On my mind...

A few weeks ago, my mom came up to UT for her Bday and for conference. My mom and Michael are both converts and have never had the opportunity to go to conference before...until now :) We had tickets for the afternoon Saturday session. It was a lil' cloudy, but better than it snowing like it was suppose to! The conference center is a MAGNIFICENT building. It looks like an average size building from the outside, but then you go inside and your jaw drops. HUGE!!! There really isn't a bad seat in the entire place. It was an amazing experience to here the message from our apostles and prophet, and to have my favorite people with me at the same time.

One of my favorite talks was given by President Boyd K. Packer. It was all about prayer and promptings from our Heavenly Father. Coincidentally the speakers in church yesterday also talked about prayer. I love the thought of prayer. I love that we have a Heavenly Father that listens to us whenever we need him. We can ask for anything, or simply just let him know our thoughts on life or let him know how grateful we are for the blessings we feel in our life. It can be a 20 minute prayer or a prayer in the car. Regardless, we need to learn how to communicate with our HF and create a relationship of love and trust, just like a worldly relationship. It needs time to develop and grow into something beautiful.

We all here the stories of "i lost my keys (or insert something you need to find) and I said a prayer and then within minutes I found my keys" While I have never had an experience like this, I do know that HF answers our prayers whether that means we get the answer we expected or not. The big guy upstairs knows what is best for each one of us. We are not "all knowing" but he sure is.

President Boyd K. Packer(p.s. LOVE that name Boyd) says is best here....

"Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees. Prayer is your personal key to heaven. The lock is on your side of the veil. And I have learned to conclude all my prayers with “Thy will be done” (Matthew 6:10; see also Luke 11:2; 3 Nephi 13:10).

Do not expect to be free entirely from trouble and disappointment and pain and discouragement, for these are the things that we were sent to earth to endure.

Someone wrote:

With thoughtless and impatient hands
We tangle up the plans
The Lord hath wrought.
And when we cry in pain He saith,
“Be quiet, man, while I untie the knot.”¹¹

The scriptures promise, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The Savior said, “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (D&C 88:63)."

I love that! We all know we are here to be tested and to learn so many lessons...good and bad, but we are not in it alone. Heavenly Father will be there for us every step of the way if we will just learn to lean on him, and know that he will not test us above what he knows we can handle. That concept to me is just crazy. The crazy things you hear that people go through, the bad things happening to good people, just is an example of how strong these people truly are and how amazing they are, and how they are examples to those around them. So, when trials come your way, always try to see the silver lining and know that HF loves you beyond measure and that he knows how strong you can be, kind of a compliment in a twisted way.

Like I mentioned earlier, our ward speakers also talked about prayer yesterday in sacrament. They both had some insightful thoughts about prayer, but what really hit me was what our bishop concluded with. He stated that prayer is not for HF, but more for us. He doesn't need us to check in, tell him what we are thinking or even what we need or want. He already knows. He knows our heart, he knows our needs, he knows our intentions, he knows our wants. What we really need is to realize that OUR will needs to line up with HIS. He knows what is best for us, always. Sometimes I know that I think I know what I'm doing, and then I look back and my life and realize that it's a REALLY good thing he knows best, because otherwise I would be in some serious trouble.

The Lord has blessed me in so many ways in my life, and I rarely feel deserving. I have an amazing family, a handsome, healthy and wonderful husband, and pretty fabulous friends. I live in a country where we have so many freedoms, but freedom of religion is the greatest blessing. I am free to worship, study and preach my gospel. I am free to express my love for my HF and I need to do this more often. This is my challenge to myself. To pray more often, and more fervently. I do love my HF and know that he has had his hand in everything in my life. Good or bad. He has been by my side in my darkest hours and i know he has had a smile on his face when I do great things. He is a loving father and for that I am truly blessed.