40Q: #2 Mercy me!

I wrote this years ago, no idea exactly when, but forgot to press publish. So this isn't current, but absolutely still resonates.

Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering...?
It started as a simple search for mercy.  I remembered one of my favorite references, in Moroni—an oft-forgotten portion of Moroni's promise: "...Remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts." There, scribbled in the outside margin was a single reference: 2 Nephi 1.

I turned there and started reading. Suddenly memories of where we've been and how we've been delivered were flooding to me as I replaced the names and places with my own:

"And he spake concerning our rebellions, and the mercies of God in sparing our lives, that we were not swallowed up in that metropolis of greater Los Angeles. ...How merciful the Lord had been in warning us that we should flee out of the land of Los Angeles. For I have seen the news reports, in which I know that the real estate bubble has burst, and had we remained in Los Angeles we should also have perished."

I continued throughout the entire chapter, likening it to myself wherever I could see a parallel, and verse after verse jumped out as significant. But it wasn't until I got to the last page that it humbled me to my core:

"Rebel no more against your [husband], whose views have been glorious, and who hath kept the commandments from the time that we left [Los Angeles], and who hath been an instrument in the hands of God, in bringing us forth into the land of promise;"..."He hath suffered much sorrow because of you...for behold you have accused him that he sought power and authority over you...but he hath sought your own eternal welfare."

Right before I studied my scriptures I had prayed for some inspiration regarding our marriage, and this was my answer: You are married to a good man. Heed his counsel. Stop murmuring.  I started out studying about the Lord's mercy and ended up gaining some insight into my own husband's longsuffering.  You never know what's going to pierce you when you embark on a journey like this.