Practice an attitude of gratitude.

Many of us go through life thinking that everything we have, it's been the result of OUR OWN hard work; we start living the "self" life, thinking that everything in the universe revolves around us. Many of us don't stop and realize that what we have has been part of a greater design, not just simple coincidence.

Today, I want to stop and share with all of you the things which I am grateful for. I think many times we murmur against God for the hard moments we are going through. Sadly but truly, at some point in my life many years ago I blamed Him for many heartaches I was dealing with. I love my parents, and there aren't sweeter memories than those of my parents and my sisters together when we were younger. Seeing my family break apart was a life changing experience in every way. But it's not until now that I understand that things happen for a reason. If it hadn't been for my parent's divorce, I would have never left Nicaragua and I am sure I wouldn't have come to California. As a consequence, I would have never met the sweet sister missionaries that knocked on my door, the girls that introduced me to the biggest blessing in life. I surely lost my family in some way, but I gained and became a part of something that is capable of bringing comfort into anyone's life, no matter how great the pain is. I am grateful that I became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Thanks to it I became the person who I am. I am grateful for the knowledge I have gained and for all the blessings I have received. I am grateful for the friends I have made through the church, I am grateful for the people who I can now call my family, I am grateful for my boyfriend, because if it wasn't for the church I would have never come to know of his existance.

I am also grateful for the many abilities I have been given. I thank Heavenly Father for the many talents that He has given each one of us. He knows us better than anyone, He has made us the way we are because He has a specific plan for each one of us. I thank Him for my talents and for making me capable of achieveing some of my educational goals ever since I was younger in life. I know that right now it's not possible for me to achieve some of those for many reasons but I know that after all He is going to be there all along opening doors so I can get to where I want to be.

Another very imporant thing that we usually let fly by is our health, physically that is. I feel a need to thank Heavenly Father for one more day of life every day. I have people who are very close to me that deal with horrible illnesses. Every time I think of such things I remind myself that I am so blessed for not having to deal with such pain.

Last Sunday, at our YSA, one of the most recent return missionaries gave a talk that inspired me a lot. He talked about how he got through his mission although days seemed to be hard, he focused on how hard it was when he was giving his best on his mission and he would go weeks without finding a person to teach the gospel to. He talked about how once he got hit by a motorcycle, and how he bounced and got up without a scratch. You may see no point in that, but I want to share with you how he mentioned that if it wasn't for Heavenly Father making him go through those experiences, he wouldn't have been able to endure the hard times during those two years. He explained how his mission president encouraged him to thank Heavenly Father for serving it up tough everyday. It made me think a lot, and now I can truly say this, I am thankful for Heavenly Father serving it up tough these past few years, those experiences have strengthened me and I know they are preparing me for the adversity and challenges that I will deal with in the future. So everyday, I will pray to Heavenly Father so He can serve it up tough and prepare me for the future, that I may become a strong woman who will strengthen those around her, to become that woman that He wants me to become, a woman able to provide for her family and those she cares about and offer help to those who need to find their way back to the Lord, or those who don't know there is one yet.