Learning His Way

"And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father. And when I had spoken these words, the Spirit cried with a loud voice, saying: Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all. And blessed art thou, Nephi, because thou believest in the Son of the most high God; wherefore, thou shalt behold the things which thou hast desired." (1 Nephi 11:2-6) 

As I was listening to the scriptures last night I heard this part and it struck me, "Nephi didn't ask why he saw the dream, because he must have had an inkling of understanding already. He asked what it meant." With a current trial I'm going through I keep asking myself why I feel this way, why is it so difficult to get over , and why now? But really I should be asking for understanding, to understand what the Lord is trying to teach me right now, and what can I learn from this.

I'm excited to learn from the Lord what he wants to teach me because I know that I will be able to, at least eventually, see this from an eternal perspective. I know that the Lord speaks to us today, and I look forward to learning more about his ways this weekend from General Conference. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Mountains and Valleys

“For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5))

I love this verse because it reminds me of the many reminders we’ve had from the prophets that trials aren’t forever. We aren’t always going to be climbing a mountain. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel. Every trial eventually has an end. Granted, some may be with us our whole lives, like disabilities. But we won’t have those in the resurrection.
Oftentimes the end of a trial happens when we learn something the Lord is trying to teach us. Sometimes it’s only when we humble ourselves and turn to the Lord that we are able to conquer a trial. 

Just recently I experienced something really really hard, compacted with stress from work and stress from school, it felt like I’d never make it out from under whatever rock had fallen on top of me. But a friend of mine pointed me in the right direction. No pity party, it’s now time to ask yourself, “Where am I spiritually lacking?” Well, my studies weren’t great, they were decent but not great. And so I revamped them (aka thanks from reading my revamped studies, I hope this inspires you to revamp yours too). 

I also, despite the pushback from Satan, attended church to partake of the sacrament. It was amazing and fulfilling. It filled me so much where I was feeling so empty. 

On Tuesday I went to the temple and I did an initiatory session. It was so beautiful and I learned so much. Afterwards I didn’t want to leave the temple grounds, so I sat outside the temple on a bench and just marveled at the temple and felt the Spirit and peace. 

This really is the way we can fully heal a broken heart, we turn to the Lord. I can’t say that I’m completely whole, but I’m on the right path.