I grew up hearing this story about my great- great-great grandfather and grandmother, Ira Hatch and Weltha Bradford. She joined the church in wintertime and didn't want to wait to be baptized in warm weather. They had to cut a hole in the ice to have her baptized. Would I have wanted it so badly as to not wait until it was more convenient?
This is the same family that responded to Brigham Young's call to have two of their sons join the Mormon Battalion. Because they let their two sons go, they had to wait at Winter Quarters for their sons to march to California with the Battalion, return to Utah, and then make their way back to help their family get from Winter Quarters to Utah.
How do we face the things in our lives that aren't convenient and comfortable? How do we follow the Prophets' counsel? I hope that we can all face the uncomfortable, painful, heartbreaking, and challenging circumstances in our lives with the same determination as our ancestors.
It all begins and ends with faith. "Faith is both a principle of action and of power. It is not to have a perfect knowledge of things. But rather, it is an assurance of the Spirit that moves us to act, to follow the Savior, and to keep all of His commandments, even through times of sacrifice and trial." (See reference below.)
Exercise your faith, though it may only be small, and there will come into your life a power which will give you hope for a better day.
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