Destination: Scottsbluff, NE
Sites Visited: Martin's Cove (Pioneer Site)
(BM = Book of Mormon)
Today we started by setting goals to start off the trip. We had the goal to read the entire BM on the trip, and that meant we had to keep up with reading 28 pages a day, which I kept up with for about 3 days... We only had about 5 people finish the whole book by the end of the tour, as far as I know! It was kind of hard, mostly because we didn't have enough time to read. But I still got a lot out of what I did read, and that's all that matters to me. I'm glad I took my time and got things out of it, rather than speeding through it and not getting anything out of it.
So basically at this point I had a problem with the blog... It wasn't saving automatically like it normally does, so it didn't save anything I typed but that first paragraph. I had like 4 very long paragraphs typed out, and right as I click publish, an error appeared and it all disappeared... So now I have to type it again. :( That took me like a half hour to type out... Gotta start over :(
Sigh, ok once again... for me at least. You're all reading this for the first time. I guess this isn't so bad, cause I went into WAY too much detail, so the post was SUPER long, so maybe this time I can condense it while still getting my feelings across.
So we visited Martin's Cove, one of the places the pioneers crossed through. We looked out in the distance and saw the landmarks they used as they crossed the plains. It was incredible how far they had to walk... I kept thinking of how physically hard it was for these people to have to cross this many states, this much land, in the dead of winter. They definitely had and incredible amount of faith.
The main thing that kept coming to my mind as we talked about this site was, I hope with all my heart that I was one of the angels pushing them along. We always hear stories about how the pioneers felt and saw angels helping them across the plains... I really, REALLY hope that was me. I have a feeling it was... I hope I made their journey a little easier, and their burdens a little lighter. As I thought about this, I remembered one of my favorite scriptures, Psalms 34:7, which talks about how angels encompass us in our time of need (or at least that's how I interpreted it.) Those angels in my life are them, the pioneers.
I know i've had help from angels in my life, and i'm sure those angels are my ancestors, maybe even the ones that crossed the plains. I think that maybe they're returning the favor.
I am so grateful for the things they sacrificed for this gospel and for their posterity, me. I can't even wrap my mind around what they went through. It's so amazing to me that they'd willingly sacrifice their lives for this church. They had incredible faith.
We talked about how when we see them again, we'll fall to their feet and thank them for all the physical hardships they went through for us and for the church. But what we forget is, our generation deals with trials just as hard, but they are more mental and emotional. Our leaders said they will fall to our feet, and thank us for being strong for the next generation. They will thank us for bringing others to the church that they so strongly believe in.
I am so grateful for my ancestors who crossed the plains...
***********************************************************************************
The night before HT, I slept about 4 hours... I fell asleep around 1:30 because I had stayed up saying goodbye to one of my closest friends who was leaving on a mission a few days later. I had to be at AFHS at 6am...
If you know me personally at all, you'll know my history of stomach problems and getting sick easily. Long story short, my sisters and mom and I all have very sensitive and annoying stomachs. We all have our own personal and unique stomach problems. When I started getting really sick all the time around the age of 16, I was unsure of how to deal with it. For almost 2 years I was just sick every single day, mostly in the mornings and during school. But the last few months i've been figuring out how to deal with it. If I take certain medication, sleep well, eat well, and exercise, I do pretty good, and I can manage. But if I sleep less than like 7 1/2 hours, I am so sick the whole day... So back to the beginning then, when I said I only slept 4 hours that night... You can imagine how scared I was to go on a 3 week bus tour with a bunch of people I either barely knew or didn't know at all. Nobody knew what I was dealing with. Nobody knew how to help me. I didn't want to burden anyone with my problem, so I didn't really talk about it to more than a few people. But the first day of the tour... I was SO sick. I was actually planning how I was gonna get home, because I knew I wouldn't last 3 weeks.
I was so scared... I didn't know what to do. I figured i'd just wait it out a few days and see how things went.
I prayed so hard, the entire day... I prayed i'd feel well. But I knew in my heart that I wasn't going to just get a 'free blessing'. I had to do something to earn it...
I prayed and sort of made a 'deal' with God. I asked him to keep me healthy and feeling well, if I tried my hardest to get all I could out of this tour. I prayed so hard... I promised that i'd read as far as I could in the BM and bear my testimony almost every day and share my experiences with others and really try my best to get everything I can out of this tour.
Every moment that I invited the spirit in that day, by reading my scriptures or sharing my testimony, I wasn't sick. It was an incredible manifestation to me of the power of prayer. Never had I had a prayer answered so quickly or to that extent... It was incredible. I saw God's hand in my life for 3 straight weeks. It was constantly there... The spirit hardly ever left me. I got into a habit of constantly inviting it in. Not being sick was a great motivation to invite the spirit, haha...
When I woke up the next morning, I felt amazing. I wasn't sick at all... I felt perfect, I was so happy :)
No comments:
Post a Comment