The Past Year

This time last year, I looked at the year I had ahead of me and saw so many things. I had a whole plan for my life and I was set on it. It was so perfect and I was determined to chase after it. Well here I am a year later, not even close to where I thought I'd be. This "perfect plan" I had made for my life has been left behind because an even better plan has revealed itself. And that plan, is God's plan. I am so thankful that I have a Heavenly Father who knows what I need and watches out for me; a Heavenly Father who loves me so endlessly. I'm thankful that He took away things and people that I loved in order to put me on a better path. And now that I'm here, a year later, His plan is way better than my "perfect plan" ever was. I know that if we just put our full trust in Him and His plan and live the fullness of the gospel, our lives will be filled with everlasting happiness. And I know that He has a plan for all of us and I have learned that His plan is always better than the one we have in mind. 

It wasn't always easy though, having Heavenly Father take away the things and people I loved was extremely difficult and tore me apart inside. He tested all of my limits, but I learned that that was the only way for me to grow and to get on the path of righteousness. Sometimes, He knows what will force change within us. There were times where I didn't see the bigger picture and I didn't want to keep going because it was so hard, but then, I learned to put my faith and trust in the Lord and I let him carry me and guide me. And believe me, I have never been happier. I am closer to the spirit than I have ever been before. I am closer to my Heavenly Father and Savior than I have ever been before, and it's all because I put my life into His hands and said, "Father I trust you to take me where you want me to be." And He did. Looking back, I am so incredibly grateful that He took me out of the situation I was in, completely messed up my plans, and helped me get on the path that He has mapped out for me. He wants to help us, He wants to be there, He wants to take our burdens and make them light, but we have to let Him. And if we do, I promise you that everlasting joy and happiness will enter into your life. There will still be hard times, you will still face adversity and sorrow and anguish, but if you have a firm testimony and faith in God and His plan, you will better be able to endure your trials and overcome sorrow. I'm so thankful for a loving Father in Heaven who is so willing and able to help me through anything life throws at me. I am so thankful that He has a plan for my life and that if I keep the commandments and do the things I'm suppose to be doing, that plan will begin to unfold in my life. 

Mother's Day

In a culture where the role of a woman and a mother is skewed, we must remember how essential being a mother is in Gods plan for His children. The role of a mother is written time and time again in the scriptures, the family proclamation, and by prophets of old and new. Heavenly Father has made motherhood a divine calling here on this earth and it is our job as women to step up and take that calling upon ourselves. There is no calling more essential or more eternal than that of being a mother. The closest we can get to the love that our Heavenly Father has for us is the love of our mothers. The love a mother has for her children is comparable to nothing else here on the earth. It is so incredibly pure. I believe that there is nothing more powerful than a home filled with a worthy priesthood holder and a righteous, loving mother. And the prayers of a righteous mother are the most powerful types of prayers. The family proclamation specifies many times that marriage is to be between a man and a woman, this is so that you can have the priesthood power and divine role of a mother in the home and this is such a huge part of the Fathers plan for us. Motherhood is so special and so sacred and the divinity of it goes back to Mary, the mother of Christ. Heavenly Father picked the most pure and righteous of his daughters to bear His only begotten son. This son would not only inherit traits from his Father in Heaven, but from Mary. This made it so Mary had to live her life in a way that the Savior of the world could resemble. Throughout Jesus' life, Mary never left His side, she even stood at the bottom of the cross and watched her son get crucified. She was an amazing example of the type of mother we should all try to be one day. We must try to remember how heavenly mothers are and how each of us women were put on this earth to be mothers! It is so essential. Heavenly Father gave us time here on earth to be righteous and raise righteous children. Motherhood isn't easy, and it isn't suppose to be, but it is equal to that of the work of Heavenly Fathers Angels. There is a reason our Heavenly Mother isn't mentioned in scripture or talked about and it is because she is too special, too holy, too pure, too perfect. And that is how every righteous mother is seen in Gods eyes. I'm so thankful for my mother and all the other mothers out there who have stepped up and taken on this eternal and divine role of motherhood. I hope to one day follow the example of the righteous women around me and become a mother. Happy Mother's Day to every divine mother out there, but especially to my own. 

Put Your Trust in God

In the past year, I have learned that sometimes God will take away something you love, something you truly think you need, and then give you something better. He takes away something that He knows will ultimately drag you down and gives you something that will lift you up. Something that's extremely hard to remember during these times of loss is that He knows best. He knows what we need more than we do. And when He takes away something we love, He knows how much it hurts us, but we must put our full trust in our Father in Heaven and not get angry with Him. We must trust that He will abide with us during our hardest times because He will. We have to have faith that after the hardest times comes the greatest joy. God has a plan for us, He has a marvelous life mapped out for each and every one of us. And because of that, we must put our full trust and unwavering faith in Him. Life becomes so much easier when we just put our trust in His plan because we no longer have to endure the pain and worry of life or have questions like "what if" or "why". Just let Him carry you and let His plan unfold with every day. 

Trusting in God and His plan gives you a chance to step back from your hardships and sorrows and actually enjoy life and live it to its fullest. If we let Him, He will go through this life with us, hand in hand, and we will never have to feel alone. Remember keep praying and trusting God because no matter what He allows us to go through, He has a plan for you. And He will never let you fall. When nothing makes sense in your life and you feel as if everything is going wrong, trusting in God will always make perfect sense and change your life for the better. So when God takes away someone or something that you loved, and you just feel as if you can't go on without it, look up and trust God because He will always have bigger and better things in store for you. Trusting in Him truly makes our lives easier, better, and so much happier. 

The hardest thing about trusting God is changing our perspective from "Why did God let this happen to me" to "thank you God for letting this happen to me". We have to look at things from an optimistic perspective and try and understand why Heavenly Father would put you through this trial or why Heavenly Father would take away the thing you love most. Maybe it would end up hurting you worse than the pain of losing it. Or maybe the trial was necessary for your spiritual growth and testimony. Changing our perspective will help us to better endure trials and make it easier to put our full trust in God. I promise you that every trial that you endure, and every heartache that you experience will bring you closer to our Heavenly Father and strengthen you testimony if you have the right perspective. Don't let your trials pull you away from Heavenly Father, let them make you stronger and bring you closer to Him. Trust Him and He will not fail you.