Of Service

I'm about seven and a half months pregnant right now, and unfortunately, the extra hormones tend to make me kind of depressed sometimes. It comes in waves, so I'm thankful for the ups! However, my last "down" was a couple of weeks ago. It was just a hard week; it seemed like everything went wrong all at once. But of course, the Lord works through angels on earth! (Who gave that talk a few Conferences ago? Elder Holland? ... Found it!)

The very next Sunday after my hard week, our sacrament meeting topic was President Monson's talk from last October, What Have I Done For Someone Today? One of the speakers gave an excellent talk that was just what I needed to hear.

She related a story of one of her dear friends, whose entire family suffered from clinical depression. She knew all of her friend's siblings were on some kind of medication for it, but she also knew her friend wasn't taking anything. One day she asked her how she could handle the depression without taking anything. Her friend said, "I try to serve someone outside of my family every single day, as early in the day as I possibly can. I don't need medication when I do this." What a testimony of service! Because of her service to others, her body was physically able to produce what it needed to, to keep the depression under control.

I know service has that capability! I'm so much happier when I'm serving others. (As a side note, I have noticed that it's the days that I'm physically unable to serve others that my spirits fall. However, even sending a friendly email is something almost anyone can do while not feeling well!) I know that as we serve, we're not only helping those we serve, but we're blessing our own lives, as well.