Wow, I can't belive I've been doing this for a whole month....that's strange...but awesome!
So if you look at the last post, you can see I just got back from girls camp :)
I fell asleep from 5-midnight and now I'm up and about to go to bed again haha!
My testimony has grown substantially. I love today's youth! I have a strong testimony of them :)
The whole week it seemed we focused on the influence our friends have on us.
It made me realize just how much that is true, I want to share this experience we had at camp:
All the leaders went into the woods. We had a piece of string probably aroud 30 feet long (but I'm way bad at guestimating) We all held onto the string and waited for the girls to come up 2 by 2. The girls were blindfolded brought to the string, and were told "this is the iron rod, hold on and walk" If you don't know what the iron rod is, I suggest reading Lehi's dream in the book of mormon (1st Nephi chapter 8) and Nephi's Vision (1st Nephi chapters 11-14) If you aren't interested in reading but still don't understand, the iron rod is a representation of the word of God.
So, The girls were supposed to hold on to the string and walk the path to the tree of life on the other side (Eternal Life/being able to live with Heavenly Father again) Us leaders, spread along the way, were given the task to have the girls let go of the rod. If they did let go we removed their blindfolds and told them they could wait along with us. They then began helping getting the other girls to let go.
We started with the older girls, my girls, I saw them and I didn't want to do it. It sounds kind of silly because it was just girls holding on to string in the woods, but it represented a heck of a lot more. A girl would get on and I would say "Awesome! you made it! ok, stop." she would stop.
"Ok, now you can sit over here, but you need to let go."
"What?"
"You can sit over here in the shade, but if you want to sit you need to let go."
"Are we sitting?"
"Yes"
"For reals?"
"Yea"
"I can let go?"
"If you want to sit down, you need to let go."
Some would move on completely ignoring me.
Some let go. It was hard. I felt bad misleading them because I loved them so much.
I would lie to them saying we were going down to the lake early, or I'd let them use my phone to text, or that other people were there and had let go.
I understood what I was doing and was trying to show the girls that it's often the "harmless" things that can take us away from the word of God. There is nothing wrong with sitting down, taking a break or relaxing. But sometimes we become stagnate, we become lazy, we become unwilling to do what the Lord is asking us to do. I'm not saying if you relax you are a sinner, I was just trying to represent some part of sin.
Later in the excorcise I said to myself it was hard getting the girls I was in charge of to let go because I loved them so much. Then it dawned on my that sometimes it's the people who love us most that can take us away from the word of God.
After a while my little sister came up, I wanted her to make it so badly. She didn't listen to me and I was proud. Then she heard my mom's voice (oh yea my mom and little sisters came up to camp) My mom said "that's ok, she can come with my group" when my sister didn't listen to me. When she physically was by her my mom said "Stay here with me." and my sister let go. She took off her blindfold my mom's heart sank and she gave her a hug.
When I was reflecting on this I started to cry, (yes I know it's silly, just remember it represented a lot more.)
Sometimes people see you moving on in the church, in the gospel or in life and they say "Wait, stay here with me." They don't want you to leave their side because of how much they love you. They don't understand where you are headed and are afraid for you. They want the best for you, and they assume that it's staying with them. Or maybe they just don't want to see you go. They don't want you to progress, not because they don't want success for you, but because they don't know where it will take you. They don't want to lose you.
I thought about how hard it is to sometimes leave people behind. How sometimes it is needed in order to progress. You sometimes have to leave cherrished people behind in order to get to where you need to be. My heart breaks for anyone in this situation. If you are able to progress, do it. I know it's hard, I know it's scary, and you having your family or friends say "Wait, where are you going? stay here with me" is heartrending. There is something more for you. There is something more for them. It is your Heavenly Father's plan, it is the chance to live with Him again one day.
Sometimes we need to leave those behind that are taking us away from the gospel. You will never stop loving them, you will never stop praying for them. Please understand I'm not trying to come off heartless. It is 2 people making that choice. All relationships are a 2 way street. They are free to follow us just as much as we are free to follow them. Sometimes people are left behind on both sides. My heart breaks for these situations.
One of the leaders, Catherine, wasn't on the sides set as a distraction. She represented the Holy Ghost and was given the task to read scriptures to the girls and she would try to get the girls to keep going. She tried so hard and she was getting so frustrated and heartbroken as girl after girl let go. I took a lot of girls off that string. There was a girl she was whispering to. I told her to stop, she stopped and Catherine started whispering faster. I told her we were going to the lake early and we had room for one more girl and she didn't move, Catherine started to repeat the scripture. I counted all the girls that were also there to her and she got nervous and confused, Catherine's face became urgent. I told her she needed to let go, she could come but she just needed to let go of the string, let go. She was unsure and hesitant but she let go. Catherine looked at me with a very stern face "Back off a little bit." she said, "Give them a chance." This reminded me of Heavenly Father not allowing us to be tempted over what we are able. Cathrine moved me further up the line (I was the first one the girls got to) My mom likened this to when Heavenly Father wiped out unrighteous civilizations when the people born into them weren't "given a chance" This builds my testimony that God does love us, He is vying for us. (I think that's how you use that word) He wants the very, very best for us and wants us all to be able to live with Him again.
As the girls struggled to make it up, I noticed more and more parellels to life in this object lesson. It started off quiet, with just the leaders making distractions, saying sometime rediculous things that everyone knew wasn't true. As more and more came up, more and more came to the side of the path and were shouting at the girls saying "Stop, get off, let go, you made it, we're done." The leaders and other girls could say whatever they wanted and they would pass, but when they got to their friends and heard them say "You're done, we're serious let go." They would let go.
Friends play such an importatn role in life. Friends are the most influential people in a young person's life. It doesn't change much as you get older (that is from jr high to age 22 is as far as I can speak for) Why would you listen to someone you don't trust? Why would you sacrafice somethig so wonderful for a stranger?
You know exactly why you would for a friend, for a familiar voice. You trust them, you know they love and care for you, you would do just about anything for them. This is why it is so important to share your life with uplifting people.
It is not necisarry, I have had friends that were, and still are, against the church I believe in. They are wonderful people. I think of them often, I hope they are doing well, I pray for their well-being, but I don't see them any more. They do not support me when I'm at my happiest, when I'm strong with the spirit of God, and I was unwilling to turn from it. This is the main reason we no longer hang out. Before I pulled my life away from them though, they did manage to take me away, I allowed myself to stray from the path and it has taken me years to find my way back to it. Please, surround yourself with good people.
As I mentioned earlier, the string started off with few distractions and changed steadily as more and more girls came. I saw this being similar to
I HATE to do this, but I need to sleep, I will finish this asap (please ignore the spelling errors).....until then...
I know that the attonment is real, and Jesus Christ lives. I know that He died for my sins. I know there is a way back for all. IT IS NEVER TOO LATE!!! Start now. You can be forgiven. You are still loved, God wants you to be happy, wickedness never was happiness. You will always be loved, you have always been special, you will always be a child of God. God know your name. God will listen if you pray. He has a plan for you, a path for you, your very own piece of string. I know these things are true and I say them humbly in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
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