The Easter Promise

Today is Easter. To me it is a great day of rejoicing! I recently listened to Elder Wirthlin's talk "Sunday will come" and I realized that in my life I have "Good Fridays", but I always know that Sunday will come because of what I believe. On this day I have the opportunity to celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ sacrificed and died for me. He was willing to take on every pain and discomfort. He was willing to understand what he did not deserve to understand. He did that so that I can return to live with a loving Heavenly Father. He died so that I can live again after this life. This is not the end. I testify of that. I know that my Redeemer lives and for that I will be eternally grateful.

The People in My Life

This week I have a break from my schooling. An entire week to do whatever I want! So I decided I wanted to read a book. Now I'm not sure I'll be able to finish the book... As it turns out I have a million people who love me and want to spend time with me! This is my motivation today. I have people who love me! People who are cheering for me and wanting me to try my best and become everything I can be, which could potentially be a lot. I love that! I can keep going no matter what happens!

Opposition

In our lives we do not always live happy days, but we do not always live sad days. We live many different kinds of days. Sometimes our hearts rejoice. However, our hearts would not know how to rejoice unless they knew sorrow. This is where the motivation comes in. On really difficult days when I have a hard time finding the best things I like to think that the rejoicing periods can't be far around the corner. I need to know the depths of sorrow so that I can appreciate the mountains of rejoicing! The difficult days will not last forever. In fact, they are but a small moment. You can always depend on the coming joy, for that is what the law of opposition teaches us. We must have both!

I Can Do Hard Things!

I can do hard things everyday. I have proven that to myself. But, when I look at it I often wonder why I can do hard things. I have discovered that it is because I know that I am not in control. It is instead that the Lord is in control. I can do what I think I should do and what I think is good for me, but the truth is I don't actually always know what is good for me. So, instead I turn to the Lord. I have a loving Heavenly Father who is in charge. He knows what I can become and He is helping me become that! So even though life gets hard and I don't think things are going right I can always rely on the fact that my Heavenly Father does know what is going on. Everything will be ok!

A Promise Come True

Today while listening to my music the song "Fix You" by Coldplay came on. I thought back to the first time I had really ever heard the song. At the time I had had surgery on my ACL. I was unable to run and uncertain on how to relieve stress without running. I remember listening to the song hoping and praying that someday I would be fixed. That someday I would run. That everything will be ok again. It took time, but I have been able to run for years now. I run, I jump, I skip, I rejoice! I feel as if a promise has come true. I was fixed. This gives me hope that I can be fixed and that life will be alright. It may seem difficult and I may not want to continue on, but I know that things will be ok. I feel promised that someone is trying to fix me. They will succeed. I believe life will be better.

From Crusades to Zion's Camp

Today in one of my classes I learned an important lesson. When the Christians took off to fight the Crusades they were going because they believed it was what God wanted them to do. They didn't really succeed and it was actually kind of ridiculous in hind sight. However, they did it anyway. The Saints of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the 1800's were once told to gather the men together and march to Missouri. They were told by a prophet of God and they knew it was right so they did it. When they got there they were no longer needed. So they turned around and headed back to where they came from. This march, which we often call Zion's Camp, produced many leaders of the church and many who fell away. It all depended on what they took away from the Zion's Camp experience. In my life I have had many similar experiences. Sometimes I know that something is right so I do it and then I get there and nothing happens. I don't accomplish what I thought I was setting out to do. However, the Lord has different plans. He knows what we need to learn and it's not always what we think it is. This is my motivation: that the Lord is in control. This occurred to me at the peak of one of these moments. I was standing in Missouri and trying to figure out what I was supposed to do when I realized that the important part is the journey. I don't always know what's going on, but I know that the Lord does and that helps motivate me to keep pushing forward.

Lights

My motivation of the day is the lights at night. On nights that are particularly cloudy (there are plenty of those where I live) the lights reflect off of the clouds and create a glow that is almost like a sunset all night long. The colors are different, but they are still absolutely beautiful. I would share a picture, but my night time picture taking skills are not the best.