In Elder Uchtdorf's talk, Continue in Patience, he says that, “...patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!”
Before I chose the topic of this talk, my dad said my mum has no patience, so I don't know if that says something about my mum or my dad.
If you don't know who my mum is, she's the woman with a cool accent and sometimes even cooler glasses. She was born and raised in Hastings, New Zealand, surrounded by her older sisters and cared for by her mum while her father was serving their country in the Vietnam war.
We often think of patience as a quiet, unending well. But if I look at my Mum, I realize that the most honest lesson in patience isn't found in perfection—it’s found in the reality of the struggle.
My Mum is both the best and the worst example of patience in my life.
Every time she does lose her cool, she always does the one thing that matters most: she always apologizes and she always gives me love.
There was this one time when I was getting ready to go to a show. I had picked one outfit and then got upset when my mum suggested I should wear something else when time was already wearing thin. While I got upset, my mum remained patient with me, saying and suggesting other things to calm me down.
She has taught me that you can be human, you can make mistakes, but you always lead with love and you always come back to repair the bond.
In Elder Uchtdorf's talk, he had added that impatience is “a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all-too-prevalent condition called ‘center of the universe’ syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theater of mortality in which only they have the starring role.”
Being impatient is a human thing, but the natural man is our enemy, and so instead strive to be patient.
Strive to be like the Lord, who is the prime example of patience.
While he had been persecuted and wronged in His days on earth, he had remained steadfast in doing the will of Heavenly Father.
He had been crucified, and instead of getting angry at the people, He had cried unto his Father, saying, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” Luke 23:34.
Like everything in the gospel, having patience can bring lasting blessings.
Hebrews 6:12-15 say, “That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
14 Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.”
When I was a baby I had 2 Moms, my Mum and my oldest sister Mina but my Mum nicknamed her Mima, because she loved to take care of me. Recently my sister Mina had been trying for a baby, and had to endure the trial of a miscarriage. But with patience and faith in the Lord, she was finally blessed to have a baby girl due in July.
In President Monson's talk, Patience--A Heavenly virtue, he said, “Another who portrayed the virtue of patience was the Prophet Joseph Smith. After his supernal experience in the grove called Sacred, where the Father and the Son appeared to him, he was called upon to wait. At length, after Joseph suffered through over three years of derision for his beliefs, the angel Moroni appeared to him. And then more waiting and patience were required. Let us remember the counsel found in Isaiah: ‘My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”
But even with Christ's example and the blessings in tow, having patience can still be hard.
So how can you have patience when it gets hard?
Alma 38:4 says, “...and thou didst bear all these things with patience because the Lord was with thee…”
Not only that, but President Monson also said to “Let the scriptures be your guide, and you will never find yourself traveling the road to nowhere.”
I know that my Savior loves me, I know that the church is true, I know that the scriptures can guide us in our lives, I know that if we put Christ first than everything else will fall into place and we can learn to be patient through Him, I know that with patience we can endure well to the end, I know that families can be together forever, and I know that Heavenly Father gave me a mother who loves me very much. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
