. It's one of the things I love about having a big family—even if one relationship or situation is difficult, there are lots of opportunities for other people to lift you away from those worries and fill your aching heart.

Sister Menlove also quotes Elder Richard G. Scott saying,

“Your joy in life depends upon your trust in Heavenly Father and His holy Son, your conviction that their plan of happiness truly can bring you joy.”

I am always trying to increase that very trust, to the degree that it will drive out many of my worries and fears! Because I do trust God's plan, and I do know it brings both kinds of joy.

The other day I was in the temple and got into a conversation with a sweet older Polynesian lady. When she learned that I have ten children, she gasped with happiness, and threw up her arms excitedly. "Ten!" she said. "Oh! The Lord loves you! The Lord loves you!"

She was so enthusiastic and spontaneous, I started crying right there, because I could just feel the truth of her words. Yes! I am so blessed! And He does love me! And I love Him!