May 2016
Spring is here! The sun is shining and the newness of life is manifest all around us. The dreariness of winter is passing, the skies are turning from gray to blue and the dead ground is turning beautiful green. I love the gift of spring! I feel prompted to tell you about a gift I recently received, by sharing a personal experience with you.
Our most recent Stake Conference was wonderful! I had a sacred experience that showed me once again, how much Heavenly Father knows our hearts. I was diagnosed this last year with a voice disorder that has taken my ability to sing. This has been so frustrating and sad for me. I was just an average singer, but I so enjoyed singing the hymns and feeling that I was singing praise to my Heavenly Father and my Savior. Losing my ability to sing those praises has been a source of heartache for me. One of the hymns we sang at Stake Conference was Hymn 227 – There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today. I’ve sung it many times! That day, as I mouthed the words to the 2nd verse, I was overcome to the point of tears as the words sank into my heart – a message just for me:
There is music in my soul today, A carol to my King, And Jesus listening can hear The songs I cannot sing.
I had never thought of those words in that light before. I’m so grateful for a very personal message that has brought comfort to my heart and, though I still wish to sing, I know that He listens. He hears. He answers prayers – sometimes in the most unexpected ways!
Sisters, we all have ‘songs we cannot sing’. We all have stories that are hard to tell and heartaches that seem impossible to bear. We can make it through all things because of our Savior! Know that He does listen and He does hear! As with my experience, answers can come at the most unexpected times and from the most unexpected sources. Remember that He has graven thee upon the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16). He has said, “I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Joshua 1:5). May you each seek and recognize the blessings of sunshine in your life and when Jesus shows his smiling face, may you have sunshine in your soul!
Love,
Michelle - President
