I love this experience shared by Mathew Heaps of Welfare services: "I will always be grateful to a woman in Kenya, Africa, who taught me about willingness to work to obtain water. I met her at a celebration following the installation of a well in her community. With gratitude she told me that the new well would cut her daily nine-mile (14 km) trip to get water to a one-mile (1.6 km) trip. She was overjoyed at the opportunities that would now be hers.
I couldn’t help but think how I would feel if I had to walk a mile to get water. I was impressed that she put everything—from housework to gardening—aside while she made her journey to fetch water. She knew she couldn’t complete the other tasks without that water. I thought about how heavy her burden was. Carrying water takes strength and endurance. Yet, for the sake of her family, she was willing to walk nine miles every day to get it.
I wonder if we who get clean water from taps in our homes sometimes expect to come unto Christ with the same ease as turning a knob to get a glass of water. Or are we willing to put aside other tasks, even important ones, to seek to know Jesus Christ and His Father?"
What is the living water?
- The living water is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- "The fountain of living waters...[is] a representation of the love of God" (1 Nephi 11:25).
- Living water can bring us "everlasting life" (John 4:14; D&C 63:23).
- The living water heals us through the power of the Holy Ghost.
- The living water nourishes and sustains us.
- The living water brings peace and joy.