A few weeks ago, my husband and I were talking about our day to day lives. It is so easy to get caught up in the minutia of each day. We get in a routine, doing the same things each and every day. We talked about how we wanted to fill our lives with purpose each day. I thought about what I might be able to do to bring more purpose into my life. My husband had talked about creating a finance blog, and thought that it might be a good idea for him to jump back into that.
As we continued talking, I thought, I like to write, maybe I could start a blog too. The only problem was, I don’t feel like I am enough of an expert on anything, so I couldn’t start a blog. I joked with him and said that I wouldn’t have enough to write in a blog unless it was a blog about the gospel. I threw it out there as a joke, but then I couldn’t stop thinking about it for the next two weeks. If my desires were to have more purpose in my life, why not try it? If the worst that comes of it is that no one reads it, but I strengthen my testimony of the gospel and my relationship with the Lord, then it is worth it.
After thoughts about creating a blog flooded my mind for two weeks, my thoughts then turned to what I would write. I pondered different questions that might help me pinpoint a topic. What is important to me? What helps me in my daily life? What do I feel like I can share to help those around me? What would I want my posterity to know?
In my life, the answer to all of those questions can be boiled down to one simple response: the gospel of Jesus Christ brings happiness into my life.
When I think of happiness, I automatically think about one of the most influential people in my life, my grandpa (or Tutu, as I call him). Anyone who knows him knows exactly how he will answer the question, how are you? Without fail, he will answer, “I’m happy, thank you.”
He has said this for as long as I can remember. It was something that was normal for me to hear all growing up. Honestly, for most of my childhood, I don’t think that I even gave it a second thought. It was just something that Tutu said. I never really thought about what it meant to be happy all the time. I never pondered how it was even possible for him to be happy every single time that someone asked him how he was.
I distinctly remember the first time that I pondered Tutu’s happiness. I was in high school at the time and it was a Sunday morning. I don’t remember why, but I was at church with my grandparents that day. We had gotten there early, and it was just me and Tutu sitting in the pew. I was reading my scriptures as we listened to the prelude music.
As we listened to the music, I looked up at Tutu, and tears were streaming down his face. I watched him and could tell that he was having a moment with the spirit. Up to this point, I had been listening to the music, but had not paid attention to the songs that were being played. I listened more intently so that I could figure out what song was having such an impact on him. It was “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer.”
Even though no words were being sung, I remember thinking about the words to the fourth verse as it played.
“Joseph this is my Beloved;
Hear him!” Oh, how sweet the word!
Joseph’s humble prayer was answered,
And he listened to the Lord.
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God,
Oh, what rapture filled his bosom,
For he saw the living God.1
As the song was ending, Tutu turned towards me. He looked at me with his tear-filled eyes and said, “This is it, this is why I am happy all the time. How can we not be happy knowing that we have a living God who has restored His gospel here on the earth?”
I don’t think that Tutu knows how much that moment has impacted my life over the years. Up to that point in my life, I don’t think that I had ever felt the spirit as powerfully as I did right then. Lots of things seemed to click at that moment. I could feel that God truly visited Joseph Smith. That Joseph Smith restored His gospel. I felt that God loved me personally. I also felt that like Tutu, I could be truly happy because the gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth today.
Since that day, I have thought back on this experience many times. The gospel is a beautiful thing that can truly bring happiness into our lives. This does not mean that life is going to be easy. It does not mean that we will be able to breeze through life with smiles on our faces. In fact, much of the time, we will be faced with challenges and mountains to climb.
What it does mean is that we have a loving Heavenly Father who sent His Son here to this earth. It means that despite our challenges, we have a Savior who suffered for not only our sins, but our challenges, sicknesses, and weaknesses. Because of His suffering, He knows exactly how we feel and what we are going through. He knows how to comfort us and be there for us, in the best and worst of times. Our loving Father and loving Savior will never leave us alone. With their help, we can be grateful in every circumstance. We can seek joy.
Though I may not remember it in every moment, I know that I can choose to be happy each and every day. No matter what I am going through, I know that God restored His gospel on the earth, and that is a reason to always be happy. Because of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, each and every one of us can answer like Tutu, “I’m happy, thank you.”