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Breaking Chains to Save Ourselves and Others
https://ldsmag.com/breaking-chains-to-save-ourselves-and-others/
It takes a strong person to change. We're all given a set of circumstances at birth that can define us. If those situations become toxic, most people stay chained to the circumstances because they don't know how to get free. However, there are amazing people who have broken away from tremendously difficult challenges and have shifted the balance of their future along with that of their family's.
A Revelatory Experience
Recently, a friend who told me a wonderful experience she had 22 years ago that helped her see meaning in her nearly unbearable life. Her childhood had been very painful because of tremendous abuse and neglect of her parents and others, causing her to develop many addictions and negative behaviors over her teen and adult years.
At some point, she made the colossal effort to begin digging out of her pit. Because of this epic undertaking, she felt she needed extra insights and assistance, and asked for a blessing from her Stake President. His words gave her much to ponder. She said:
"When he laid has hands on my head he said that in the pre-earth life I was there with friends and those I loved. When the difficult assignments were being spoken of, I heard what my friends and those I loved would have to go through in this life. Because of my love and compassion for them; I did not want them to go through these very difficult things and I volunteered to take them on to help them so that they would not have to suffer the pain and agony of those life experiences. I offered to bear those burdens and not pass them on through my family and to break the chains to cleanse and purify my family lineage."
She happened to see this inspired Stake President 20 years later after he had just returned home from being a mission president. He remembered that blessing all those years later.
"When I met with this Stake President 20 years later he reminded me of the blessing he had given me, and told me he had given thousands of blessings since that time but he had never forgotten mine. He remembered it with great clarity and said that he had never understood before that people could be 'saviors' for others by taking on there trials so that they would not have to suffer and go through them."
This blessing gave my friend hope. She has since worked with many other people in addiction and recovery and helped them break chains of darkness. She can see the blessing being fulfilled.Share
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