One decade

I was recently called as second counselor in my ward's Relief Society presidency.

For those who don't know, Relief Society is the women's organization, and a ward is the congregation that you meet with. Most of the organizations have a presidency, with a president, two counselors, and a secretary. There are different responsibilities with that. Mine includes connecting with the committee that plans activities for the Relief Society, the young women's organization, and missionaries. I am still getting up to speed.

Another thing is that for the lessons on Sunday, generally a presidency member gives one of the lessons each month, and we alternate. November was my first time, and that lesson is informing today's post. That is the main reason I mention it,  but if you want to feel impressed or surprised or confused, have at it. I was a little surprised.

Lessons are generally based on a conference talk. The one that had stuck with me the most was "Days Never to Be Forgotten" by Gary E. Stevenson. I ended up combining it with "In the Space of Not Many Years" by David A. Bednar.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/44stevenson?lang=eng   

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/10/35bednar?lang=eng 

Both of them are about the things that can happen over a short period of time. Sometimes that can be marvelous events and sometimes growing pride and wickedness.

In the case of Elder Stevenson's talk, he speaks of 1820 - 1830 and 2024 - 2034.

I will admit, my first thought was looking ahead ten years and thinking, is it going to be the Second Coming? If it is, how much can I get done by then? 

(Not long after, I started wondering if we even had four years left.)

I very quickly remembered that even if we were at the point where they were going to tell us, it would probably not be like that, but the thought remained. A lot can happen in ten years regardless. 

Things I remembered about that shifted my perspective, and that influenced the lesson.  

First of all, I remembered setting decades-long goals in three areas back when I was 40. My intent was that I didn't want my life to just be getting older and more decrepit; I wanted to be vibrant when I turned 50. 

I had done some writing and some traveling, and fitness was important, if not my strong suit. There were writing goals that were going to culminate in shooting my own movie when I was fifty, and I was going to hit Africa, Asia, and South America -- the continents I had not been to -- then plan a trip to Antarctica. Finally, at 50 I was also going to do a triathlon.

None of that happened.

My life fell apart in ways I could not have predicted. I still learned and grew a lot, and I am a very vibrant individual, though I don't always feel it. 

For the most part I don't regret how I have handled the events that have come up. It didn't look like I'd planned though; that's for sure.

Then I thought a little bit more about 1820 through 1830, or the ten years between the First Vision and the organization of the church.

(It may seem silly to explain Relief Society presidencies and not explain the First Vision, but the links to the talks will have other resources, you can always reach out if there are questions.)

Those are momentous events in those ten years, but there were very big things that happened after.

In addition, there were long gaps in between. 

It was four years between the First Vision and Moroni's first visit. 

I think that was good. Joseph was young and had time to grow, but having the First Vision before he had joined another church surely played an important role in his development. It kept him from being influenced by another church or being listed as a member of one, which surely would have come up.

Then, after Moroni's first visit it was another four years before Joseph actually got the gold plates and could begin translation. 

We know that time was also important for growth, so that he could have the right priorities. There was the temptation for money and other corruptible things. He needed that time to become the person who could handle the task he had ahead of him.

Then, partway through the translation the 116 pages were lost. 

He had grown and developed a lot; there was still some growth needed.

It was hard. Lucy Mack Smith said: 

“I well remember that day of darkness, both within and without. To us, at least, the heavens seemed clothed with blackness, and the earth shrouded with gloom. I have often said within myself, that if a continual punishment, as severe as that which we experienced on that occasion, were to be inflicted upon the most wicked characters who ever stood upon the footstool of the Almighty--if even their punishment were no greater than that, I should feel to pity their condition.”

There was a plan in place to make up for it, but that didn't mean it wasn't hard.

We can speculate upon the events of the next ten years. There will certainly be hard times. 

There can also be help and growth and love. There can be answers to prayers. There can be plans in place to help us even when we stumble.

We can still be vibrant, even if we won't always feel it.