Prisons and Temples

In institute this week we studied the prison chapters (sections 121-123) of the Doctrine and Covenants. To set the stage for this lesson President Meiners (teacher) had us sit on the ground for the entirety of the lesson while he sat on a bucket. It was to help us understand what Joseph and his brethren endured for several months. While this was a dark and terrible time for the Prophet, it was also one of the greatest seasons of growth and revelation. Elder Holland refers to Liberty Jail as being a prison temple, a place where sacred, heaven-sent messages were recorded and had profound effect on the life of the prophet and every individual who has read those passages with the Spirit.

I do not pretend to have suffered, in the least degree, anything that those early saints endured nearly every day, but those passages of scripture have been of tremendous relief and comfort in some of my moments of despair. I have had some thoughts on my mind about this subject since Tuesday, and I just felt like writing them down. I think this is more for myself than anyone else, but if it helps lift another, then all the better.

"Oh God, where are thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?" Josephs prayer causes my heart to ache as I can hear the pain in his words. While the words we use today are slightly different, the plea is the same. The plea of someone that is in darkness and feels completely forsaken and forgotten. The Father's response is the same for everyone "My son,(daughter) peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment..."

I can almost picture the face of Him and he says in the most tender and loving voices that everything is going to be okay. Even though we can't see it right in the moment, everything will be okay. My mind is drawn to Elder Wirthlins remarks in October 2006. He spoke of the Friday of the crucification- how it was the darkest Friday in the history of the world but it was followed by the most glorious event on the Sunday, after. Of our own "Fridays," Elder Wirthlin had this to say:

Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays. But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.

I love that. I love how no matter how dark the night is, Sunday morning will come and everything will be worth it. One thing that has taken me my life and will take my lifetime to learn is that it is through suffering and trial that I come to know my Savior and become more like him. Im sure that this is a principle that I will have to learn time and time again but its true. At least its true for me. Some of my most sacred moments have come after enduring something that I did not have the strength or the capacity to endure, alone. This is what I have learned from Liberty Jail. It is that the trials and tribulations are what will allow us to become more like our Savior than if we had an "easy" life devoid of struggle and heartbreak. "...know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience and shall be for they good. The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?"