When our daugher Lucy was 9 we had just moved to our small town. It was the end of the school day in the winter and instead of getting on the bus, she decided that she should walk to grandma’s house. Walking in the snow in complete winter gear, she started in the way she thought was the right direction. As she walked, she ended up playing in the snow mutiple times. Whenever she’d see a big drift that looked particularly appealing she’d stop and play in it for a few minutes and then carry on walking in the direct she thought grandmas’s house was in. Her walking route ended up taking her in a completely different area of town. But she was blissfully unaware as she was enjoying the beautiful snow around her.
An older member of our ward was driving by and noticed her in the snow by herself and noticed the sky getting darker. She pulled over and asked Lucy what she was doing. She replied “I’m walking to grandmas”. The older sister, knowing both grandma and us, asked Lucy if she’d like a ride home since it was getting late. Lucy shrugged and replied “sure”. As they were driving home she asked Lucy if she was lost. Lucy looked at her scared and started to cry saying “I don’t know! I am lost?”
Things get lost all the time: my husband’s glasses, the wii remotes, the keys to the lawnmower. Small things that we have to spend time finding again. When things are small like the keys or the goggles for swimming it takes effort often by physically moving things to find them. Sometimes it takes mentally taking the steps from where they last where and what our steps were when we lost them. One of our children is consistenly losing things. He sets them down without thought and then can not remember later so we are constantly reminding him of where he was and what he was doing when he last had an item.
Not only have I had a lost child, but I’ve also been physically lost myself. It is a terrible feeling when the realisation hits you. It can be overwhelming, frustrating and scary. Finding my way again after being lost happened because of two things: tools and helpers.
I have also been spiritually lost. I remember being a 18 year old and having an experience that shook my testimony. Someone close to me told me they didn’t believe in God. It was shocking and startling to me. I was blissfully unware that they felt that way. I started to doubt what I knew and what I believed. Finding my way back to belief took effort on my part. It took me searching for experiences with God to find my way back. For about 6 months I had to consciously look for faith. It felt like the most lost I had ever been.
Looking back at that over the years I can see that I used the same things that helped me when I was physically lost: tools and helpers. We are all going to lose our way over and over. It is a perpetual mortal experience to fall short and then to repent and try again. God knew this would be the way we would learn. So He gave us tools and helpers.
“God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, but we are not. Each day, ours is the challenge to access the power of the Atonement so that we can truly change, become more Christlike, and qualify for the gift of exaltation and live eternally with God, Jesus Christ, and our families. For these powers, privileges, and gospel gifts, thanks be to God!” — Russell M. Nelson
A wonderful tool that can help is the Holy Ghost. It is the ultimate tool to guide us back home. Without it we are lost and we have even been told that we will not be able to “survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” Through the Holy Ghost we can be lead in our daily lives. It is a gift that is given to us beause God knows we would be helpless without it. This gift is a testimony that He is giving us the tools to make it back home. This tool will only help us, if we use it. It is pretty hard to follow the Holy Ghost, if we do not know how He speaks to us. So we must work to figure it out through practice and experience.
Another tool that God gave us is the scriptures. Within the pages of the holy text, we can have personal experiences with God. We can see examples of how He has helped others, we can learn how God works in our lives and how He solves problems. When we read and know the scriptures we can learn of God’s all encompassing love and find trust and hope in that love. They give us direct and let us hear directly from God. But just like the Holy Ghost, the scriptures will help us only as we use them through study and reading.
God has given us all helpers. There are unviersal helpers and personal helpers.
The ultimate universal helper is Jesus Christ. Without Him, all hope would be lost and not one of us would be able to return home. He is the only way. He our advocate, our source of peace and hope. He is the only bridge that makes it possible to return to our eternal home one day. Without Him, the entire human race would be lost.
God has also give us other helpers. As the called prophet of God, Russell M. Nelson, is a helper for the entire world. His calling is to be a spokesperson for the entire human race. As God’s mouthpiece on earth, He gives messages that God sends directly to us. Part of His heavy calling is to testify to the entire world and teach us what we need to do in our lives. God also gave us other leaders to help us.
Each one of us also has the opportunity to be helpers to each other. As we show love and kindness in our daily lives, we can help others around us. And as we act as helpers, we also help ourselves because these experiences bring us closer to Jesus Christ.
It’s not the end of world to be lost. We’re all a little lost at times. So when you find yourself lost next time, look for the tools and the helpers. As we access those that God has sent to us over and over throughout our lives, we’ll find our way to our Heavenly Home and the family that waits us there.
Rhonda is our Digital Illustrator and part of our Content Team.
Rhonda is a life long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints thanks to her parents joining the church when they were younger.
Rhonda was married to her love, Regan, in 2000 and together they have 5 unique, creative, incredibly smart kids. Rhonda feels completely overwhelmed with the many humans she must boss around.
They love music in their house of all kinds (really except Rap) from the different lessons her kids take to the various basement concerts they host.
Rhonda likes to pretend she’s organized, but really she’s an unorganized spontaneous creative extrovert. She’s interested in learning everything and seeing everywhere and anywhere.
Rhonda loves traveling and seeing different places but Waterton Parks, Alberta, Canada is her favorite place to visit.
Rhonda is a bit obsessed with bread (in fact a “bread head”) and she loves baking and cooking anything, especially if it is difficult to bake. She doesn’t go many days without baking something. She loves pretty much all good food and her husband teases her that she’s a food snob but she’ll kindly accept any treats you want to make her.
Rhonda is a professional photographer, a “for fun” painter, an obsessive memory keeper, a quick reader, and a lover of nature. She will talk to pretty much anyone and loves making new friends and considers herself great at friend matching – helping match people who be good friends with each other.
Rhonda is terrible at saying no to things so she’s currently sitting on 3 town boards in her lovely town of Raymond, Alberta, Canada. She loves to discuss the different aspects of the gospel and currently serves as a ward gospel doctrine teacher.
Rhonda currently resides in Alberta, Canada.
You can connect with Rhonda on Instagram, on Facebook, on her Website, at Artful Heart, or on any of A Worldwide Sisterhood’s platforms.