"Come What May and Love it"

Joseph B. Wirthlin, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints said, “Come what may and love it”. My sister has a cute sign hanging in her kitchen as a reminder of this tender quote. I have never applied that quote to myself before today…and I think it may have taken me too long.

I will be the first to say that everybody goes through trials, or rough patches, in their lives. Nobody has it “easy” even though it may seem that way. Sometimes the people who seem to always have it all together are the ones who don’t have it all together at all. My family has been going through some of these “rough patches” the past couple weeks and it has been so hard to look at what life has thrown us and be grateful and “love it”. But we were looking forward to this past weekend. My parents were going to go on down to good ole Cedar City to visit my sister and her husband and Daniel and I were going to have a nice relaxing weekend alone before Addie decides to show up. Daniel and I had made our plans and my parents got in my dad’s car and went on their merry way. It was going to be such a nice change from the craziness we have been going through to just be able to relax. But, as always, life had something a little different in mind.

About 10 minutes outside of Fillmore (which, if you are familiar with the drive to Southern Utah, is a little more than halfway to cedar) my parents faced yet another trial. My dad’s engine decided it didn’t want to work anymore and scared my mom half to death. So after getting a phone call from my dad assuring me my sister was on her way to retrieve them it became very apparent that they were going to be trapped in Cedar if somebody didn’t come rescue them. And those somebodies were my husband and I. So the next morning after Daniel got home from his classes we loaded up my mom’s car and headed down south, which definitely wasn’t what I wanted to be doing with my weekend.

Daniel and I decided to make the most out of our trip and we were able to spend time with my wonderful in-laws, see our dear friends, and even spend time with my sister, her husband and my parents. It was looking like things were going to be going our way for a fun weekend. We had been hanging out with our friends and I started to not feel very well. I ignored it and tried to focus on the game we were playing until it got unbearable. So Daniel and I gathered up our stuff and headed to the car. By the time we were on their driveway I was screaming in pain, scared and not sure what on earth I was experiencing, in a panic I call my mom and we decide the best idea is to meet at the Cedar hospital. I don’t think Daniel has ever driven that fast and I don’t think I have ever screamed that loud. We rush me into the hospital and they immediately send me to labor and delivery and I was being prepared to give birth to my daughter. I didn’t have a single thing with me. No clothes, her car seat was in an entirely different city and I still have 7 weeks to go in my pregnancy. I was terrified, in pain, and if I haven’t already mentioned it…absolutely scared out of my mind.

I wasn’t in labor, thankfully, and they gave me narcotics to help stop the pain. After doing some tests and talking to the on call OB, they came to the conclusion that I was experiencing kidney stones. If you have ever passed a kidney stone you will know I am not being dramatic when I say that it is the most painful thing….ever. They say it’s worse than child birth, which was a comfort to me because if that was what labor would feel like Daniel and I would be having one child. After a couple hours, 2 bags of fluids, and promising the nurse to return immediately if my pain came back, we were sent home.

I looked at my husband and asked him what else could have possibly gone wrong. I was so frustrated that all of this crap kept continually happening to myself and my family and I told Daniel I didn’t know if I could take much more of it. And my sweet husband reminded me that if we had stayed home for the weekend he would have been at drill when I started passing my stone, leaving me all alone and Daniel in Spanish fork. My mom and dad were able to be at the hospital with me, along with my husband, because we had gone down to Cedar City. And I know this must sound ridiculous…but I found myself in tears of gratitude for my Heavenly Father. It made me stop and realize that even when we are given trial after trial, our Heavenly Father doesn’t leave us hanging. He continually blesses us with tender mercies and love. And even though sometimes we don’t understand why we are facing the trial in front of us, He does. And we just have to trust that it is for our own benefit. We have to embrace what comes our way and love it. I am not saying I loved passing a kidney stone, but I do love that I had the support and love of my family. I love that my dad was there to help my husband give me a priesthood blessing. I love that my husband is worthy to hold the priesthood. I love that I have a healthy and strong baby whose heart beat is strong and beautiful. I love that I have an awesome family who loves and supports me unconditionally. I am so blessed and even in the midst of all of these trials we have been facing I think I can finally say that I am finally embracing whatever comes next and I will love it.

The gospel is great guys. And if you have questions about what I believe as a Latter Day Saint please don’t hesitate to ask me or visit lds.org AND please watch general conference this upcoming weekend! I promise you won’t regret it.