The Road is Rough...

Dear Blogger Friends:

I know I was supposed to post something about spelling, but instead I decided to post about something else... Lately I've had the chance to talk to a few friends about some choices that they made and are thinking about making, and I thought it might be helpful to share some of my cents with all of you. Here it goes.

So we all know that being LDS implies that we have to do (abide) with a lot of "laws" that normally we wouldn't worry about were we in another situation. The beauty of it though, is that we have the fullness of the Gospel in our lives. When we agreed to the Plan of Salvation, we received a mortal body and the chance to go through the plan here on Earth, to grow and evolve into perfect beings eventually. When we agreed to it, we also agreed that we would have to go through trials in order to achieve that perfection...

What happens however, is that we forget about it and start complaining about life over and over. That is also my case, I am not excluding myself from the situation, but for these past couple of weeks I have apparently come to think a lot about it. Anyways... One of my friends is seriously thinking about "taking some time off" from Church. My dear friends, there is no such thing as "time off" from Church. Does Heavenly Father take vacation from listening to the prayers of His sons and daughters? I DON'T THINK SO! What happens is that WE are the ones who FORGET that HE IS RIGHT THERE, waiting for us to be humble enough to kneel down in prayer and ASK HIM for the blessings that we need.

I many times forget that when I need something, all I have to do is ask. And people still think this is the hard way... Oh, yeah, I can find a guy outside of the church because he is cute, he compliments me and makes me feel beautiful about myself, and yes, I can take some time off the church because the mentality of many of the members is very limited and they lack vision, they have prejudice against me, yada, yada, yada... But are those really the easiest ways? What if I decide to take some time off and go have a drink, or (pardon the language ) hook up with some cute guy I met at a club? That might bring me instant pleasure, but what about my ETERNAL happiness? Am I willing to sacrifice that for a MOMENT? I'd rather just kneel down...

... There's always a way back, but it is hard. It is painful, it brings a lot of sadness, but yet this process is necessary in order for the person to feel TRUE joy. Another friend is going through that process right now and I heard from him that he had no idea how he could remain in denial for such a long time, when all he really wanted was to go back to the fold of the Shepherd. Pride is a very serious barrier to that. It takes guts to be humble and to do what is right, knowing that you are going to be judged for what you have done... But he did it! And I sincerely hope he is coming back for good.

As for my other friend with whom I talked today, I told him/her that even though they might be frustrated with their current situation - having to deal with depression and telling me "I don't want to date LDS people anymore" - this is no excuse. The person contradicted him/herself saying that... and I was like "Then how do you expect to marry in the Temple one day?"

To me it sounds like the person is lacking Eternal perspective, and honestly my friends, the enemy takes advantage of those situations to make you feel the worst person in the world. To make you think that you are worthless and that exaltation is not achievable.

To all you my friends out there, who are somehow struggling, please listen to my plead and pour your heart to the Lord. I've done that before and He has done wonders for me! Be worthy to attend the Temple and set a regular schedule to do so. You will bless your life and the life of others as well. Have faith! Things might seem to be hard but trust me, they will get better. :)