Monstrous Waves and Winds that Never Cease

I have A's in both of my classes right now. I am pretty sure even an average test score that I always give out will not lower my score. I have been having fun with my roommate, I am trying to get things worked out so I am not homeless for too long, and I have been on top of things at BYUSA. I hate the person who came up with the saying that "all good things must come to an end." Why are you so pessimistic, Debbie Downer? Anyways, things are starting to come crashing down around me. I cannot find a job (they always interfere with my class schedule), my class schedule is not as perfect as I originally thought it was, a duty in BYUSA popped up unannounced, and I am tired of teachers and friends teasing me about my dating life that does not exist. I am kind of stressed out. Can you tell?

I have had a hard time in my Book of Mormon class all semester. I felt like no class could compare to the one I had last semester. It was hard for me to pay attention, and I did not enjoy it for the longest time. One day I decided I was going to try to get the most out of it. By changing my point of view from comparing it to my last one to seeing it as an opportunity to learn more about the scriptures, I have gotten a lot more out of it. For instance, I was watching the Olympics the other day, and the news came on after. They were talking about how Utah was taking cursive writing out of the cirriculum. Many are worried about the repercussions and how it will affect learning and our language as a whole. At that point, I remembered what I had just learned in my class. We were talking about keeping a written record, and how it helps a civilization. The Nephites and the Mulekites left Jerusalem at about the same point, but when they met up years later, they could not understand each other. It was because the Mulekites had not kept a written record, and they had lost the language of their fathers. Automatically, I was completely against them taking out cursive from the cirriculum and replacing it with keyboarding. I was glad to know I learned something of value that I can connect to my life. 

That was cool, but something else came up today that made me feel one hundred times better. We were talking about the Brother of Jared and his family in the barges. In our reading it says, "And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind... And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind... And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." (Ether 6: 6, 8, 10) Making parallels to my life is another thing I have been trying to do to get more out of my class. In these scriptures I saw my life right now. There are times when I feel like I am buried in the depths of the sea, with mountains of waves crashing up against me, and winds that will never cease. It is hard to remember that just like these people, Heavenly Father is guiding me. He has given me tools so I may have light continually in my life no matter if I am going through an easy time or a rough one. 

Ether 6:12 says, " And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. And when they had set their feet upon the shores of the promised land they bowed themselves down upon the face of the land, and did humble themselves before the Lord, and did shed tears of joy before the Lord, because of the multitude of his tender mercies over them." We are always going to be tossed and turned in life, but those monstrous waves and tempests helped them make it to the promised land. It was not supposed to be easy. The same is for all of us. It is not meant to be easy. We have to work through our tribulations to make it to the celestial kingdom. I need to work on not complaining. If all of my trials are going to help me make it to the celestial kingdom, they are well with me. I just have to remember that in the moment. I am going to make that a goal. I am going to continue looking for the tender mercies in my life, and try not to worry about the trials that feel like monstrous waves and winds that will never cease.