Keep Moving Forward

We moved to Arizona almost 6 months ago.  The day we packed up our budget truck is a day I will never forget.  It was a blizzard from the time we picked up the truck and drove away.  We were so grateful for our wonderful ward family, close friends and family who suffered through the freezing blizzard to get our house packed into the truck.  We drove that day going from blizzard to blizzard all the way to Las Vegas Nevada stayed the night, and woke up to the warm sunshine.  I couldn't believe my kids were swimming outside, and the weather was so hot.  We packed up and drove the rest of the way to Arizona and arrived on February 24th.  I had prayed so hard for the Lord to lead us to make the right decision, and moving felt so right.  We found the perfect house a week after we moved here, and Owen started his job within the first few weeks.  I started my job right after I got the house settled.  We put the kids in school, and that went great until it came time to sign Mitchell up for the rest of his sophomore year, and that was the start of our trials.   We were told from the High School that, because he had trimesters in Utah, they couldn't figure out a way to change Mitchell's transcripts and get him into semester classes.  So he would have to audit classes and get no credit for the rest of the school year.   I had him take online classes, but that seemed to be another hard trial.  Online school is definitely not for everyone. Just as any mother, I have struggled watching my kids go through such hard times.  As of Wednesday, the kids have started the new school year, and this year we were able to get all of the kids in school.  So far the kids are all doing well, so that is a huge blessing.   I have had such high hopes and dreams that life would just become easier for us, but have decided that it may never be easy.  We seem to always be in the mist of some sort of trial, but those are the things we can't get around in this life.  We must learn to face our trials head on, and learn the lessons that are placed before us, so we can keep moving forward.  One thing I have learned is that it can always be worse. In a talk given at  woman's conference in 2011 by Julie B. Beck, she said " Earthly trials and tears and opposition and difficulties are part of the Lord’s plan for us, and through those difficulties we learn and make progress. We will always have opposition. We learn in the Book of Mormon that if we don’t have opposition, then we are nothing. We are a compound in one.  We will always feel this opposition. Eve knew this and she chose mortality and experienced opposition. She led in her family and rejoiced in knowing that her trials would perfect her. Life is difficult. I have a friend who said to me recently that she’d had a plaque for years that said, “I can do the hard things.” And she says, “I’ve changed that. I now say I do hard things!” We actually do hard things, and we have learned that trials can be endured and overcome only through strong faith. Faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ, and in His atoning power, in His capacity to heal and strengthen us; faith in the Father’s plan and His mission, and that He will fulfill every promise. With strong faith we can triumph over life’s adversities, and without it we become fearful, confused, discouraged, depressed, distracted, and lost. Faith is how the Lord heals us and strengthens us."  I am grateful the Lord has given us the opportunity to move our family back to Arizona.  Even though it has not been easy, the time we are able to spend with our family has made it worth it.  I know this year will be a great year for each one of the kids and things will begin to look up for them and us as a family.  Opposition will always be here to distract us away from those things that matter most, but if we continue to be faithful before the Lord, we can do hard things, and keep moving forward.  If you have the time to read her talk, it will be well worth your time.  https://www.lds.org/callings/relief-society/messages-from-leaders/messages-from-leaders/womens-conference-2011?lang=eng