Looking Back

So I'm taking a few minutes to breath and get people updated. Sadly I'd love to talk to most of you one on one but alas, I do not have the time to do that.

After my last post, Wendy returned from her sojourn overseas. We enjoyed being reunited. We'd both grown closer to one another during her absence. Wendy was happy to spend good quality time with both her parents. A couple days after she got back, we came back to Idaho. Classes have started and we both have kind of crazy schedules. Plus, I started back to work this week so that's made life that much more hectic. The last couple of weeks have been good but a bit difficult getting back into the swing of things. I should mention that Wendy and I have one class together which is nice because it means we have a least two times a week that we're guaranteed to see each other. This semester, I have all new roommates which is cool. We're all chill which is nice. I'm currently reading two books "The Power of Six" which is from the sequel of "I Am Number Four" and the fifth book of Fablehaven. The latter series Wendy recommended to me and I really like it.

Wendy and I got to hang out with a couple of my friends from my freshman orientation. They meet in my group and later started dating. They are now married and they are living in the apartment complex that Wendy and I are hoping to live in next year. We threw around a Frisbee, and had a small game night with dessert. I'm sorry, I don't have photos of that.

Lately, I've been thinking about the past and where I was a year ago or two or however many. I guess, I've thought about this because of reading over my journal and just the events happening all around me. I thought about all the dating that I've done here at BYU-Idaho. I know I haven't dated tons of girls but I will say that I tend to get really attached to people. In the past, it's always made breakups a bit more rough for me. Having reread some of my journal entries from those times, it made feel kinda sad but also made me want to reach out to my past self to tell him that everything will be okay and this is just part of Heavenly Father's plan for us. Saying that reminds me of a video that I love from Elder Holland that you can see if you click here. I watched this video after most of my breakups to help remind that the future would be better. But I digress, if I could go back, I would tell myself to keep going even though it's hard. I would tell myself to that it will get better even if there's another breakup down the road. I would tell him that God has the situation firmly in hand and that He's guiding you even if you don't see it yet; I'll promise him that one day he will see it and it'll be awesome beyond his imagination. And I'll answer his question, the question he was always too timid to ask. I would tell him that all the heartache and sacrifices he went through we were worth it. I'd let him know that he was trading small copper nuggets for a treasury of gold. I want to conclude by saying to those going through hard times right now: keep going! It will get better. If you feel like the Lord wants you to sacrifice something or a relationship with someone, do it. I promise that it will be worth it. I promise that you will be blessed for your sacrifice even if like Abraham, you can't see how God will make it work. I hope that y'all have a good week. May the Lord watch over you and bless you.

Faith in Sacrifice

So this last week I got back to Rexburg and got readjusted to being back with roommates. This week overall has been a good week. I've went to a couple of dances and made quite a few new friends. I also got to watch a funny movie with my sister and a good friend of ours.

This week I had a rather difficult but good experience. It reminded me a little of my mission; hence the picture below. One of my readers knows a bit about this experience because we had a couple of conversations about it. If any of my readers are curious as to the details they can ask me directly.

Due to this experience I've thought a lot about faith, hope, and sacrifice. I thought about how the Lord called upon Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. I thought about how hard this had to be for Abraham; he and Sarah had prayed many days and nights for Isaac. The Lord had promised Abraham that his seed would be as numerous as the sands upon the sea shore and that they would have the gospel. Through Isaac this promise would be realized along with many others. Most importantly Isaac was his son; while I’m not a father, I know that a good and righteous father deeply loves his son. I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must have been when the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. Then Abraham had a few days with Isaac and two of the servants to travel to the land of Moriah. I can’t imagine how agonizing it must have been for Abraham.

I have learned that sometimes the Lord asks us to make a sacrifice, and sometimes, like Abraham, He accounts our desire and sincerity to us as righteousness. When we are called upon by the Lord to make a sacrifice, we must have faith. There are also times when like Abraham, we must hope against hope, and have faith that the Lord could fulfill the promises that He had made. This is a principle that is easy to understand but is harder to live. I have learned that we must grow our faith on a daily basis so that when we are called on to sacrifice that we may find that we have faith stronger than sight and a hope grounded in the promises of the Savior. One of my favorite talks is “But If Not” by Elder Simmons, you can read it here.

The point of the talk is that our faith should not depend on people or the consequences of our choices. One of my favorite characters Alvin Maker was described as a man who always does the right thing no matter what the consequences; I personally hope that one day that some can describe me that way.

After this difficult situation, I know that the Lord has promised me great blessings. I don’t think that I’ve seen most of them yet but I know they’re coming. If you are going through a rough time know that the Lord is aware of your situation and that He cares and to quote Elder Holland “He is your Heavenly Father, and surely He matches with His own the tears His children shed.” I believe that. Exercise faith and do the right thing. I promise you that you will be blessed. Have a good week!