Where Rose Writes Very True Stories

I am SO grateful I was able to go to the temple today. I love the Payson Temple so much! This is seriously one of the most beautiful buildings on the planet. Every time I see the stained glass windows, I think, “I need one of those in my house…”

Today, I mentioned to a temple worker how beautiful the promises in the temple are. She said to me, “I wish I could hear them every day. But we just have to remember them—remember how much God loves you.”

So, I want to tell everyone a few things I know.

Now, I haven’t been okay for a while. It’s not something you get used to. And sometimes I grow really tired of it. Like, really tired… like I’ve been treading water until I’ve lost all strength, and sunk to the bottom of a lake so deep that light can’t reach there anymore. It’s isolating, because you feel like… how could anyone understand such depths? And it feels like there’s no way out.

But then I pray. Sometimes I can’t speak out loud, so I write my prayer down instead. And soon, light pierces the darkness of those waters, lifting me back to the surface, all with the promise that I am not alone, Someone understands, and there is a way back to the safety of the shore.

There are a few things that have proven true again and again:

I know God is LOVE. Perfect love. He loves us. His love is always there, no matter what. I know our prayers are heard. They’re not always answered right away, or in the way we might’ve hoped. Sometimes we pray for our pain to be taken away, and it just isn’t. But our Savior, Jesus Christ, knows our pain perfectly, because He has lived it, too. That’s what His Atonement was all about—walking with us, paving the way for us. And though our sorrows might not be taken away just yet, He is there to comfort us, strengthen us, and carry us when we can’t take another step, and lead us to safety. He has promised us that He knows the way through the darkness, and our suffering won’t be a forever-thing. And He keeps His promises.

I know He lives. I know that these promises are sure, because I’ve lived them before. This gives me so much hope. And I know our families are a forever-thing, and that brings me so much comfort.

And I’m SO GRATEFUL.