July 8, 2010

Hands down, tonight is the hardest ever to sit down and do this. We are finally back home after 13 1/2 hours of traveling in a car and 3 hours by plan/being at an airport. I'm utterly exhausted and have to be up again to be to a crucial meeting in the morning in just 3 hours. But here I am and I'm reading a scripture tonight. I read Alma chapter 14. It is the story of how Alma and Amulek were thrown into prison after having been forced to witness the destruction of innocent women and children by fire and then been mocked and continuously in prison for 12 days, and then they were able to loose their bands and the prison crumbled killing everyone but them. This is an incredible account and as I read it I thought that sometimes experiences here in mortality won't look like the Lord's hand is in it, but He uses every thing to further His work. Those innocent who suffer will be received to Him and their blood testifies against those who killed them. Also it is an example to me of how to have faith that can withstand all of the "devil's shafts in the whirlwind." I believe it is incredible that they could maintain a faith in Christ strong enough to free them from prison even after having witnessed the cruelty they did and endured the continuous mocking of their beliefs and teachings for almost two weeks afterward. I want my faith to also be that solid so it can sustain me through anything that may happen.