12. General Women's Session April 2015

This year I got the chance to listen to the Women's Broadcast a few weeks ago. While all the talks were very inspiring and gave great messages about the family, one in particular stood out to me. I loved the talk given by sister Cheryl A. Esplin. There were two parts of her talk that stood out to me.
First, I liked the part about comparing ourselves to a an empty or a full can. When applied with pressure, the empty can collapses, but the can that is filled stays in tact. We can compare this to ourselves spiritually. When we are filled with the spirit and the gospel, we are able to better withstand the pressures of the world around us. But when we do not have that light inside of us, it is much easier to give in and collapse.
"Satan knows that in order for us and our families to withstand the pressures of the world, we must be filled with light and gospel truth. So he does everything in his power to dilute, distort, and destroy the truth of the gospel and to keep us separated from that truth." We must be strong and protect ourselves from losing that Spirit.
Part of having the gospel truths and being strong is to have a testimony. Sometimes it feels like our testimonies just aren't strong enough to with stand the pressures. But sister Esplin also touched on this subject. She told a story about her grandmother who immigrated to American from Switerland. She and her family ran a mail station and often hosted many people travelling through the area. She had always taken granted that the church was true, and when "well read" men came through claiming that Joseph Smith was a fraud and the church wasn't true, her beliefs began to waver. One night she had a dream about Joseph Smith and him receiving the plates. She later saw a picture that perfectly depicted her dream. She later felt impressed that she could not "bury [her] testimony in the ground". She did struggle with her beliefs, but the important thing is that she did not give up on it.
I love the end of Sister Esplin's talk, especially the missionary note to it:
"we will have to do our best to hold on to whatever light and truth we currently have, especially in difficult circumstances. The answers to our prayers may not come dramatically, but we must find quiet moments to seek greater light and truth. And when we receive it, it is our responsibility to live it, to share it, and to defend it."