Love

by Becky Smith

You know, Julie and Becky, sometimes we are not able to use the gift of the Holy Ghost because our hearts aren’t filled with love for our Heavenly Father or for our family and friends. There is a scripture telling us that we should gain control of our emotions—like anger, grief, jealousy, and fear—so that we can be filled with love.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’ve had a bad day at school, or my friends want me to do something that I know isn’t right, or sometimes when it just seems as if the whole world is against me, I don’t feel loved at all. Life is terrible! Where can we go at those times to find the kind of love that lifts up our hearts? Our families are a good place to start. Almost always our families can come to our rescue and reassure us with their love. But sometimes even my family doesn’t understand exactly how I feel.

There is one person, though, who will never fail us if we’ll just open the door. He is our Heavenly Father, our best friend. When I reach out to him in prayer, I soon feel close to him and know that he understands what I’m going through. I couldn’t make it through all the pressures and opposition surrounding us if I didn’t know that I could depend on my Heavenly Father’s love.

I like the story about Mary Ann Freeze, a stake leader of Young Women many years ago. Her health was always very poor, and so one day all the members of her board and all the young women of the stake fasted and prayed for her. She felt the strength of their love and prayers. That night she wrote in her journal: “I told them that I always knew I was beloved of them, but never to what an extent before. We all felt that that experience had created a more powerful bond of love between us.”

It is wonderful to feel the love of our family and friends. And if we will turn to our Heavenly Father and show him our love, then we’ll feel his love for us. And with his love, we can do anything.