First writings....

This is the first post I am making to my blog. I feel I must preface these writings by saying that I am no writer. I apologize in advance that my spelling and grammar are not what they should be.
I have finished my first journal ever. I was instructed by a close friend to keep a journal. He said that it should be based around the special experiences and promptings I have had. Most of my writings were made within church meetings. Some are sacred and I will not share. Others I feel are things that must be shared, in order to help those around me.

I know that there are people out there that struggle. People who hurt. They hurt so badly that they dont know what it is to feel joy. It is as if they have been backed into a cave so deep and for so long that they dont comprehend the light. And when those precious rays of light seep into their lives it hurts and they must blot it out. They must smother that joy.

I have felt joy in my life. Joy that warmed my heart and made me feel as though I could fly.
You feel indestructible when you have these feelings.

We are here on this earth to experience these things. We read in 2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy." (Also a note. I am a Latter-day Saint and a lot of what I write may contains verses from Mormon literature) I know that we are here to be tested, and to prove that ourselves. We are also here to experience joy.

I have come up with a few notions about life. First of all that trials, sorrow, pain and suffering are like the garlic of life. One day when I was cooking and I ate a piece of garlic. I had been cooking up this theory, but needed proof. I found when I ate the garlic that my face puckered and my whole mouth was filled with bitterness. I felt I was sure I could take on any vampire that were to face me. I proved in this that Garlic, by itself, is disgusting, bitter, and completely unpalatable.
Again I had to prove the other part of my theory. I finished cooking my meal. I used the garlic as a part of my cooking. I had a different experience. The garlic, although once bitter, enriched the what I was tasting. I have found this with a lot of different things. Salt, or pepper again is not very good to taste unless it is mixed with something else.
So to is life the same. Trials are really hard to bare, but when they are mixed they enrich our lives.
I have experienced sorrow in my life. I have bitten the garlic as it were. Sometimes I bit it by my own will... other times the trial was forced upon me. It is both these ingredients that enrich our lives. Without the dark we cannot comprehend the light. Without heartache how can we fully appreciate joy and happiness that come from love.
Now some would say, "my whole life is garlic! I have nothing that brings me joy!"

You know that is a tough one. My experience has taught me a few things.

First -- God loves you. He does. He loves you so much. He hurts when you hurt. He wants you to have all the best things. He also knows the balance. He knows what is good and right for you. He also made us a promise. He promised us that if we came to this earth and if we partook of his plan that we would have the ability to choose. That we would be able to be agents unto ourselves. Unfortunately that means there is and must be an opposition. His name is Satan. and he influences others to do bad things that hurt people. It is within God's plan to allow this opposition. The wonderful bright beam of hope is that although bad things happen to good people in the end all unfairness will be made up. You see because Jesus Christ has suffered for us the Fathers plan can be set in motion. That plans states that there is more than just this life and when this life is over that all. It states that after this life there is more. All the injustices we have faced will be made right. God is your Father and he watches over you. I know he wants to pick us up when we fall. He would enfold his arms around us when we weep at night, but for our sake he allows us to feel pain. This pain gives us a heart. It helps us so that when we see others suffer we desire to help them. We desire to lift those around us.

Second -- All trials have an end. Jesus Christ gives us and invitation. He said "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."(Matt 11:28) He will take sorrow from us. He is occasionally introduces himself as "Alpha and Omega" The beginning and the End.
What is he the beginning of? He is the beginning of life, of joy, of all that is good. Next question.
What is he the end of? He is the end of suffering. He is the end of death. He is the end of fear and sorrow.

I think of the women with an issue of blood. She had a wound in her that would not go away. This pain was with her for twelve years. Of all the physicians and healers that she saw none could heal her. She felt sorrow and despair. The Savior walked through the crowd to visit Jairus' daughter, to heal her. The crowd began to throng him. The women saw him, and within herself she knew that if she touched the hem of his garment that she would be whole again. She made her action and she was healed. The point of the story is not so much that Jesus heals all. Of course, that is true, but there is a great underlying message. Whatever the Lord puts his hands on grows and flourishes. His grace through the Atonement, and our faith will heal. So we might feel that the Lord has not placed his hands on us, that we suffer and he watches. The lesson is that if the Lord doesnt put his hands on us, then we MUST put our hands on the Lord. We must seek him at every turn. We must make it our life's work to follow him.
Doing this will help us to understand The Father's plan and how it will work in your life.
I know this is true. If there are faults here it is because I am flawed. I know God loves you deeply. I know there is a plan for us.