When reading a story about the pioneers on the Willie and Martin handcart companies, I wondered "why would God allow so many bad things to happen to these faithful saints?" They had felt their testimonies burn within them and wanted to follow the commandment to gather in the Salt Lake valley. These people felt a burning within them and a desire to follow God's commandments and join with the saints in Utah. They sacrificed and left their beloved homes to come to America and then walk by foot and with handcarts across the plains to Utah. It seems that everything that could have, went wrong along the journey. They got a late start and the winter came early. They ended up with very little food, not enough clothing to keep them warm and terrible conditions through which they persevered.
I think to myself, "had it been me, I would have lost faith and questioned if this was right because why would God have led them to freeze and starve in a frozen high desert in Wyoming? Why were they prompted or commanded to come to the Salt Lake valley so urgently (meaning that year) in the first place when so many ended up dying and suffering?" I asked my dad with tears in my eyes after reading about their terrible plight. His response, "I know, those people suffered so much, but we have to remember that things happen for a reason. Look at how much they and their posterity have prospered ever since coming to the valley."
These were the finest people on Earth and yet the Lord allowed these things to happen. They had their miracles as well. Many miraculous things happened on the journey. One reason this happened to them is apparent now; they're testimonies of the truthfulness of a never changing God burned brightly through the Wyoming winter as a light for all those who follow in their faith. I asked Heavenly Father why I felt so strongly that I should marry Zach? I had no doubts and I felt so confident and I still stand by those special experiences I had in response to many prayers seeking direction when confronted with the decision of whom to marry. After all, God is omnipresent. He does not follow time, and all things are present to Him. This does not take away our agency, He just knows. Anyways, He knew the kinds of choices Zach would make and eventually that he would leave me and divorce me. Why then would He have led me to marry him? (because I felt so strongly that He had) Or why didn't I receive a warning from the spirit or an uneasiness about marrying him? I don't know. But those early saints could have asked the same question. "why did God direct us to this point of starving and dying in a frozen desert so far away from our native lands?" But they didn't, or if they did, they let themselves be content with knowing that one day they would know God's purpose. Things happen for a reason. At least those faithful saints have been an example to me of staying close to God even when it gets tough and you feel abandoned. I am not abandoned. I recognize the love and support that God blesses me with through this difficult time. I have felt buoyed up. My spirits are up. I have little time to feel lonely.
I think to myself, "had it been me, I would have lost faith and questioned if this was right because why would God have led them to freeze and starve in a frozen high desert in Wyoming? Why were they prompted or commanded to come to the Salt Lake valley so urgently (meaning that year) in the first place when so many ended up dying and suffering?" I asked my dad with tears in my eyes after reading about their terrible plight. His response, "I know, those people suffered so much, but we have to remember that things happen for a reason. Look at how much they and their posterity have prospered ever since coming to the valley."
These were the finest people on Earth and yet the Lord allowed these things to happen. They had their miracles as well. Many miraculous things happened on the journey. One reason this happened to them is apparent now; they're testimonies of the truthfulness of a never changing God burned brightly through the Wyoming winter as a light for all those who follow in their faith. I asked Heavenly Father why I felt so strongly that I should marry Zach? I had no doubts and I felt so confident and I still stand by those special experiences I had in response to many prayers seeking direction when confronted with the decision of whom to marry. After all, God is omnipresent. He does not follow time, and all things are present to Him. This does not take away our agency, He just knows. Anyways, He knew the kinds of choices Zach would make and eventually that he would leave me and divorce me. Why then would He have led me to marry him? (because I felt so strongly that He had) Or why didn't I receive a warning from the spirit or an uneasiness about marrying him? I don't know. But those early saints could have asked the same question. "why did God direct us to this point of starving and dying in a frozen desert so far away from our native lands?" But they didn't, or if they did, they let themselves be content with knowing that one day they would know God's purpose. Things happen for a reason. At least those faithful saints have been an example to me of staying close to God even when it gets tough and you feel abandoned. I am not abandoned. I recognize the love and support that God blesses me with through this difficult time. I have felt buoyed up. My spirits are up. I have little time to feel lonely.
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