Needless to say, I was disappointed. A wait list? Why am I on the wait list? I passed every requirement, submitted the best portfolio I can ever come up with, spent hours answering questions just to make sure I get a spot, and prayed fervently to be qualified. What did I do to be placed on a wait list?

In the midst of my frustration, a thought came into my mind. It’s as though I was transported back to the time I presented my first Family Home Evening Lesson. “The Lord answers our prayers in three ways,” the 10 year old Giulia said, “Yes, No, and wait a while.”

There’s that word again – wait. I would have gladly taken the No. Waiting was another story.

Is that familiar? Have you – like me – ever felt like you were also on a wait list for the Lord’s blessings? Do you also have a goal – like completing school, finding your eternal companion, landing a great job, finding peace – that seems to be so elusive no matter how hard you’ve worked for it?

Waiting is an essential part of the Plan of Salvation – it is not easy, but it will help build our patience and faith. The Lord will ask us to wait – He asked me to wait on the day I was informed I was on the wait list. After that, my mind began to think about the many times I was asked by the Lord to wait and the lessons that came with them. Here are four important lessons I learned only through waiting upon the Lord.

Waiting Upon the Lord Helps Me Understand His Will Better

When a blessing is withheld from us, it’s easy to question “Father, why me?” You could be a young woman who’s patiently waiting for an eternal companion; a young father struggling to find jobs to make ends meet; or a new member of the Church that awaits revelations that will strengthen your testimony. Tears and doubts can come with delayed blessings. But through these challenges, we will realize that if we are true and faithful, we will begin to see the will of the Lord unfold. It may not make us understand everything easily, but it will help us trust the Lord’s will more.

Waiting Upon the Lord Helps Us Develop Christlike Attributes

In the scriptures, to wait is to hope and to trust. As we wait with hope, we echo the hymn “I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go” — “so trusting my all to thy tender care, and knowing thou lovest me,… I’ll be what you want me to be.” Understanding and trusting the Lord’s timetable can help develop important Christlike attributes such as humility, patience, hope, and gratitude for the Lord.

Waiting Upon the Lord Provides Us Opportunities to Serve and Improve

If we view waiting in a negative light, it will make us feel down in the dumps. But if we learn to build the faith that waiting is a blessing from the Lord, we will learn how to make use of it. When the Lord asked me to wait, I discovered He gave me more time to prepare and improve so I can qualify in other mentorship programs.

Another blessing is the ability to serve others who may be going through the challenges of waiting. Because we can understand what they’re experiencing, and because we have already developed the faith that waiting upon the Lord’s timing can bring blessings, we are given the ability to succor and serve them.

Waiting Upon the Lord Can Bring Us Happiness

I won’t deny it – waiting can test one’s faith. It tested mine and for several weeks, I was singing Lead Kindly Light in my heart. “I loved to choose and see my path but now, lead Thou me on.” I wanted to be a part of that mentorship program so bad, but there’s a high possibility I couldn’t make it.

Still, I held on to faith and my testimony that the Lord knew what blessings to give to me. After 3 weeks of polishing my application, and doing everything to qualify, an offer came – a local mentor was willing to include me in his class. Unlike the other mentorship program, I will be paying a lower price and fewer hours away from my toddler. After receiving the call, my testimony was strengthened – “But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.” (2 Nephi 2:24)

The Lord took away the blessing I wanted, and made me wait for a while for a better blessing – the blessing I needed.

When we’re in the process of waiting upon the Lord, let us remember that the Lord has plans for our success (Jeremiah 29:11). He may take away a blessing now, but in His own time, He will compensate with another that will bring us more happiness.

If you’re currently on the process of waiting for a blessing, remember this comforting statement from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

“Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven. But for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.” We may not know when or how the Lord will give us blessings, but let us always remember that our prayers do not fall on deaf ears. Like the Lord and His love for us, His blessings are eternal, and not temporary. May we continue to wait upon Him and never give up on the blessings which He has in store for us, both in this life and the life to come.

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When the future starts to look bleak, how easy it is to succumb to feelings of anxiety so present in moments of hopelessness. When I was pregnant and my husband was about to end his work contract, so many questions in my mind were left unanswered.

“Will he be able to find work?”

“What about me and baby?”

“Are there truly blessings meant for us?”

But we had no answers then, and slowly, I began to feel sad and hopeless. Within my heart, I hoped that Heavenly Father would give me an answer. But despite my prayers, Father didn’t provide one immediately, but instead gave me an impression. During those stressful, anxiety-filled days, my mind drifted to Nephi’s wife and Emma Smith.

Both women were strong, and a source of strength to their husbands. I can imagine Nephi’s wife, having to leave her luxurious life to travel with him in the wilderness. Perhaps the sudden change in her life also caused her to feel overwhelmed. Even without murmuring from all the exhaustion and the extreme changes in her life, she may have also wondered if there was really a land of promise for them.

Emma Smith was also subject to moments of hopelessness in her life, especially with her husband always hunted by oppressors. Despite being a strong wife, I’m sure she also felt at times that the suffering would never end. But like the wife of Nephi, she stood by the Prophet.

Like me, these women were able to face anxiety, wonder, endurance, and most importantly, hopelessness.  

After this impression, I realized that experiencing moments of hopelessness can actually bring blessings into our lives.

Being hopeless allows us to see more miracles in our lives.

All of us have had moments when we feel completely hopeless and unsure of what’s ahead of us. Sometimes, the pain and mental effects can drive us to our knees to pray. But when prayer is the only remedy, we begin to see the miracles happening in our life. We begin to acknowledge the tender mercies, the promise of angels in the form of people around us. We begin to fully appreciate the small, but great blessings in our lives.

 Being hopeless helps us feel God’s love more.

I can’t count all the times when my hopelessness has helped me recognize that I am “encircled in the arms of His love.” Anxiety for the future has made me turn to the Lord and ask Him what He thinks about my life. Time and time again, I have gotten the assurance that all will be well, and that I am not alone in this mortal journey. I have more fully cherished the knowledge of the atonement and His love for me during times when I was about to give up.

Being hopeless makes us appreciate blessings more.

I have come to realize that when we feel that we have nothing, that’s when we are prompted by the Spirit to “count our blessings.” No matter how small the gift, or how simple the service rendered by the people around me, hopelessness helps me begin to associate them with Heavenly Father’s tender mercies.

Being hopeless brings us renewed strength.

As Nephi and his family were travelling in the wilderness, the conditions for the women were probably pretty bleak, and totally different from what they had been accustomed to. However, the women were strong.

“ And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings.

And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the  of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.”

When the only means for me to overcome my anxiety for the future was prayer, I poured out my soul to the Lord and confided to Him of the desires of my heart. It was then that I realized that being hopeless can drive us to ask for help and eventually be blessed by the Lord’s tender mercies of strength and blessings.

Looking back, I am grateful for those moments of hopelessness. I know I am not alone in this journey. When tears filled my pillow, I felt “encircled in the arms of his love.” When I thought I couldn’t make it, He gave me strength to carry on. Yes, something good can be brought about by our hopelessness and I am grateful to have learned that lesson.

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But as the days passed, it was becoming harder and more difficult for me as a young mother. The demand to take care of my family became overwhelming. Every day I need to wake up early to prepare meals, feed the kids, clean them up, play with them, clean the house, sing a song to put them to sleep, family scripture study, go to the market and etc. Sometimes it was just too much for me as a young mother. I have to stop thinking about myself and give my full attention and service to them.

There are times when I ask myself, “What about me?” And then I receive the answer, “It’s not about you anymore. It’s about them.” My experience as a missionary helped me a lot. As a missionary, you stop thinking about yourself because the people around you need someone who will guide and love them. Just like my children, they need a mother who will love, care and guide them back to our Heavenly Father.

I remember an experience one late evening when I was very tired and my husband had to go to work, then my children started crying. I tried to help them both but my body was already tired and they both needed my attention. I just didn’t know what to do. The next thing I knew, I was crying and praying to my Heavenly Father asking for strength so I can help my children. In the middle of my prayer, they suddenly stopped crying and went back to sleep. I am grateful to our Father in Heaven. He never leaves me alone during my weakest times. I know I am not perfect and sometimes I feel disappointed whenever I feel and see that I am not yet good enough. But perfection is not in this life, it is in the life to come.

No matter how tough it is to be a mom, it will always be a sweet experience for me. I like what President Thomas S. Monson said, “Mother”, or its abbreviated version, “Mama,” is the first word tiny lips form. What joy fills a mother’s heart when she first hears this expression from her child. My exhaustion is always resolved by my children’s hug and kisses. There’s no disappointment in my heart when I chose to be a mother.

There are still many things to learn and to improve on, but I know I will get there. I know that my Heavenly Father will always be there to guide me. Would you still be afraid to be a mom? Why would you doubt this noble calling knowing that it’s a part of the great plan of happiness the Lord has for us?

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://faith.ph/files/2016/03/Belle-Alcibor-e1457617498998.png[/author_image] [author_info]I am a mother. I love sports and music. I express myself most of the time in writing and singing. I like sharing my opinions and I love being a Mormon. – Belle Alcibor[/author_info] [/author]

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I have yearned to have the blessing of getting married in the temple as early as 21. I have dated wonderful faithful young men of good moral character. We did activities together and had fun. However, dating is but one step of finding the person you will be with for eternity. Dating these young men did not reach the courtship stage. There was a moment that the light of hope in my heart was failing me as I saw almost all my friends engaged and married. I once asked the question, “What am I doing wrong?” Through this moment, the words of Isaiah gave me a resounding assurance,

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I learned time and time again that we need not question the Lord’s timing. This righteous yearning in my heart has taught me to use my agency to wait upon the Lord and increase my faith. I chose to not have my time wasted on self-pity and doubt. Rather, I found myself desiring more to be in the service of God. I sought and prayed for callings in the Church and I have been dedicating my time in magnifying them. I spend time with my parents more as they are growing old. I spend my time writing articles to help spread basic doctrine of the Church. I read bible stories to my nieces, write poems, play my guitar, take pictures, have adventures with friends, and attend Church activities especially those that are intended for young single adults. Waiting upon the Lord means being “anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (D&C 58:27) I recently turned 23 and I’m still single and it is okay. I trust in the Lord’s timing. I know his promises will not fail.

May all those young adults who are still single find courage and faith to wait upon the Lord and say “Thy will be done.” May we be not weary in seeking righteousness. May we always be welcoming in terms of dating faithful young adults. May we not doubt as we wait upon the Lord for our time to enter the holy covenant of matrimony.

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All of us experience trials in some degree and some of us, if not all, want to have the solutions when we want it and how we want it. Sometimes these trials become too much to handle, hurtful, inconvenient, and unpleasant that we desire that all of these trials will end. However, these trials require patience—patience to wait upon the Lord’s timing and blessings, to continue on the path of righteousness even when we are persecuted, to stand for truth even when we stand alone, and to bear all things with hope for good things to come.

It is important to note that patience requires action. Dieter F. Uchtdorf shared, “Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!” Jesus Christ set the perfect example of how we can live in patience as we experience trials in mortality. It is in patience that we learn the value of hard work, time and sacrifice. It is in patience that we strengthen our faith, build our character and fortify our virtues.

As we live in patience just like the Savior did, the Holy Ghost will comfort us and help us find peace during troubles times. We will also find ourselves closer to God and the blessings of heaven.

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