As a 16-year-old girl, a Laurel in 1968-69, I was strengthened through a very difficult time by my teacher. She did not realize what she did for me personally. She simply magnified her calling as a Laurel teacher and as an exemplary woman.

My parents were in the middle of a divorce that also involved a terrible custody battle. I didn't feel like I had anyone to talk to about what was going on in my home, and I was humiliated by the situation. I didn't want my friends at Church to know anything about it. Every Wednesday evening, I arrived at Mutual late. I slipped into the classroom and sat in the back where I didn't have to talk to anyone. Usually, I would discreetly slip away before the socializing could begin.

What the teacher didn't know was that the lessons she gave each week meant everything to me. I listened with a prayer in my heart. I wanted to feel loved, and I wanted to feel a sense of purpose. I needed to feel peace in the middle of the chaos all around me.

To this day, I remember clearly what I felt as my teacher taught lessons about eternal marriage, eternal families and temple preparedness. It seemed that every lesson touched on these sacred topics. She used scriptures and bore strong testimony.

As my teacher taught, I felt the love of God. I knew that He wanted me to be happy and that He had provided a way for me to find the greatest joy that could be achieved in this life. I felt that everything she taught was true. I knew it, because I felt the Spirit testify to me that it was true.

I also knew it was true because my teacher knew it. She lived the principles she taught. Whenever I saw her with her husband and children, I saw the love they had for each other and the commitment they had to serving the Lord.

Each week, I resolved in my heart to live in such a way to be worthy to receive the blessings of the temple and the joy of eternal family. I just knew in that moment that I could do it! My testimony increased, and I felt empowered by the Spirit to overcome challenges in my life and obtain the blessings that had been promised me in my patriarchal blessing.

My personal struggles didn't go away, but my strength to overcome them came through the teaching and the testimony of a faithful woman who served as my Laurel teacher at a critical time in my life. I am eternally grateful for her teaching and for her example. — Carol Louise F. McConkie, Young Women General Board