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Segment 1
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After my husband's wife passed away, while at the funeral, a brother from the ward who just years earlier had also lost his wife from breast cancer, he quietly handed my husband a note, which he immediately put in his pocket. Well, days later, Jim read the note, and the only thing written on it were these words: "It gets better."
He thought, "Does it?" How can anyone be sure that it gets better when things at the moment are the farthest away from ever being better? Well, I have some good news, because the Lord used Isaiah chapters 40 through 49 to tell us that it gets better. And no matter how far away from better your life may feel, we can be sure that it does get better with Jesus Christ, and His promises are always sure.
Welcome to the Sunday on Monday Study Group, a Deseret Bookshelf Plus original, brought to you by LDS Living, where we take the Come, Follow Me lesson for the week and we really dig into the scriptures together. I'm your host, Tammy Uzelac Hall. Now, if you're new to our study group, follow the link in our description.
It's going to explain how you can best use this podcast to enhance your Come, Follow Me study, just like my longtime listening friend, Terri Saraine. Hello, Terri. I loved meeting you. From South Jordan, Utah. She's the best. Now, the awesome thing about our study group is each week we're joined by two of my friends, so it's always a little bit different each week.
And today we have two new guests. I'm so excited. They moved into my ward about two years ago, and they're probably regretting that decision. Welcome Kris and Chuck Derr. Hello, you two. Hey. Hello. Okay, how do you two know each other? Actually, how did you meet? That's probably a good story. Oh, that's, that is a good story.
Uh, do you want me to share that? Sure. So we actually met at a class at BYU, uh, American Heritage. And funny story, she, she walked in, I thought she was beautiful, and- Aw ... she sat right in front of me. And I had missed the previous class. I added it late. And so I thought, "Oh, what a great idea. I'll, I'll tap on her shoulder and get to know her by asking her for the previous note- week's notes."
And so- I did that, and, and immediately the girl next to me, on my right, handed me her notes. And so- ... kind of bypassed, uh, my, my attempt to get to know her. But I, I, I persevered, and we ended up, uh, having, um, a custard that night at, uh, Nielsen's Custard, and, and, uh, and the rest is history. So Well, that's awesome.
I... Look at that, BYU classes bringing people together. Yeah. One couple at a time. That's a classic class, though. Everyone who goes to BYU has to take that. Yeah. That's right. True. Maybe that's what happened. I didn't go to BYU at first. Hmm. I'm rethinking my decisions. Um, okay, how long have you two been married?
35 years. Wow. Do you have kids? We do. We have four kids, and now we have seven grandchildren. What? Yep. Very exciting. And then these two moved into my ward two years ago, and they had just returned from a mission. What mission did you guys get home from? We went to the Papeete Tahiti Mission. Wow. And it was amazing.
Did you plan for that, or was it just where they sent you? It's where they sent us. We, uh- Hmm ... we actually... You submit, when you submit for a mission, you have the opportunity to submit seven possible choices that you'd like to serve in, and Tahiti was one of them. But I had gone, I served a young mission in Geneva, Switzerland, and which now, now has become the Lyon, the France Lyon Mis- Mission.
And so, uh, that's where I kinda wanted to go. Yeah. But we- But- So we, we- The Lord sent us to Tahiti for me because- ... he knew the people would be would have patience and just love me. But it ended up being the most amazing experience. Um, and it was the right place for us. Oh, very cool. Well, I know that they're gonna share some stories from their mission, 'cause I asked them to actually.
I'm like, "Please weave in your stories." Because one of my favorite things about Kris is she is so outgoing, and she shares really cool insights at church that often come from her mission. And so I'm like, "I gotta get these two on. I think this is gonna be great." So here we go. You guys ready for this?
Ready as we'll ever be. I promise we'll be friends when we're done. Don't worry. Well, if you guys wanna know more about my guests and read their bios and see their pictures, make sure you check that out, which is in our show notes, and you can find those at ldsliving.com/sundayonmonday. So grab your scriptures and something to mark them with, and let's get into Isaiah chapters 40 through 49.
So let's start out first, the question I always ask, what did the Holy Ghost teach you as you guys were preparing for this discussion? Okay. Well- Isaiah is a bit daunting. Mm-hmm. I'm not gonna lie about that. Um, but I, I thought Isaiah 43:1-7 beautifully illustrated how the Lord feels about me. I am precious in His sight.
And I'll just read those seven verses. It says, "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the river, the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore I will give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring my seed from the east, and gather thee from the west.
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth; Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." The, and the Holy Ghost- Mm ... really just reaffirmed to me that I am pre- precious in His sight and that He has a perfect plan for me and for each of us.
Hi- and His plan is better than we can even comprehend. He wants us to succeed, and as we look to Him, remember Him, and turn our lives over to Him, He will help us and be with us every step of the way. Kris, I love the, how you personalize this. 'Cause if you go to the section heading at the beginning, it says, "To Israel the Lord says, 'I am your God.'"
I would encourage everyone to above the word Israel just put me. 'Cause I love, Kris, how you just did that. You took what was said to a nation, and you made it to yourself where the Lord's saying that you are precious in His sight. He's telling you to not fear. In verse seven is so good, that He created...
And for everyone who believes in His name was created for His glory. Like, how cool to think that Kris was created for His glory. But here's my thing that I love about this, is in verse one when He says, "I have called thee by thy name." Here's what I wanna know. When He sees you, what's He gonna call you?
What name will He call you? Why are you emotional?
I just can only imagine that day And I think he'll call me daughter Absolutely. Wow My daughter Kris, thank you. What a great summation of all of those verses, 'cause that is exactly how He feels about every one of us. Beautiful. Thanks. What about you, Chuck? Well, um, I think that, uh, I mean, it's, it's what Kris had mentioned I feel like is a, kind of an over- overarching thought, that, uh, that God loves us, and that He, He knows us and He cares about us.
But I, I wanna share another thought as well, and that is actually in Isaiah 42:9. It says, "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them." Also, in Isaiah 48:6, it says, "Thou hast heard, see all this; thou will not declare it? I have shewed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them."
I think that, uh, one thing that I learned while going through this lesson is that there are amazing miracles and experiences that we have all felt in the past. And I mean, I know that I gain strength from them when I think of them during times when I need comfort. But also, I think it's really important that we sometimes take a time to look for the new things that are happening, the small things that happen.
While we were serving on our mission, we attended district meeting every week with, with the young missionaries, and one thing that our mission president had encouraged us to do is to have... Before we started, you know, talking about any of the, the details of the meeting, we would go around the room and talk about the miracles for the week.
Mm. And it taught us to, to look for the small things that, the miracles that we see every day almost. And, and there wasn't a time when anyone said, "Well, I haven't had any," in the year and a half we were gone. Um- We just had to look harder. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes... And sometimes there were big things that happened.
There were big things. And- Mm-hmm ... yeah. But also small things ... some- sometimes it was looking really at the details and recognizing that they really are, He really is there. Yeah. We just have to look to find Him. Yeah. What a great reminder too, because it is the big miracles that we're like, "Oh, yeah, there's God," but sometimes we wait for the big ones.
And I love this reminder, Chuck, is that it's actually look for the small things 'cause He's there more often- Mm-hmm ... when you find the small things. The big things are wonderful, but it's the little tiny ones that you're like, "Oh, He was there all along, all along the way." I'm curious to know, Chuck, in your life, even since you've been home from your mission, is there a small thing that reminds you of him?
I would say that, uh... I mean, I think that for me, the, the miracle that I see all the time is just our, in our family, I mean, the changes that happen, the relationships that, that we, we work on, strengthen, have difficulty with, repair. Mm. To me, the small miracles in my life have to do a lot with my family, and, and I cherish them.
I mean, it, it, I think that that's what I've learned. One thing I've learned on my mission is to look for those, and to not- Yeah ... you know, to not overlook, to not say it's a coincidence. It's, uh- Mm. Mm-hmm ... but really there's things that are there that, that can really help us, and to help guide us, I guess, would be the best way to put it.
Um- Chuck, thank you for sharing that, because it's hitting home for me right now, especially this idea that it's not a coincidence. Because, uh, my daughter who's on a mission called me right before we started recording, and I, I talked to her about some things, and every question she asked me, I was like, "Oh, my goodness.
You know what? This is so crazy, but the podcast I'm about to record with the Derrs has so many answers." And I went straight to Isaiah 40 through 49, and I shared some scriptures with her, some of the quotes we're gonna use today. And I was like, I even said to her, "This is so crazy that you're asking me questions.
It's literally the thing I'm gonna talk about in less than a half an hour." And so you're right, it's not a coincidence. It's the small things that help our loved ones. So thanks for that reminder, Chuck. I just had a small moment today. Already in the morning, so that's cool. Wow, I love that the Spirit taught we- both of you those lessons, so thank you so much.
Okay, so that's what the Holy Ghost taught them. So in the next segment then, we're gonna dive into what the Holy Ghost wants to teach us, or what Isaiah specifically wanted to teach us, and more importantly, what the Lord wants to teach us, and he used Isaiah to do it. We'll do that next.
Segment 2
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So I have a question that I wanna ask both of you before we get into the scriptures. Here's my question: Will you list for me all the things that give you comfort? So when, you know, when I think of things that give me comfort, I, I would say, you know, uh, the obvious answer is family. But, but even, like, little things like, you know, one of the things that I love is to cuddle up with a loved one, my wife or, or the kids or the grandkids, and in front of a fire on a snowy night and watch a, an old Christmas movie.
I, I love the old Christmas movies- Oh ... like Wonderful Life or White Christmas and those types of things. Um, it's kind of a fun tradition for us, but you know, there's also the accountant in me. You know, for comfort also, uh, what gives me comfort, uh, as well is living, you know, living a life where our expenses don't exceed our, our income-
and we have a little bit of savings. That gives me comfort. Um, you know, obviously my favorite meal. I wanna know, what is it? Well, one of my favorite meals right now, it's a French meal that we revisited on our mission, it's called raclette. And it's a cheese dish where, uh- Oh, I know raclette. Oh, you do? Okay.
So, yeah. Um, it- it's cooking Explain it to our listeners ... so there's a m- there's a, an oven that you have, and you put a slice of raclette cheese, 'cause it's very, it, it melts very easily. And, and you put it in an oven. It's, it's a social meal. And you prepare meats and vegetables and, and things that you'll put on your plate, and then you drizzle this cheese over the top and, and eat it.
And I think it- Mm-hmm ... it started, it was a Swiss meal first, or Swiss origin, but the French adopted it very much as well. And it's just a fun, it's a fun social meal, and very good. Very good. Chuck, that is so awesome because we'll talk about this another time, all of us, with my husband, but our favorite meal...
We were in Switzerland in May. Oh. And we'd never been there before, and he got a raclette cheeseburger. And they melted the raclette cheese first, cut the cheeseburger in half, and plopped it on top of that raclette. Raclette cheeseburger, heart attack in a pot. I mean, it was so divine. So oh, I know raclette, Chuck.
That, that brings comfort for sure. Okay, what about you, Kris? Oh, that's funny. Well, thinking about the things that give me comfort Just like the comforts of home, my family, routine, surprisingly, the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon. Um, but I don't know. Even more than, than these are things like eternal perspective, good and uplifting music, listening to the words of prophets and apostles, going to the temple, gospel conversation, believing in God and His plan for me and my family, and prayer.
So... No frivolous things? Like a raclette cheeseburger? Come on, Kris. Um. You can see why, Mary. I don't know. I do like to shop, so, you know- Oh, hey ... the, the accountant in him keeps me- Mm-hmm ... in check there. I love it. I love it. And I love vacation with my family, so. Oh, vacation. I'm writing all these answers down, 'cause we're gonna use them.
Okay. This is perfect, because as we've talked about what brings you comfort, it's important to our Heavenly Father that we experience comfort. And sometimes we like to think it's not. Like, oh, are we getting too comfortable? But let's turn to Isaiah 40:1, and all we're gonna do is mark the word comfort. So turn there, Isaiah 40:1.
And we just wanna focus on these two very... Sorry, the very first four words of this verse. So Chuck, will you read chapter 40, verse 1? "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God." Now let's highlight that. Highlight comfort ye, comfort ye. So one of the most important things about this verse, you want to know this, is the reason why it's twice, comfort ye, comfort ye.
This is a Hebrewism, and the reason why the Lord has Isaiah saying, "Comfort ye, comfort ye," twice is to give intensity or emphasis to it. Like, that's how important this message is. Now, the reason why he's saying to the people to comfort ye is because in Isaiah, up to this point, Isaiah has been warning the people about how they're going to be taken into captivity, and they better be worried, and it's gonna be scary.
And if they don't repent, all of these terrible things are gonna happen. And then all of a sudden we get to Isaiah 40, and Isaiah changes his tone because now he's like, "Listen, I've been warning you, warning you, and now I'm gonna comfort you." Mm-hmm. And mind you, the comfort, it won't even come for 150 more years.
That's the interesting thing, is the people are probably hearing like there will be comfort in Isaiah, and the Lord knows, well, not yet. But just know that the Lord is saying, "I want you to have comfort. I want you to have comfort, and here's all of the ways that you're going to experience that." So we have this scene right here where this vision is laid.
It's in Babylon. It's near the time or the close of the captivity. And so the topic or the main subject of Isaiah 40 on is this consolation, and it's stated right here in this verse: I want you to experience comfort. So just everybody, can we just take a breath, like in through your nose. It's my favorite thing to do.
Big breath in through your nose, out through your mouth, put your hand on your heart, and just know that the Lord wants you to feel comfort. And so for the rest of these chapters we're gonna discuss today is some of the ways that the Lord's telling us, "Here's how I'll let you experience this comfort," or, "Here's how things are going to get better."
We're gonna end, our last segment will be with the words, the Lord's classic it gets better phrase, which I think is so awesome in Isaiah. But it really does, and I think that's what Isaiah is trying to tell these people. Listen, what you're about to experience or going through right now is really, really hard, but it does get better, and the Lord wants you to experience comfort.
He wants you to experience cuddles. He wants you to experience raclette cheese, being in the temple, music, eternal... I love shopping, going on vacation. It's a message of comfort. So here's what I want to know from you, Kris and Chuck, is knowing that here's Isaiah warning the people about how hard life's gonna be if they don't repent, and now he's like, "But you know what?
There is comfort." Tell me what that message teaches you about our Lord. So what, what it teaches me is that He, He loves me unconditionally. He, if I make mistakes, it doesn't mean that He abandons me. He, He is still there for me. And, and just like, you know, the Israelites, they had made those... He, He was, He was trying to warn them.
They, they still made those mistakes. They went into captivity to the Babylonians, yet He still, you know, gave them this, this prophecy from Isaiah to help them to feel- Mm-hmm ... more comfort, and to know that, or, or I guess to, to testify to them that, that, that things will get better. That, uh- Mm-hmm ... that, that He will, He will protect them, He will help them, um, get out of captivity.
Well, it also- Pre-answered ... makes me think the Lord wants us to have joy in our journey, and that we accepted the plan in coming down here to Earth and to mortality into a fallen world, and that there are things in life that are going to be hard. And- Mm-hmm ... and yet we read all through the scriptures about the Lord and His comfort, and particularly in, in Isaiah, and that we can still, as we turn to Him, find peace and comfort even going through the hard things.
Just like we learn in, I think it's in 2 Nephi- Mm-hmm ... where He, He lifted, He lightened the burdens. And I truly believe that as we Control what we can control and turn to him for the things that we can't control, that he blesses us. I, I can testify that he blesses us with that peace and comfort becau- immediately.
He doesn't take it away necessarily, the pains or the trials away, but he provides that comfort as we turn to him, as we are serving others, as we are doing, turning to him, so. Yeah. Oh, I like that so much because here's his message where he's saying, "Comfort ye. Comfort ye." You had to know that maybe not everybody was bad, but maybe there were some people who were really trying to be good, but because the majority of the people were making poor choices, I wonder if these people are like, "We didn't choose this, and we're being taken into captivity.
This is really hard." And the Lord's like, "Comfort ye. I promise it's gonna work out. I know it doesn't seem like it could." Like, I think there are so many people in situations right now, whether that be self-inflicted or even family choices of people that we love, and the Lord's trying to say to us, "Take comfort."
Like, in fact, we're gonna get into some scriptures later where the Lord's like, "It's just a drop in the bucket. Like, stop stressing out. All right? I got you. I'm way bigger than you, so stop trying to manage everything, 'cause I'm the best manager there is. So chill out." I think that's my, that's my message right there.
"Comfort ye. Comfort ye," is for me, it's the Lord's way of saying, "You gotta chill out, 'cause I got this." And so I love how both of you started this because this "comfort ye, comfort ye" is a reminder that, "Hey, listen, along the way, I'm gonna give you some small things that will offer you comfort," like Chuck taught us.
"And along the way, I'm gonna remind you that you're my daughter, and that's the most comforting thing there is. Like, I've got you, and it's gonna be okay." And so thank you for both of your answers. I think those were just perfect. So let's dive into this message of comfort, and in the next segment, we're gonna see about a specific word that's going to help a lot of people and what role we play with that word.
We'll do that next.
Segment 3
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Let's turn to Isaiah chapter 41. And Kristine, will you just read the section heading of this? "To Israel the Lord says, 'Ye are my servants. I will preserve you. Idols are nothing. One shall bring good tidings to Jerusalem.'" Okay, let's highlight the very beginning. "To Israel the Lord says, 'Ye are my servants.'"
Just highlight that. Now again, I love how Kristine has done this at the very beginning because we're gonna apply it to ourselves. So while it is speaking to Israel, He's also speaking to us. So put us above Israel. "To us the Lord says, 'Ye are my servants.'" So He's speaking to every one of us. Now what you wanna note is throughout Isaiah chapters 40 through 49, the Lord often speaks of His servant.
He also uses the word witness. So many times He calls us His servant or His witness. Now these two words, servant or witness, can refer to Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 42:1 through 7, go there and mark to the outside these verses are Jesus Christ. So it says at the beginning, "Behold my servant." We're talking about the Savior right there.
So I just put Christ above the word servant. He's also speaking to the house of Israel. Turn to Isaiah chapter 45 and look at verse four. And verse four says, "For Jacob, my servant's sake," so, "and Israel, mine elect." So above servant you can put Israel or us. That's who He's speaking to right there And then he's also can use the word servant or witness for a man by the name of King Cyrus.
And King Cyrus is who allowed the Jewish people to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. And King Cyrus is in 45:1-4, as well as more importantly, 44. Let's turn to Isaiah 44, and I just want you to mark verses 26 through 28 And as you do, you'll see right there, "That confirmeth the word of his servant," and his servant right there is King Cyrus.
So you can just put King Cyrus, mark that in your scriptures. Okay, so I want us to get this in idea in our brains that the Lord needs us to be a servant and a witness. Again, this is the incredible small thing, Chuck. I love it so much because my daughter on her mission, I had to turn here and read this to her.
I'm like, "Oh, look, there's a really cool thing that the Lord calls you his servant." And so what I read to her was in chapter 43, look at verse 10. And so I read this to her. I'm like... 'Cause she was stressing out, and I said, "Look what the Lord says to you. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen, that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he.
Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me." So I asked Chuck and Kris to come day today prepared to share with me how they were witnesses or servants of the Lord in Tahiti, and what that was like to be his witness and his servant. Because one of the things that the servant does, and we read that in the section heading of 41, is they declare good tidings.
What was it like declaring good tidings in Tahiti? I mean, if I could say anything to seniors, it would be do it. Mm. Just go. It, it was the most incredible experience in my life. Were you nervous to do it at first? Yes and no. I mean, I don't I don't think, I, I maybe don't weigh the gravity of it or really know what you're getting into when you say, when you say yes.
But just the whole process of deciding to do it felt so right, and looking at it like an adventure. I mean, just seeing in the past how the Lord worked in, in my life, I knew that it would be fine. Mm-hmm. So I knew that I wanted to share the message of Jesus Christ because it's amazing, and you wanna share that with everyone that you know.
But can I share maybe like a, a small miracle- Yes, please ... that, that happened right at the beginning of our mission that we, we actually, we, we... what we thought as we looked at the different categories of being a missionary, whether it was, you know, in the office or self-reliance or humanitarian, there was one that was called member and leader support.
And we thought this would really give us an opportunity to work with the people. And, and so we chose that for that reason. And when we first got out, we, we heard in the MTC, "Oh, this is an ambiguous one. You're gonna, you have to really kind of figure out what you're going to do." And it, and they're right.
We, we arrived and it was, you know, there is no, you know, fr- kind of a funny story is that our mission president said, "Do what the people did before you." Well, they taught music in a ch- in a church, in, in a chapel with, you know, with three wards, and w- we're not musical. So a little stretch. And so, so what we did is we immediately went to the young missionaries and we said, "If you need help, let us help you.
Let us go on appointments with you." And there just happened to be a, a difficulty between some compa- a companionship in our district. And so we were able to really help out, but we, for, for our benefit, we, we went on 10 lessons a week. Yeah. And we were out teaching the gospel. And can I just say to you, um- And 'cause I kinda went back in young mission mode, you know?
I wanted to go out- Yeah ... and gospel, and it was awesome. But my wife, who, who really she only had two weeks of training in French, and everything's in French in Tahiti. I was amazed at how she was able to connect with people without even speaking the language. She would ha- she would bear testimony. Every, all the young missionaries, to their credit, they would always allow us to bear testimony and, and, and participate in the lessons.
And for me, I just kinda went back into young mission mode, but for, for Kris, it was, it was just, you know, bearing testimony and in broken French, and they were just engaged, and the Spirit was so strong. I remember one time we were, we were teaching this, uh, this young girl who was preparing for baptism, and, and she and Kris just connected like I couldn't believe.
And they were both in tears. I think all of us were just kind of in awe. And she was baptized. They became very close friends. I just wanted to share that you were talking about how it was an amazing experience, but it was, it was y- it was kinda, you were saying it was maybe something that might be difficult.
Mm-hmm. The difficulties are there. The problems are there. But the Lord makes up the difference, and we, we saw that so much, especially at the beginning, as we were, we were getting acclimated, you know, to our mission. And he truly helped guide us. We, we were guided to a ward that has now become so important to our, us and our lives.
We're trying to go back every year, and we go and spend time in our ward. We have friends that come and stay with us here in the United S- in the United States, and it's just we created lifelong friends through this experience. Sorry, sorry. No. Continue. No, that's okay. No, I- Great ... I honestly thought that the Lord was gonna bless me with the gift of tongues But what I realized is he just needed me to be quiet.
Because he was able to... Because we were there, he was able to share his love just through the Spirit. I didn't really have to say anything, just being present. And loving. And loving. Mm-hmm. And the Spirit was able to convey the message that he had for them through, through us just being there, and that is truly a miracle.
And it was so amazing. And when you talk about the, the good tidings, I mean, we just put ourselves out there, and we did whatever we were asked to do, whether it was apartment inspections for the missionaries or doing a Pathways group and teaching institute. We drove the missionaries to, to the temple, to the grocery store.
We, we went to the beach. We met people at the beach and talked to them about the gospel. We met people at the grocery store, and they'd come up to us, and there's something magical about the badge, and just- Mm-hmm ... like a magnet, and people just are drawn to you, and you are able to, to just share these good tidings of Jesus Christ.
And, and it is, it's just an experience that everybody should just take that leaf of- leap of faith, so, and do it because it will change your life I, I love so much this connection with the Isaiah's chapters because here he is saying, "Comfort ye, comfort ye, my people." Like, "I'm gonna give you comfort." And then you would expect it to be in a certain way.
Like, "Well, here's how I experience comfort." And he's like, "I'm gonna give you witnesses, which are gonna be Jesus Christ and King Cyrus and prophets, but I'm gonna make you witnesses." Isn't that interesting that the comfort you received was by your action? It's, it's like, "Comfort ye, comfort me." I would never experience that to be a verb on my end by me going out and being a missionary.
But just the stories you shared today were so cool because you experienced... Not only did you experience comfort by being a witness yourself, but you offered comfort to people, um, for the missionaries that were out there and people joining the church. What a cool testimony of the power of being a witness of Jesus Christ, the comfort you give, the comfort you receive.
You know, can I share one more experience? Please, Chuck. Uh, when, as, as you talked about comfort and, and we had talked earlier about how, you know, it doesn't mean that he takes away our problems. Right. We had the opportunity to teach a member of a war- our ward who, who had been excommunicated and had left the church for 20 years.
Hmm. And had decided to come, or at least had, had shown interest, and so our bishop said, "Would you please go, you know, go out and meet with these, with this couple?" So we went out, and we became fast friends. He's very similar to my age, and, um, and we just, we just connected so quickly. And come to find out that, okay, he was changing his life, um, to, to come back to church and to, to, to, to get re-baptized.
And he developed, as he was going through this pro- or may- maybe it was partly because of this, but also he, he had developed lung cancer. And it wasn't showing at all, but he knew it was there. And we had so many opportunities to meet with him. We traveled with them on our, our P-weeks we called them, where we were able to go and see the islands of Tahiti.
That's a benefit of, of senior couples. That's so cool. But we, we had, we had an opportunity to talk with him, and he wanted so badly to f- to be able to be healed, to overcome this, because he was reconciling with his family. So many good things were happening while this really bad thing was happening. And he, uh, yeah, he tried and tried, and we prayed and prayed, and we fasted and do whatever we could.
We... Blessings were given. He was re-baptized, and it, it never, it never stopped. Um, in fact, we just heard from, from his wife that he is now in hospice and, um, uh, you know, will be, his life will be ending soon. And, and, you know, I, I think about these things sometimes, you know, is... 'cause we all go through this, where it doesn't mean that these difficulties, trials and tribulations will be removed.
But he was able to, to change his heart and, and to gain, I believe, comfort. He's ready. He's ready to take his next step in li- in, in his journey. And, you know, just, just for an example, while we were good friends with them, we had someone who was coming to visit us bring, um, a, a, a statue of the Salt Lake Temple because we had talked about them coming out next year for the temple open house and with his whole family, and that we would be able to spend time together with them and hopefully even have them stay with us.
And, and so we gave them this little statue, just a statue, and, and we didn't expect the reaction that, that happened. He, he opened up the box, and he saw the temple, and he just wept. Mm. And, um, and, you know, it, to me it was like I, I just recognized that, that he had changed completely and that, uh, his heart had been turned toward those things that were most important, his family and his faith.
And I know that he will be... He has been comforted through this trial that he could not overcome and, um, and has accepted God's will. And I think that one of the most important things that we can learn through trials and tribulations is to align ourselves with God's will. I heard a quote one time, uh, it was actually at MTC, um Uh, fireside where it was someone who's close to President Oaks, uh, when he was an elder.
He was Elder Oaks, and he taught that concept that, you know, 'cause she was trying to pray for a healing, something, you know, healing and, and 'cause it was someone close, and he, and he taught, "No, it, it's more important for us to align ourselves with God's will." And when I heard that- Mm ... that kind of... It resonated with me, and it, it, it, it, uh, it helped me to know what to say to him as he was going through these struggles, so.
Wow. Yeah. Chuck, I'm so, I'm so sorry for both of you for the loss you're going to experience with this friend. But thank you for sharing that story because it's a perfect example, again, in finding comfort in that word witness, whether it be our witness, the witness of people we love, but ultimately the witness of Jesus Christ, h- the servant of servants.
So thank you for testifying the truthfulness of that concept that Isaiah's trying to teach. So right here we have so far comfort ye, comfort ye. You'll find comfort in witnesses and in servants, and in the next segment, we're gonna discuss another form of comfort that God wants us to lean into. We'll do that next
Segment 4
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So throughout Isaiah chapter 40 through 49, there's another form of comfort that the Lord wants us to lean into. And Chuck, quiz, here we go. I s- I gave you guys several verses to read. What would you say is the main thing that God wants us to lean into when it comes to comfort? I think that, uh, um, as, as we, as we read over these verses that it talks a lot about God's power- Ooh
and how He can, how His power can help us to receive hope and faith and comfort. And, um, yeah, that, that's kind of how the, kind of how I saw that. You get an A. That is absolutely correct. Nice job. In fact, this goes back to the verse that I shared that I shared with my daughter in Isaiah 40:15. I love it because he just says, "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing."
And when you read that you're kinda like, "Huh?" But then I explained to her when I read it, um, I took where she's serving right now and I said, "It may seem like a big country, but the Lord's trying to tell you it's, it's nothing. Like, 'I got this. It's a drop in the bucket to me. I am in all control. I have all power.'"
And then verse 17, "All the nations before him are as nothing; they are counted to him less than nothing." And that doesn't mean He doesn't care about them. He's just trying to say like, "Listen, you little missionary who's trying to be a, the best witness and the best servant you can be, I'm in control. So your little country is a drop in the bucket.
It's gonna be fine. Just breathe . Like, I have all power. If I wanted to change everybody's hearts tomorrow, I could, but I choose not to because I need you. This is where the rubber hits the road. I need you to learn about me." That's what this is about. That's why He's saying it's a drop in the bucket. So that to me is just how powerful God is.
He's in control. Of the verses we... and for those of you who are listening, if you go to our show notes, 'cause I have a, a bunch of verses listed that teach about this power, and I gave this list to Chuck and Kris. Is there one specific verse or verses that stood out to you? And I'd love to know if you have a story from your mission about God's power.
Yes. And I will answer that. Um- Okay ... I would just add to what you were talking about, it really goes back to the Lord ministers one by one, and we saw that time and time and time again on our mission. That we were there as His servants, the young missionaries are there as His servants, and as people are in their j- journey, that He meets them where they are and when they are prepared to receive His message.
And that really is all that we need to worry about. Yep. We're there, we're willing, we're serving. And it doesn't matter whether we're on a mission or whether we're home from our mission. It's wherever we are, whatever we're doing, we're serving, we're being witnesses, and He ministers one by one. And so He will He will conquer nations.
Mm-hmm. He will bring Israel together. We are gathering Israel right now one by one, and our perspective is so limited that we just can't see how perfect of a plan that is. And to maybe just focus on what we can do rather than- Mm ... the whole big, you know. Yeah. Just that one bite of steak at a time, you know?
Absolutely. I love that. So anyway, but okay, the scripture that I liked, um, that fit perfectly with- A story from our mission of a friend is in Isaiah 40:28 to 31, and it says, "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."
And we had the privilege of meeting a sister On our mission we happened to be at the right place at the right time, and we had been introduced to her, uh- Call a miracle. Yeah ... at church. But then we were sitting at state conference, and we were waiting for the sisters to show up, and as we were sitting there, we could see this sister walk up, and she was looking for the sister missionaries, and the sister missionaries weren't there yet.
And so we recognized her, and I ran out and it's funny because she's from Spain, so her native language is, is Spanish. I'm from Utah. My native language is English. And, you know, we hadn't been there that long, so, you know, I'm trying to speak in broken French. She's trying to speak in broken French. And anyway, we invite, I invited her to come in and sit with us.
And anyway, we just... The Spirit was able to work through both of us, and we just felt this instant connection. So then the sister missionaries invited us over to her house as they were doing the, the discussions with her, and she invited us all for lunch and fed us lunch. The sisters gave her a, a message, and then they left, and then we were there for, like, two or three hours just, just getting to know her.
And come to find out, the way that she found the church was she was in LA getting in vitro, and the clinic that she was visiting was right by the, the LA temple. And she would walk by there every day, and she could see the Angel Moroni up there, and she just felt this peace in the building, um, as she walked.
And when she came home, she told her husband about it, and he was like, "Oh, I've seen that building here." And so- In Tahiti. Yeah ... in Tahiti. Yeah. And so they went to the temple grounds, and she found the missionaries and said, "I wanna be baptized," and they just kind of looked at each other like, "Yeah, sure," you know?
Yeah, yeah. And they get her number, and anyway, they lost her number So- Well, the work goes on in spite of us ... yeah, that, that's right. Totally. That's right. But then she happened to be at the grocery store and saw all the missionaries. It was on a P day, saw all these missionaries in the grocery store and, and went up to them and said, "I wanna be baptized."
And anyway, they got her number. They contacted the sister missionaries where she was and got, got her set up with the sister missionaries. But anyway, while we were visiting with her that day, we, she, she talked to us about her struggles with, with infertility. And we have a daughter who has struggled with the same thing, and it just, we had this instant connection, this instant compassion, empathy that we could feel for her because we know how hard that is and how difficult it, that is.
And, and we just watched her struggle with that and, um, so many things happened, um She went to Barcelona to- She was baptized ... sh- she was baptized, and, and she ... Then she left shortly after there to go have, have treatments in Barcelona. And while she was there, she was really struggling. She hadn't had the follow-up discussions with the missionaries, and, you know, she was a native Spanish speaker.
She was a, an ... And she was taught in French. And oh, I forgot, the, um ... While we were there in Tahiti before she was baptized, we were trying to get her a Book of Mormon. The sisters were trying to get her a Book of Mormon in Spanish that she could read, and we thought we could order one through, through distribution, but we, we didn't.
Well, it just so happened that, miracle, our friends were coming from Utah to visit us. And guess what? They had a daughter who served a mission in Puerto Rico. Oh, wow. And she was able to write her testimony in Spanish in the Book of Mormon and bring it, and we were able to give it to Maria. And so she was able to have that.
And, and then she went to Barcelona, and sh- her husband had come back to Tahiti to work, and she was there all alone, and she was really struggling. And I was like, "Okay, you need to find the church, you know, you need to get a blessing and find the missionaries." And anyway, so I reached out through the church's app to, you know
I Googled where she was staying, and then I messaged the bishop, and right after I messaged the bishop, a thought came to my mind. The Spirit told me, "You know a missionary that is serving in that mission." And sure enough, we did. And so I reached out- Wow ... to his mother and said, "How do I- He's from Draper, yeah.
He was from Draper. "How do I contact your son on his mission?" And she said, "Messenger," and so I reached out to him, explained the situation, that she was there, and she was all alone. She needed a, a priesthood blessing. Could he, you know, help get her to church and, and get her a blessing? And he sent the missio- sister missionaries right over to her.
They were able to meet with her and get her to church and do ... Get her a blessing, do some follow-up discussions. Well, while she was at church- All in her native language ... all in her native lang- Wow ... Spanish. Wow. So, so there's another miracle While she's at church, a couple that had come to Tahiti to visit, whose son served in Tahiti, introduced themself to her.
Guess who they were? The mission presidents of the mission there. Wow. They were able to have her in the mission home. She helped cook the missionaries' Thanksgiving dinner. Hmm. I mean, just made her feel at home. And here she had this connection with the mission president and his wife, who spoke Spanish, and just so many miracles.
And while she is still struggling with infertil- infertility There's just a constant reminder of the s- of the many, many miracles that she has seen and continues to see day after day of the Lord's power, of His- Mm-hmm ... influence, of Him and these tender mercies that He sees her and He knows her and He loves her.
And it's just It's just amazing. Wow. Okay, so let's, let's do this then. I want you to go back and read that scripture because this is so cool. I had no idea you were gonna share that. And I kept waiting for you to say, "And then she got pregnant," right? But I love because it's been the theme of this whole discussion is you guys are like, He doesn't take away the heartache or the sorrow, but He comforts you through it.
And so one of the things I love about these verses you chose, and we didn't even discuss this. I want you to go back and read 28 through 31. But this time I'm gonna have you replace a word because the word fainteth or faint comes up often. And in the Hebrew translation, the word actually means exhausted.
So will you go back through now and read those verses and replace the word faint or fainteth with exhausted or be not exhausted or whatever it is. How- So just, yeah, read that and replace th- that word. Okay. "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, be not exhausted, neither is He exhausted.
There is no searching of His understanding. He giveth power to those who are exhausted and to them that have no might, He increases strength. Even the youths shall be exhausted and shall be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount, mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary and walk and not be exha- exhausted." How does that change for us today to hear the word exhausted versus faint? I think it's so true. Sometimes don't we just feel so tired? Yes. Right. Y- you know what I do, is that they talk about, you know, wait. You know, we, we sometimes think of wait as being patient.
But, but then he talks about you'll run and not be weary and walk and not faint. So He wants us to not wait, but to be actively waiting. I mean, he- Yeah ... he has to wait, uh, they, the Israelites had to wait- Mm-hmm ... this, you know, this, um, uh, you s- someone to save them. But they, He, He's telling them, "You still need to work.
You still need to ... You know, you're just not being patient, you're actually being active." Yeah. Yeah. I, I love that connection, Chuck, because in this it seems like fainting to me seems like such an old-school thing like they did back in the Victorian era. Like, "I'm gonna faint. I need smelling salts," or whatever.
But everyone's exhausted, right? We get that word. And here, your sweet friend Maria, she had to have been exhausted with all that she'd been going through, and now she's in a new place, exhausted. And the Lord's like, "Let me give you some," like you said at the very beginning, Chuck, "Let me give you this little small things along the way."
That are gonna help you get through this exhaustion. But then even more so, Chuck, this idea, you just have to wait. You just have to wait, and you'll have your strength renewed. I know you're so tired. I know it, but comfort ye. Comfort ye. I will give you comfort, not even in the way you can imagine, but I'm gonna send you witnesses.
I'm gonna send you servants. I mean, look at your story, you two. It is a testament to everything we've discussed so far. That's amazing. You didn't even know we were gonna do this. Oh, my goodness. God is so good. So good, and we talk about that with Maria all the time. God is so good. Yeah. Yeah, His power helps the exhausted, and who isn't exhausted?
Every single one of us. So thank you for sharing that story. We love Maria. That is so ... And I love how you said at the end, "He sees her." What a great reminder to every single one of us. He sees you. And I wanna know from both of you, and Chuck, s- specifically you, this idea where they shall mount up with eagle- with, with the wings of eagles.
Like, what imagery does that invoke in your brain, to mount up with the wings of eagles? I mean, to me, the, the eagle is the most powerful bird. It, it just, again, it's just being able to ... I mean, the imagery's incredible, but it's strength. It's, it's giving strength, um, and power, His power. I mean, that's how I s- that's how I see that.
Absolutely, and so we'll end with that because the thing Isaiah and the Lord wants us to know is there's comfort in all these things, but now He's saying, "And there's comfort in His power." So I encourage everybody listening to go to the show notes and read all those verses of power and find a verse that works for you in your life or somebody that you know because He absolutely will f- with His power, He will comfort us.
And your story of Maria and both of your experiences have perfectly testified of that. So thank you so much. So in the next segment, we are gonna discover another form of comfort in Isaiah chapter 49. We'll do that next
Segment 5
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Here's my question for you guys. Is there a song that brings you comfort? I did. I, I changed it, but I, I did. It can be a non-church song too, if it's something that Toto- Yeah, that's kind of how I thought about it. Oh, great. I thought of a church song first, and then I thought, you know, I really... Again, it goes back to that Christmas.
I love Christmas. And, and so- Mm-hmm ... I love the Christmas songs and hymns. And, you know, one that really touches my heart the most is Angels We Have Heard on High, and I don't even know why. It's not like, you know, a very soft song, but it just... it really brings me peace. Um, and it's one of my favorite songs during Christmas, but...
Great answer. Okay. Angels We Have Heard on High. What about you, Kris? Okay. Well, I'll just say that most people that are close to me know that I, I love, love, love Christian rock . So- Right on. Very cool. I, I love the upbeat praise and the testimony of Jesus Christ that's sung through the words, and the listening to it has brought me so much peace and comfort and understanding and even perspective.
And, um, it's just brought a greater joy to my, to my life. And- Mm-hmm ... I wouldn't have found it if I wouldn't have gone through some of the trials that I've experienced. And sometimes some of the church songs Add to that pain. I don't know. I- Mm-hmm ... I don't know how to say that in the right way without maybe being offensive.
But, but maybe, uh, my heart just was so tender and so wounded that it just ... I had to look at from maybe those who, who weren't living the gospel perfectly, but had found Jesus Christ. Yeah. And that brought peace to me. Mm-hmm. And there, there's one song that I just loved, and it's called ... It, it's not one of the upbeat ones.
It's one of those that, like, you know, You're an Awesome God. But it's like- Yeah, yeah ... it's more about the words. And it's called Blessings. And just, it ... I, I'll just read a few of the words. It says, "We pray for blessings. We pray for peace. Comfort for family, protection while we sleep. We pray for healing, for prosperity, we pray for your mighty hand to ease our suffering.
But all the while, you hear each spoken need, yet love is way too much to give us lesser things. What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near? What if the trials of this life are your mercies in disguise?
We pray for wisdom, your voice to hear. We cry in anger when we cannot feel you near. We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love, as if every promise from your Word is not enough. What if your blessings come through raindrops? What if your healing comes through tears? What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know you're near?
What if my greatest disappointments or the achings of this life is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy? What if the trials of this life, the rain, the storms, the hardest night- nights, are your mercies in disguise?" And I just- Wow ... find so much perspective, and frankly, so much comfort in that, knowing that the hard trials, they really refine me, and they make me
They help me to see the Lord and His power and His mercy, and the things, the person that He wants me to become. Mm-hmm. And it, it's through those hard things- Yeah ... that we become better, that we see Him, that we know that He sees us. And I just, I don't- Wow ... of that. Who sings that? We need to know. Her name is Laura Story.
Well, I'm gonna go listen to that today. I'm so glad you shared that. And both of you, your perspective in finding comfort through music. But Kris, I love how you just said how you, you gain so much through the difficult times in your life, through the hard things that you go through. Because in Isaiah chapter 49, there is a song, and I'm gonna have us bracket off these verses.
So let's go into 49, and I want you to bracket off verses one through six. And this is called the Servant's Song, and it's Jesus' song to us. Those are what those verses are, the Servant's Song. The servant is-- And so right here it's, "Messiah will be a light to the Gentiles." So He's singing this song. It's Jesus' song to all of us.
And then He tells us to sing in verse 13, "Sing, O heavens, and be joyful, O earth and break forth into singing. O mountains of the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy on His afflicted. But Zion said, 'The Lord hath forsaken me, my Lord hath forgotten me.'" There's that heartache right there. But wait, I'm going through this really difficult time.
This is not easy. I don't enjoy this, right? We're going through the heartache, and what song could possibly help us? And then we have these beautiful lyrics right here. Kris, will you please read verses 15 through 17? Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?
Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee. Now look back at those verses right there and tell me, how do those words to us bring us comfort?
Those lyrics we're supposed to sing I mean, the use of that imagery, um, of a, of a mother and her child, and then also, you know, obviously the graving. Mm-hmm. It just, it, it goes back to what we talked about, the one by one. I- it just reminds me of, um, when Christ visited, uh, the American continent in, in 3 Nephi 11 and, and brought the 2,500 forward and let them touch His hands and touch His feet to, to know that, that He was their Savior.
And, but He did it individually. He didn't talk to the mass. He didn't, like, say, "I'm gonna teach you a, you know, a- Mm-hmm ... you know, a, a sermon." He... It was one by one. And, and that's truly how I think this gospel works, and, and how we do truly receive real comfort, um- Yeah ... is knowing that He knows e- us individually.
Absolutely. Chuck, will you read this quote for us? This is by President Jeffrey R. Holland about that verse specifically, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands." "Even though the power of the Resurrection could have, and undoubtedly one day will have, completely restored and made new the wounds from the Crucifixion, nevertheless Christ chose to retain those wounds for a purpose.
The wounds in His hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love, the emblems of humility and forgiveness, is the captain of our soul.
That evidence of pain and mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends." Thank you. Mm-hmm. And I, I love that quote, especially when you go back to that verse where it says, "I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands," but highlight this: "Thy walls are continually before me."
That might seem like an odd phrase to con- have in connection with His palms, and here's what I love about that. I've studied this verse right here, and what's so striking to me is when He says, "Thy walls are continually before me," He's talking about the walls around the city or around the temple, which were set up to be protections, right?
To protect the people, protect the temple. But at this point in time, they have been demolished. They have been ruined because of all of the people who've come in, the Babylonians, and all of that. And so He's talking about walls that are broken, walls that have holes, walls that have been completely destroyed, and He's saying, "Your broken walls are continually before me."
I see them. And I love this idea where He's like, "And I'm not turning away. No matter how destroyed or ruined your walls are, no matter how holey your wa- walls are, you might be embarrassed that I let, that you let someone come in and destroy them, 'cause I did warn you. I did tell you not to let this happen.
And you did." But then He's like, "But guess what? Your walls are continually before me, and I'm not gonna turn away. I will always look at you. I will be there to help you." And so when you think about that in concept of what you just taught us with that song, Kris, I love that idea, like, your tired, your hard things, everything that you're going through in life, your depression, your doubt, all of the trials, all of that, that's what ruins our walls, right?
And He's just like, "Yeah, it's okay. I can see it. I'm gonna help you through all of it." And so this beautiful song right here where the Lord's like, "Sing, heavens. Know that you are comforted." Like, "I am giving you so much comfort. I have not forsaken you." 'Cause isn't that true? So often we're like, "Where are you, God?
Why have you left me?" And He's like, "Hmm." In fact, going... And Chuck, I love that you brought up this imagery in 15, and Kris, I'd love to know your concept or your thoughts about this. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she would not have compassion on the son of her womb? Even if they do forget you, I won't."
How does that apply to you with your mother of four kids? Yeah. I, I don't know. I, I think that as a mother, you know, I've had to learn a lot. And, um, I think thinking about it, I don't think that I could forget my, my child. But
But I'm, I'm mortal. Mm-hmm. I, you know, and frankly, I, I don't have the power to do anything on my own. And so I, I just think that the Lord has all that power, and He
If anything, all that this testifies of is how much He loves us and how much He sees us, and that no matter what we've done, He will, as we turn to Him, He will be there for us. Mm-hmm. So. Knowing that the kind of mother that she is, I mean, you know, physically, talking, I know what you're talking about spiritually, but physically, you could never abandon.
I mean, ever. I mean, in fact, I think that, uh, sometimes your kids wanna push you away a little bit. You're so attentive. Right? You give everything- Well, it's true ... for your children. Everything and everything for your children. Well, I do, I do remember- Mm ... a time when, you know, children were Making choices that I didn't agree with.
And it's really hard sometimes to reconcile the things that we teach our children and the choi- th- and their agency. And I, I will never forget the feeling that, the heartache that I was feeling and just trying to reconcile things and thinking about what would Jesus do? And what would Jesus have me do?
And I remember specifically just the feelings of, "Kris, he wants you to love your children. He gave you this family for a reason, and your job is to be a mother, and everything else will take care of itself. And your job is to love." And seems like that maybe is a theme that throughout my life is, really my life is to love.
It's not to judge. It's just to, to love. And so- Mm-hmm ... that's, you know, I, I try. I guess I appreciate that, um, that chastisement to be able to learn to, to, to love more. And isn't that incredible in verse 16, where there's what the Savior does for us we've been invited to do. It's hard to let people's walls be continually before us.
We don't wanna watch them. We wanna turn away and be like, "Well, when you've cleaned things up, then we'll talk," you know? "When you've repaired those walls, then you can come back." And I just love that the Savior's like, "No, they're continually before me. I'm here. I love you." So what a great message that is, Kris.
Thank you for wrapping that up for us. Awesome. So we have comfort in songs, comfort in music, and comfort in lyrics. So in the last segment, we're gonna find out what God's it gets better phrase is for us in Isaiah 40 through 49. We'll do that next
Segment 6
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Going back to the letter that was given to my h- husband at that funeral, and it's one of my s- just favorite stories he tells me because he was so taken aback, like, o- off, uh, just the guy handed him a note and he was like, "I, I don't know what to do with this right now, I'm at a funeral," puts it in his pocket, and then found it at church weeks later.
And so when he read that, he was just shocked, 'cause he thought, "There's no way it gets better. There's no way. I'm sit, I'm here, I'm a single dad, I've got two little girls ages seven and nine, and how am I gonna raise them and get through this grief process?" It was really, really hard. But I love how in Isaiah 40 there, to me, was a constant message from the Lord that it gets better.
And here's His phrasing. So I'm gonna give you a couple of different references to mark. So let's go to Isaiah 41:10, and we'll see the very first place of this. Isaiah 41:10. We're gonna do an it gets better chain. That's kind of a tongue twister. An it gets better scripture chain. Here we go. Isaiah 41:10.
And Chuck, will you read that? Yes. "Fear not, fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Perfect. Kris, read verse 13. "For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee."
Chuck, verse 14. "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." Unless you think worm means worm, I love the footnote down below. It just tells you meek and humble person. Not you gross and vile worm. There we go. So fear not, you humble and weak Jacob, which we are all.
We are very weak and humble, okay? Fear not. Now let's go, go and put cross-reference there, 43:1. And we're looking for a common phrase. You're probably far, starting to see it, but go to chapter 43, verse 1. And Kris, will you read verse 1? "But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine."
Chuck, will you read verse 5? Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west Okay, and then put a cross-reference next to verse five and put chapter 44 verse two. And then turn there, and Kris, will you read chapter 44 verse two? Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, which will help thee; Fear not, O Jacob, my servant; and thou, Jes- Jersurun, whom I have chosen.
And the next verse is verse eight. Chuck, will you read that? Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have I not told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any. Okay, what's the oft-repeated phrase in all those verses where the Lord's basically saying to us, "It gets better."
What is it? Fear not. Fear not. Fear not. Absolutely. Tell me how this phrase is comforting to you
I don't know. I think we, we take it back to the last scriptures that, that we read in the last segment in, um, Isaiah 49:15 and 16. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."
And to me, I just think that we need not fear because He won't forget us. Mm-hmm. And I-- my job is to trust Him. Mm-hmm. And I know that when I let fear in, that makes it more difficult, but I'm getting better at it. And I, I tell myself that, um That His plan is better than anything that I can imagine, and that I, that brings me a lot of peace and comfort.
So, so it kinda helps me to keep that fear at bay. Mm-hmm. Excellent answer. What about you, Chuck? Well, I, I would say, um, I, I think one of the best ways to comfort us is to take away our fear or to at least help us to, to realize why we shouldn't fear. And I've always thought that the best way to eliminate fear in life is to increase our faith.
And- Mm ... and so I think what he's telling us here is fear not, and he's teaching us and trying to, trying to strengthen our testimonies, uh, or, or, uh, you know, us as well as the Israelites that, that, you know, as we have faith, as we believe, as we have hope, it displaces our fear. A- and, and to me, I, I think that's one of the best ways for us to receive comfort.
Wow, absolutely. I think this quote, we'll end with this because, again, talk about the, the small things, going back to how you started, Chuck. When my daughter called this morning, and this whole discussion we've had today, it, it's exactly what she needed. And I said, "You know what? I have to tell you, this is so cool because here's a quote that President Hinckley got from his dad when he left on his mission."
Listen to this quote. And Kris, will you read this for us? "When I left for the mission field 66 years ago, my father handed me a card. He had written on it four words spork- spoken by the Lord, who, when he had received news of the death of the daughter of Jairus, said, 'Fear not, believe only.' As we step into the third millennia AD, I can think of no greater counsel than this, than is found in this statement.
Fear not, only believe." Thank you. Isn't that so cool? Like, his father handed him a little card. Maybe he put it in his pocket. And there it is. It gets better or fear not, only believe. And so I made my daughter, I'm like, "Write that on a piece of paper, put it on your mirror, wherever you can, and just remember, like, Satan is so determined to destroy you and make you afraid and worried about all of these things."
And I just think if a prophet needed that message, so do we. And by the way, in Isaiah, I think it's interesting because here's a prophet saying, "Fear not," all these times when indeed they should be fearful because the Babylonians are terrifying. And I can just imagine me at this time going, "Are you nuts?
This is the scariest thing we've ever been through. What do you mean don't fear? I am terrified." And I just think, like, the world we live in today, I, that's kinda... Like, it's scary out here. And we get general conference message soon, and I love how we're gonna have these fear not messages, and we just have to take comfort in that.
Every six months, fear not. God is helping us. Just think of that in our next general conference, that, that when the prophets and apostles speak, they are the Isaiahs of our day, offering us comfort and help to make it through our own, quote-unquote, "Babylonian captivity." It is brutal. It is hard. You're going to have hard things.
It's going to be trying. And here's all the ways I'm gonna give you comfort to make it through, with the final message being just don't be afraid. Fear not. So thank you, Chuck and Kris. That is ... That's it. We're the- we're done. That's the end of our discussion. Wow. Wow. You guys were great. I, I'm sad I didn't ask you sooner.
I don't know why I waited two years. Actually, I didn't. Heavenly Father did. He's like, "Okay, and now it's time for the Derrs." So okay, grab your thoughts, think about everything we talked about from the beginning to the end, and just share with me what did the Holy Ghost teach you? What is an eternal truth that you learned from our discussion today?
I've got notes, so I will go last. I'll go first. Um- I think what I learned the most, um, i- in, in this discussion is, you know, really to take what the Israelites were, were receiving as counsel from Isaiah and applying it to our day. And in just the last segment here, when you... It kind of struck me that, that all of this, the comfort, the fear not, the, the it will get better, all those things pertain to us now because this is a difficult time for us to live in.
There is a lot of potential fear. It's not captivity, but I think a lot of us have a lot of questions as to how did we get here and, and where are we going and what, what looks like, what it looks like in the future. And, and I think sometimes that can be, that can create anxiety, that can create fear. Mm-hmm.
And, and I just think that what we're learning here from Isaiah is that as we focus on our Savior, as we, as we recognize that He is, that He loves us and that He knows us, and that He, He knows the future, and we, we will be able to, to rely on Him and the teachings of, of He, He and His servants, like you said in general conference, to guide us through this.
And that gives us the ability to eliminate that fear and know that it will get better. Mm. Absolutely. Great answer, Chuck. Thank you. What about you, Kris? I, I would say my takeaway is Isaiah, as difficult as, as it is to understand, it really has some beautiful and powerful imagery. And, um, to, to really pick apart the verses and to apply them to us as individuals, I think it just really...
There was such beauty in so many of the verses, and being able to kind of look at them individually and pick out how they apply in, in our lives. And I think it's just an, an added reaffirmation of my testimony of that the scriptures were written for us to give us peace and comfort because we do live in difficult times and There's just so much peace and comfort as we put in the time and the effort to, to study and to learn what the Lord wants us to, to understand.
That he really does see us and, and know us and that he's there for us. So we just have to seek him. Absolutely, Kris. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Uh, mine, Chuck, I'm just gonna go back to how you started it, 'cause it seemed to be the theme for me throughout this whole episode, was to look for the small things, that there are no coincidences, that he is in the every day, and the big things are awesome, but the small things are consistent, and they're everywhere.
So thank you for that reminder. And then Kristine, I loved it when you said, "I thought for sure the Lord would give me the gift of tongues." Like, you wanted that so badly, and you said, "I wa- I wanted the gift of tongues so bad, and he just needed me to be quiet." And the thing is, is for those of you that know Ch- like, I...
You don't know Kris. I do. Kris is not a loud person. She is not, like g- like, she's, she is a quiet person. And so that's why it struck me, because I thought, "What a profound lesson for all of us, that sometimes he just needs us to be quiet," and the, the power of that on your mission and how it served you so well.
So it's a reminder to me, too, 'cause sometimes, you know, when my daughter calls, I wanna go into parenting mode, and sometimes I just need to be quiet, 'cause maybe she just needs to vent to me, and I'm like, "Okay, hit it, sis." So thank you for that reminder. That was powerful. So thanks. We're done. Oh, thank, thank you again- Oh, thank you
for your faith in us both. Yeah. Well, what eternal truth did you learn? What did the Holy Ghost teach you as we discussed these chapters in Isaiah? Please join our group on Facebook or follow us on Instagram and share what you have learned. And comment on the post that relates to this lesson to share your thoughts.
You can get to both our Facebook and Instagram by going to the show notes for this episode at ldsliving.com/sundayonmonday. And it's not a bad idea to go there anyway, because that's where we have the links to all the references and a transcript of this whole discussion, so go check it out. The Sunday on Monday Study Group is a Deseret Book Shelf Plus original, brought to you by LDS Living.
It's written and hosted by me, Tammy Uzelac Hall, and today our perfect study group participants were Kris and Chuck Derr. And you can find more information about my friends at ldsliving.com/sundayonmonday. Our podcast is produced by Cole Wissinger and me. It is edited and mixed by Cole Wissinger, and our executive producer is Aaron Hallstrom.
Thanks for being here. We'll see you next week, and please remember, oh, please remember, that you are God's favorite.