The other day, I was having a hard time mentally and spiritually. I was feeling sorry for myself and was descending into the depths of depression. To those who scoff at this and feel it week, rejoice that you do not know what it is like to be caught in an irreversible downward spiral. 'Pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps' is as futile as a swimmer caught in the tide far from the shore. Sometimes even the strongest and most experienced swimmer simply cannot fight the inexorable pull of the tide. This is what depression is like. We simply cannot pull out of it by ourselves. We need someone else.
Fortunately, there is someone else. Christ has suffered "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind... he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will ... take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people." (Alma 7:11-12) As Elder Holland reminded us this last conference, He even suffered the pain and loneliness of having the Father withdraw His spirit, leaving our Savior completely alone for a short time. Christ has felt everything we could possibly feel and because of this, He can comfort us in a way no one else can.
So, with this knowledge, imagine my despair when after earnest prayer I was still feeling forsaken and alone. I was feeling abandoned. I reached out to a wonderful friend, saying that I felt totally alone, even though I had been sitting in front of the Provo temple and praying for deliverance . My friend's response was simple: "Pray and ask Him to be there or that you can feel him." My first thought was, 'Well, that's simplistic and no help at all- that's what I've been doing!' But then I did it, and I realized something: by offering this simple advice, my friend had given me their testimony to build upon. I could grab hold of the testimony of this friend, and use it as a boost to grab hold of the Spirit and the Savior's love.
Herein lies the value of bearing testimony by actions. My friend's response was not simply 'I know the Lord will help you out' but a call to action, allowing me to inherit their faith (in the sense of the word 'inherit' as it occurs in computer programming- to be able to use, to have access to) and build upon it. It became a bridge to the Lord. No longer was I just me, stuck in the downward spiral, unable to pull myself out. I could know start where my friend was at, on stable ground, and thus have an avenue to the Savior's love that I could not open myself. With those dozen or so words, and the faith and example of the person who shared them, I received a spiritual jumpstart that allowed me to feel the Savior's love and then continue on in my spiritual recovery through His Atonement.
So I guess what I mean to say with all this is that just realize that you don't have to do anything dramatic to rescue someone; it's not our calling to do everything to save our friends. Rather, our small and simple actions, coupled with a background of faith, often provide more help than we might know. That random smile or simple phrase that perhaps wasn't intended to be earth-shattering just might have turned their outlook from darkness and despair to light and the love of Christ.
A good friend is more valuable than all the popularity, all the gold, and all the pomp and circumstance of the world.
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