COMFORT--LONLINESS--GRIEF

Tonight during our Book of Mormon class we were talking about Moroni and how very lonely he was after his people were annihilated by the Lamanites. He was alone, protecting the gold plates, hiding from his enemies for 36 years!

People in the audience raised their hands and were talking about loneliness and one little grey haired lady said, "After my husband died I was so terribly lonely. I wrote a letter to him about three times a week. I did this for about a year and you know..."she paused and then said with tears in her voice, "it really helped. It comforted me."

Another woman said, "We have all experienced grief, with perhaps a wayward child or other things. There have been times in my life when I wished I could just wear sackcloth and ashes and sit in the corner and grieve. Not have to get dressed, do my hair and make-up and pretend like everything was fine. I just wanted to grieve."

We all experience times when we feel like we cannot go on. I have said to Heavenly Father, "It's okay, you can take me now, right this minute," and I was ready to go, I really was. And yet here I am, still struggling on, as so many others, hoping for better days. Hoping to find joy, love and acceptance, and especially peace, and always loving my family and friends and hoping they will love me back.

So much of life is about love. Loving others, trying to learn to love ourselves like we are commanded to, loving God and the Savior. It really is the ultimate answer.