I am antsy today for the weekend.  A lot has happened this week and I am feeling good.  I taught a lesson on Sunday and it was honestly such an amazing experience.  My lesson was on conversion and what it means to be truly converted to the Lord.  I taught about the amazing life of the apostle Peter, and his conversion to the Savior.  It was powerful and moving and really went well.  I shared a clip from the talk, "Feed my Sheep", by Elder Holland, and it ended off the lesson with something to remember and really feel.  The lesson in Sunday School was also really moving and made me think.  It was about faith and how it can become a strength to us.  We read a lot out of Alma 13-15 and the story of Alma and Amuelek and all the hardships and things they went through for defending the saints.  We focused a lot of the story of when they witnessed the mothers and their children being burned right in from of them and all of the wicked were telling them to prove Gods power and existence by saving the people.  I thought about how hard it must have been to not expect Gods miracles and power right away and how much of a process it really was.  Faith is not something we feel or get or exercise in a moment but in a lifetime.  They could have just proved these people wrong and used the power of God right when they needed it but they suffered and kept silent for 3 days.  Everything happened in the right timing and for a specific reason.  I thought about trials of our faith and how really when you think of it in the big picture, they are a huge blessing and an opportunity to show your commitment to God and yourself.  I used to always think that trials were kind of a punishment or unfair but when we talked about it in Sunday School, we realized how much they come to those with such divine spiritual potential and that have such power and purpose in this life.  Think of this specific story of Alma and Almuelek, Mormoni, Enos, all the apostles, Nephi, Joseph Smith, even the Son of God, our own personal Savior Jesus Christ, went through every kind of trial and tribulation.  As we discussed all of these people in history and everything they had to endure and overcome to deserve and achieve their eternal greatness and reward, this scripture came to mind:


(D&;C 122:7-8)

7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee ^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The ^aSon of Man hath ^bdescended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

(Hebrews 5:8-9)

 8 Though he were a Son, yet ^alearned he ^bobedience by the things which he ^csuffered;

 9 And being made ^aperfect, he became the ^bauthor of eternal^csalvation unto all them that obey him;

We are all here to reach perfection and just as Jesus Christ earned his eternal reward, so will we have to have faith strong enough to get us through every trial and hard thing that comes to us. It is an honor and a blessing to be given a challenge.  We should see it as a opportunity to become even more great and even better than we are at that specific time and moment in our lives.  If these experiences happen to us personally, can we remember that we are considered worthy and ready for this next challenge and hard time in our life so we can progress and move on to the next chapter that is ahead of us.  We are all here to learn and all here to grow.  Why is it so hard for us to remember that and why can't we be excited and ready for all these challenges that test us and make us the beautiful and strong and happy eternal souls that we are meant to just shine to others and to be.  We are the examples and we are the lights to all.  Things will happen to us almost everyday, if we are worthy and ready to take the challenge, so we just keep learning more and more.  Its just exciting to think about it, isn't it!!!  Let us accept everything hard and easy, or scary or wrong, or enjoyable, or not, and do it with a humble, loving, and vibrant heart!  Be ready and be open.  Be understanding and be accepting.  Be happy and be okay with yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  We never know what anyone or any place or anything will bring or take us, but we can choose how we look at each experience and how we choose to handle it.  Be bold and be confident.  Just be.