When we lose ourselves in the service of others, we can overcome personal anxieties and insecurities.
At times we all experience loneliness, anxiety, or despair. How do we overcome these feelings? In his article “A Holier Pattern of Service,” Elder Patrick Kearon related a memorable experience from his youth that transformed the way he overcame his own anxieties.
Photo by Engin Akyurt
When Elder Kearon was 16 years old, he attended a school in England while his parents lived in Saudi Arabia. While attending school, Elder Kearon felt lost, self-conscious, and awkward. One day a hurricane in England devastated the coast and left over 5,000 homes flooded. The boys at Elder Kearon’s boarding school were dispatched to help with the relief effort.
Elder Kearon remembered seeing the destitute conditions of the flood victims, but he also remembered a certain feeling of peace. Elder Kearon writes, “What struck me most was the camaraderie that developed. There was just a wonderful, good-natured feeling among people united in a worthy cause under challenging circumstances. I later reflected that all those insecure feelings that usually consumed my teenage thoughts left while I was involved in this great effort to assist our neighbors.”
When our hearts are turned to others, we begin to forget ourselves. As Elder Kearon taught, “The beauty of this kind of ministering is that it helps others, but it also transforms us by taking us away from our worries, fears, anxieties, and doubts.”
I have personally felt this transforming power of service, and it doesn’t always require a major service project that Elder Kearon described. Through even small and simple acts of service, we can lose our own troubles by easing the burdens of others.
Read more about the transforming power of service by reading “A Holier Pattern of Service” by Elder Patrick Kearon.
Source: ChurchofJesusChrist.org
–Skyler Garrett, Latter-day Saint Insights
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Find more insights
To learn more about the call to minister, read Avery Andros’s article “How Can I Minister as Christ Did?”
Check out Noelle Conder’s article “Going the Extra Mile to Minister” for insights on making ministering meaningful.