As I sit and think about all the events that have happened for Jake and I this year, it's been an overwhelmingly emotional year. We've been challenged and strengthened. Despite all the hardships, we have also been truly blessed this year. As I came across my friends blog, she made reference to a really powerful talk by Robert D. Hales, Waiting upon the Lord. I encourage everyone to read this, I absolutely love this talk! In the October Conference, Elder Hales shares his powerful testimony of trials and the true purpose of this life. It provided me with a lot of hope, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I often wonder sometimes why life has to be so hard. Or, why me? Why does she have it so easy? As I think back over the year and through all of our trials, I know my Heavenly Father has been watching over us. We've been presented with challenges that I never thought I would ever have to face in my life. I have been truly blessed with an amazing husband, best friend, and supporter that I thank Heavenly Father every day for.
Elder Hales says, "we realize that the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we “wait upon the Lord.”12 Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, “all these things shall [be for our] experience, and … [our] good.”
It has taken me months, maybe years to understand and grasp the true purpose of life. You would think I would have a perfect knowledge, but I am still trying to perfect my own understanding. After reading this talk, it provides me with so much hope and understanding. That I am not alone in this. We are being watched over every step of the way, and I pray that I will keep pressing forward, even when I think I am physically and emotionally spent. I am grateful for all the experiences Jake and I have had this year. We've grown so much individually and even closer to each other. Though I still don't understand the purpose of every trial, I know we are both being refined into the persons that we are meant to become.
Elder Hales testimony, I express gratitude that “in my Gethsemane”43 and yours, we are not alone. He that watches over us “shall neither slumber nor sleep.”44 His angels here and beyond the veil are “round about [us], to bear [us] up.”45 I bear my special witness that our Savior’s promise is true, for He says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.”46 May we wait upon Him by pressing forward in faith, that we may say in our prayers, “Thy will be done,”47 and return to Him with honor.
My heart continues to go out to all those that were effected in my hometown, Newtown CT. Words can not describe the pain that our little community is going through. Our thoughts and prayers are to our Newtown Ward who is also grieving the loss of sweet Emilie Parker.
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