Choose JOY

We just had our mission "Sister's Conference"....and it was wonderful and fed my spirit.  The theme of the conference was "Choose Joy."

Here is a story that I think illustrates how we can choose to be positive instead of negative in our thinking.

There was a certain cowboy who had a beautiful stallion.  One day he accidentally left the gate to the coral open and his prized stallion escaped.  His neighbors came and said, "Oh, this is terrible. This is a bad, bad thing that happened to you.  The cowboy replied, "Well, I don't know if it is good or bad."

The next morning his stallion came back....followed by five additional stallions. His neighbors saw this and came running.  With smiles on their faces, they said, "Well this is wonderful,   What a very good thing."  The cowboy looked at the six stallions and said, "Well, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing."

The next morning the cowboy's son decided he would ride one of the new stallions.  He chose a nice looking one, put the saddle on, and mounted the horse. The stallion began bucking and threw the cowboy's son to the ground.  His leg was broken..  The neighbors felt so sorry for the cowboy and his son and said, "This is a very bad thing that has happened to you."  The cowboy scratched his head and said, "Well, I don't know if it is a good or bad thing that has happened."

The next day the military came to the cowboy's home and said they were there to pick up his son, as he was being drafted into the military.  The cowboy told them that his son had broken his leg the day before.  The military men said his son was not eligible to be drafted into the military.  The cowboy's neighbor's were so happy to hear of his good fortune and said, "This is very good."  The cowboy replied, "Well, I don't know if this is a good or bad thing."

Change your paradigm.  Decide to find joy in all things.  Trials are not pleasant, but instead of becoming discouraged, find the positive.  In every circumstance, there is both good and bad.  Find the good and use that knowlege to change who you are to what you want to become.

Life is not perfect.  We are given trials throughout our lives.  A part of being successful in life depends on how we meet these difficult time.  Will our trials overwhelm us, or will we turn to our Heavenly Father???  Let's not forget why we are here....to be tried and tested.

Through the Savior's atonement we can be foregiven of our sins and transgressions after we follow the steps to repentence. The Savior suffered not only for our sins, but for all the pain and sorrow we will endure in our lives.  He understands.  The power of the atonement is in place to comfort us. When we turn to the Savior in righteousness, we are promised that He will comfort us.  He will not leave us!  He loves us.

Remember Ammon in the Book of Mormon.  He was a powerful missionary who encountered one trial after another.  Think of Joseph of the Old Testament?  His brothers tried to kill him, he served as a slave to the king.  Each time Joseph was releaved from his torment, another trial of his faith came.   Read about his life and how he overcame each trial by turning to the Lord.

I tknow for a certainty that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ knows each of us by name. We are important to them.  Heavenly Father desires that we return to Him. All things are made possible through Jesus Christ.