And My Soul Hungered: Mormon Messages of Inspiration

By Brent Sauser

We can all use some inspiration from time to time. I know I do. That invigorating infusion of energy and hope is a priceless gift that lightens our everyday burdens. This book captures many of my life experiences and relates them in short gospel-centered messages. Each is written to spark heart-felt thought and inner resolve regarding our level of devotion and degree of commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Above all, these messages are meant to inspire and stimulate personal reflection, resulting in a fervent desire to stand a little taller in our duty to strengthen and serve others.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brent Sauser
• Release date: Aug 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311558763

Brent Sauser

dbsArchitectsPLLC offers over 30 years of experience that brings green building and sustainable design into the 21st Century. As principal of dbs Architects PLLC, Brent Sauser is a LEED (BD+C) accredited professional, and brings 35 years of experience to the company, that includes U.S. Embassies in Eastern Europe; Churches in Bolivia, South America, and a wide variety of building design in every U.S. time zone. He has a strong background in all climatic regions ranging from the Arizona desert, to the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, to the temperate regions of Southern California and the midwest, to the frigid winters of Minnesota, and to hot and humid Florida.dbs Architects PLLC has the expertise to integrate passive and active sustainable design features in a balanced manner that optimizes sustainable materials and Net Zero systems with the careful and sensible use of solar panels, wind turbines, and ground source heat pumps, etc.Brent Sauser is the owner and author of NetZeroMax.com that provides useful Net Zero information and promotes the goal of accelerating energy efficient, Net Zero design and construction. Since starting the website in July 2012, over 350,000 have visited the site, with close to 6,000 subscribers.Make dbs Architests PLLC your Net Zero choice for your next project. You can take comfort in knowing that your project will be designed for the sustainable demands and expectations of the 21st Century. You can find my website at: www.dbsArchitectsPLLC.com

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ATONEMENT

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands . . . .

(Isaiah 49: 16)

That sounds very painful. Pain is not a pleasant subject to write about or to consider as part of our traditional Easter commemoration. Perhaps that is why we try to hide its significance with Easter eggs, jelly beans, and chocolate bunnies. We don't want to be reminded of the incomprehensible pain our Savior had to endure while atoning for our sins. It is an uncomfortable truth that unbearable pain played an essential role in the greatest story ever told; the Atonement of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

(Isaiah 53: 3)

As pre-mortal beings we had occasion to feel spiritual sorrow and be acquainted with grief. Is it possible that a few of those that were cast out were spirit friends we were once very close to? Did we suffer a degree of sorrow and grief for those who lost their first estate? Pain, however, is an acute feeling of the body and this mortality. We gained this privilege when our first parents partook of the forbidden fruit. Pain of the body is much different from sorrow of the spirit. In the final hours of Christ's mortal mission he felt an immeasurable degree of spiritual sorrow and grief; feelings he was already acquainted with. However, added upon his sorrow and grief was an infinite intensity of mortal pain which caused him to bleed at every pore. The Lord proclaimed:

For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer BOTH body and spirit - and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink - nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

(D&C 19: 16-19)

The Atonement of Jesus Christ required a universal measure of mortal pain and spiritual sorrow to unlock the redemptive promise of the Plan of Salvation. Consider also that the Savior suffered additional pain while hanging from the cross, ending his mortal mission and fulfilling the will of the Father. Because of our Savior's atoning sacrifice we will not have to suffer as he did. Jesus Christ opened the doors of eternity wide open with the invitation to all who lived, are living, and will ever live to repent and come unto Him.

Our personal journey back to Heavenly Father includes a small measure of pain and sorrow. Perhaps only a thimble's full, but pain just the same. Some suffer more than others for which I cannot explain. Yet as true as it is that no one gets out of this life alive, the same can be said that the Straight and Narrow Path back Home passes through a corner of Gethsemane for each of us. We can minimize the mortal pain and suffering we feel through our faith and obedience to the Lord's commandments. Feeling mortal pain can bring us closer to Christ and in doing so our appreciation for Easter grows. As we rejoice in the blessings that come through obedience to God we can feel the redemptive healing power of the Atonement in our lives. No chocolate bunny could ever match that wonderful feeling.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; AND WITH HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED.

(Isaiah 53: 5)

BECOMING

Looking outside my office window I can tell it's going to be another 10 for weather. These are the precious days where I am reminded why I live in Central Florida. Paradise itself could not be much better than this. Even the humidity is cooperating. The flowers around the Orlando Temple look so beautiful! Such is spring time. Even so, with spring also comes allergies. My wife and I spend a lot of time sniffling during the spring. Then there is mowing the lawn! Mowing the lawn for me ranks right up there with shaving. You have to do it or it will get away from you. Few like a scraggly yard or a scraggly face. You'd think that after all these years mowing the lawn wouldn't be that big a deal, but I can't seem to get it off my drudgery list. Perhaps it was all those years in Minnesota where I only had to mow for a few months of the year and the rest of the time was frozen tundra. Maybe it's getting out of the habit and having to relearn every year. Whatever the reason we tend to be creatures of habit and, as best we can, avoid change. We, in general, have a certain view of ourselves and are content to live with it. Without knowing the BIG picture, we sometimes sell ourselves short of the view our Father in Heaven sees in us. I am reminded of the following from C. S. Lewis:

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace.

As we submit to the will of our Heavenly Father and allow him to mold and shape our lives, we can be assured that the Master Builder will do his part, if we but do ours. As the popular hymn (No. 270) states: I'll go where you want me to go. I'll say what you want me to say. I'll be who you want me to be. Sometimes, though, the journey can be difficult or even painful. But as we serve and obey with patience regardless of the circumstances, we can expect our journey to end in the eternal embrace of our Father in Heaven.

BEING IN TUNE

The summer of 1965 was an amazing time for me. I was 12 years old and had been invited to audition for a boys' choir that would sing in two operas; Carmen and Pagliacci. I enjoyed singing in the school choir, but had never auditioned before. My mother encouraged me even though I would be singing in front of 5,000 people at the Laguna Beach Amphitheatre, with singers from the Metropolitan Opera. It sounded like a big deal.

The audition was held at the Laguna Beach High School auditorium. When my mother and I arrived we took a seat in the audience and watched the activities on stage. At center stage was a concert grand piano. It was enormous! The man at the piano conducted the audition, while another took notes. Each boy stood at the end of the piano and tried to follow the director's commands. He would play a single note and the candidate had to sing that note perfectly. The director would listen carefully to make sure the pitch and tone was just right, as well as how long it took the boy to find the note. As I sat there I thought, I can do this. It took about two minutes for the director to size up each candidate. Then my name was called to come forward. I tried to not look out to see my mother even though I knew she was pulling for me. Now, however, I'm the one standing at the end of that huge concert grand with everyone watching me. It was very intimidating. I swallowed, took a deep breath, and nodded to the director that I was ready. He hit a note and I sang it. He did it again and again, and so did I. It was remarkable to realize that I could actually vocalize the note played on the piano. It took focus and concentration I never knew I had. I passed the audition and went on to have one of the most unique and wonderful summers a 12 year old boy could ever hope for. My voice changed soon thereafter and ended any future hope to sing in the boys' choir again.

We are blessed to hear from our General Authorities twice a year during General Conference. In a similar way they hit spiritual notes that we can capture in our hearts and embrace with our minds if we are in tune to receive them. The more spiritually in tune we are the stronger the signal with less static. A favorite hymn states:

We thank thee, O God, for a prophet

To guide us in these latter days.

We thank thee for sending the gospel

To lighten our minds with its rays.

We thank thee for every blessing

Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.

We feel it a pleasure to serve thee

And love to obey thy command.

(We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet, Hymn No. 19)

We have been blessed to live in a time when a Prophet of God walks the earth. It is our responsibility to properly prepare ourselves to heed his counsel. Tuning in with all our heart will assure static-free spiritual reception and personal uplift.

BEING PREPARED

"Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.

Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?"

(Matthew 6: 25-26,30)

It is comforting to know that Heavenly Father loves us and will take care of us. After all, isn't that what fathers are supposed to do? Yet, I don't think these scriptures are implying that we, of ourselves, do little to sustain ourselves and rely solely on Heavenly Father to provide for us. Is it a demonstration of a lack of faith that we participate in sustaining ourselves by putting our shoulder to the wheel to do our part? I don't think so. In fact, I think it's expected and appreciated by a loving Father in Heaven who