"Believe in Good Things to Come"

It was ten-o-clock at the end of my 25th birthday and I was sitting in the corner of my mom's closet while she packs to go out of town for the next eight days. It is tradition for my mom to wait till the night before a trip to pack and for me to sit in her closet and help her out.

This time I wasn't much of a help to her but her more of a help to me. I was exhausted. My family had filled my weekend with a lot of fun for my birthday and I pushed through despite a migraine and a really bad chest cold. Not to mention I had woken up at 6:30 that morning to prepare to speak at church in a different congregation/ward then my usual. So by this time on Sunday night I was done. Not to mention I hate when my mom goes out of town. As a kid I use to always get sick when she'd leave, luckily I've mostly outgrown that. 

As I was sitting there "helping" my mom I just broke down into tears. I was frustrated with some of my friendships, exhausted and not super excited about my mom going out of town. These friendships seemed to be taking a tole on me and my health was doing a number on me as well. 

My mom's flight was at 6:00 am the next day, yet she sat there with me and just let me vent. Once I got it all out she gave me a big hug and reminded me of what I had spoken about that morning in my talk. The reason I spoke in a different congregation/ward is because as a returned missionary for my church they are having me go around and share all that I learned from my mission. It has been quite a blessing to me to remind myself what I gained from a very important part of my life. I talked about three things I learned/gained on my mission.

The most important thing I gained was a deep love/appreciation for the Atonement of Jesus Christ as well as his love for me. Knowing that I was never alone in my sorrows and in my pain, just as I had promised the members of this congregation that morning. My mom reminded me of this. 

Whenever I teach a lesson or speak about a certain topic, I seem to go through something immediately after to see if I really believed what I was preaching to many people. Sunday night I knew I believed what I spoke was true. I knew that my Savior had given me my mom to help me through that exact moment, one of the many ways he was proving his love to me. And also gave me strength to then get up from the floor in my mom's closet and move forward. 

Quote found here.

This quote perfectly describes what I was reminded of on Sunday night in my mothers closet. I think it is okay to have a good cry sometimes, in fact I really needed to let all of that frustration out. But then after a big hug from my mom I got and kept walking. I knew it would all work out! But I didn't walk away alone, my Savior was right beside me as I moved forward. I know sometimes he is even carrying me when I can't do it alone. 

You might ask how can you possibly know he is carrying you. 

I know because I've had my pain taken away even just for an hour so I can accomplish something extremely important. 

I've gone through trials that there is no way I could have made it through on my own. 

I felt peace when I should have felt grief and sadness. 

I have felt hope when it would seem as though there wasn't any in sight. 

And the only thing that could have made all of this possible is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

I'm so grateful for this knowledge and I'm so grateful for my Savior who was willing to die for me, and for you, so that you and I could live, and not just live but thrive! Life is hard and it is really easy to just push through life with out truly living, hence "Enjoy to the End". This quote, the inspiration behind my blog, helps remind me to enjoy life not just live it. But this quote only does so much, I know its because of the Atonement that I can learn, grow, laugh, cry and keep my chin up!