We All Got Issues

Family Stress. We all go through it. Maybe there was a death in the family or a family member gets themselves into an addiction. Maybe there is financial strain or unresolved arguments lingering from the past. Whatever it may be every family goes through it. So if this pain and anguish is inevitable, how do we overcome it? I don’t think there is one good answer that encompasses all the problems in the world and make the world great. I mean we are a fallen people and we aren’t perfect, so saying there is a perfect answer in this existence, well there isn’t one. But I have seen something that has come pretty darn close, and that is the gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While I was serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I saw numerous people faced with so many of these trials. I saw how when they came to know of the gospel of Jesus Christ they were strengthened and their problems didn’t go away, but they were better equipped to face these things.
For example, a couple I met fell upon hard times because of addiction. He had met with the missionaries ten years previous in a different city but wasn’t quite ready to listen to what they had to say. Years past and he had moved and was married. The apartment complex he lived in was torn down and turned into businesses. The missionaries tried and tried to come across him again but had no idea where he moved to. One set of Elders saw that there was a phone number on the sheet in their area book and gave him a call. The man hadn’t changed his phone number in all that time. The missionaries asked him if it was okay if they sent some other missionaries by to see how he was doing. The man probably didn’t expect us to actually show up and agreed to let someone stop by.
That is where my companion and I come in to the story. We were sent this man and his wife’s contact information and we did our missionary duty and went out and contacted him. We didn’t know what we were going to get ourselves into.
The man told us that he was leaving but that we could come back next week. We showed up the next Tuesday and again were told that he and his wife were busy so to come back next week. We showed up the next Tuesday and were welcomed in because we were persistent. We started to teach this couple about the blessings of the gospel and a light came on. This was a day that changed my life and this couples.
They continued taking the missionary discussions and progressed towards baptism. And as we continued to meet with them their story came out. They had both had problems with experimenting with drugs. She had a very bad alcohol problem. He told me of a time where she would just sit and drink and cry. He, days later, asked her what her problem was and she told him that she went to the doctor and was told that her liver was failing. She was told that if she didn’t stop drinking she would die.
That wasn’t the only problem this lifestyle brought to this couple. They argued quite often. She wasn’t very nice when she was drunk. Their relationship was holding on by a thread and they were truly thinking about getting a divorce. She realized that she needed to get some help and so she admitted herself into a rehab facility. Her last week was the first week we showed up at their house.
She was already on the path to change and by the time we were welcomed in they were looking for all the help they could get. Their marriage turned around. They gave up their substance abuse. They started attending church every Sunday. The change in them was spectacular. They started working together as a team, and I can say that I know these things wouldn’t have happened if they didn’t welcome us in that Tuesday.
They still face problems every day. They still have issues and struggles and the gospel didn’t take that away from them. It just helped them through those tough times and made their trials easier to handle. They were just recently sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. And they are continually working towards Christ.
Christ lightens our burdens and took on every one of our struggles. We just need to rely on Him to get through our family stress. He won’t take those things away from us, but He will help us along the way.