LDS Freedom Forum

Last night I was reflecting on the many tender mercies of the Lord that I have seen both in my life and in the lives of those around me, whether they have been by mighty priesthood miracles or the small and simple ways the Lord shows his hand in our lives....

This is a beautiful recap of Elder Bednar's talk, The Tender Mercies of the Lord....



If you feel so inclined, please feel free to share the tender mercies the Lord has given you. If not, I understand There are many things the Lords has done for me which are treasures to me.

Enjoy the video, and have a great week! :ymhug:

Thanks Linj2fly for this worthy topic.

I look at the myriad blessings I have in life, and the blessings of family, repentance, the gentle guidance of the spirit lending persistently nurturing opportunities to grow. A deepening understanding of the love of God, the reality of the Atonement, the truth in the counsel of living prophets, and indeed, I am nestled in the tender mercies of the Lord. I stand all amazed as I consider all He has done for me. Humility can't help but creep into the rough borders of my soul as I ponder his wonderful goodness.

In our Stake Conference Yesterday our Stake President asked us to prayerfully consider and identify one thing in our lives that will help us take the next step in our conversion. And for the next 6 months, work on that thing. I have been so humbled by what the Lord has shown me, and realize how much I need to repent and how much Omission has been a part of my life. I find that one of the finest tender mercies God has given to me. But, that's just me.

Where to begin. I come from a long line of dysfunction. I'm not even sure how my dad even became a member of the church, and it was probably from his parents, though not sure they were even active. My lineage traces back several generations deep into Mexico before it's no longer easily traceable. In fact, it is near impossible. My dad is the youngest of many siblings, many who have passed away or fallen away. He comes from a very poor and abusive environment. That he even maintained a root in the gospel bewilders me.

Then there's my mom, born and raised Catholic in Mexico, brought to the US by her father where she went from school to school, also from a dysfunctional environment, due to her stepmother. My mom was baptized as a teenager and served a mission. After she came home, she met my dad, who just happened to be stationed in El Paso, Texas, while in the army, and eventually they married. It was a mixture of bliss and dysfunction. And the gospel. My dad was only in the army for a couple years.

I think my parents are the only ones from either family to have married in the temple and where all of us kids were born under the covenant. My father suffered severe physical abuse growing up and my mother suffered neglect and emotional abuse. What a combination. I grew up with very low self esteem, yet well grounded in the gospel, thanks to my mom's testimony. Both parents were active in church. We all were. My dad was a very dedicated scoutmaster and my mom held teaching posts.

I learned to be longsuffering from my mom and hard discipline from my dad, who had a short fuse and a terrible temper. Along the way, I received my patriarchal blessing and a mission call. Because I am hispanic and lived in a predominantly hispanic city, where in the ward, all the boys were being called to Spanish speaking missions, it was a given that I was going to serve somewhere in Central or South America. It's just the way it was. Little did I know that promises in my patriarchal blessing would all come from where I was called to: Munich, Germany. This dysfunctional Mexican kid wasn't going South. He was crossing the globe. It was a shock to me, my family and probably everyone in my ward.

Something inside me awoke and I began to redefine myself, my self esteem and my personality. I began asserting myself, peeling away years and years of abuse and dysfunction and low self esteem. Nobody knew who I really was on the other side of the world, but they would get to know who I became. And halfway through my mission, I met who would become my wife. I didn't even know she was the one I would marry until one night during a prayer, I experienced a powerful personal revelation. It was as promised in my patriarchal blessing.

On our honeymoon, we talked about names for our children. Yet somehow, despite promises in my patriarchal blessing, something didn't feel right. About ten years later and after miscarriages and a tubal pregnancy, we became foster and adoptive parents. There is sooo much more to this story and I've left out huge chunks of pertinent history, but it would take volumes.

In a nutshell, my dad and I have a very strong and loving relationship. He and my mom are closer than ever. it took years and years and years of patience and longsuffering and understanding to get through to my dad and break his walls down and teach him the finer points of the gospel and about humility, repentance, forgiveness and more. My mom is an angel. She was our glue. Had it all not been so, I might have turned out all wrong, never served a mission, much less teach who I taught, having been part of their lives and conversion (amazing and miraculous stories there), meeting my wife, living where we did and having two teenage boys come into our lives, who needed saving. I also would not have had the gifts necessary to bring my own family closer together, especially my dad. There was a time I had to shut him out of my life completely, early in my marriage. But the gospel has a power of healing with enough time.

I am not sharing all this to brag or boast. When we are obedient to the Lord, He blesses us. He sees beyond the horizon. We can't. We have to trust. And when we do, our journey of discovery is a glorious one. There are other gifts and promises and I am trying to be worthy of them. It was a chain of events throughout some generations, amidst bizarre odds and hellish conditions that puts me where I am today, knowing what I know and being part of the many things that I've been part of. It boggles my mind. There's sooo much more, and I need to write it all down before I forget it all. It's odd, though. My dad was the youngest. His brothers are all gone, having had no sons. I am my dad's only son. I have two adopted boys, who I brought home as teenagers from the streets and a whole new set of dysfunction and neglect.

They're full grown. Only the Lord can see beyond their horizons. I have very high hopes for them. They're no angels. They put my wife and me through hell, but through countless sleepless nights and endless visits with teachers, principals, counselors, police, probation officers, judges, etc, we persevered. But one thing comforts me and my wife. One of my boys told me that if we hadn't adopted them, they'd be dead by now. Am I the last one to carry my dad's and his dad's name? It's likely. But one never knows.

Yikes, this is longer than I thought it would be. Still, it's just a tiny nutshell of my life.

Thank-you coach for sharing that! I really enjoy learning about people's lives.

" Vielen herzlichen Dank!" ( no I don't speak German, I looked it up)

Thanks Coachmarc, isn't God good? Wonderful.

Coachmarc, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. It's very humbling to see how the Lord works in our lives. It took me many years to figure that out.

I am still figuring it out, kathyn. Through constant study of the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, sincere prayer and pondering my patriarchal blessing, I just strive to understanding the Lord's will for me. We all have our own purpose and mission here on Earth. We've been given gifts to aid and enable us. I am looking forward to writing my family history. I might call it the Book of Marc. :p

Everyone ought to be seeking the tender mercies of the Lord. I would hope that more people have experienced them, but it's also a personal matter and maybe why very few have replied. I would be grateful to read other stories. In any case, I plan to post primarily in this subforum and the Approaching the Heavenly Gift subforum. There is more harmony in these discussions, which I really appreciate.

I love that Michael McLean song, "Tender Mercies."

We sometimes don't reconize the tender mercies of the lord. My mom had been sick for sometime and was not doing so well. My wife had flown up to Utah to see her nephew get married in the Salt Lake City Temple, on monday March 12 I had a feeling for my wife to go check on my mother at the health care facility in American Fork as I felt she was worse off than my sister had been telling me. I got the report back that she was near death, and so I made plane reservation for Thursday morning. I had another feeling to have my wife check on my mother Tuesday morning and she looked even worse and my sister told me everything was fine.

I had my wife work on getting my plane ticket changed to fly out that evening so I could get to see mom asap. I got to SLC at 1:00am in the moring and went and seen her first thing in the morning. I knew that mom was not going to last, so I had one of my brothers come over and we gave her a blessing of comfort. I would not leave mom as I knew that it would not be long before she would pass away. I stayed with her and read a book to her as she liked to hear about Vikings.

I layed next to her and read her the story all day long. I had a feeling to get down on my knee's and pray and the words that came out, were it is time to come home and your work is done. Mom past away that evening around 10:30 pm. I was able to hold my moms hand as she went to meet savior and her husband and my Dad, that had past away 32 years earlier. The tender mercies of the Lord were shown to me those past few days. My mother also had grown up in a harsh enviroment and seem to teach all 11 children the gospel of Christ.

We don't realize the great treasure that we have until it is gone. We need to stay in tune so we can reconize those tender mercies of the Lord.

Thank you for sharing, Captain G. You were sensitive to the Spirit and you listened. What a wonderful blessing to be a part of that experience, where you would have missed out had you listened to anyone else.