Gratitude

As a Daughter of God I have the right to tell my story. As a child of God, you have the right to choose whether to read this or not; this being called agency, something you and I fought for in the preexistence. You know that old saying "you never know what you have until it's gone"? My older sister is mentally ill and recently came out of the hospital. Every night my mom leaves the house, sometimes with my little sister, and stays at her house. After my mom, and sometimes my little sister, leaves things not only get quiet but they also get very lonely. I was laying in my bed one of those nights when it was just me and realize something. I realized just how much I missed my mom and my little sister. I realized just how much I love my family. I don't think I have ever felt such gratitude towards my Savior for my family ever in my entire life. Even though they are only gone for a few hours each night to care for my older sister I miss them terribly!

A couple of times I became a little scared being alone at night in a house. Last night was one of them. Immediately I pulled out my cell phone and started texting one of my friends and I started to listen to a talk by John Bytheway. When I asked my friend what he was doing he told me that he was listening to John Bytheway. I laughed and told him that I was too. We continued to text for a little bit and then we stopped. I felt so grateful just to text my friend! I still feel grateful for that. I prayed to my Heavenly Father and thanked Him for blessing me with family and friends, but this time I really meant it!

I heard a story about some people in concentration camps and someone asked "what can we be grateful for?" and someone wise said "we can be grateful for the fleas." Fleas? How can someone be grateful for fleas? The fleas kept the guards away from the building where they were studying the scriptures.

There are stories in the Book of Mormon filled with stories about how groups of people were about to perish and yet the Lord would spare their lives, give them food, and even deliever them out of the hands of their enemies. What blessings they received!

I am so grateful for everything the Lord has done for me! I am grateful for my family and friends. I'm grateful for my enemies. I am so grateful for all that my Savior blessed me with.