In General Conference October 2018 during the General Women's Session, President Nelson issued some invitations for us to follow. One of them was to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. Like many of you I wondered how I would accomplish this. I felt the spirit urgently tell me that I needed to read as much as possible and quickly.
I gave up my normal books for a few weeks and read the Book of Mormon. Within a couple of weeks, I was nearly finished Alma.
It was just as well I crammed so much, as something happened to my mum and the result was she was very ill. Then followed lots of trips to the doctors, ambulance call outs and trips to A&E. She was ill for over a year and needed three separate operations. She was so ill we couldn't attend church (good practice for the lockdowns!).
Support never came from the sources I would expect or should expect. I suspect this happens to many of us. I'm grateful I listened to the Spirit about the Book of Mormon. It gave me the strength I needed to endure this extremely stressful time.
The Lord never abandons us or leaves us stranded. He is always there comforting and guiding us. Help is sent sometimes in the form of strangers whom we never see again. He never leaves us to cope alone, and reading the Book of Mormon helps us to cope with whatever life throws at us.