Seredipity & Unexpected Treasures

Below is an article I read and want to share with you from the Church News on August 13:

The airport in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, was hot and crowded. A Church News reporter, arriving to cover the rededication of the Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple, was overwhelmed. She had rented a car but could not find a map to help her to maneuver the Pacific Island nation.

Worse yet, she was concerned that cars in Tonga drive on a different side of the road than she was accustomed to, she didn't speak the Tongan language and dark clouds looming overhead indicated it might rain.

Things were not going at all as she had thought they would.

Then the president of the Tonga temple walked up, welcomed her to the country and introduced himself.

"Have you ever heard the word 'serendipity'?" he asked.

She didn't answer, wondering what his question had to do with her Church News assignment or current plight.

Things in Tonga might not go as you expect they should, he elaborated. But if you don't get upset, if you have a good attitude, if you will be patient, you will come across unexpected treasures and they will be beautiful and wonderful.

It would be days before the reporter realized the simplicity of his advice: If we are constantly worried about what we think should or could have been, we might miss beautiful and wonderful treasures.

She realized her journey in Tonga was a microcosm of her journey through life.

President Thomas S. Monson told Church members during his 2008 October general conference address that, in spite of challenges, changes or disappointments that come our way, we must find "joy in the journey."

"Some of you may be familiar with Thornton Wilder's classic drama Our Town," President Monson explained. "If you are, you will remember the town of Grover's Corners, where the story takes place. In the play Emily Webb dies in childbirth, and we read of the lonely grief of her young husband, George, left with their four-year-old son. Emily does not wish to rest in peace; she wants to experience again the joys of her life. She is granted the privilege of returning to earth and reliving her 12th birthday. At first it is exciting to be young again, but the excitement wears off quickly. The day holds no joy now that Emily knows what is in store for the future. It is unbearably painful to realize how unaware she had been of the meaning and wonder of life while she was alive. Before returning to her resting place, Emily laments, 'Do … human beings ever realize life while they live it — every, every minute?' "

President Monson said our realization of what is most important in life goes hand in hand with gratitude for our blessings.

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life — here and now," he said. "The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey — now."

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve put it another way. As we navigate life, he said, we should all have the attitude "come what may and love it."

"Life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don't sing and bells don't ring," he said during his October 2008 general conference address. "Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser and happier as a result."

The Lord taught us how to navigate life successfully. Although He doesn't promise everything will always go as we think it should, He gives us a clear path to find life's unexpected treasures. In Doctrine and Covenants 6:36, He admonished, "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."

And the ultimate treasure is not just something that will bring us joy in this life. For if we "press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, … [we] shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:20).

The Church News reporter came to the same understanding in Tonga.

As was evident in the Tonga airport, things in that island nation did not go as she expected they should. She did not have a telephone or Internet connection in her room. The building had no food services. The refrigerator across the hall started beeping at 3 a.m. — every night — and never stopped. And there were few road signs and no fast food restaurants in the country.

But — thanks to sweet direction from a faithful temple president — she found things far greater. Church members hung bananas outside her room. They helped her use a computer at the Church's administrative offices on the campus of the LDS high school. And they invited her into their homes for dinner.

The beautiful and wonderful treasures promised by the temple president were everywhere.

She never found the road map she had been searching for that day in the airport. Serendipitously, however, she had received something much better — a road map for life.