June 11, 2025 • 43 mins
Susan Chandler was born in 1956 in Rupert, Idaho. Her family was among the last to receive homesteads granted in the United States, settling on farmland approximately 13 miles from Rupert’s town center. Both of her parents were lifelong residents of the Rupert area.
Pursuing higher education, Susan earned an associate degree from Ricks College (now Brigham Young University–Idaho). She continued her studies at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, majoring in Home Economics. In 1983, she completed a home study course in Spanish. In 2016, she completed her undergraduate degree through BYU Idaho’s online program.
Susan met her husband, Gaylen, during their high school years, and they were married in June 1978. Throughout their marriage, Susan primarily dedicated herself to homemaking, providing a nurturing environment for their family. During a period when Gaylen pursued graduate studies, she also worked part-time at an alternative high school, where she taught the preschool-aged children of the students.
An individual of varied interests, Susan finds joy in sewing, baking, reading, and spending time in nature. She and Gaylen have six children and twelve grandchildren.
Susan has been deeply involved in service within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her roles have included serving as a Stake Online Seminary Teacher for six years, Relief Society President and counselor, Young Women’s counselor, Primary counselor and President, Primary Teacher, Activity Day leader, and Chorister. For the past eight years, she has served alongside her husband in his capacity as Stake President, as his speaking companion. She is also our stake seminary supervisor.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi friends, welcome to the Wichita, KS State Podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Kitchen, a state history specialist.
This podcast is intended to helpbring followers of Christ closer
to him. And to promote unity within the
body of Christ. By listening to our state
leaders share their personal stories of faith, by reflecting
on faith promoting experiences, we can strengthen our individual
faith in Jesus Christ together. Welcome to our next episode.
(00:25):
I'm here with Susan Chandler. She was born in 1956 in Rupert,
ID. Her family was only the last to
receive homesteads granted in the United States.
Settling on farm landed approximately 13 miles from
Rupert's Town Center. Both of her parents were
lifelong residents of the Rupertarea.
(00:45):
Pursuing higher education, Susanearned an associate degree from
Rich College, now Brigham Young University, Idaho.
She continued her studies at Bergen Young University in
Provo, UT, majoring in Home economics.
In 1983, she completed a home study course in Spanish.
In 2016, she completed her undergraduate degree through B1
(01:07):
Idaho's online program. Susan and her husband were
during their high school years and they were renewed in June
1978. Throughout their marriage, Susan
primarily dedicated herself to home making, providing A
nurturing environment for their family.
During the period when Galen pursued graduate studies, she
(01:27):
also worked part time at an alternate high school where she
taught the preschooler and children of the students.
An individual of void interests,Susan finds Jordan Serling,
Becky reading and spend my time in nature.
She and Duran have six children and 12 grandchildren.
Susan has been deeply involved in service within the Church of
(01:49):
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for those included,
serving as a state online seminary teacher for six years,
Relief Society president and counselor, Young Women's
Counselor, Friendly counselor and president, Friendly Teacher,
Activity Day, Linder and chorister.
For the past eight years, she has served alongside her husband
(02:11):
in his capacity as state president.
As his speaking companion, she was also our stake seminary
supervisor. Wolf with Sivan, thank.
You. Excited to talk with you today?
Let's let's start worth Of all the things that you learned from
your parents, what do you feel is the most important?
(02:31):
Well, they taught me whether it's might be by default or
whatever, but they taught me to stay out of debt.
I'm just you didn't credit cardswere tabular.
We didn't have to do that and racking up, you know, debt to
pay for something on the farm havoc long lasting effect in my
(02:53):
life. And, and my mom had to go to
work and, and I had to kind of be the mom after school for my
younger siblings 'cause she worked from futile.
And so I didn't see her during the week.
And, and I'm just in my teenage years from middle school into
(03:14):
high school, I did that. And it just profoundly taught me
to budget my money and to be Hugo and to stay out of debt.
Well, that's a good lesson to learn.
It is a good lesson to learn. Helps with staying happy, that's
for sure. If you're not owing someone
else, so also when you're thinking about your childhood,
(03:38):
who who is the oldest relative that you were a boomerang?
What do you remember about? Well, the only grandparents I
knew was my one paternal grandmother from my dad's mom
and we lived close to her in my first five years of marriage,
five year years of life and thenwe moved out onto the homestead
(03:59):
and from the farm. And so we're about now 10 miles
from her. And then as she aged, my dad
bought her trader as she lived in that trader just on the other
side of the street from the church there in the sequa.
(04:20):
And the Gray School was in that same area in a little square
town in and I would get to go over to her house during lunch,
would have lunch just a brief time.
I'm sure not not all all the time every day.
But the ones being she fed me was rice pudding.
(04:43):
And I love with rice pudding. It was a real treat.
I mean, my kids are not quite asspirit.
Nathan really likes it, but it'sa pastor that bakes with rice
and not pudding. Pavina's new vision, but I loved
it and I loved it with raisins in like children don't like with
raisins, but I have just fond memories.
(05:06):
My my grandma was not openly demonstrative a dog think she
ever really have to me or anything.
She just wasn't that careful of a woman, but she did make also
my food. They're all food related because
memories, but she was making a sugar cookies and they were just
(05:26):
about the size quarters. I don't know how she had
patience. I always wanted to make a real
big cookie salt and get done fast for but she made these
little tiny sugar cookies and she could have been butter
boxes. So she would line them all left
and stick in the butter box and then she'd give me this butter
box full of my very old sugar cookies.
It was really awesome. I'd love that's my favorite
(05:48):
cookie to this day, the only onereally I can bake tastes really
good. So I kind of carried on the
tradition and sugar cookies stuff like kids and we made
sugar cookies for, you know, holidays.
We made Valentine's and sometimes they took Valentine
cookies to to school to give us Valentine's before you can take
(06:09):
anything homemade course. But but we have Easter ones and
Halloween and and it is we're Saint Patrick's Day and
Christmas of course, and so we always that's what I bring
affiliates. That's the kind of.
Well, I think I'm in it. Well, not I think I know I'm the
(06:30):
ingredient with your children. I would prefer sugar cookies
over rice pudding. Well, I have something set too.
So sometimes you make, I mean, like his mom made it, which was
he cooked the pudding, you know,with rice in it, and the rice
cooks as it stuffs up. Yeah, sometimes I think so.
What role has has missionary sort of US or ministering
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efforts played in your life? One had a really amazing
experience when, oh, our third was just newborn baby.
We were living back in our club in our hometown after Gaval have
gotten his bachelor's degree in We have been to home now in kind
(07:14):
of for me area, but not as far out as I had lived in my youth.
And we were attending in the Esiqua ward that I had attended
all my life as a young girl. And they had lots of farm
laborers that were Hispanic people and they came in to work
(07:40):
and they start thinking that they ought to share the gospel
with them. And so they formed a branch, a
Spanish branch. And and it was dependent on a
sequel word that I crawled up in.
So that meant that the children would go with the primary and
use activities with be a sequel ward, but the parents would and
(08:02):
where we could speak English because they did not speak
English, but their parents couldn't would have relay
society in pre civil. Some of the school, you know, in
Spanish something were just dependent the children in in on
going to the primary and we didn't have to provide
leadership to do primary ideas. And so we blessed Preston in the
(08:25):
Spanish French, gave him to do it in Spanish and said no, I
don't understand if you can't doit in English.
And so we, I didn't want to go the whole 3 hours because I
didn't speak a word of Spanish. He was on Spanish speaking
mission. So just great for him.
(08:46):
But I didn't want to go. And then brave president's wife
was not going to go other than just sacred meeting.
So I thought that that would be a good thing for me to do.
I mean, just follow the leader. Do you know what that one's
doing? But Galen says, no, I really
feel like we should go together for we should those family, we
(09:06):
should go the whole 3 hours. And he said, well, you pray
about it. Well, I said grudgingly, OK.
And then when they knelt down toHeavenly Father, I don't want to
go. So really just tell me but I
knew I said yo I knew he was right and so I went did not
translate for me very much at all.
(09:29):
He wanted me to learn to to speak Spanish and if yelled this
parent saying I wouldn't have forceless to learn and I took a
home study course in Spanish from BYU.
It took me a whole year to go through it and every time I sat
down to nurse that brand new baby, which was frequently
initially, I got out my Spanish study book and I memorized and
(09:53):
memorized and and and practiced and practiced and and I got so I
could kind of speak it when it taught me that It's no small
thing when our missionaries go to be MTC and learn a language
in three months, but then they send them out there.
I couldn't even bear my testimony for months because I
(10:17):
just didn't know how to Spanish.Yeah, I just said, boy, we don't
know how much the gift of town of this is is exercised in the
behalf of our missionaries who serve on in foreign missions
because they go out there and they cannot possibly know.
I'm not to really speak, but theLord is weapon and and I made
(10:39):
wonderful friends. I had to learn their culture and
it was different and I had to learn to accept that to to get
to be happy and in the branch and they were wonderful people.
We we have great friendships with them and and I did finally
learn how to speak a little bit.I felt really helpless to help
(11:02):
in the branch. And so I'm paid for Relief
Society. I don't take piano well at all.
And it was simplified version and we just kind of plot him
through and they were real tolerant of me, really tolerant
of me. But we had, we started with just
a little group of the map, a single guy and then young man
(11:27):
and his wife and couple, three boys it seems like.
And then we just grew more and more in Galen, baptized over the
whole branch almost. He and his companion, serving on
a Spanish Peking state Commission, baptized 60 people
one year and 60 or so the next year until we have this brink of
(11:50):
of just wonderful people. And they started paying their
tithing and then they went to the temple.
We went with them. And this was just like serving
on any mission because my time was devoted to them.
We didn't go to our home or activities who went to our
branch activities in Spanish. And and it was very, very, it
(12:13):
was just, it was just this cool at home experience, but in
foreign land, so to speak, because that's what I lived in.
And I will be same teaching withone sister Maria, the lady we
had a little maverick and I had three kids by then.
(12:34):
Yeah, I have 3 little kids, just123 and she lived at least 13 to
15 miles from me. So I would drive up to her house
and pick her up and then we would drive another 10 or some
miles to the first light system that we had to visit.
(12:56):
And of course, I knew too littleof what was being said.
I just picked the words here andthere and smiled a lot.
And then we went out to the nextsister, which was another miles
to the next one and, and, and that's the way it would go.
And then I would take her all the way back to her house and
drop all the way back to the night.
And our Maverick got pretty goodgas mileage and it took, you
(13:20):
know, like about and take a guess, we had done visiting
teaching in Vermont doing Mason.And but I grew to love the
sisters and I grew to love the Latin people.
And I did grow to be able to bear my testimony in Spanish.
And it has paid dividends because when we moved here at
(13:43):
first the ward we are attending now, Valley Center, had a
dependent Spanish ranch and I was taught in the young women's
and we have almost all Spanish to clean young women.
And we only have a couple of them that spoke English.
So we have like 20, but you knowlike 2 of them and these Spanish
(14:05):
Krav Brockner friends all the time.
We have lots of visitors all about to young women's and, and
stuff. And I was so glad that I could
speak Spanish to their moms and that we could kind of connect
and I understood their culture. And then when Galen was called
into the state presidency, he wanted me to speak in the
Spanish branch. And my Spanish is still not
(14:28):
good, but I can kind of seek and, and they're very tolerant
again. And they could listen and kind
of decipher what I would see. And we have such wonderful
friends in the Spanish French. And I know that the Lord was
preparing me so that I could do that.
I could, I could be a very comfortable going to the Spanish
(14:48):
French and, and serving and doing what I could to help them.
So it was a cruel experience. I I loved my experience.
Yeah, and you know a lot of people I think that we just kind
of push off those those hard things that the the Lord asked
(15:09):
us. You were another language one
have a young family. Probably not the top of your
list. No, that was the top of the
limbs less, and you moved it to the top of your list.
Yeah, Yeah, I am. I had to.
I had to really work at it. I got myself in trouble almost
when when you know, just enough to get yourself in trouble.
(15:31):
Maria invited us to come to dinner at her house.
Four. I thought she did.
And she said she had a TV. They felt really bad.
We didn't have a TV in our, thattime and we had it up until that
time. And, and she says we found an
old TV, but I'm sure that that hermano Galen can, can do it and
(15:54):
he'll fix it. But Kaylin doesn't do that kind
of stuff. He's very handy, but not on
that. And she says, if you'll just
come out and get it and come about 8830.
And I went, oh, did she invite us to dinner or did I just
imagine that? And now I can't ask her because
then she thinks she has to invite me to dinner.
So I was one time when I kind ofgot my some puffle and I go, OK,
(16:17):
well, I'll feed the kids at 5:30and we'll just go out there and
if all we need to do is cut off the TV, they'll do that.
We'll chat and then we will comehome.
But we came in and I didn't smell food cooking and nothing
on the table said, OK, I'll go down.
I was right. We will just and that's an it's
understood. But then she started fixing food
and in an half hour or so. Then Jose Libis came home from
(16:41):
from working out in the fields and we set dinner down and had
in Latin cultures. They eat later, so we had
dinner. Wonderful.
So what are some other things that have nurtured your
testimony during your adult life?
(17:03):
One of the best things that for me, I had been reading my
scriptures. I was somewhat diligent, but I
was just, I was reading them. I, I knew the book of Mormons 2.
I knew the scriptures were the word of God and I felt good when
I read them, but I was mostly reading them and just getting a
(17:24):
few bits and pieces of, you know, insights And I was
underlining because I'm a real underlying.
But when technology became available for me to write my
notes in digital format as long as I wanted, they didn't have to
(17:45):
fit in the margins and let books, then my gospel study just
exploded. The best thing ever because I
could write. I wonder why they did that.
Huh. I wonder what this means.
And I'm going to look up definitions.
It'll copy and paste them into my digital notes with that
(18:05):
scripture and that underlined part.
And, and I could share them withmy sister or I could share them
on Facebook with my friends. And I am totally convinced that
when you write, as you study andread, the Spirit finally has
(18:27):
time to come in and give you added liberal Nuggets of
inspiration guides. But when we're just reading
that, we're not getting the spirit time.
And I have found over and over that the rich experience you can
(18:48):
have with scriptures when you just take time.
And I don't force whatever I'm doing.
If I feeling good what I'm studying, I can continue to
study one verse and study the words, maybe the culture behind
them. And especially in the Old
Testament, we did a lot of that and it has changed my gospel
(19:13):
studies significantly. I am loved to read the
scriptures and it is not hard atall to spend an hour or two
because it's rich in meaning. Not for me because I'm doing
more than reading words and stories.
I'm reading and saying what would you know, what in my life
is like this and how could I? I missed my life unless the Lord
(19:35):
trying to tell me and being ableto write all that down is just
then. I just love it.
It's wonderful. Yeah.
And in the present moment, beingable to write those things,
you're sharing your own thoughts.
But then four years later, or whenever, when you're going back
into that same book of Shuchen, being able to recognize your
(19:58):
root of your own thoughts and experiences and be reminded and
be able to build on those too. Yeah.
And you correct some of the misconceptions.
I had questions on some things that, like you say, I come back
for years or whatever later and go, oh, I know the answer to
that and now I understand what it's trying to say.
So it's great to be able to lookback and see those and on
(20:21):
occasion I do, but I don't a lot.
I'm just continue to read. I'm now I'm making a Google doc
because I kind of forget some ofthe insights and I go where was
that that I was thinking this isso gayness been doing this for a
while, but I finally in the lastseveral months have created the
Google doc for every week. And then I copy and paste the
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insights or the scriptures that touched me or whatever.
So that I kind of kind of help me remember what it was and
where it is. So and all my talks come from my
gospel study. They all come from my gospel
study. They're just things that I've
thought through during the week and and insights I've gained and
(21:05):
had a period to my life. So I've love I love the
scriptures. I have when they taught primary
a number of years ago. Wow, 20 something more than 20
years ago. My I always taught from the
scriptures. I always made them read from the
scriptures and and converse and I didn't realize what I was
(21:27):
teaching them that I didn't. You know, one of the young women
get she years, a few years under, she's somebody asked for
something and not sister chamber.
She says, Oh, Sister Chandler loves the scriptures.
I didn't know. That's why I was I don't think I
ever said that directly, but sheassumed from what we did and how
(21:50):
we studied that I loved and I did.
I didn't know the scriptures. So then, thinking about other
life experiences, what are some that have caused you to trust
God? Well, a real turning point in my
understanding of Laplaya came wehad six or eight years of just
(22:20):
grueling situations to deal justthings to do with children in
our personal life. And and I just at one point I
wasn't sleeping well. I couldn't eat well.
I was just so stressed and I'm not how to resolve issues that I
(22:43):
knew I couldn't go back and fix something that had been done.
And I was just anxious and it was just when I cried, I sobbed.
It wasn't just the tears around,I just sobbed.
It was so painful and difficult and I finally came to the point
I said I think I can't learn this anymore.
(23:05):
It's too heavy of a burden. And I remember distinctly the
Scripture to lay your burden wasat his feet freely of burdens to
the Saviour. I've never done that before, but
(23:30):
I knew I had to do something. I couldn't survive.
I had other children I had and wire Stanley to take care of and
I so I physically, mentally pictured myself with this
burden, dropping it at the senior's seat.
And it was such a relief, such really, I felt them lifted.
(23:57):
But, you know, we're human and the situation was still
something we were still draggingthrough.
And I would find myself taking the burden back and starting to
agonize and think, if, you know,if I had just done this and
maybe when I did this is what good and you, what can I do now?
(24:19):
I'm trying to fix the problem myself.
And I began to learn that I had taken the burden back and I get
it back to him and I got pretty good at it because sometimes I
would be so frustrated, I would just like chucked me my, my arm
(24:41):
would go out there and physically I was just talking
about, no, we've got this. I know you've got it all.
No, I can't make a difference. I at this point, this is all
yours, this child or this problem is yours caring for me
and I cannot control another person's actions.
My vision of motherhood was thatI was going to do everything
(25:05):
right and make sure that they did everything right.
And then we even all just arrived in heaven together.
But that's not the way you raisechildren.
They have agency to choose and they will.
And no, no amount of your mothering can force them or
should to make a choice. And I had to win that.
(25:28):
It was a hard lesson and I have relearned it over and over.
It's one of the most processed things that you have to learn
with every child after I I just had to learn with every child
after that to say, OK, I can't deal with this particular issue
that this child was having. And I looked for things that we
(25:50):
had that I could look at. I could look for good.
I could look for things that we could have common granddad.
And that has blessed my life. You mentioned I'm very starving
to look for good. We could have a relationship.
(26:11):
I could love that child. I could put my arms around them
and not feel frustrated and betrayed and hurt by their
decisions. I could love them.
And it has helped me to do that in with other people, with my
seminary students, with, you know, other individuals that may
(26:33):
be responding negatively that I would have judged before and
then irritated by. And I'm not saying I've got to
see this is the process. I'm I still have to put on
sweat, but I have become better at being able to find common
ground. I think it helped me immensely
when we came here. Initially, I thought I was going
(26:54):
to be, you know, this missionaryand our church is the true
church and, you know, we have itall.
So you should, you know, listen to me.
And when that kind of approach, of course, didn't work really
well and they I mustn't really terribly pushy.
But you know, it's my attitude of what what we can do.
(27:16):
And finally it dawned on me, they love Jesus.
That's all good. They're free to and they're
really willing to talk about Jesus and about their church and
I could talk about Jesus. Why haven't I made this so hard?
I don't have to this. I don't have to convert them.
Death, the spirits and God's, he's going to bring them along
(27:38):
and they're going to be where they are and he knows best.
And I just have to talk about Jesus and, and love them and
find common good that we share and, and it's just very natural
and normal to just do those things that don't feel stressful
enough. And so it's been a really long
(28:02):
process. I'm still learning, but it has
changed how I know that people and how I deal with people and
for the good. They've pursuing very personal
intimate experience since that may be difficult, certainly
(28:24):
difficult in the moment, but difficult to share also.
Thank you for being vulnerable with us and sharing that and
then related it to your own experiences again, then sharing
the gospel that we can, we can be ourselves and that's enough.
Yeah. Yeah, we can and, and we can
(28:46):
just look for a bit and and accept the good that you see and
they'll learn that and that's enough.
Yeah. And it helps you to love others
and be at peace. Yeah, sometimes, just like you
said, easier said than done. Oh yes.
(29:09):
Oftentimes easier said than done, but but it needs to be
both right? Said and done.
Yeah, Yeah. So what are some some things
that you like to do for fun? I I am SC stress I love to sell
every silk with kids clothes andmy clothes for many years that
(29:31):
Walmart and stuff came around and you know I don't do that as
much anymore. But I also like to be apartment
in nature and I love to see all of nature.
And I pointed it out to my children as they were growing
up. So much so that one day we had
(29:52):
taken the younger, the older 3 kids backpacking and they were
just two, four and six and very first backpacking trip and our
little toddler at 2:00, we were lagging way behind.
(30:13):
It was like a four mile height and you know, a 2 year old were
4 miles. But every step of the way they
had little tiny, ah, pine cones.Little tiny pine cones.
They couldn't been more than, you know, an inch and a half.
They were just little and this little toddler going along the
road, he would say Caterpillar, Caterpillar and pointed out that
(30:38):
he thought they were caterpillars and they made us
even slower than fountain. But they learned to look at at
nature and I find beauty even indeath sack in the colors of
rocks and and formations on the desert in Arizona and New Mexico
(30:59):
and and I I am fascinated with God's handiwork.
I love to see that. Nathan loves to see the sunset.
We have too many trees to reallysee that if there we can just
see the blush over the South of the trees.
But he loves to see that too. And my kids have noticed nature
and and they all kind of I have one that probably doesn't want
(31:21):
to be much out in nature. Maybe too.
They have too much yard work in their lives.
They don't want to ever do that again.
But I think it's broadened theirhorizons and, and I, I just, I
love to see all of nature and wildflowers are my absolute
favorite. I love to take pictures of
(31:42):
wildflowers and I just love thatit's cool.
Wonderful God's creations, appreciating those.
So what are you most grateful for?
I think I'm most grateful at this point in my life with my
(32:06):
understanding and the nature I Savior I grew up with.
I wouldn't say false teachings, but inaccurate teachings that
really made it difficult for me to see Christ as a loving
merciful. I thought it worked for everyone
(32:28):
else. I didn't really and what family
in the trauma of my my childhood, I just received that
information and I didn't realizehow it had affected my life
until I was into my 40s and I realized, oh, that wasn't a good
(32:48):
thing for someone to say to me. Yearned.
It has been difficult to overcome that I am.
This is a process that I work atand that's one of the hugest
blessings of Lagos for study. My sister and I share weekly
(33:09):
texts about our scripture study and she and I both know this.
The character traits that come out in the things that we read
in our scriptures look, Jesus's merciful look, he was weakening
with the children look, he was not condemning the the sinful.
(33:32):
He was reaching out, he was lifting, he was not angry.
He wasn't pointing his finger. He was trying to help them.
He did it correct in harshness. He, he guided them and I just, I
(33:53):
see that more and more now that I look at it.
And as I see his character, it changes my character.
It helps me to recognize things I need to, to look to, to strive
to better AT. And I, it has really changed me
(34:14):
and it, but it's a really gradual process.
It doesn't happen overnight. I still have some negative self
talk that I struggle with and that I have treated mindless.
So cute already know this is what Jesus says.
He's not. He's not shaking a finger at,
you know, a finger at you. And that I think was my foremost
(34:36):
picture of Jesus was him shakinghis finger because he was
displeased. And I have more Times Now than I
am recognized his gentle hand inmy life, especially as I served
with Gaiman in the stake. I've the Lord answers the
(34:57):
prayers I have about what to speak about more than any other
process. I say he answers those am I have
been inspired to have words to say and one person came up to me
a one time or other and a few people probably.
But how, how could you know I needed that today?
(35:18):
Well, I don't know anything. It's the Spirit that knows and
the spirit that guides me. I I remember one talk in
particular as I read a scriptureand was pondering and praying
for the Lord to guide me. I always like to get something
that they can rate late in theirown life initially so that then
(35:39):
I can teach the doctrine or or principle that the scriptures
teaches. And I've talked about
superheroes. It doesn't.
Wow, you does that. That's really awful.
Well, I couldn't think that you were.
I says I didn't either. But that one just popped into my
mind and it fit perfectly with the analogy I wanted to make on
(36:01):
a connection to make the scripture so things that I
hadn't thought of in years or experience.
So whatever will come to mind, and I know that it's not me.
I know that it's the spirit. I know that it's the Lord that
knows the situations in our lives.
And through a humble servant just trying to do what he wants
(36:25):
that that he speaks. And sometimes I'll have my talk,
I think kind of in my mind and kind of where I better go with
it. And then, you know, like on
Saturday, all of a sudden, OK, well, Lord, I'm not feeling good
about this. So tell me what you want me to
do because I could do whatever, but I'm not feeling good about
(36:47):
this. And then I get some other.
I didn't go a different way, butI had no kind of plans.
So I know what's the spirit. It's not me, it's the spirit
that is teaching and it's the spirit that we have been given
to, to share with the members ofour stake.
And and so I know that the Lord loves us.
(37:08):
He knows us, He knows what we'regoing to.
I had an experience recently where I have been toward like,
oh, I didn't see sisters So and so and, and then I went back
into the building to find her and which is really kind of
uncommon. I don't, I mean, I do try to
find just that this was I'd already got the kind of a car
(37:30):
and and I didn't even really think about it.
I just thought I need to go and find her.
And and as I went back in, she came out every son sister, I
just need to give you a hug. I had never had to this sister
before ever. I'd never had that kind of a
relationship, but I I did it without thinking.
It was just an kind of unusual kind of I do hug sisters, but
(37:54):
this one, you know, I hadn't. And as I gave her a hug, she
tightened the hug and started toSOB.
And I didn't know, I had no idea.
She didn't feel like she needed to talk to me.
But I held her for a long time and she was about ready to go.
And I could tell. And I says no, you just suddenly
(38:15):
brought your approval by a long perk until she could come.
And I didn't know. I, I didn't know what prompted
me to do that that day. But I know that the Lord can
work through us and often does. I'm working it following the
spirit. That's still really hard that
what came without even thought. You know, usually I kind of
(38:37):
second guess myself. Oh, you didn't you really need
to do that. But at this particular time, the
spirit just the call for so I love that.
I love that I have loved loved the time step visiting all of
the members in the wards instead.
I have been so blessed by their faithfulness, by their
(39:02):
testimonies. I just, it's been a joke.
I'm parallel to work with all ofthat.
Never found a mistake. Thank you.
I've I've really enjoyed this talk today, our visit.
Will you please conclude our episode there with your
(39:24):
testimony of Jesus Christ and ofHis restored church?
I they raised in the church all my life.
My ancestors go back to to the founding of the church and so
I've never questioned, but my faith has grown and I can't even
(39:52):
imagine how Joseph Smith could have ever successfully this 20,
21/22/23 year old man with very little education.
Could he have done what he did if he was milk I by God, all the
other little churches that kind of fensored off in that time
(40:15):
period in the Illinois and and Missouri just had straggling
followers. They they didn't try.
This is the Lord's church restored to his Father, Joseph
Smith, and he continues to restore it today.
I can see it in our prophet, President Nelson.
(40:41):
I can see it in the apostles andthe other leaders that it just,
it's just so real to me that theLord is this is his church and
he is hastening his work and, and I just know it.
(41:01):
I love the Book of Mormon. I love its simple teaching
doctrine. I know it's true.
I know this Xavier loves me. I know He is merciful and long,
long, long-suffering and kind, and that he thinks I can do way
(41:27):
more things than I think. That's because I have done them.
And I am so grateful for my testimony of him, that of his
sacrifice, of his knowledge, of my pain.
I remember kneeling at the bed. I'm always sick with my
pregnancies and the last one wasreally a dizzy and I had got so
(41:51):
sick I couldn't sleep on the water bed and had to sleep on
the sofa bed for a couple months.
And and in this hour of just feeling so nauseous and not
being able to eat and I knelt mybedside and said probably not
very rarely. Can you even really imagine what
(42:12):
awoken is going through? Can you really know?
But he does, because he felt allup our tea, all of our sickness,
all of our triumphs and troubles.
He felt it in his body and fled.From the every war.
(42:35):
He knows us and he knows the triumphs.
He is the answer to all of us problems.
His life, His teachings will help us, His Spirit, His
autonomous. How many sing my name Jesus
Christ singing? I hope that this episode of The
(42:59):
Witch Tookie is a Stick podcast helped bring you closer to
Christ. I invite you to take some time
today to write about or record one of your own faith promoting
experiences.
Hi friends, welcome to the Wichita, KS State Podcast.
I'm your host, Paul Kitchen, a state history specialist.
This podcast is intended to helpbring followers of Christ closer
to him. And to promote unity within the
body of Christ. By listening to our state
leaders share their personal stories of faith, by reflecting
on faith promoting experiences, we can strengthen our individual
faith in Jesus Christ together. Welcome to our next episode.
(00:25):
I'm here with Susan Chandler. She was born in 1956 in Rupert,
ID. Her family was only the last to
receive homesteads granted in the United States.
Settling on farm landed approximately 13 miles from
Rupert's Town Center. Both of her parents were
lifelong residents of the Rupertarea.
(00:45):
Pursuing higher education, Susanearned an associate degree from
Rich College, now Brigham Young University, Idaho.
She continued her studies at Bergen Young University in
Provo, UT, majoring in Home economics.
In 1983, she completed a home study course in Spanish.
In 2016, she completed her undergraduate degree through B1
(01:07):
Idaho's online program. Susan and her husband were
during their high school years and they were renewed in June
1978. Throughout their marriage, Susan
primarily dedicated herself to home making, providing A
nurturing environment for their family.
During the period when Galen pursued graduate studies, she
(01:27):
also worked part time at an alternate high school where she
taught the preschooler and children of the students.
An individual of void interests,Susan finds Jordan Serling,
Becky reading and spend my time in nature.
She and Duran have six children and 12 grandchildren.
Susan has been deeply involved in service within the Church of
(01:49):
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for those included,
serving as a state online seminary teacher for six years,
Relief Society president and counselor, Young Women's
Counselor, Friendly counselor and president, Friendly Teacher,
Activity Day, Linder and chorister.
For the past eight years, she has served alongside her husband
(02:11):
in his capacity as state president.
As his speaking companion, she was also our stake seminary
supervisor. Wolf with Sivan, thank.
You. Excited to talk with you today?
Let's let's start worth Of all the things that you learned from
your parents, what do you feel is the most important?
(02:31):
Well, they taught me whether it's might be by default or
whatever, but they taught me to stay out of debt.
I'm just you didn't credit cardswere tabular.
We didn't have to do that and racking up, you know, debt to
pay for something on the farm havoc long lasting effect in my
(02:53):
life. And, and my mom had to go to
work and, and I had to kind of be the mom after school for my
younger siblings 'cause she worked from futile.
And so I didn't see her during the week.
And, and I'm just in my teenage years from middle school into
(03:14):
high school, I did that. And it just profoundly taught me
to budget my money and to be Hugo and to stay out of debt.
Well, that's a good lesson to learn.
It is a good lesson to learn. Helps with staying happy, that's
for sure. If you're not owing someone
else, so also when you're thinking about your childhood,
(03:38):
who who is the oldest relative that you were a boomerang?
What do you remember about? Well, the only grandparents I
knew was my one paternal grandmother from my dad's mom
and we lived close to her in my first five years of marriage,
five year years of life and thenwe moved out onto the homestead
(03:59):
and from the farm. And so we're about now 10 miles
from her. And then as she aged, my dad
bought her trader as she lived in that trader just on the other
side of the street from the church there in the sequa.
(04:20):
And the Gray School was in that same area in a little square
town in and I would get to go over to her house during lunch,
would have lunch just a brief time.
I'm sure not not all all the time every day.
But the ones being she fed me was rice pudding.
(04:43):
And I love with rice pudding. It was a real treat.
I mean, my kids are not quite asspirit.
Nathan really likes it, but it'sa pastor that bakes with rice
and not pudding. Pavina's new vision, but I loved
it and I loved it with raisins in like children don't like with
raisins, but I have just fond memories.
(05:06):
My my grandma was not openly demonstrative a dog think she
ever really have to me or anything.
She just wasn't that careful of a woman, but she did make also
my food. They're all food related because
memories, but she was making a sugar cookies and they were just
(05:26):
about the size quarters. I don't know how she had
patience. I always wanted to make a real
big cookie salt and get done fast for but she made these
little tiny sugar cookies and she could have been butter
boxes. So she would line them all left
and stick in the butter box and then she'd give me this butter
box full of my very old sugar cookies.
It was really awesome. I'd love that's my favorite
(05:48):
cookie to this day, the only onereally I can bake tastes really
good. So I kind of carried on the
tradition and sugar cookies stuff like kids and we made
sugar cookies for, you know, holidays.
We made Valentine's and sometimes they took Valentine
cookies to to school to give us Valentine's before you can take
(06:09):
anything homemade course. But but we have Easter ones and
Halloween and and it is we're Saint Patrick's Day and
Christmas of course, and so we always that's what I bring
affiliates. That's the kind of.
Well, I think I'm in it. Well, not I think I know I'm the
(06:30):
ingredient with your children. I would prefer sugar cookies
over rice pudding. Well, I have something set too.
So sometimes you make, I mean, like his mom made it, which was
he cooked the pudding, you know,with rice in it, and the rice
cooks as it stuffs up. Yeah, sometimes I think so.
What role has has missionary sort of US or ministering
(06:53):
efforts played in your life? One had a really amazing
experience when, oh, our third was just newborn baby.
We were living back in our club in our hometown after Gaval have
gotten his bachelor's degree in We have been to home now in kind
(07:14):
of for me area, but not as far out as I had lived in my youth.
And we were attending in the Esiqua ward that I had attended
all my life as a young girl. And they had lots of farm
laborers that were Hispanic people and they came in to work
(07:40):
and they start thinking that they ought to share the gospel
with them. And so they formed a branch, a
Spanish branch. And and it was dependent on a
sequel word that I crawled up in.
So that meant that the children would go with the primary and
use activities with be a sequel ward, but the parents would and
(08:02):
where we could speak English because they did not speak
English, but their parents couldn't would have relay
society in pre civil. Some of the school, you know, in
Spanish something were just dependent the children in in on
going to the primary and we didn't have to provide
leadership to do primary ideas. And so we blessed Preston in the
(08:25):
Spanish French, gave him to do it in Spanish and said no, I
don't understand if you can't doit in English.
And so we, I didn't want to go the whole 3 hours because I
didn't speak a word of Spanish. He was on Spanish speaking
mission. So just great for him.
(08:46):
But I didn't want to go. And then brave president's wife
was not going to go other than just sacred meeting.
So I thought that that would be a good thing for me to do.
I mean, just follow the leader. Do you know what that one's
doing? But Galen says, no, I really
feel like we should go together for we should those family, we
(09:06):
should go the whole 3 hours. And he said, well, you pray
about it. Well, I said grudgingly, OK.
And then when they knelt down toHeavenly Father, I don't want to
go. So really just tell me but I
knew I said yo I knew he was right and so I went did not
translate for me very much at all.
(09:29):
He wanted me to learn to to speak Spanish and if yelled this
parent saying I wouldn't have forceless to learn and I took a
home study course in Spanish from BYU.
It took me a whole year to go through it and every time I sat
down to nurse that brand new baby, which was frequently
initially, I got out my Spanish study book and I memorized and
(09:53):
memorized and and and practiced and practiced and and I got so I
could kind of speak it when it taught me that It's no small
thing when our missionaries go to be MTC and learn a language
in three months, but then they send them out there.
I couldn't even bear my testimony for months because I
(10:17):
just didn't know how to Spanish.Yeah, I just said, boy, we don't
know how much the gift of town of this is is exercised in the
behalf of our missionaries who serve on in foreign missions
because they go out there and they cannot possibly know.
I'm not to really speak, but theLord is weapon and and I made
(10:39):
wonderful friends. I had to learn their culture and
it was different and I had to learn to accept that to to get
to be happy and in the branch and they were wonderful people.
We we have great friendships with them and and I did finally
learn how to speak a little bit.I felt really helpless to help
(11:02):
in the branch. And so I'm paid for Relief
Society. I don't take piano well at all.
And it was simplified version and we just kind of plot him
through and they were real tolerant of me, really tolerant
of me. But we had, we started with just
a little group of the map, a single guy and then young man
(11:27):
and his wife and couple, three boys it seems like.
And then we just grew more and more in Galen, baptized over the
whole branch almost. He and his companion, serving on
a Spanish Peking state Commission, baptized 60 people
one year and 60 or so the next year until we have this brink of
(11:50):
of just wonderful people. And they started paying their
tithing and then they went to the temple.
We went with them. And this was just like serving
on any mission because my time was devoted to them.
We didn't go to our home or activities who went to our
branch activities in Spanish. And and it was very, very, it
(12:13):
was just, it was just this cool at home experience, but in
foreign land, so to speak, because that's what I lived in.
And I will be same teaching withone sister Maria, the lady we
had a little maverick and I had three kids by then.
(12:34):
Yeah, I have 3 little kids, just123 and she lived at least 13 to
15 miles from me. So I would drive up to her house
and pick her up and then we would drive another 10 or some
miles to the first light system that we had to visit.
(12:56):
And of course, I knew too littleof what was being said.
I just picked the words here andthere and smiled a lot.
And then we went out to the nextsister, which was another miles
to the next one and, and, and that's the way it would go.
And then I would take her all the way back to her house and
drop all the way back to the night.
And our Maverick got pretty goodgas mileage and it took, you
(13:20):
know, like about and take a guess, we had done visiting
teaching in Vermont doing Mason.And but I grew to love the
sisters and I grew to love the Latin people.
And I did grow to be able to bear my testimony in Spanish.
And it has paid dividends because when we moved here at
(13:43):
first the ward we are attending now, Valley Center, had a
dependent Spanish ranch and I was taught in the young women's
and we have almost all Spanish to clean young women.
And we only have a couple of them that spoke English.
So we have like 20, but you knowlike 2 of them and these Spanish
(14:05):
Krav Brockner friends all the time.
We have lots of visitors all about to young women's and, and
stuff. And I was so glad that I could
speak Spanish to their moms and that we could kind of connect
and I understood their culture. And then when Galen was called
into the state presidency, he wanted me to speak in the
Spanish branch. And my Spanish is still not
(14:28):
good, but I can kind of seek and, and they're very tolerant
again. And they could listen and kind
of decipher what I would see. And we have such wonderful
friends in the Spanish French. And I know that the Lord was
preparing me so that I could do that.
I could, I could be a very comfortable going to the Spanish
(14:48):
French and, and serving and doing what I could to help them.
So it was a cruel experience. I I loved my experience.
Yeah, and you know a lot of people I think that we just kind
of push off those those hard things that the the Lord asked
(15:09):
us. You were another language one
have a young family. Probably not the top of your
list. No, that was the top of the
limbs less, and you moved it to the top of your list.
Yeah, Yeah, I am. I had to.
I had to really work at it. I got myself in trouble almost
when when you know, just enough to get yourself in trouble.
(15:31):
Maria invited us to come to dinner at her house.
Four. I thought she did.
And she said she had a TV. They felt really bad.
We didn't have a TV in our, thattime and we had it up until that
time. And, and she says we found an
old TV, but I'm sure that that hermano Galen can, can do it and
(15:54):
he'll fix it. But Kaylin doesn't do that kind
of stuff. He's very handy, but not on
that. And she says, if you'll just
come out and get it and come about 8830.
And I went, oh, did she invite us to dinner or did I just
imagine that? And now I can't ask her because
then she thinks she has to invite me to dinner.
So I was one time when I kind ofgot my some puffle and I go, OK,
(16:17):
well, I'll feed the kids at 5:30and we'll just go out there and
if all we need to do is cut off the TV, they'll do that.
We'll chat and then we will comehome.
But we came in and I didn't smell food cooking and nothing
on the table said, OK, I'll go down.
I was right. We will just and that's an it's
understood. But then she started fixing food
and in an half hour or so. Then Jose Libis came home from
(16:41):
from working out in the fields and we set dinner down and had
in Latin cultures. They eat later, so we had
dinner. Wonderful.
So what are some other things that have nurtured your
testimony during your adult life?
(17:03):
One of the best things that for me, I had been reading my
scriptures. I was somewhat diligent, but I
was just, I was reading them. I, I knew the book of Mormons 2.
I knew the scriptures were the word of God and I felt good when
I read them, but I was mostly reading them and just getting a
(17:24):
few bits and pieces of, you know, insights And I was
underlining because I'm a real underlying.
But when technology became available for me to write my
notes in digital format as long as I wanted, they didn't have to
(17:45):
fit in the margins and let books, then my gospel study just
exploded. The best thing ever because I
could write. I wonder why they did that.
Huh. I wonder what this means.
And I'm going to look up definitions.
It'll copy and paste them into my digital notes with that
(18:05):
scripture and that underlined part.
And, and I could share them withmy sister or I could share them
on Facebook with my friends. And I am totally convinced that
when you write, as you study andread, the Spirit finally has
(18:27):
time to come in and give you added liberal Nuggets of
inspiration guides. But when we're just reading
that, we're not getting the spirit time.
And I have found over and over that the rich experience you can
(18:48):
have with scriptures when you just take time.
And I don't force whatever I'm doing.
If I feeling good what I'm studying, I can continue to
study one verse and study the words, maybe the culture behind
them. And especially in the Old
Testament, we did a lot of that and it has changed my gospel
(19:13):
studies significantly. I am loved to read the
scriptures and it is not hard atall to spend an hour or two
because it's rich in meaning. Not for me because I'm doing
more than reading words and stories.
I'm reading and saying what would you know, what in my life
is like this and how could I? I missed my life unless the Lord
(19:35):
trying to tell me and being ableto write all that down is just
then. I just love it.
It's wonderful. Yeah.
And in the present moment, beingable to write those things,
you're sharing your own thoughts.
But then four years later, or whenever, when you're going back
into that same book of Shuchen, being able to recognize your
(19:58):
root of your own thoughts and experiences and be reminded and
be able to build on those too. Yeah.
And you correct some of the misconceptions.
I had questions on some things that, like you say, I come back
for years or whatever later and go, oh, I know the answer to
that and now I understand what it's trying to say.
So it's great to be able to lookback and see those and on
(20:21):
occasion I do, but I don't a lot.
I'm just continue to read. I'm now I'm making a Google doc
because I kind of forget some ofthe insights and I go where was
that that I was thinking this isso gayness been doing this for a
while, but I finally in the lastseveral months have created the
Google doc for every week. And then I copy and paste the
(20:44):
insights or the scriptures that touched me or whatever.
So that I kind of kind of help me remember what it was and
where it is. So and all my talks come from my
gospel study. They all come from my gospel
study. They're just things that I've
thought through during the week and and insights I've gained and
(21:05):
had a period to my life. So I've love I love the
scriptures. I have when they taught primary
a number of years ago. Wow, 20 something more than 20
years ago. My I always taught from the
scriptures. I always made them read from the
scriptures and and converse and I didn't realize what I was
(21:27):
teaching them that I didn't. You know, one of the young women
get she years, a few years under, she's somebody asked for
something and not sister chamber.
She says, Oh, Sister Chandler loves the scriptures.
I didn't know. That's why I was I don't think I
ever said that directly, but sheassumed from what we did and how
(21:50):
we studied that I loved and I did.
I didn't know the scriptures. So then, thinking about other
life experiences, what are some that have caused you to trust
God? Well, a real turning point in my
understanding of Laplaya came wehad six or eight years of just
(22:20):
grueling situations to deal justthings to do with children in
our personal life. And and I just at one point I
wasn't sleeping well. I couldn't eat well.
I was just so stressed and I'm not how to resolve issues that I
(22:43):
knew I couldn't go back and fix something that had been done.
And I was just anxious and it was just when I cried, I sobbed.
It wasn't just the tears around,I just sobbed.
It was so painful and difficult and I finally came to the point
I said I think I can't learn this anymore.
(23:05):
It's too heavy of a burden. And I remember distinctly the
Scripture to lay your burden wasat his feet freely of burdens to
the Saviour. I've never done that before, but
(23:30):
I knew I had to do something. I couldn't survive.
I had other children I had and wire Stanley to take care of and
I so I physically, mentally pictured myself with this
burden, dropping it at the senior's seat.
And it was such a relief, such really, I felt them lifted.
(23:57):
But, you know, we're human and the situation was still
something we were still draggingthrough.
And I would find myself taking the burden back and starting to
agonize and think, if, you know,if I had just done this and
maybe when I did this is what good and you, what can I do now?
(24:19):
I'm trying to fix the problem myself.
And I began to learn that I had taken the burden back and I get
it back to him and I got pretty good at it because sometimes I
would be so frustrated, I would just like chucked me my, my arm
(24:41):
would go out there and physically I was just talking
about, no, we've got this. I know you've got it all.
No, I can't make a difference. I at this point, this is all
yours, this child or this problem is yours caring for me
and I cannot control another person's actions.
My vision of motherhood was thatI was going to do everything
(25:05):
right and make sure that they did everything right.
And then we even all just arrived in heaven together.
But that's not the way you raisechildren.
They have agency to choose and they will.
And no, no amount of your mothering can force them or
should to make a choice. And I had to win that.
(25:28):
It was a hard lesson and I have relearned it over and over.
It's one of the most processed things that you have to learn
with every child after I I just had to learn with every child
after that to say, OK, I can't deal with this particular issue
that this child was having. And I looked for things that we
(25:50):
had that I could look at. I could look for good.
I could look for things that we could have common granddad.
And that has blessed my life. You mentioned I'm very starving
to look for good. We could have a relationship.
(26:11):
I could love that child. I could put my arms around them
and not feel frustrated and betrayed and hurt by their
decisions. I could love them.
And it has helped me to do that in with other people, with my
seminary students, with, you know, other individuals that may
(26:33):
be responding negatively that I would have judged before and
then irritated by. And I'm not saying I've got to
see this is the process. I'm I still have to put on
sweat, but I have become better at being able to find common
ground. I think it helped me immensely
when we came here. Initially, I thought I was going
(26:54):
to be, you know, this missionaryand our church is the true
church and, you know, we have itall.
So you should, you know, listen to me.
And when that kind of approach, of course, didn't work really
well and they I mustn't really terribly pushy.
But you know, it's my attitude of what what we can do.
(27:16):
And finally it dawned on me, they love Jesus.
That's all good. They're free to and they're
really willing to talk about Jesus and about their church and
I could talk about Jesus. Why haven't I made this so hard?
I don't have to this. I don't have to convert them.
Death, the spirits and God's, he's going to bring them along
(27:38):
and they're going to be where they are and he knows best.
And I just have to talk about Jesus and, and love them and
find common good that we share and, and it's just very natural
and normal to just do those things that don't feel stressful
enough. And so it's been a really long
(28:02):
process. I'm still learning, but it has
changed how I know that people and how I deal with people and
for the good. They've pursuing very personal
intimate experience since that may be difficult, certainly
(28:24):
difficult in the moment, but difficult to share also.
Thank you for being vulnerable with us and sharing that and
then related it to your own experiences again, then sharing
the gospel that we can, we can be ourselves and that's enough.
Yeah. Yeah, we can and, and we can
(28:46):
just look for a bit and and accept the good that you see and
they'll learn that and that's enough.
Yeah. And it helps you to love others
and be at peace. Yeah, sometimes, just like you
said, easier said than done. Oh yes.
(29:09):
Oftentimes easier said than done, but but it needs to be
both right? Said and done.
Yeah, Yeah. So what are some some things
that you like to do for fun? I I am SC stress I love to sell
every silk with kids clothes andmy clothes for many years that
(29:31):
Walmart and stuff came around and you know I don't do that as
much anymore. But I also like to be apartment
in nature and I love to see all of nature.
And I pointed it out to my children as they were growing
up. So much so that one day we had
(29:52):
taken the younger, the older 3 kids backpacking and they were
just two, four and six and very first backpacking trip and our
little toddler at 2:00, we were lagging way behind.
(30:13):
It was like a four mile height and you know, a 2 year old were
4 miles. But every step of the way they
had little tiny, ah, pine cones.Little tiny pine cones.
They couldn't been more than, you know, an inch and a half.
They were just little and this little toddler going along the
road, he would say Caterpillar, Caterpillar and pointed out that
(30:38):
he thought they were caterpillars and they made us
even slower than fountain. But they learned to look at at
nature and I find beauty even indeath sack in the colors of
rocks and and formations on the desert in Arizona and New Mexico
(30:59):
and and I I am fascinated with God's handiwork.
I love to see that. Nathan loves to see the sunset.
We have too many trees to reallysee that if there we can just
see the blush over the South of the trees.
But he loves to see that too. And my kids have noticed nature
and and they all kind of I have one that probably doesn't want
(31:21):
to be much out in nature. Maybe too.
They have too much yard work in their lives.
They don't want to ever do that again.
But I think it's broadened theirhorizons and, and I, I just, I
love to see all of nature and wildflowers are my absolute
favorite. I love to take pictures of
(31:42):
wildflowers and I just love thatit's cool.
Wonderful God's creations, appreciating those.
So what are you most grateful for?
I think I'm most grateful at this point in my life with my
(32:06):
understanding and the nature I Savior I grew up with.
I wouldn't say false teachings, but inaccurate teachings that
really made it difficult for me to see Christ as a loving
merciful. I thought it worked for everyone
(32:28):
else. I didn't really and what family
in the trauma of my my childhood, I just received that
information and I didn't realizehow it had affected my life
until I was into my 40s and I realized, oh, that wasn't a good
(32:48):
thing for someone to say to me. Yearned.
It has been difficult to overcome that I am.
This is a process that I work atand that's one of the hugest
blessings of Lagos for study. My sister and I share weekly
(33:09):
texts about our scripture study and she and I both know this.
The character traits that come out in the things that we read
in our scriptures look, Jesus's merciful look, he was weakening
with the children look, he was not condemning the the sinful.
(33:32):
He was reaching out, he was lifting, he was not angry.
He wasn't pointing his finger. He was trying to help them.
He did it correct in harshness. He, he guided them and I just, I
(33:53):
see that more and more now that I look at it.
And as I see his character, it changes my character.
It helps me to recognize things I need to, to look to, to strive
to better AT. And I, it has really changed me
(34:14):
and it, but it's a really gradual process.
It doesn't happen overnight. I still have some negative self
talk that I struggle with and that I have treated mindless.
So cute already know this is what Jesus says.
He's not. He's not shaking a finger at,
you know, a finger at you. And that I think was my foremost
(34:36):
picture of Jesus was him shakinghis finger because he was
displeased. And I have more Times Now than I
am recognized his gentle hand inmy life, especially as I served
with Gaiman in the stake. I've the Lord answers the
(34:57):
prayers I have about what to speak about more than any other
process. I say he answers those am I have
been inspired to have words to say and one person came up to me
a one time or other and a few people probably.
But how, how could you know I needed that today?
(35:18):
Well, I don't know anything. It's the Spirit that knows and
the spirit that guides me. I I remember one talk in
particular as I read a scriptureand was pondering and praying
for the Lord to guide me. I always like to get something
that they can rate late in theirown life initially so that then
(35:39):
I can teach the doctrine or or principle that the scriptures
teaches. And I've talked about
superheroes. It doesn't.
Wow, you does that. That's really awful.
Well, I couldn't think that you were.
I says I didn't either. But that one just popped into my
mind and it fit perfectly with the analogy I wanted to make on
(36:01):
a connection to make the scripture so things that I
hadn't thought of in years or experience.
So whatever will come to mind, and I know that it's not me.
I know that it's the spirit. I know that it's the Lord that
knows the situations in our lives.
And through a humble servant just trying to do what he wants
(36:25):
that that he speaks. And sometimes I'll have my talk,
I think kind of in my mind and kind of where I better go with
it. And then, you know, like on
Saturday, all of a sudden, OK, well, Lord, I'm not feeling good
about this. So tell me what you want me to
do because I could do whatever, but I'm not feeling good about
(36:47):
this. And then I get some other.
I didn't go a different way, butI had no kind of plans.
So I know what's the spirit. It's not me, it's the spirit
that is teaching and it's the spirit that we have been given
to, to share with the members ofour stake.
And and so I know that the Lord loves us.
(37:08):
He knows us, He knows what we'regoing to.
I had an experience recently where I have been toward like,
oh, I didn't see sisters So and so and, and then I went back
into the building to find her and which is really kind of
uncommon. I don't, I mean, I do try to
find just that this was I'd already got the kind of a car
(37:30):
and and I didn't even really think about it.
I just thought I need to go and find her.
And and as I went back in, she came out every son sister, I
just need to give you a hug. I had never had to this sister
before ever. I'd never had that kind of a
relationship, but I I did it without thinking.
It was just an kind of unusual kind of I do hug sisters, but
(37:54):
this one, you know, I hadn't. And as I gave her a hug, she
tightened the hug and started toSOB.
And I didn't know, I had no idea.
She didn't feel like she needed to talk to me.
But I held her for a long time and she was about ready to go.
And I could tell. And I says no, you just suddenly
(38:15):
brought your approval by a long perk until she could come.
And I didn't know. I, I didn't know what prompted
me to do that that day. But I know that the Lord can
work through us and often does. I'm working it following the
spirit. That's still really hard that
what came without even thought. You know, usually I kind of
(38:37):
second guess myself. Oh, you didn't you really need
to do that. But at this particular time, the
spirit just the call for so I love that.
I love that I have loved loved the time step visiting all of
the members in the wards instead.
I have been so blessed by their faithfulness, by their
(39:02):
testimonies. I just, it's been a joke.
I'm parallel to work with all ofthat.
Never found a mistake. Thank you.
I've I've really enjoyed this talk today, our visit.
Will you please conclude our episode there with your
(39:24):
testimony of Jesus Christ and ofHis restored church?
I they raised in the church all my life.
My ancestors go back to to the founding of the church and so
I've never questioned, but my faith has grown and I can't even
(39:52):
imagine how Joseph Smith could have ever successfully this 20,
21/22/23 year old man with very little education.
Could he have done what he did if he was milk I by God, all the
other little churches that kind of fensored off in that time
(40:15):
period in the Illinois and and Missouri just had straggling
followers. They they didn't try.
This is the Lord's church restored to his Father, Joseph
Smith, and he continues to restore it today.
I can see it in our prophet, President Nelson.
(40:41):
I can see it in the apostles andthe other leaders that it just,
it's just so real to me that theLord is this is his church and
he is hastening his work and, and I just know it.
(41:01):
I love the Book of Mormon. I love its simple teaching
doctrine. I know it's true.
I know this Xavier loves me. I know He is merciful and long,
long, long-suffering and kind, and that he thinks I can do way
(41:27):
more things than I think. That's because I have done them.
And I am so grateful for my testimony of him, that of his
sacrifice, of his knowledge, of my pain.
I remember kneeling at the bed. I'm always sick with my
pregnancies and the last one wasreally a dizzy and I had got so
(41:51):
sick I couldn't sleep on the water bed and had to sleep on
the sofa bed for a couple months.
And and in this hour of just feeling so nauseous and not
being able to eat and I knelt mybedside and said probably not
very rarely. Can you even really imagine what
(42:12):
awoken is going through? Can you really know?
But he does, because he felt allup our tea, all of our sickness,
all of our triumphs and troubles.
He felt it in his body and fled.From the every war.
(42:35):
He knows us and he knows the triumphs.
He is the answer to all of us problems.
His life, His teachings will help us, His Spirit, His
autonomous. How many sing my name Jesus
Christ singing? I hope that this episode of The
(42:59):
Witch Tookie is a Stick podcast helped bring you closer to
Christ. I invite you to take some time
today to write about or record one of your own faith promoting
experiences.
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