Have you ever been visit taught and\u00a0the companionship begins a game of \u201cI have it worse\u201d in front of you, leaving you out completely?\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve visited someone only to have them list, and repeat, their ailments until you have to boldly look at your watch and excuse yourself.\u00a0 Such are the joys of Visiting Teaching.<\/p>\n
Susa Young Gates offers some advice for complainers.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow well I remember Aunt Eliza Snow\u2019s admirable advice, ‘Never tell anybody if you are sick or sorry.\u00a0 Don\u2019t make others weary with your complaining.’\u00a0 President Young said once in a sermon that he kept his troubles to himself, and bothered no man with any recital of his difficulties.\u00a0 This was so true of him that if a member of his family ever asked how he was if he happened to be sick, they were sure to be answered with some witty jest which made them almost ashamed of having enquired.\u00a0 No one ever heard that remarkable man tell his daily and hourly trials as no one that I ever knew of ever heard Aunt Eliza Snow say she was sick or felt ill.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remember years ago talking with a young mother, who had recently lost her little boy to cancer.\u00a0 She hated people asking her how she was, because she was afraid of telling them.\u00a0 Most people, when they throw out the common \u201cHow are you\u201d, don\u2019t really expect a long answer, isn\u2019t that true?\u00a0 It\u2019s just a polite way of saying Hello.\u00a0 The woman made a decision never to ask others how they were (unless she wanted to know, then she waited for an honest answer), and she herself never answered, only smiled, when people casually asked her.<\/p>\n
Some people just like to complain.\u00a0 Susa warns that if you complain too much, you\u2019ll likely make yourself sicker.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s probably what people want, deep down.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it sad to think of miserable people when the gospel is on the earth and brings such happiness to so many who abide the precepts and live in anticipation of the fullness of the glories promised?\u00a0 Often, those who complain are trapped in their own insecurities.\u00a0 All those bad things that are happening to them prevent them from doing something more productive.<\/p>\n
Susa continues, \u201cAnother part of this is, that the influence of mind over matter is so great that if we can once learn to hold our tongues about what we are going through, whether it be in sickness or in other trials, we shall have a vastly increased amount of power to overcome and gain the victory.\u00a0 A strong mind rarely if ever talks of what is to be done, but may speak of what has been done.\u00a0 If I hear anyone say they are going to do such and such a thing, I am about sure they will do nothing of the sort.\u00a0 Words are the weakest as well as the strongest things on earth.\u00a0 They are weak when they betray our spirits, and they are strong when they obey an intelligent will.\u00a0 Are you the slave of your tongue?\u00a0 Then from this very moment try, don\u2019t say what you are going to do, but quietly and prayerfully set to work to overcome your master weakness. \u00a0\u00a0Let me warn my dear girl readers.\u00a0 Seek to control that tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n
She encourages all women, both young and old, to watch what you say.\u00a0 If you are beaten down with your own words and attitudes, think what you are doing to those who hear you.\u00a0 If you were to act against any one of your complaints and had an attitude of overcoming the difficulty in some way, think how you would feel about yourself, and how others may look upon your success.\u00a0 We have nothing to lose!\u00a0 Susa\u2019s final words are full of light, hope, and power.\u00a0 \u201cNever give up, and don\u2019t say to anyone what you mean to do, but just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Young Woman\u2019s Journal 4(1893): 426-7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Have you ever been visit taught and\u00a0the companionship begins a game of \u201cI have it worse\u201d in front of you, leaving you out completely?\u00a0 Maybe you\u2019ve visited someone only to have them list, and repeat, their ailments until you have to boldly look at your watch and excuse yourself.\u00a0 Such are the joys of Visiting […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[441,476],"tags":[388,389,316],"class_list":["post-2163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministering-messages","category-womanhood","tag-attitude","tag-tongue","tag-visiting-teaching"],"yoast_head":"\n