From the book Trusting the Lord, Joy Saunders Lungberg shared: The following three personal experiences have given me immense comfort and peace, and laid a foundation in carrying me through other trials that have come along.
- As a child: I remember a conversation with my father a long time ago when I was just twelve years old. He had been reading the scriptures to our family regarding the last days. The calamities seemed overwhelming to me and I was more than a little scared by the terrible prospect of such a frightening future. Looking for comfort I said, “But, Daddy, what will happen to me if I’m on earth when it happens?” He put his arm around me and said, “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t need to be afraid. All you need to do is keep the commandments, and the Lord will be with you. If you die, then you will be ready and He will receive you with open arms. If you live, then He will walk beside you and help you through whatever lies ahead. So either way, you’ll be just fine, as long as you are doing your best to keep the commandments. I can remember deciding at that moment that I would do my very best to keep His commandments, and a feeling of peace filled my whole being. The teaching of my father has given me guidance and comfort throughout my life
- As a young mother: Another incident occurred when our first three children were very young. At the time I had been diagnosed with a serious illness. My husband was a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and we were a long way from home. My Grandma Saunders came to us and taught me an important concept about prayer. She said, “I know you have prayed about your illness. And you have had a priesthood blessing. Now here’s what I want to know: After you say your prayers and leave your burdens at the Lord’s feet as He tells us to do, do you say amen and then pick them up again? Or do you trust Him enough to leave them for Him to carry as He promised He would?
- As a mother of grown children: We have five children and some have faced difficult challenges, including one daughter who is mentally disabled. I remember well a time several years ago when my husband and I were concerned over the difficulties our three were having. One had lost his job, one was having marital problems, and our disabled child was having serious, ongoing challenges. It all seemed so overwhelming to me. Burdened with worry I arose early in the morning to do my personal scripture study, preceded by prayer. On this particular morning I prayed with all my heart for the individual needs of these three children. I cried fervently to the Lord on their behalf. I was experiencing the full dimensions of a heavy heart. It was literally painful.
After the prayer, I picked up my Book of Mormon and began reading where I left off the previous morning in 2 Nephi chapter 9. When I read from the third verse, I knew from the peace that filled my whole soul that the Lord had just answered my prayers through this scripture. I read it over and over, “I speak unto you these things that you may rejoice, and lift up your heads forever, because of the blessing that the Lord shall bestow upon your children.” ~Joy Saunders Lundberg, Where Can I Turn For Peace (American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2009), 87-88 —Continued
