Sacrament Meeting Program

Presiding: Bishop Todd Christensen
Conducting: Brother Grady Stoner
Opening Hymn: CS 109 - Search, Ponder and Pray
Invocation: By Invitation

Ward Business

Sacrament Hymn: #176 - 'Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love
Administration of the Sacrament

Speaker: Sister Chris Riker
Musical Number: Primary Choir
Speaker: Brother Jacom Parker

Closing Hymn: 
Benediction: By Invitation

Best Days and Worst Days

By President Emily Belle Freeman
Young Women General President

Several weeks ago we began planning our daughter’s wedding. With great joy, we dreamed and brainstormed as we considered all the options. And then my husband, Greg, received a phone call he couldn’t ignore. It was the oncologist confirming what we hoped wasn’t true. Greg’s cancer had returned.

Isn’t it amazing how you can go from best day to worst day in a matter of minutes?

This is mortality. A proving ground. A place designed for growth. I have learned that God allows mortality to do its work in us—and that includes both best days and worst days.

How do we get through those days? The story of Peter teaches us that strength comes as we walk with Christ and hold fast to His eternal truths.

Eternal Truths

“When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, … whom say ye that I am?”

They had seen empty nets filled, storms at sea calmed, loaves multiplied, and the dead raised. When Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” Jesus responded, “Blessed art thou, Simon … : … flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

That day must have felt like a best day. The Spirit confirmed an eternal truth, and Peter courageously bore testimony of it.

But only three verses later, a shift occurred. As Jesus began to speak of His coming death, Peter rebuked Him, saying, “This shall not be.”

“Get thee behind me, Satan,” was the Savior’s immediate response.

Peter had good intentions—he didn’t want the Savior to die—but he misunderstood God’s plan for His Son. Peter’s story went from best day to worst day in a matter of three verses.

From Peter’s story we learn that our understanding of eternal truth is not forged in a single moment—testimony is built over time, day after day, both best days and worst.

Those eternal truths are often proven through invitation.

Invitations

In Matthew 14, Peter and the other disciples were caught in a storm when Jesus approached the ship. Peter cried out, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” And Jesus answered with an invitation: “Come.” So Peter stepped out of the boat. “He walked on the water, to go to Jesus.”

Best day.

But in the very next verse, we read that Peter saw the wind, became afraid, and began to sink.

Worst day in a matter of moments.

Have you ever accepted an invitation from the Lord and then felt unequal to the task? We all know what it is to doubt, to experience sinking moments. But notice where Jesus was when Peter accepted the invitation that seemed too big. He wasn’t shouting instructions from the shore or offering advice from the safety of the boat. He was in the water—with Peter. Within reaching distance.

As you accept the Lord’s invitations, on both your best days and your worst, the same will be true for you.

Promised Blessings

Now let’s consider one final story. This time, let’s begin with the worst day.

On the night Christ was arrested, Peter denied knowing Him three times, and then the rooster crowed. Luke writes, “The Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.”

I often think about that look.

Jesus knew the worst wasn’t over. He knew there were very hard experiences ahead. When Peter saw that look, Luke tells us he remembered the warning from Jesus about the cock crowing. I can’t help but wonder if Jesus was remembering the encouraging words He had spoken to Peter earlier that day: “I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

Perhaps that look was not a look of failure but instead a look of enabling strength meant to carry Peter through the worst moments ahead: The trial. The cross. The tomb.

After those hard days had passed, and after a long night of fishing, Peter and Jesus stood on the shore of Galilee. On that day the Savior extended another invitation: “Feed my sheep.” Peter’s faith hadn’t failed, and because of his deep love for Jesus Christ, there was still a great work in store for him. Peter was to be more than just a fisherman; he would now become a shepherd.

Sometimes we may wonder if the Lord’s promises will truly be fulfilled in us—especially when all seems lost. Especially on our worst days.

Peter’s story reminds us that they will.

Best Days and Worst Days

President Freeman testifies that on our best days and on our worst days, we can receive strength as we walk with Christ and hold fast to His eternal truths.

Emily Belle Freeman