Connie Sokol hosted Sister Reyna Aburto on the Called to Create podcast to discuss the beautiful ways the Lord works in our lives. Reyna shared how her experiences have shaped her and given her the personal strength to create.
Emigrating to the US wasn’t easy for Sister Aburto. Reyna said, “I think that the key when we go through those hard times is to just live one day at a time…do one little thing at a time. And I think that’s what I try to do, just concentrate on one little thing, line by line, precept by precept.” [4:40–5:10]
Connie agreed and said, “[W]e can feel like we’re constantly learning and in this limbo of.…I don’t know if this is what the Lord exactly wants me to do. When we feel uncertain so much of the time, …we have to draw on those gospel basics whether we realize them or not… Sometimes we negate that this experience is exactly what we need in order to more effectively share what the Lord wants us to share.” [5:18–5:38 and 13:20–13:33]
They then talked about how important it is to have a community of people to strengthen us. Sister Eubank was part of Reyna’s community when Reyna was serving as the second counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency. Reyna was writing her general conference address and expressed to Sister Eubank that she was trying to sound like other women who had spoken in general conference.
Sister Eubank told her, “You don’t need to sound like them. You need to find your own voice. The Lord wants you to have your own voice.”
Reyna knew Sister Eubank was right. She didn’t need to sound like anyone else. [17:45–18:03]
Reyna went on to say, “We just need to find and develop and increase those gifts that we have been given… And we all have them even if we want to be humble and not…acknowledge them…[W]e also have been given experiences that have shaped us, that give us empathy towards other people. So let’s just use those things that the Lord has given us… I think that if we are trying to glorify our Father in Heaven and our Savior, they will allow us to grow and to learn even more.” [18:11–18:55]
Reyna and Connie stressed how important it is to support others as well. Reyna said, “Life is worth living. And…we need to just rally around each other and to try to support each other… Every interaction that we have with a human being is an opportunity to build a bridge, to connect, to support, to listen, to love, and we have those opportunities every day of our life.” [26:48–27:16]
Connie and Reyna then talked about the importance of vulnerability in creativity. Reyna said, “When we have gone through hard experiences and we are trying to decide if we want to be vulnerable or not, we all have a different pace. And we should not force ourselves to be vulnerable. We need to be ready.” [20:35–20:50]
Connie and Reyna discussed how the Lord helps us heal through hard experiences. Connie said, “He always is layered. And in the process of you going through these experiences, He gives you opportunities to serve, which helps you heal from those experiences, and then share so that other people can heal from those experiences. The way the Lord works is so gorgeous.” [27:25–27:56]
In a Relief Society lesson in Connie’s ward, the sisters openly discussed Sister Aburto’s talk “Thru Cloud and Sunshine, Lord, Abide with Me” (October 2019). Connie said, “We were able to open up and connect, and hearts were knitted together in love, just like the scriptures say, because we were able to get real about those experiences and stories in a way that really hadn’t been done on that level yet.” [28:13–28:54]
Connie said to “Keep showing up, [and] keep taking the next right step.” [6:00–6:03] Connie then asked Sister Aburto if there are any tips she’d share for showing up during hard experiences.
Reyna said, “I think that prayer is very important… Every day of our life. Because we never know what is gonna come our way… We can start our day with a prayer asking Heavenly Father to protect us and to help us create that day in a way that is pleasing for Him. And then we can also have a prayer in our heart as we go through our days… But also, I think that looking at every experience that we have as a learning experience, even when things don’t go the way we expected. We should not look at them as failures. We should look at them as a learning experience, something that you’re learning that is preparing you for something else… We are always preparing for something else. It doesn’t matter how hard a situation is or an experience is, we can always learn from that and it will always make us stronger.” [29:58–32:32]
Connie said, “It’s in the daily doing. And it’s the living. The experiences that we’re having and seeing the beauty of it and seeing the purpose in it that then we can turn around and we can channel that and utilize it for good… It’s preparing you to be a more effective instrument…. You’re doing this for him! And it doesn’t matter what part you are, what step you are on that journey, …he’s gonna use it for good. So you don’t have to stress that, you just have to keep showing up for him.” [33:42–35:05]
Finally, Reyna shared some questions to help creatives learn from their tough experiences. She asked, “What am I learning from this? How is this going to help me in the future? How can I get closer to God with this experience? How can I connect with others? How can I use this experience to fill my heart with empathy toward other people?”
Reyna then reminded creatives, “[U]se those experiences to make you a better person, to make you a better disciple of Christ, and to glorify God who is in heaven because of all the miracles that you’ve had in your life.” [32:35–33:00]
This article is based on the Called to Create podcast featured during Season 3, Episode 21. You can listen to the full episode here.
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