When I was suffering with depression, it was difficult for me to believe that I could do anything right, or that I could ever succeed.
On my mission, for example, I felt like a failure. All that I could focus my attention on was what I needed to improve, and on the things that other missionaries seemed to do better than I did. It was difficult to be satisfied about myself.
Many times, my companions, friends, or family members would assure me that I was doing an amazing job as a missionary. Even though I was told positive things multiple times from different people, my brain still found it hard to believe that what they were saying was true.
But then I realized that, the way Heavenly Father most often answers my prayers is through other people.
One day my mother wrote to me saying that I need to believe what people tell me, because they are acting as God’s angels and telling me the truth.
Shortly after she wrote me this, I was in a district meeting (a meeting with other missionaries), and we read together from the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi. We read about the time when Laman and Lemuel were upset with their younger brothers; they did not believe that they would be able to get the plates from Laban, and so they smote their brothers with a rod. An angel appears to them to tell them to stop, and told them, “The Lord will deliver Laban into your hands” (1 Nephi 3:29) Yet even after the angel appeared, Laman and Lemuel continued to murmur and did not believe. In 1 Nephi 4:3, Nephi is speaking to them and says, "Ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt?" I was shocked that this story was telling me the same thing that my mother had said, and I took it as a sign from God that angels had indeed been sent to minister unto me. Angels had given me the message that I needed to hear, and I needed to believe it.
It still isn’t always easy to believe that I am doing a good job. But there are things that I have learned.
Negative thoughts about yourself come from the adversary. Positive thoughts about yourself come from God and His angels. God does not shame you when you are lacking a skill. He is happy to help you improve and repent. He doesn’t expect you to fix everything at once. You don’t have to do this alone.
“In times of special need, [God sends] angels, divine messengers, to bless His children, reassure them that heaven was always very close and that His help was always very near.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Ministry of Angels, General Conference October 2008)
On my mission, for example, I felt like a failure. All that I could focus my attention on was what I needed to improve, and on the things that other missionaries seemed to do better than I did. It was difficult to be satisfied about myself.
Many times, my companions, friends, or family members would assure me that I was doing an amazing job as a missionary. Even though I was told positive things multiple times from different people, my brain still found it hard to believe that what they were saying was true.
But then I realized that, the way Heavenly Father most often answers my prayers is through other people.
One day my mother wrote to me saying that I need to believe what people tell me, because they are acting as God’s angels and telling me the truth.
Shortly after she wrote me this, I was in a district meeting (a meeting with other missionaries), and we read together from the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi. We read about the time when Laman and Lemuel were upset with their younger brothers; they did not believe that they would be able to get the plates from Laban, and so they smote their brothers with a rod. An angel appears to them to tell them to stop, and told them, “The Lord will deliver Laban into your hands” (1 Nephi 3:29) Yet even after the angel appeared, Laman and Lemuel continued to murmur and did not believe. In 1 Nephi 4:3, Nephi is speaking to them and says, "Ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye doubt?" I was shocked that this story was telling me the same thing that my mother had said, and I took it as a sign from God that angels had indeed been sent to minister unto me. Angels had given me the message that I needed to hear, and I needed to believe it.
It still isn’t always easy to believe that I am doing a good job. But there are things that I have learned.
Negative thoughts about yourself come from the adversary. Positive thoughts about yourself come from God and His angels. God does not shame you when you are lacking a skill. He is happy to help you improve and repent. He doesn’t expect you to fix everything at once. You don’t have to do this alone.
“In times of special need, [God sends] angels, divine messengers, to bless His children, reassure them that heaven was always very close and that His help was always very near.” (Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Ministry of Angels, General Conference October 2008)
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