My name is Lecia. I am 37 years old. I’ve been married for 17 years and I have four children, ranging in age from 15 to 4. I’ve long regretted the fact that I have no interesting hobbies to reveal, but I do love to read and write. I’m currently serving as first counselor in the Primary, where my little charges insist on telling me a lot more about their families than their parents ever wanted me to know!

I was born into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, but I believe I was converted around the age of 16. At the time, I was serving as a youth tour guide at the Arizona Temple Visitor’s Center. Because of this, I was spending a lot of extra time studying the gospel and trying to find answers to questions that people of other faiths often ask about the church. I spent quite a bit more time than usual on my knees during that period of my life, and I just remember one night when I felt a sweet, peaceful feeling that what I was learning and teaching others was true. I have often found that the experiences I’ve had with the Spirit came with the sacrifice of extra time and effort on my part.

Inside my own head, I often think of my life as a quiet crucible. I haven’t experienced any of the truly heart-rending sorrows this world seems to hand out so readily – my children are healthy and sound, I have a loving and supportive family, and have never suffered abuse or handicap. What I do have is a sweet spouse who has been dealing with chronic pain for the last fifteen years. This long and tedious trial has certainly been worse for him than for me, but letting go of my ideas about being a full-time mom, and learning to carry all of the responsibilities that two parents would generally share has had its difficult moments, to be sure. But I have seen in my own life the Lord blessing me with compensating blessings, and that is what helps me when I feel down. I know Heavenly Father loves me and is aware of my struggles because of the many little hand-holds he leaves for me as I climb this mountain. For every hardship, a compensating blessing is given. For me, these blessings are simple, but many – I almost never get sick, so I have been able to run our household and take care of my family every day, with very few exceptions. My children were blessed with sharp minds, so the time that I don’t have to struggle through their homework with them isn’t missed, because they don’t need it.

This past year has added yet another blessing. Like so many others, my hours of employment shrank, along with my salary, and even my strictest budget tells me that I have a $300 shortfall every month. But somehow, after a whole year of this, I have yet to dip into my savings. I simply can’t explain it, but I know that I am living out my own story of the woman with a little bit of oil in her cruse that lasted until the famine was over. I’m afraid to even discuss it too much, it’s such a wonder.

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