The Celestial Spa

Yesterday, while Matthew was hiking Mount Timpanogos his mom invited me to a Relief Society Meeting that her ward was having. The theme was "A Celestial Spa." We got to learn a few fun things, like how to make homemade lip balm and bath salts, a little about reflexology and were given a few home decor tips, but the best part of the whole morning to me was our first guest lecturer. The speaker is a musician and he spoke about spiritual connects and how they influence our lives. He spoke about how spiritual connections are like a spider web; in our meetings and through music we build connections with those around us. These connections are especially important in times of trial because they are like a web of testimony and support that gives us faith to continue on. He then spoke of music and how a certain combination of notes can bring a flood of memories and emotions to us. He played a few songs like “Happy Birthday” and the theme song from Jaws and let us experience our feelings. He then played a chord that didn't sound so good and spoke of how sometimes we try and make spiritual connections (through visiting teaching, or home teaching or bringing cookies to a neighbor etc.) and it doesn't go quite like we would have hoped or we have a bad experience in life. He then explained that these experiences are also very important. They are not always pleasant to go through, but they help us to become who the Lord wants us to be if we turn to Him. If we have the right perspective those bad chords/notes can help our song of life become more beautiful than it would have been if we hadn't had the trial. He then played a line of a song without the chords and then added the chords in to illustrate his point. The music was indeed more beautiful with the "bad" chord. I felt the spirit very strongly and I know that as we go through trials we can become stronger, more valiant servants of the Lord and if we trust in Him, He will help us to reach our full potential and when we will look back and listen to the song of our life, it will be beautiful.