Laurie pointed out a talk by President Packer where he talked about the edge of the light. He spoke of a time shortly after being called when he sought counsel from then Elder Harold B Lee. Elder Lee quoted 18 words from the Book of Mormon, “Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.” It struck me that this trial of faith is an everyday thing. We walk to the edge of the light, and then a step or two into the darkness, or as Nephi said, “…not knowing beforehand the things which I should do…” If we desire and strive for the spirit to lead us, it will often be so. We take a step or two where we feel we should, not having a clue why or where, and when we have shown sufficient faith, the Lord will shine a little more light, or rather we gain a little more knowledge and understanding. Enough so we can take another step or two. In time, by our experiences, we gain a peace that this pattern will always be so. Along the way, we will stumble, hit walls and get discouraged, but if we will stop, remember the pattern, listen and take a step or two, we often find ourselves back on the road… where ever it may lead.

The world of hindsight can be such a useful thing. I sit and think about things that have happened in the past, challenges we have faced and began to note when I followed that spirit, amazing things happened and I was taught. On the other hand, when I just had a good idea of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do, it didn’t always go so good. I can tell you from experience that the number of times I ran into problems were almost always when I had an idea…ouch. When I followed the spirit, I see now the blessings that have come. The things I learned and the faith that came from those experiences.

So as Laurie has said, we begin. I am retiring and we are moving. We feel we need to serve a mission, sooner than later. But as we begin the preparations, the roadblocks come and the challenges mount. We felt a need to get the house on the market, NOW. We went to work, or at least Laurie went to work and I help fund the things I can’t do. We have most of it done, just some small stuff to finish, yet after a month, no one has call or come to look…curious. Next we felt we needed to get our missionary paperwork in. NOW. Again the roadblocks started. Bishop was out of town, then in trying to get all the medical stuff done for me, Doctors change dates once, twice, now three times…curious. Experience has taught that I do what I can, I follow the promptings and if I leave the working out of the details to the Lord, I end up where He wants me to be.
So we walk to the edge of the light, and then a step or two into the darkness