Finding Strength Beyond My Own

I recently went to see the newest version of Cinderella where kindness and courage were the highlight of the movie. As I was leaving though another thought came to me and that was "Finding Strength Beyond My Own". It is a part of a hymn we sing in church. I thought I understood what it meant years ago. But I'm finding I'm only just discovering what it means.

In my church we have the opportunity to go on what is typically called "Trek". For those of the LDS faith it is an opportunity to re-create the struggle of the early pioneers, specifically those in the handcart companies who left too late in the season and faced almost certain death. I can, because of trek imagine a small portion of what it must have been like. Years ago I had the opportunity of going to Wyoming for a week and pull a handcart and walk miles and miles a day. However bad I thought I had it, it was nothing compared to what the real pioneers went through.

One day while on the trek we had what was called "The Woman's Pull" it was to signify many men being called to war and the women having to pull the handcarts by themselves. We had to pull the handcarts up a steep hill made up of mostly very fine sand. We had already pulled for who knows how many miles that day and as I looked up from the bottom of the hill it felt like a daunting task.... and it was. The men had to stand at the top of the hill watching us and were not allowed to help us get those carts up the hill. So the women, at the end of an already long day began pushing and pulling the handcarts up the embankment. At that point I was ready to give up. With blisters on my hands and feet and while struggling to get up the hill in skirts and falling many times. While pulling what seemed an incredibly heavy load, I cried and cried calling on an unseen power for strength and for help. Somehow we managed to make it up the hill and I felt the most incredible relief and at the same time I knew that we had received help from those unseen.

I thought then that I knew what it meant "Finding Strength Beyond My Own". I am since learning that I still do not fully understand what it means.... The last few days have been challenging with loneliness and a very heavy heart I felt once again like I was at the bottom of a hill. I decided to go to the temple to hopefully receive a small amount of peace and comfort. As I prayed and cried and prayed and cried some more I felt a tangible peace come over me. Like Elder Bednar says it didn't come in an instant like turning on a light with a switch, it came more slowly and serenely like a sunrise until it becomes a glorious day. In that moment I found strength beyond my own to carry me through my trials. It doesn't mean that my struggles are any less real or they have been taken away rather my burdens have become lighter to bear because I chose to trust in a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior who has felt every pain and heartache I go through. Because I choose to trust in them I constantly am finding a strength beyond my own. But it must be a choice. I can't be complacent. I must actively, daily, seek Them and Their guidance. They are the source of my strength and I choose to trust in Them, in the Plan of Happiness, and most importantly of all, the Atonement of my Savior. Someone will always know my deepest sorrows and my most exquisite joys because He has felt it all. Trust and I promise you will "Find Strength Beyond [your] Own"