After the Trial comes the Blessing

And so he arose and went to Zarephath.  And when he came to the gate of the city, behold the widow woman was there gathering of sticks; and he called to her, and said, Fetch me I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.

And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse; and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

And Elijah said unto her, Feat not; go and do as thou has said:  but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.  For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.

And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah:  and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.

And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fall, according to the word of the Lord which he spake by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:10-16

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The assistants have taught a segment about this story at every zone conference.  I knew the story and knew the missionaries represented the woman in the story.  I had listened to their adestramento (training) at three different conferences before I picked up on the sentence that said  "and as she was going to fetch it"  

That sentence changed the entire concept of the story for me.  The first sacrifice the woman was asked to do was so simple and didn't really require much of a sacrifice at all.  A cup of water isn't really a big sacrifice.   The sacrifice was the willingness to perform the act of kindness and giving a little time.

It wasn't until after the woman agreed to perform the simple sacrifice and was on her way to fulfill the request that she was asked to perform an even greater sacrifice and given even greater blessings. 

Just like the woman in the scriptures who thought she and her son would die if she gave the loaf of bread to the stranger, and gave it to him anyway, we, too, will be blessed when we sacrifice willingly.  We too will have flour in our barrel and oil in our cruse.

. . . for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.  

Ether 12:6