This week I attended a service event highlighting a group that among other things seeks to bring clean water to the people of Kenya. During the event, a Kenyan woman, Anita, delineated some of the conditions in her native country. She described the hours women walk to the springs that supply them and their families with water. She told how often those springs are unprotected and used by both people and animals creating a muddy mess and disseminating disease. She recounted that in some areas of Kenya, it is not uncommon for a person to go 2 or 3 days without water.
With that introduction, she expressed her confusion when she was kindly offered a water bottle to take with her on the drive to the event. “Why would I carry water when it is everywhere?” she asked. As she pointed to the row of glass water dispensers lined up near the refreshment table, I could also see the sink in the kitchen just off the serving area and the sign for the bathroom down the hall. I have a water bottle on the nightstand by my bed, next to my computer, and in my car. Water cleans, removes waste and pours from multiple faucets throughout my house. We are surrounded by water.
Likewise, the Savior offers us the refreshing water of His presence. “…The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14). We can carry His word, in scripture and from the mouths of His prophets, with us. We can access His peace that passeth understanding and be cleansed through the sanctifying power of His atonement. We can seek refuge in His holy house and join ourselves to Him and His strength through covenants. We can emulate Him with our every good desire and effort and spread His love. “Come,…everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters…For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring…therefore, with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” (2 Nephi 9:50, Isaiah 44:3, 2 Nephi 22:3) His water is everywhere.