Someone to share her load

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the General Women's Session of the April 2014 Conference.

I remember this conference! It was the first time they let eight-year-olds come to the women's session, and it was a "General Women's Meeting" instead of Relief Society or Young Women. I thought it was a great idea and was sad that Daisy wasn't quite old enough to go with me—"but," I thought, "there will be plenty of time for us to go together in the years ahead." I'm still sad that's not how it worked out. I miss the Women's Session, and the Priesthood Session too, for that matter. And the Saturday Evening Session too, now! *sigh* Actually…now I think of it, did I GO to this session? No, surely not. But my dear friend's mother, Bonnie Oscarson, was in the young women's presidency at this time, so I know I went to one of these!

From the talks, I particularly liked this quote from Sister Oscarson's talk "Oh, How We Need Each Other.":

Mary was a young woman when she was informed of her remarkable mission to be the mother of the Son of God. Initially it must have seemed to be a heavy responsibility to bear alone. It was the Lord Himself who provided Mary with someone to share her load. Through the message of the angel Gabriel, Mary was given the name of a trusted and sympathetic woman to whom she could turn for support—her cousin Elisabeth.

This young maiden and her cousin, who was “well stricken in years,” shared a common bond in their miraculous pregnancies, and I can only imagine how very important the three months they spent together were to both of them as they were able to talk together, empathize with each other, and support one another in their unique callings. What a wonderful model they are of feminine nurturing between generations.

"It was the Lord Himself who provided Mary with someone to share her load." I think that is so beautiful, maybe because I too have been the recipient of such a gift. It's hard to find true friends, close friends, as an adult. And, of course, that's okay. I have actually been surprised at how much "semi-close" friends—people with whom you connect with in some way, but maybe only over a specific thing, or for a specific time period like when you are in a calling together, or mostly on more surface-level topics—can still bless your life. Not everyone has to be a "best friend," and relationships can be valuable (I'm learning) on many levels. I'm sure the Lord could have, and did, provide Mary with lots of good neighbors and relatives who could help her with babies and give her marital advice and lend her cups of cornmeal. BUT! I just love it that He ALSO provided a specific person, a special person, a true friend to lighten and share her load—someone Mary may not have predicted. Someone she may not have even connected with very well before…but someone who knew her, understood her, and could comfort her in this specific circumstance, at this time when she needed support so much.

I don't know where Mary's mother was at this time. Maybe she had died earlier. And how did Mary find and decide to visit Elizabeth? How did she know this relative was the very person she needed? It would be so interesting to know more of that story, but ultimately it doesn't matter because

1. God knew the friendship Mary needed, and

2. He led her to it.

It's meaningful to me because God has done the same for me. I am blessed to have a happy marriage. Because of that, and for all the normal busy reasons we all have, I perhaps haven't worked as hard to seek female friendship as I should have. Maybe, having grown up with all brothers, I haven't known quite how to find it. But God has been so good. He has dropped sisters into my lap right when I need them. Through callings, through proximity, and even through far-off virtual connections, he has ensured I have love and support and comfort through sisterhood. He has let me see His hand working through my friends. These women aren't always in my ward Relief Society, they aren't always my assigned ministering sisters, but they are sisters in the gospel and I know that's just as God intended it. I love Him for wanting us to need each other, and I love Him for leading me to these dear friends I might not have found on my own. "Oh how we need each other!" It is so true!