followHIM - The Blind Woman with a Car • followHIM Favorites • June 24 - 30 • Come Follow Me

Episode Date: June 20, 2024

SHOW NOTES/TRANSCRIPTSEnglish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM26ENFrench: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM26FRPortuguese: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM26PTSpanish: https://tinyurl.com/podcastBM26ES YOUTUBEhttps://youtu.be/ZqwMPpxnUrAALL EPISODES/SHOW NOTESfollowHIM website: https://www.followHIMpodcast.comFREE PDF DOWNLOADS OF followHIM QUOTE BOOKSNew Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastNTBookOld Testament: https://tinyurl.com/PodcastOTBookWEEKLY NEWSLETTERhttps://tinyurl.com/followHIMnewsletterSOCIAL MEDIAInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followHIMpodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastThanks to the followHIM team:Steve & Shannon Sorensen: Cofounder, Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another Follow Him Favorites. John and I are sharing a single story to go with each week's lesson. John, we are in Alma 13 through 16 today, and you've told me you got a story, so take it away. circumstance, I mean a horrific circumstance, where Alma and Amulek are witnessing people being killed in a fire. It's horrible. And Amulek says, behold, perhaps they will burn us also. And Alma says, this is Alma 14, 13, be it according to the will of the Lord, but behold, our work is not finished. Therefore, they burn us not. That idea, if I'm still alive, my work is not finished, is fascinating to me. And I remember a talk Elder Brooke P. Hales gave. You can find it in your May 2019 Ensign. And he talked about a woman named Patricia Parkinson, who was born with normal eyesight, but at age seven, she started to go blind. She attended Utah schools for the deaf and blind in Ogden. That was at nine years old. She had to be at a boarding

school away from home. And then at 11, completely lost her eyesight, moved home permanently at age 15 and listened to what she did. Her work's not finished. She went to college, graduated with an undergraduate degree in communication disorders and psychology. After a heroic struggle against doubting university admissions officials entered graduate school completed a master's degree in speech language pathology she now works with 53 elementary school students and supervises four speech language technicians in her school district she owns her own home listen to to this, Hank, and her own automobile. I was like, wait, what? Which friends and family members drive when she needs transportation.

So several years ago, it says she was in California with family members, and three-year-old nephew said, Aunt Pat, why don't you just ask Heavenly Father to give you new eyes? Because if you ask Heavenly Father, he will give you whatever you want. You just have to ask him. And she said she was taken back by the question, but said, well, sometimes Heavenly Father doesn't work that way. Sometimes he needs you to learn something. So he doesn't give you everything you want.

Sometimes you have to wait. Brother Hale said, I've known Pat for many years and recently I told her I admired the fact she's always happy. And she said, well, you haven't been at home with me, have you? I've had some rather severe bouts of depression. I've cried a lot. But from the time I started losing my sight, I knew that Heavenly Father and the Savior were with my family and me. We handled it the best way we could. And in my opinion, we handled it the right way. To those who ask me if I am angry because I am blind, I respond, who would I be angry with? Heavenly Father is in this with me. I am not alone.

He is with me all the time. I just love that story. It reminded me of that. My work is not yet finished. And here she is helping elementary school children. I just love the question. Who would I be angry with? Yeah. God has been with me. John, whenever someone asks me the question of why do bad things happen to good people?

Alma 13, 14, 15. These are essential reading. These are essential reading. These are required reading for that kind of question. We hope you'll join us on our full podcast. It's called Follow Him. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. We're with Dr. Ava Weitzman this week, and it is a fantastic episode. And then come back here next week.

We'll do another Follow Him Favorites.