"Fear thou not; for I am with thee; be not dismayed; for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." - Isaiah 41:10.
Nearly 43 years ago, as a new member of the Church, I was about to give my first talk in sacrament service. My knees were literally knocking. I was glad of the other participants sitting in front of me.As I was about to rise to my feet, the words "Fear not, for I am with thee" came forcibly to me. At that time I did not know this scripture.
Some years later, another sister and I were assigned by our bishop of the South London Ward to visit a non-member mother of one of the children attending Sunday School. The lady was German, but understood English. Her husband had deserted her, and now she was recovering from a stroke, having suffered loss of speech and paralysis in one arm. We prayed earnestly for help to somehow communicate some words of comfort to her.
We noticed in her room a bookcase, and we asked if we could read to her. She nodded, and we picked out a book "Thoughts for the Day." We understood it was her birthday, and read the thought for the 13th of May. It was this passage from Isaiah!
As a result of these two rewarding and spiritual experiences, this scripture has had a profound influence on me in my life. - Elsie Rock, Isle of Wight, England.