“He rarely moves the mountains in front of us, but He always helps us to climb them.”
Just like for all of us, this pandemic has made all our lives numb and colorless. So, for that colorful change, we the YSA’s from Coimbatore 2nd branch along with the branch presidency planned for a trek and went for it. The trek was to Coonoor hills to a destination known as “The Lamb’s Rock”, which is one of the highest peaks in that area.
Right from the time of planning, throughout the entire process, there were lot of lessons learnt.
Firstly, for every plan to be executed the preparation part plays a major role. It requires time and effort. The destination which we were preparing for was just like God’s Plan for us. God gave us this Earthly life to get prepared with our time, will and effort to reach our destination of returning to our Father in heaven one day. This spiritual process of preparation is a lifelong process which can be done only by the guidance of the Holy spirit.
Secondly, the task was to gather everyone together at the day of the trek. Since trekking usually starts early mornings, we had difficulty in pulling everyone together and setting them up on time. This reminds me of the gathering of Israel, and I connect it to the quote by Neil L. Anderson in which he says, “The gathering of Israel is a miracle, and is like an enormous puzzle whose pieces will be set in place prior to the second coming.” We are all part of a puzzle in someone else’s life. We may never know where we fit. But the entire puzzle will not be complete without our part. So, it’s very important to bring every single person together to enjoy the complete picture at the end. As we took effort in pulling everyone together for the trek, we were able to enjoy every moment spent together there were lots of ups and downs, but we continuously heard a voice which kept saying, “the higher you climb, the better the view”. We all wanted to climb up the hill and experience the beautiful view which was waiting for us. We trusted that voice which kept giving the directions and guiding us throughout the trek until we reached our destination. That constant voice was the voice of our Branch President. President Renald made sure that all of us reached the destination safely and enjoyed the beauty of nature.
President Renald was just like Jesus Christ who made sure all his sheep were under one-fold and who never minded going miles to get back that one sheep that lost its way. Christ’s voice through our leaders and prophets guides us to be on the right path. If we are on the right path, it will always be uphill. The view which awaited us, amused us with its beauty and made us wonder about the creation of our Lord. Right from the creation till now, He has always loved us and has always been thoughtful of us. He knows when to give, where to give and how to give. I strongly believe it to be true. I know that He speaks to us and guides us through our prophets and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know that the gospel we have is the Liahona for these latter-days which guides us in the right path. Just like this trek, there may be lots of ups and downs in life. However, I know, just like the constant voice of our Branch President, we’ll have our constant companion the Holy Ghost and our leaders who will guide us throughout this mortal preparation time and help us return to our Eternal destination as sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father.