" We have to learn to be faithful in the dark" ~~Brigham Young

Tough couple of weeks......
The past week or so has really tried my faith.  I had no idea I could get so low.  My husband had surgery and although the surgery did go well, the recovery has not.  He has had major reactions to the pain medications, the blood thinners, and even the anesthesia was hard to knock out of his system.  It has been a "dark" time and without a testimony, I would not have survived.

Sometimes we take our testimonies for granted.  Kade's email this past week told of a family he has been working with who have such strong faith, despite getting kicked in the teeth over and over.  They are truly an example.  He said, "A couple months ago ****, before he was baptized got in a fight in the chapel, one of the member kids got him in a choke hold, and **** passed out.  He could of died, the police and ambulance came too.  His parents knew about this, but they forgave, and now they are joining this church, hopefully next week. We picked out the baptism clothing, planned the baptism, they are planning their wedding.  maybe next Sunday will be the big day."  I am hoping and praying that this sweet family gets the blessings they deserve.

Last week a similar situation happened to someone I don't know.  It happened between missionaries.  I don't know the whole story, and it doesn't really matter, but an incident happened where one missionary was choked by another.  No disciplinary action was taken as far as I know, so it could have been rough housing or it could have been deliberate, but that doesn't matter either.  What matters is that the family of the missionary victim was not willing to forgive.  In fact, they were on the warpath.  It really made me realize how much forgiveness is an essential part of the plan of Salvation.  How can we face the Master, if we are not willing to truly forgive?  He forgives us every second of every day.

As I enter into conference weekend, I hope to focus on improvement.  Going through these past few days of trials opened up some character flaws in myself that I wasn't too pleased to discover.  Another aspect of the Atonement is our gift of making mistakes and making things right.  Thank goodness for that!