When I first arrived in NYC I went out shopping for some essential items for my new apartment. As I was walking around the store, one thing kept sticking out and I felt impressed to buy it. It was 'The Secrets' Gratitude Journal'. When I bought it I hardly knew how important it would become to me. I already kept a journal, and I continue to do so, but I kept my gratitude journal in addition to my normal journal. This time around I thought it would be better to keep a blog about the things I'm grateful for with the hope that it might inspire others to feel gratitude for their lives too!
Well for my very first gratitude post, I wanted to write the most important thing to me - my testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, of the Atonement of Jesus Christ in which He took upon Himself all our sins and our sorrows, and He overcame death with His resurrection. I love Them because They first loved me!
The painting above I painted when I was 18 years old. It was my acknowledgement of how my testimony of God had blossomed throughout my youth (in particular with the Young Womens' Personal Progress programme*). I added a future missionary badge because I loved serving with the missionaries in my area, I loved finding and fellowshipping with the missionaries, I loved sharing my own testimony with my friends and sharing with them the Book of Mormon. I really loved knowing that I was a daughter of God - still do. That knowledge keeps me going when life gets tough. And it wasn't until I was in NYC, when after a long, hard period, I finally felt it was right to move on with my life and divorce my ex-husband. That feeling of complete loss was huge - and there was only one thing - only one thing - that keep me going, that made me feel like I still had something of worth in my life, and that was my testimony of God.
Maybe you believe in God, maybe you don't, or maybe you don't know if you do or don't. But I want to share my testimony, my absolute conviction, that I KNOW that Heavenly Father lives! He really does. He answers OUR prayers. He has answered mine. I have felt Him. Really I have - that feeling of of His presence around me, His love - and I have known without a doubt that He lives, and that He loves me. I have had times when I should have been sad, so incredibly sad, but He has taken me from that sadness and lifted me up and given me a peace that was not my own.
I also KNOW that Jesus Christ is His Son. He is our brother, our Saviour, our Master, our Redeemer, our King! He did live on this earth, and He was as many agree, a great teacher, and a great example. But more than that, as Gods' son, he could do what no-one else could. He could suffer for all (everyone who has ever lived and who will live), for all our sins. He paid for our sins. So when we sin, and we all do, there's still hope, we can repent and be forgiven because He already paid the price - but we need to accept His gift to us. He also took upon Himself our sorrows - so when life gets tough, and it will, go to Him, accept the gift of the Atonement and feel the miracle of having your burdens made light. Finally, He died and was resurrected, or in other words, He overcame death. Because of that we all will be resurrected again - with perfect bodies. We will live again after this life. We can be with our families and loved ones forever. We can be with God again.
For all of that, I am so grateful and will be forever!
*Personal Progress is a program in the Young Womens' program (girls aged 12-18) of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The program is centred on developing one's testimony of God by focusing on different projects. Some of these projects are: Studying scriptures based on Integrity and writing about your feelings and understanding about what you've read in your journal. Actively serving your family for three weeks and record your experiences in your journal. Organise a community service project for the youth to all participate in. All the projects are based on the values of: Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue.
