August Presidency Message

Years ago, a wasp flew into the car that my husband drives back and forth to work. The wasp was trapped, and when my husband opened the car door, he was strung by the frantic creature. The wasp flew away after the sting, but landed behind the back seats of the car, and died near the rear window. After the incident, the wasp stayed there by the window, for literally several years. Now and then our children would ride in the back seat of the car. At first they were repulsed and frightened by the dead wasp. No one wanted to sit next to the bee. As the years went by, they became used to its presence and didn’t mind it anymore. We occasionally asked ourselves why we did not dispose of the wasp, and we joked with our children that the wasp was their daddy’s friend that kept him company as he drove, and that it had become a part of our family.

Whenever I drove that car, I would look in the rear view mirror and see the wasp. I began to think how the wasp was like a bad habit or a sin that is offensive at first- like the sting the wasp gave my husband, or repulsive and frightening, as its dead body was to my children. But when bad habits and sin are allowed to linger, they become less and less offensive until they are a comfortable part of our lives, like the wasp became for our family. Last week, we finally vacuumed up the wasp.

I challenge you to think of the bad habits or sins that may be a part of your lives and dispose of them, one wasp at a time. This month’s Relief Society first Sunday lesson by Elder Oaks teaches of God’s supreme love for all His children, and how "the choicest blessings are reserved for those who obey His law". I will always remember the "parable of the wasp", as I strive to clean up my life, so that not only will I be able to feel the unconditional love of God but that I will also be worthy of His most choicest blessings.

-Janee