Not only was I drawn to him for the feeling I got when seeing him, but he always shared good messages, things I felt that were really heart felt and made me love him more. I recall one year when he spoke of his wife who had passed away, they were words of such love, devotion and affection. It always melts my heart when I see two people that loved eachother so much. It makes me look forward to the future with my husband as I know our love can continue to grow if we nourish it.
So his last talk in General Conference before he passed away was no different and I thought I would highlight some things in honor of him. This time, I felt his great love for his mother and appreciation for her. He spoke of coming home from a football game being very disappointed to which his mother replied, "Joseph, come what may, and love it."
He went on to say:
"Every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.
The Lord in His wisdom does not shield anyone from grief or sadness.
How can we love days that are filled with sorrow? We can’t—at least not in the moment. I don’t think my mother was suggesting that we suppress discouragement or deny the reality of pain. I don’t think she was suggesting that we smother unpleasant truths beneath a cloak of pretended happiness. But I do believe that the way we react to adversity can be a major factor in how happy and successful we can be in life."
What great words and applicable to every one. He gave some guidelines on how to react to adversity to ensure that we do experience happiness. First, he taught "learn to laugh," second, "seek the eternal," third, 'understand the principle of compensation" and lastly, "trust in the Father and in the Son."
It was a very pleasant talk which he shared some cute stories, to read the whole thing further visit http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=b5f44bb52a73d110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1
As I read through it a second time the line that stuck out most to me was "The Lord compensates the faithful for every loss." He promises "while it may not come at the time we desire, the faithful will know that every tear today will eventually be returned a hundredfold with tears of rejoicing and gratitude.that every tear we shed will be compensated with tears of joy." That in itself brings peace. I hope we can all take these principles into practice and remember Elder Wirthlin for the great man he was.
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