What is Hope?

 Hope is Joy. Joy is serving those around you. Hope is believe or Faith in something that you cant see. Hope comes before knowledge but after Faith. Hope for the future helps us know no matter how bad today is that tomorrow will be better. In the gospel libery Topics and questions it states that " Hope is a confidence that eternal promises will be fulfilled through Jesus Christ. Life often brings unexpected, difficult circumstances that can lead us to feel discouraged, overwhelmed, and defeated. During such times, Heavenly Father does not leave us vulnerable and alone. He offers many spiritual resources. Including the gift of Hope that helps us find strength, courage, and an anticipation of a Joyful future." The gospel is a gospel of Hope. Living the gospel wont stop horrible things from happening to us. Instead it gives us something far better Hope! Hope that no matter what happens to us today that tomorrow will be better. Christ brings Hope into our lives that as we use the atonement in our lives that God is a God of promise. 

What is Faith and why do we need it?

 What is Faith and why do we need it?

Faith is an action word meaning that we have to something and then have trust in God. Do we believe that God is a God of promises? If we honestly believe then we will know that the promises that has made will be filled in his time table. Recently I have had to lean on my faith like no other as my husband who I was sealed to in the temple to decided that he wanted a divorce. I had been promised that I would soon be a mother and that I would be sealed to a worthy priesthood holder in the temple. Although now I don’t know when either will happen I know that as I have faith in my savior and live my life worthy these promises will be mine. Its honestly the only thing that brings comfort because right now I feel like my heart in breaking and my world is falling apart. My faith and trust in my savior is the only thing thats holding me together at this time of great trail. No matter the trial that you might be going through right now know that as you lean on your faith in the savior you will find miracles and blessings in your life that you never imagined. The gospel is a gospel of Faith. Do you have the faith to listen and head a prophet of God? Do you have Faith that when given a blessing that those promises will be filled in the lords time table? In the midst of a trail do you have Faith that the lord only brings things in your life that will help us in this life or in the next? Do you have Faith that God loves us and that we are his children? Do you have Faith in the scriptures that was written hundreds of years ago and that they still apply today? Do you have Faith in the word of Wisdom? Do you have Faith in the covenants that we make in the temple and that as we keep our covenants that we will find the courage to keep pressing forward? As you can see this Gospel is a Gospel of Faith. You have to have Faith in order to live this Gospel. The only people who have left this Gospel only left because they didnt have the Faith this Gospel requires. So if you want to know if this Gospel is true it starts with Faith, the Faith to ask. Before you do anything you have to have Faith in something and then follow it with works. Faith without works is dead. If your struggling with anything in this Gospel have Faith that its true, live it and I promise that as you continue to ask God you will come to understand the blessings that are yours as you keep and live the Gospel. The very thing that was hard will become easier to as you begin to understand the principle. This Gospel has never and never will be easy to live. The Gospel isnt meant to be easy its meant to stretch us and help us become Gods and Goddess. If we remember that we have power in the Gospel and that as we live the Gospel we wont only find happiness we will also become a God. As we keep our eyes on the mark we will find power that we never imagined possible. There’s power in the word “Faith” and i hope all will find that power!

 

Forgiving something you never thought you could 

 

Since 2015 I have been carrying this weight with me that I did not realize what it was called, I could not move on or forgive what had happened to me. In 2015 I had married a man who treated me like dirt and that was putting it mildly. He was very abusive in every way imaginable, and I honestly thought that I could never learn how to forgive him for all that he had done to me or what it had done to my family. Then I learned that forgiving was not what I thought it was. My entire life I had been taught that forgiveness was a commandment of God and yes of course I read in Nephi where it states that God does not give any commandment to the children of men, unless he gives them a means to accomplish and follow the commandment, but how could I keep this commandment? Did he deserve to be forgiven? What he had done was unforgivable correct? I would receive no blessing by forgiving him? I also could not forgive a man who still haunted my dreams or effected my marriage to my amazing husband could I?  

 

T then I realized thanks to an amazing woman that forgiveness was not what I thought it was and I could forgive and let go of the past. I would need power from on high and a sweet husband who would be willing to let me cry and vent as I tried to overcome this and be able to learn how to forgive. I soon realized that forgiving was not for my ex as much as it was for me and my husband and future children. I was the one who had been weighed down for so long as I forgave the more comfort and peace I felt in my own life. I can now look at something like my first marriage with gratitude in my heart. I learned how to be strong, how to be grateful for my sweet husband I am now married to and the future we will have, I have gained compassion for those who have gone through the same or worse, I have gained strength and empathy for those around me and although it was hard and took me many years to learn that by letting go and forgiving I am setting myself free.  

 

I will never be the same person; I think that is a wonderful thing. I can now look towards the past to realize how far I have come and what a person I have become because of the things I have gone through. Although I would not want to go through those things with my ex, I am grateful for the person it turned me into. I am now working towards regaining myself and finding the person behind all the hurt and bitterness that became me. I am grateful to the lord for helping me get a calling that helped me realize that I needed to be better to have his spirit be more with me. I honestly feel like the more I live the gospel especially the hard parts of the gospel the more I am blessed. The lord never said it would be easy, he only said that it would be worth it in the end. The lord never said that we would need to live the gospel by ourselves either, indeed we had the help of the savior to live the gospel. I know I would never have been able to move on if it was not for the help of the savior. The more I prayed the easier it became to let things go and I no longer had to carry the weight.  

I came to learn that by forgiving and letting go I was setting myself up for the future. How amazing it is that the lord gives us commandments to help us. I also came to realize that with atonement I could do things that I always thought were impossible. The word Impossible really does spell I am possible and anything is possible with hard work and the saviors help. The reason that the lord wanted me to forgive was not for the other person, even my ex, as much as it was for me and my family. Now I can put my energy and focus on the future and how amazing is it that the energy I was wasting can now be put to too effective use in my home? 

I am so grateful for the miracle of forgiveness not only for myself but for those who have or will wrong me. I can testify that it leads to happiness and the more I live the gospel to the key the more I come to realize that the gospel really does lead to happiness in this life as well as the life hereafter.  

Happiness is attainable

 I know in this world happiness seems a world away, but I’m to testify that it’s closer than anyone thinks it is. It’s an armful away and within our grasp. If we learn what the atonement really is and what is within it’s grasp we will come to understand that it’s the atonement that will bring happiness. The Hope it brings is the most powerful thing we can ever have. Hope for the future, Hope that things will get better, Hope that the trail will one day leave or at least get easier to handle. It’s Hope that will bring about happiness. 

For the first time in my life I’m feeling happiness and if you know me you are going to say wait a minute just a few days you wanted to commit suicide. You will wonder how this can be and if this can happen for you how can it happen for someone else? Although the way for you is going to look different than it has for me hopefully you will find ideas to help yourself. I will share my story a little and how I have ended up here in this place at this time.