Miracle Miércoles

Have you ever had a terrible, no good, very bad day? But then you realize that your fine, life is super great and, you have no reason to complain, or even to worry a little? That happened to me this week. Did you know that Heavenly Father loves me SO much? He really does, and if I can just exercise faith in Him, than He will bless me. I konw He will. All I need to do is trust. So here's the story.

Yesterday I woke up after having a very confusing dream. It made me think a lot about life, and wonder what in the world I am supposed to do. I went running, that's a good way to start my day right? It felt great! The rest of my morning hours were filled with scripture study, studying for a Spanish test, and writing a paper. That day I got to my Environmental Rhetoric class and I was so excited. Each week we have a paper due, and so far I haven't gotten that great on papers. But last week I went and talked to the teacher, then spent hours making it just right. I felt so good about it. I just knew, this was going to be the time that I did awesome on my weekly think paper. Well.. the end of class came and she quickly handed out our papers. I turned it over, ready to see at least a 90%, maybe even more! Well... let's just say I was sorely disappointed. I went from that class feeling completely frustrated and almost in tears... to my next class. Which went fine, except I have to write another paper by tomorrow...(I should probably be doing that instead of blogging...hmmm...)Finally I went to my last class of the day. I got there to find that I completely failed my test last week. Which wasn't to much of a surprise, but still discouraging. Suffice it to say that I came home very discouraged, wondering how in the world I was going to make it through this semester, let alone the rest of my life - which I am still trying to figure out.
When I got home, my wonderful roommmate Jillian let me just complain. Which is a terrible thing to do, but for some reason I always think it will make me feel better. It wasn't till she helped me focus on all the really great things that are happenning that i felt better. But I decided that I was going to fast, I was going to pray with real intent, and I was going to the temple.

So today, was a wonderful, no bad, very good day! I guess I don't need to go into detail, but I learned a lot. I think I'll make you a list:
- I learned that I absolutely must grow a little closer to my Savior each day. I should not be comfortable with the way I am, I should want to be better.
- I learned that when I pray and fast with real intent, I will receive answers to my prayers.
- I learned that faith in Jesus Christ is so important. It is, after all, the first principle of the gospel. Faith is a spiritual gift that I need to be constantly striving for. To develop this gift it takes prayer, obedience, and focusing all of our heart, might, mind, and strength on knowing and doing the Lord's will.
- I also learned that when I am looking for answer, Heavenly Father will send people to answer my prayers. I know that my institute teacher today was inspired to teach
the lesson that He was. (we talked about faith, and he used the talk by Elder Kevin W. Pearson, "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ," Ensign, May 2009, 38-40) Finally, I learned, like President Hinckley once said, it's not as bad as you sometimes think.

There is a girl in my IWA who is absolutely inspiring. She is super cute, and she always where's the greatest hats. She has one of the most beautiful smiles, and she is so kind. She really is a wonderful example of Charity. Well this wonderful amazing girl, has cancer. She has almost no hair, she is super skinny, and she has no idea how long she will be alive. Tonight her parents came and did a cooking demo for us, and her parents are absolutely wonderful. As I visited with them after, I felt honored to be in their presence. They have a pure faith. They have a great understanding of the atonement, and I can tell that the Savior really is their best friend. As they were sharing experiences one stood out to me because I had heard a similar story in institute this morning. Her mom glowed as she shared this:
We were praying for a miracle. We wanted Natalie (the daughter with cancer) to be able to go to camp, but she wasn't going to be able to unless she got her blood count up. Our whole family had united in prayer and she only had a few days left before camp. We were praying but I realized something was wrong. I was praying for a miracle, but I knew, I absolutely positively knew that there was no possible way it could happen. Then that scene from "The Testaments" came back to me. The one where there is a father who takes his crippled child to the Savior and asks the Savior to heal Him. The Savior replies that "If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth." The father eagerly replies and cries out with tears in his eyes, "Lord, I believe..." The Savior then looks at the father, just wondering, do you really? Are you sure about that? and then with that humbling look, the father asks the Savior "help thou mine unbelief." That's when I realized that I didn't have the faith, but that I could ask the Savior to help my unbelief. And you konw what? He did. Natalie's blood levels came up and she went to that camp.

That sweet family said that they pray for a miracle every day, that Natalie will continue to have health, and live a somewhat normal life. But they also pray everyday that they will be able to submit to His will, and accept it, willingly. They are such amazing examples.

So after such a wonderful day, I just feel grateful. I feel so grateful for my life, for my healthy body, for my Savior, who won't laugh at me when I worry about such silly things, and for the knowledge of the gospel. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father and His love for me. I am grateful for all of the amazing people that I am blessed enough to be surrounded by. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father answers prayers. I am grateful for the people who are in tune enough to help Heavenly Father answer my prayers. I am grateful for the joy that I feel in my heart right now.

I know that this gospel is true. I know that when we are obedient we are blessed, our faith increases, and we will find true joy. I know that my Savior lives. I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers my prayers. I love life.

Just one of the many, miracles. I hope that I can always find the miracles in my life.