the principle of compensation

I. Just. Love. This week’s quote!! 

This is from Joseph B. Wirthlin, who sadly passed away about a decade ago. I was a little kid while he was alive, but from looking at his talks and quotes it’s evident he was a great apostle. And in this quote of his, he explains and backs up the principle of compensation. 

I have been in the church for so long (lol, ok I’m guess I’m just a teenager) and I literally never heard of it until a lesson about a week ago. After I searched around General Conference talks to fact check it and saw that an apostle has said it, I was like “ok, this is legit!”

One night I took out my toothbrush and realized that there was no toothpaste left. Maybe one of my siblings would have shrugged it off and taken off of brushing their teeth for the night, but I was determined to find what I needed.

I searched in every nook and cranny of the bathrooms and where we stored some extra supplies and finally found a travel sized tube of toothpaste. It was about the size of the palm of my hand, but I was grateful to have any at all. I happily skipped off to my bathroom, proud of myself for my successful search, and went to bed for the night.

The next day went by. As routine went, I reached for the toothpaste. And it. Was. Gone.

Living with siblings I should be more used my stuff going missing but this made me a little extra mad. I had spent 30+ minutes (y’all irl it was probably only 5😂😂) finding toothpaste for myself and some PUNK - I also suspected which of the punks in my house it was - had mooched off all of my effort and took it.

Sure enough, my lovely brother admitted to taking it as I went up to his room. The only problem was that my mother was also. Right. There, prohibiting me from interrogating him or grabbing the toothpaste and sprinting away.  Ugh. I explained that I had found the toothpaste and would like it back to both of them. And then she explained that it he was leaving for Scout Camp and they couldn’t buy any since— of course —it was the lovely Sabbath day. I left the room angry at the precious toothpaste I had now lost. 

The next day, I found a huge brand new king sized tube of toothpaste on my bed. 

Ok, the first lesson learned was that I was a pretty big jerk through the whole thing, but also that my lovely mother who is just as stubborn as I am was determined to teach me a lesson. 

Hey, in this case it was about the principle I learned about above.

Alright, I guess missing your toothpaste for one night is not a trial, but I couldn’t miss the parallels to the principle of compensation. I had to let the toothpaste depart from my possession, but who knows if it even lasted my brother through the entire week of Scout Camp anyways! And in return, out of the whole situation, I got a gigantic tube of toothpaste that has lasted me to this day. 😉

Now, my parents are very kind and generous - so if they are like that and our Heavenly Father is infinitely more so, imagine how loving and merciful He will be.

Now, disclaimer time, nowhere in the quote does it say, “12 hours later you’ll be handsomely compensated for your loss.” Of course we have to have faith in the Lord’s timing, but the blessings will eventually come!

Love this new little principle I learned about! Pls Pin this quote and really look to see if you can find situations where you’ve been “compensated” in your life. If you want more quotes like this, follow my LDS Quotes Pinterest board. Talk to y’all next week!