Have you ever had a trial in your life that just keeps coming back? Maybe you had thought you had fixed something, but a little ways down the road, it comes back again. I’ve seen this happen a lot in my life and the lives of those around me. When this does happen, it is very discouraging. Sometimes, it seems more logical to give up rather than feel like you are wasting your strength on something that will never change. But if I have learned anything by reading the scriptures, praying and going to church it is that our Father in Heaven will always prepare a way for us to overcome any trial He gives us. When we feel discouraged, it is tempting to turn away from what we believe. I forget in moments of adversity and frustration that I have both a Savior and a Heavenly Father that love me. I used to think that Heavenly Father gave me trials based upon my actions. I believed that Heavenly Father was giving me trials because I was doing something wrong. I figured that the more faith I had, the less trials I would be given. But God does not always work that way. Take any of the people we read about in the scriptures as an example. Not one of the faithful people in the scriptures had avoided having their faith shaken a bit in times of frustration. But not a single one of them were denied help from Heavenly Father and the Savior if they pursued that aid in righteousness. There are some battles that can only be won with time. In everyone’s life, there are going to be rough patches. Things are going to get out of our control and we are going to want our problems to be solved right away. We are going to want to do something. But sometimes, there is nothing we can do but wait it out. You may have to just grit your teeth and keep going. In situations like these, it is going to be hard, yet crucial that we stay firmly rooted in our faith in God and trust that He will help us overcome whatever trials we experience. Some trials can’t just go away even if we are faithful. There are some challenges that we are going to have to deal with for our entire lives. Certain trials are chronic, meaning that they are going to be recurring constantly. Again and again they are going to affect us when we least expect it. But I’ve learned that even though we go through ups and downs, it is better if we focus on getting back up and staying there for as long as we can. It is an amazing thing to know you have overcome a trial. You can look back on that situation to say, “Yes, that was a really hard thing to do and I was frustrated that I had to go through that. But now that I am looking back I can say that I did it and be proud of myself.” Sometimes, we overcome trials and we are proud of ourselves for a little while. But then the same thing happens again and we’re back to square one. One thing I have learned about this is that you may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. And it’s disheartening, but with the help of our Father in Heaven, it is never impossible to overcome our adversities. We just have to trust that our lives are in the hands of God and that He will never leave us to fend for ourselves. Click below to read one of my all time favorite talks about adversity by Elder Ballard!
0 Comments
Is it possible to be so terrified of something, but utterly love it at the same time? If it is possible, that is exactly how I feel about the ocean. Everything I admire about the ocean scares me to some degree. The crashing of the ocean's waves both calms me and reminds me of the possibility of being caught in those very waves and drowning. I love looking out to where the sky reaches the water and feeling both awe and apprehension. Awe because of the beauty of the ocean. Apprehension because of the enormity of it. It completely blows my mind that this single body of ocean stretches to the other side of the world and back again. In my marine ecology class, we learned exactly how vast this body of water is. The ocean covers over 60 million square miles. That is almost too big for the human mind to fully comprehend (at least for me). If you think about it, the world oceans are really only one giant ocean with different sections, no expanse of land fully separates one sea from the next. When you step into the ocean, you step into the place that covers seventy one percent of the world. Whoa. <a href="http://www.freepik.com/free-photos-vectors/travel">Travel vector designed by Freepik</a> One of the reasons why I have fallen hopelessly in love with the ocean is because of the music it makes. I could listen to the song of the sea forever and never get tired of listening to the ebb and flow of the water. I could never get tired of the rhythmic crash of waves and song of the birds that fly over it. I think my absolute favorite song is one of the yaps and squawks of birds harmonizing with the break of waves. It just makes me feel so refreshed to listen to something that doesn't have to be heard through speakers. I feel like in today's world, we have our speakers blaring so loudly that we forget that nature has it's song too. Along with my love for the ocean, comes a fear of the uproarious waves. When I was little, I used to love going to the beach and wading in the water up to my knees. But as I grew older, I noticed that everyone would go out further than me. So one day, I figured I would go out to where my friends would swim to. As I went deeper and deeper into the water, I lost more and more of my balance. I ventured out more and more towards my friends and before I knew it, I had lost my balance completely. I was swept off my feet by the uncontrollable force of a wave. My lungs were filled with saltwater and all I could think was that I was definitely going to die. Thankfully, I did not die. I was rescued by the people I was camping with at the beach that week. But since then, I've still been weary of swimming in the ocean. I'm happy to observe the ocean, but I am not so fond of being inside the ocean. Ever since I was little, I have had so many positive memories at the beach. The beach has always been a place to go to find peace and comfort. I remember so many times when my family would pack up the car and go to the beach. I would always cling to my parents when we ventured into the water. We would always pack the cooler with juice boxes and mini sandwiches on hawaiian rolls for a picnic. Sometimes, we would stay at the beach all day and sit around a fire pit late into the night and look up at the stars together. I remember I would fall asleep by the fire and wake up in my bed in the morning, having been carried by my dad and tucked into my bed.
While circumstance and people are constantly changing, the ocean is my constant. It helps me to remember so many things that have helped me to become who I am. I hope to hold on to these memories for as long as I can and to be able to make many more in the years to come. This past weekend, I went on a pioneer trek with the youth of my church. There were around two hundred of us participating in this trek ranging from the ages 14-18. We were tasked with pulling handcarts up and down the trails of a mountain in the hopes that we would understand and be grateful for the sacrifice our early ancestors made for us. I was less than excited to go on this trek and was only planning on going because my mom wanted me to. But then something came up after school on Friday when we were supposed to leave and I ended up having to stay home. I thought I was completely fine with not going but when I got home later that night, I was getting ready for bed and saying my prayers. After I had said my prayers and got under the covers, I had a really strong feeling that I should still go. At first, I talked myself out of it; I told myself that they were already gone and no one was going up later and that I would get too tired on the trail and would end up having to go home anyway. But the feeling that I needed to be there only got stronger and stronger. When I told my mom that I wanted to go that night, she was glad that I did. She called a few of the leaders to see if anyone was going up the next morning, so that I could at least try to make it. Luckily, one of the young men in our ward had a sports game earlier in the day and was planning to go early in the morning the next day. The dad called my mom and said he had room in his car to take me as well. We left early in the morning and arrived just as breakfast was being served. Even though I had a prompting from the spirit that I needed to be there, I was still a little nervous that I wouldn’t be able to walk all of the trails. When I’d gotten to the camp, I was given a family for the day that I would be sharing a handcart and walking with. I was a little more relieved that I was put with a young women’s leader from my ward, her husband, another leader from a different ward that I didn’t know, and a couple kids that I knew. As I ate my breakfast, my nervousness only got worse and worse. My mind began to race: what if I got too tired and had to stop and not be able to keep going? What if I got bit by a snake? My brain was overpowered with all of these uncertainties. I went to go talk to one of the leaders that I’d known since I was little, that I’d trusted, about how I was nervous about being able to walk the whole way. He introduced me to the leader that was assigned to be the “Pa” of my family and told him that I was worried. The leader assured me that they would help me and that if needs be, there was a spot for me in the handcart. I was so relieved. We set off walking on the trail with our families. We pulled the handcarts, all the while thinking of our ancestors who had done this for months, sometimes in scorching heat and freezing snow. After a while, we had arrived at a small body of water and had a devotional about the inspiring ancestors of some of the people in our stake. We rested in the shade while listening to these talks, growing more and more grateful to our ancestors, who had left everything behind, walked hundreds of miles and endured so much that we, their descendants, could live with the gospel in our lives. After the devotional, I assumed that the leaders would have us go around the body of water that lay in front of us, but to my surprise, they told us that we were to walk through it with our handcarts! As my family was preparing our handcart to cross, I began to fear that I would have to walk through the river myself. The leaders told us that everyone had to get across somehow and some people carried each other. For an what seemed like an eternity, I sat there on the side of the water wondering how the heck I was going to get over to the other side. I was worried that I would be the last one on the side of the river. I closed my eyes and said a little prayer that I would be able to cross the river. Then, one of the kids from my ward and seminary class came over to me and asked if he could carry me over. My eyes got a little misty and once again, I was filled with relief. I was so grateful. After the crossing, while everyone was waiting for all of the carts to reach the other side safely, my legs began to get tired of standing. My knees started shaking a bit and I thought I was going to fall. I’d said a quick prayer that I would be okay. I had told one of my friends that I needed to rest a bit, but that there was nowhere to sit. Without hesitation, she helped me find someone who had a blanket to sit on and sat with me until it was time to move on. I was grateful to have a break and someone to sit with. When everyone was ready to keep trekking, I still felt exhausted. My feet were hurting and my legs were still shaking. I was lifted by the Ma and Pa of my family into our cart, grateful to have some rest. After that, each time I got tired, I would again be lifted into the cart. My fears of getting behind had vanished and I knew there was always someone there to lift me up. We arrived at our final trek destination and the boys and girls were separated. Everyone was allowed to pick a pioneer activity we could choose from calligraphy, frame knitting and making butter. I was still tired, so I sat with some of my friends and talked. Later, we had dinner and someone was there to help me carry my food and help me get something to drink. Over dinner, I was talking to some friends about anything and everything, I sat there thinking about how blessed I was to have friends that are ready and willing to help me with whatever my needs may be. After dinner, we went out to a field and had a hoedown. My legs were much too tired for dancing, so a couple friends and I sat on a blanket and talked. Even though these people didn't have to sit with me, they did. After a little while, my feet started cramping and it began to travel up my legs. I knew there was nothing I could really do about it but wait. My friend was kind enough to give me some socks her hand warmers to put on my feet. When my other friend came back with a leader, he gave me some pain medicine and I was once more reminded of how grateful I am for the people that my Father in Heaven has put into my life to help me.
This weekend was a long and tiresome one, but it was also one that I would not trade for the world. It helped me realize that our Father in Heaven puts certain people into our lives for a reason. He knows exactly what we need and who can help us in times of trial. I testify that God truly knows our fears and struggles and that when He gives us trials, he also prepares a way for us to overcome them. I have been blessed with experiences that have taught me many valuable lessons. I believe that life teaches you more than you could ever learn inside a classroom. Each hardship we endure is a new lesson learned. Though my trials were not always easy to endure, in fact most were very hard to overcome, I would not trade them for the world. The philosophies I have acquired from these trials are well worth their tribulation. Today, I'm sharing with you a couple of the most valuable ones I have learned throught my life. 1. Don’t Bother with Hypocrites.Never allow yourself to be exerted with hypocritical or judgemental people. There are always going to be people who criticize you and put you down. Remember the only reason why they do this is because they are too shallow to acknowledge their own imperfections. It is easier for them to make others feel worthless than to look in the mirror and see their own pathetic behaviors. 2. The only person responsible for the quality of your life is you.We live in a world where people are almost always unhappy with their circumstances. If something goes wrong in someone’s life, they automatically believe that unless something or someone comes into their life to pull them out of the dumps, they are doomed. Notwithstanding, I have found that even if your circumstances seem dire right now, if you do the best you can with what you have and don’t complain, things will get better. I know that the outlook you have in life deeply affects your happiness. I promise if you keep smiling through your trials, things will get better. 3. When you plant a seed in faith, don’t dig it up in doubt later.We are all going to have ups and downs in our faith. Some days, I doubt everything I have been taught in Sunday school, seminary and young womens. But I have recognized that after that doubt comes a reassurance that whatever it was that I had questioned has manifested itself through the Spirit. Sometimes, it does not come in the form of something tangible, most often it comes in the form of a warm tingle in my heart. Faith is an extraordinary blessing and if we have faith in something, we must remember that if we stay firm in believing, we will be blessed. 4. Don’t fret about those who talk behind your back; they are behind you for a reason.As a girl who has been through both middle and most of high school, I can tell you that it is very difficult to deal with the gossip that floats around. I’m sure everyone at one time or another has fallen victim to gossip. Usually, the rumors come from someone who is holding a grudge against you. To this, I have one and only one solution: keep your head up and act in a way that if someone spoke badly of you, no one would believe them. 5. Everything is a choice.Each action we take requires some sort of reasoning on our part. You choose the people you hang out with and those people greatly influence your choices. You choose what music you listen to and which movies you watch, which in turn affects your opinions and attitude. It is up to you to discern which parties you go to and the atmosphere at those parties affect you. Everything is a choice; choose wisely. In one of my favorite movies it is said, “Good decisions don’t make life easy, but they do make it easier.” The decisions we make can either add to or take away from our lives. 6. Loss is the best teacher for understanding the worth of something.As a someone who has been very blessed in many ways, I take things for granted all the time. Everyone says that you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. This is so true. Every once and awhile, I get a little sick or my seasonal allergies kick in which leads to having my nose be stuffed up for a couple days. Every time this happens, I think about the times that I was able to actually breathe through my nose. I know this may sound a little stupid, but it applies to some of the bigger things in life too. For example, when I was in elementary and middle school, I had something called an independence facilitator. This is basically someone who would sit with me in my classes and help me with things I was unable to physically do myself. She would help me with things like taking notes, staying focused and helping carry my things when I got too tired. At the end of my eighth grade year, it was decided that I no longer needed an independence facilitator anymore. At first, it was very hard to manage physically on my own, but not having someone to lean on all the time helped me be independent in school. I later look back on this and I realize that even though at the time it was hard to do things on my own, I learned how to fully rely on myself in school. Sometimes we lose something because there is something we need to learn from it. 7. When you are down to nothing, God is up to something.In my life, I have found that it is at my lowest points in life, that I come to a stronger knowledge of my Father in Heaven. I know sometimes, He brings us down so that we can soar higher than we had been before. One of my favorite articles in a magazine produced by the church is called, “The Currant Bush” by Elder Hugh B. Brown. He talked about when he was a young farmer in Canada and one day came accross a current bush that failed to produce any fruit. As a farmer, who wanted the bush to grow fruit to eat, he decided to prune the bush, leaving only a small stump. In doing this, he observed that a tear-like drop had emerged from the stump, as if it were to ask, “Why are you doing this to me?” The farmer answered that he was the gardener and he knew what he wanted the plant to be. Months later, the bush was once again fully grown, but this time laden with plenty of fruit. The bush thanked the gardener for loving him enough to cut him down. The same is true in our own lives. God knows what he wants us to be and sometimes, He cuts us down because we are not growing in ways he has planned for us. 8. There are going to be so many people in this life that say you can’t, prove them wrong.Throughout my life, there have been people who have told me that there are always going to be certain things that I’ll never be able to do. Sometimes, those people are right, but most often, if you have enough determination, you can make it. Every so often, there have been people who have told me that because of my physical limitations, there are things that I just can’t do. When people tell me things like this I sometimes get irritated and take that energy that would be used to fuel that anger to do whatever they said was impossible for me to do.
I’ll be honest with you, some people can be really hard to deal with. I have trouble adhering to this philosophy. I tend to take the people that I have trouble getting along with and think only about their negative traits. I forget that just like me, they too have flaws, but they also have good traits. We are all progressing towards being better people and some people are just faster in their betterment than others. I have found that the more patient you are with people, the easier it is to tolerate them. Another thing I have grasped is that the more you accept that everyone has flaws that you can’t always fix, the better your relationships will be. 10. Eschew the Norm.I think one of the most important lessons I’ve learned in my 17 years on this earth is that normalcy is boring. I also know that not being normal is very hard. I was born with cerebral palsy (CP for short). CP is basically a disorder that affects my movement, muscle tone and posture. When I was younger, I had to use a walker and have braces on my legs in order to walk. I do not need them anymore, thankfully, but due to my CP, I really stand out in a crowd and I used to be really self-conscious about it. Then one day, I read a book about a boy with CP in which he talked about how everyone strives to be “normal” and to “fit in” but this kid’s goal was to stand out and show people that being different was not a particularly bad thing. After reading his philosophy, I decided to embrace it. Though it is hard at times, the choice I made to accept being different from my peers was one of best decisions I’ve ever made.
|
My name is Ellie. I am a sophomore at BYU Idaho. I am excited to live life and to share a small piece of it with you!
Archives
May 2019
Categories
All
Links |