Progress

There is nothing in this life that will come our way that we can't handle as long as we have faith in a loving Heavenly Father. Last week I spent a few days down in Escalante backpacking with some young men from my church ward. It was an amazing experience and I was able to relate many of the experiences I had there to the trials and hardships of life. I was impressed with the quality of these young men and I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for this trip with them.

As we hiked through the narrow slot canyons, down a river, and up the sides of mountains I thought a lot about our journey through life. Our last hike was probably the most memorable. It was the end of a long day and the last 2.5 miles were up a mountain. It was 98 degrees and we were running low on water. From the bottom of the mountain, the trek back seemed daunting. As we began the hike I even found myself having the thought "I can do hard things, I can do hard things." Sometimes as we are struggling through the uphill battles of life we have to reassure ourselves that we can do hard things. We need to constantly be moving forward with faith, with a determination to make it to our destination. Typically I would say it's never good to look back but when we made it to the top of the mountain it was an amazing feeling to look back at where we started. As I look back at the uphill battle I have faced, I am amazed to see where I started. It is a good feeling to see progress! We need to allow ourselves to see our improvements and where we have grown! But the feeling I remember most as I looked back from the top of the mountain is how much a loving Heavenly Father has helped me along the way. He has given me strength and courage. He has lifted me up. I would be stuck at the bottom somewhere if it wasn't for Him. I love my Heavenly Father.

My particular uphill battle is not finished. I still have other mountains to climb. Life seems to be a continuous uphill battle. But we can progress! We can push forward with faith. We can give ourselves a pat on the back everyone once and a while and then keep moving. Our Heavenly Father knows how difficult life can be. He KNOWS. He also knows how to help us! We are not alone in our struggles. I know without a doubt that God loves us, and he knows we can't be perfect so he wants to see PROGRESS. He wants to see us climbing life's mountains with courage and faith in Him. And he will be there every step of the way. We can all feel the joy of progress in our lives. We also can all feel the gentle guidance from a loving Heavenly Father, especially when our mountains seem overwhelming.

I want anyone who reads this to know that they have a Heavenly Father who lives and loves them. His love is eternal and pure. He knows you and your struggles. He is real and he desires for you to return to Him. He will help you PROGRESS. Do not fear your mountains. Climb them!

Do Good

I was reading in the scriptures recently and it spoke about "doing good continually" and that if we did so we would receive many spiritual rewards. As I look back over the past months I will say that choosing to do good was not the easy choice. At the time my mistakes completely destroyed my life and hurt many others. I will never try to justify my actions or make excuses. But there was a moment, a very distinct moment, where I had to choose what path I would take. Taking the worldly path and giving up would have been EASIER at the time. Thankfully I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and put things in place to help me make the right choice. And that choice was to DO GOOD.

Doing good continually is not easy but I do believe that it becomes easier as we experience failure and success. The more good we do the easier it becomes and the more we recognize the Savior in our lives. The road to change is not an easy one. When you are going down the wrong path it is as if you are running down a steep hill and as you continue down it you pick up speed. Many times our lives come to a screeching halt at the bottom of the hill. This can be referred to as "rock bottom". If we allow ourselves to get to this point, our lives and our souls are in serious jeopardy. But we still can make a choice, even when we hit rock bottom. We can either stay at the bottom and bury ourselves or we can choose to do good and begin the long journey back up the hill. I will tell you, that even though the journey back is difficult, it is the RIGHT choice. It is the choice that we all must make. Whether we have fallen down a little hill or a huge mountain, we need to choose to do good continually. The Lord will provide the necessary assistance and we are never alone.

I know that life is hard at times. I know that many people struggle with many different things. I know that many of us have fallen and fallen hard. But I also know that we can turn around, face our demons, and choose to do GOOD. We can make it back from anything. It takes strong determination and a sincere effort but it can be done. Satan will be relentless in his attempts to destroy us. We will be fighting a battle. A difficult battle. A never ending battle. But we can win the battle every day by doing good and doing it sincerely. We will find peace and we fill find strength. We will find truth and we will find love. We will inevitably trip up or fall down on our journey back, but we will get right back up and continue forward to our destination.

I hope and pray that my experiences can help people on their individual journeys. I hope that my mistakes can be used for good, to help people to choose good. I hope that my experiences may help others avoid the same mistakes. I hope and pray those that I have hurt may come to know that I am sorry and that I have chosen to do good.

Although there are consequences, and at times severe consequences for our mistakes, it is never to late and it is always better to make the right choice. You can be healed, you can overcome, and you can DO GOOD.

You Can Do Hard Things

Stop beating yourself up. You are a good person. Don't let negativity and doubt control your thoughts. The only way you can learn to love again is if you learn to love yourself. You can do hard things and come out on top. Don't beat yourself up anymore. Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself you can do it and that you are a child of God who can do anything with His help. He loves you and cares about you and believes in you. Believe in yourself. Be confident. Be strong. Don't beat yourself up.

Trials And Triumphs

I just finished an enjoyable weekend down in St. George with friends and family. I was able to see my newest nephew for the first time. It was amazing to be able to hold his 1 week old body and feel his little spirit. My testimony of the plan of salvation and the reality of our Heavenly Father and Savior were strengthened as I watched him sleep. I have thought about the trials and triumphs that he will have in his life. He will be faced with difficulties and struggles that he will have to overcome. He will also witness many triumphs that will fortify his own testimony. He will rise and fall like we all do and will need to learn through experience.

Over the weekend I thought about how our lives are a series of trials and triumphs that shape us into who we are. We have the choice, every day, to decide how we want to be shaped. Each day we will most likely be faced with some sort of trial. How we decide to deal with that trial will shape our futures. One thing I have learned over the past months is that we need to face our trials and then replace them with something positive. Understand and realize the trial is there and then look for ways to replace it. Now this doesn't mean to run from it or sweep it under the rug but it means to really truly face it and acknowledge it's presence, and then shift your thoughts to positive reinforcement. I have found that this works very well and can be very empowering. You begin to witness many small triumphs in your life. You have triumphs that you never realized before and you begin to appreciate how often the triumphs come! It is also very empowering to prepare yourself for trials. Know that they will come and prepare yourself mentally and spiritually for them. It is never fun to feel blindsided by a trial so it is comforting to know and understand that they will come and we can be prepared to face them. Obviously we can't predict certain trials but we can do a lot to prepare ourselves.

Recently I have been presented with another trial. One of those situations where you feel like you can't catch a break! Trials can be especially hard when people who you love are involved and you wish things could be different. Thankfully, through facing my previous trials, I have learned how to weather the storm. I know that I can't control a lot of things. But I can control my reaction, my actions, and how I move forward. And of course, if I steer my thoughts toward others and away from myself, I can find peace and comfort easier.

Trials and triumphs come in many forms and vary in magnitude. We are in charge of a lot more than we realize! Our attitudes and decisions determine how we will overcome. I know that if we face our trials and then focus on our triumphs we will find peace, understanding, and comfort in our lives. Our Father in Heaven is constantly blessing us and I know that he loves each of us individually. I am grateful for the trials and triumphs we face in this life and how we learn and grow from all of them.

Don't Run

I have learned through my experiences in life that the absolute worst thing you can do when presented with a challenge or difficulty is to run from it. In the past I ran from pretty much everything. The most detrimental thing that I would run from was my mistakes. Running from my mistakes only left the door that much more wide open for Satan to come in and seize control. If we run from our problems we are not in control. We are out of control and helpless. We cannot suffer through difficulties alone. We must face them head on and be willing to do whatever it takes.

Truly facing your demons or problems can be a terrifying thing. Fear is the main influence behind running from our problems. Fear can be paralyzing. Fear helps us to justify and downplay our situation. Fear makes it impossible to change and keeps us from progressing. Running from our problems also means avoiding them. Avoiding our problems only prolongs the inevitable and the longer we prolong the more painful it will be.

In this blog I speak from my own experiences. I talk about what I truly believe in hopes that it will be able to help someone who is suffering. I have made mistakes in my life that I hope no one ever has to face. But no matter what you are dealing with there is hope and peace in facing your issue and dealing with it head on. It does not matter how small or how big the issue may be. We can FACE it. If you are running, STOP. I know that makes it sound easy but you will find no comfort in avoiding it. The consequences that I am now facing could have been avoided years ago if I had just stopped running and hiding. The pain and sorrow that I have endured would have never needed to happen. I am not only talking to those who have made mistakes but to ANYONE that is dealing with ANY issue. Face it. Ask for help, pray, endure, and you will find peace and relief.

The road to eternal life is hard enough as it is. Make it easier by facing your problems and moving forward with faith and courage to overcome anything that comes your way. I know that there is nothing you are going through that the Atonement of our Savior cannot heal. Let him heal you and ease your burdens. Don't run from the one thing that can heal you. I know this to be true.

Who Am I?

At times I have found myself asking the question "Who am I?" This is a very important question to ask yourself and to remind yourself of who you really are. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father. We are all unique and we all have defining qualities. We are all brothers and sisters and we all are blessed with a Savior. We are all great, strong, important people in our Heavenly Father's eyes. We are who we really want to be. We are what we think and how hard we work. We are blessed. And above all, WE ARE LOVED.

We need to remember that we are NOT the mistakes we have made. We are not bad people if we struggle with something. We are not lost and forgotten. We are not a lost cause with no hope. We are not held captive by sin, trials, or circumstances.

We can overcome anything. I truly believe that. I know that some things seem impossible to overcome. Some struggles have been with us for a long time. Some struggles are brought on by other people and have affected you deeply. Some struggles are within our minds while others are outward actions that are hard to control. We can have any number of struggles and trials in this life. But we are not defined by them. We are not controlled by them. We can rise above and be who we really are.

We need to be able to stand on our own two feet. We need to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and know that between ourselves and the Lord we can make it. Yes, we have loved ones and amazing people in our lives. But we need to realize who we are so we can be strong. In those quiet moments by ourselves what are we thinking, what are we doing, how are we acting and who are we being? Many people will come in and out of our lives. Friends come and go and very few stay. We tend to disappoint each other a lot. But we need to be happy with ourselves and who we are. We need to strive to be the best we can be and help others to do the same. I'm not saying that others aren't important because they are. I have friends and family that have shown me unconditional love that have helped me in so many ways. But what I am saying is that we need to happy and secure with who we are individually. This way we are able to tackle our trials and come out victorious!

A phrase I think of often is "Decisions Determine Destiny." We can all decide right now to be who we really are and be the best we can be. We can decide to overcome, achieve, succeed, and change. We are ALL capable of amazing things. We are all destined for great things and our destiny will be determined by the decisions we make NOW. I believe this to be true.

Perspective

Today has been an interesting and challenging day. A week ago I accepted a new job with a new company. I signed the offer letter and put my 2 week notice in with the current company I work for. I felt really good about the opportunity and felt as though it was a huge blessing in my life. I was ready for the change. Today I received a phone call from the new company telling me that my offer was being rescinded. They said that it was no fault of my own but that they had some internal issues. I was devastated and of course my mind began running wild. It had been something that felt so good and would have been a big deal for me. So why is this happening? How do I react to this? I don't need another trial right now.......

There are many emotions that are running through me. As I work through this new trial I can't help but think of perspective. I could easily fall into the traps of despair, complaining, and contention. But where will that lead me? Most likely to a far worse state of disappointment and anger at the situation. It is so important that we keep our lives and the events that take place, good or bad, in proper perspective. Yes what happened today is a difficult thing but having a positive perspective allows me to see the benefits that can come from this. We must hope for the best and know that everything will be ok. Steven E. Snow said "Hope is an emotion that brings richness to everyday lives. It is the feeling that events will turn out for the best."

At the end of a challenging day it is comforting and reassuring to be able to kneel down and give thanks to a loving Heavenly Father. I know that he has our best interest at heart. I know that there are many times in life where things are just plain bad. You keep wondering when you will catch that break you have been hoping for. But if one door shuts another will open! We say that phrase all the time but do we believe it? That is where hope and perspective come in. We truly can hope for a better future. And as we go through the rollercoaster of life we can feel added peace and assurance through proper perspective of difficult trials.

I know that no matter the circumstance we can all hope for a better tomorrow. We all can endure. We all can hope in the Atonement and it's infinite powers to heal. Perspective.