Stressors in Family and Personal Life

     Hey guys!  Hope this week was treating you right.  It was definitely an interesting one for me.  I am not sure if you are up to date with the current situation of the Philippines, so if you are not, I will get you caught up.  Its been rough for them over there.  They have been hit by multiple typhoons within the last couple weeks.  For those of you who don’t know, I returned from a two year mission from the Philippines a little over a year ago, so seeing what they are going through has been pretty tough for me to watch.  I deeply love the Filipino people, and it has been especially hard for me because my mission boundaries has especially been affected.  One reason why my mission has gotten hit so hard is because Magat Dam, one of the largest dams in the Philippines, needed to be opened due to too much water being added from the storms.  Because of this, large amounts of flooding has affected much of my mission, driving people out of their homes and destroying what material things they did have. 

I do find it interesting though that in my family relations class this week we spoke about the importance of stress in not just a marriage, but in life in general.  As we may all know, when trials tend to come, they really do not hold back.  My dear friends and family in the Philippines are seeing this firsthand right now.  However, I am sure that you are also familiar with the fact that as we fight through stress, you become stronger. (Que “Stronger” by Kelly Clarkson here.)  I know that as they fight through their trials, the good people of the Philippines will only come out of this experience more unified and grounded within their families and their society. 

So knowing this, why do we all try so hard to avoid stress and difficulties?  In class Brother Williams spoke about families he has seen who had their parents cover for almost all financial needs, who provided for pretty much everything, and never really let their children (newly married) really spread their wings and fly.  In the examples that Brother Williams shared, this usually turned out to be the downfall of these new families.  They didn’t know how to fight together, and therefore, when trials continued to come (which they always did) the stress proved to be too much for the new couples and they would cave under the pressure.  It is important for us to remember that as we fight to continue, we really are putting ourselves in a position to continue to fight.  We receive strength from each other, and ultimately strengthen the relationships with those we love the most.  So, this week I would like to invite you all to take any current trials in your life head on.  Fight through them.  However, do not do this alone.  Utilize those around you, especially your families.  I promise you that you will not regret doing this because it will help you all draw closer together as a family unit. 

It was a pretty short message for you guys this week.  Hopefully though you got something good out of it.  Keep on keeping on in all that you do, and I promise you that you will be blessed in one way or another.  Do not give up the good fight and I promise that it will all work out. 

See you again next week.