a bit of gratitude

Today I finished the 9th and final volume of The Work and the Glory series, which is historical fiction about the restoration of the Church. I can't believe how much reading these wonderful books has changed my perspective. You really think twice about complaining about the too-small bathroom when you've been reading about people who, for their faith, are content to live in log cabins, sod huts, the back of a wagon, or a tent if need be. You know how, in church, people will thank the Lord in a prayer for the beautiful building you're meeting in? It means more when you've more fully imagined (and feel like you've lived, with the characters) meeting in people's houses, or out in the open, with logs to sit on. I kind of dread planning my lessons for the 4-year-olds, but I can tell myself that at least I have a manual to go by and don't have to come up with everything on my own. Etc., etc.

Last Saturday, I got on lds.org to watch Conference, since we don't have cable and I didn't want to try to keep Jamie occupied at the stake center--and the video streaming just would not work. I was frustrated for awhile, and ended up listening to it; that worked fine, at least. Tonight, while I'm finishing Sam's kids' project, I thought I would watch the talks I missed. So I went to the website, clicked the link, and almost instantly, there were the choir, the conference center, the prophet, right in front of me.

The early Saints got to hear their prophet if he came (sometimes hundreds of miles, by horse) and spoke to them in person. And I can hear mine any time, almost instantly.

Reading about the struggles they endured in being endlessly and horrendously driven from place to place, and finally having to travel by wagon for a thousand miles, for months and months, to a completely empty place and start a new civilization from next to NOTHING--all because they had faith and would not turn from it--and if I wanted to travel across the entire country, I could be on the other side of it in a few hours. If I wanted to move there, I could take ALL my stuff with me, not just what would fit in a wagon. My trip would be very comfortable and easy, and I could be there in days.

There are many ways to learn Church history, to better understand what we Mormons are all about from the perspective of many different types of people, and to strengthen a testimony and understanding, and historical fiction is one that works wonders for me. I cannot recommend this series enough. I've learned so much, and I have much more appreciation for our pioneer forbears (who would rather have just stayed in one place like anybody else, but did what they had to do). The first one starts out a bit slow, it's true, but it's practically impossible to put them down after that. There's no way you could regret reading them!