A year. I am completely at awe over how much can change in a year. This year I have learned more than I ever thought was possible, met some of my very best friends, and went on some pretty wonderful adventures. This last year could have been very different, if I hadn't followed a simple request form my dear Stake President.
In October, my stake was challenged to do Family history. I'm not going to lie, I scoffed when I heard this so called "challenge." I had always figured family history was for the people who had tons of time on their hands, plus I knew all my work had to have been finished already. So I fought the promptings and decided to put it off unless absolutely necessary. Boy, I really didn't understand what I was missing out on.
Around December I decided to attend one of the Thursday (before I knew it as Thorsday) night family history classes at my stake center. I set up my account, and went to work. It was one of my first times actually looking at my full family tree, and I was truly shocked at how much work I could be doing. From that point on, I devoted a few hours every week to finding my dear family members whose work hadn't been done. the spirit that I received from attending the temple was magnified by bringing my own family names. Soon, temple trips became a regular thing, and I made the challenge to try and go at least twice a month. Which had felt like a major sacrifice at the time.
One specific day, exactly a year and a day ago, I woke up early before school to pick up some friends and go to the temple. This morning seemed like any other, except it seemed slower, but that may just be how I remember it. I took my little sister with me, some of my best friends too. We went at five to the Jordan River temple, since it was the earliest/closest one to our school. We got in pretty quickly, but there was a fairly long wait. On the way home we realized that we would probably barely make it before the tardy bell rang. I decided I would drop off two of my friends, Tanner and Jake so they could make it to class, then Bekah and I would drive my little sister home so she could get on her bus to the middle school. This seemed like the perfect plan.
Turning onto the road in front of the school, we were heading South towards the main entrance where I was dropping them off when a little white car turned left and collided with us- head on. The rest of the day is quite fuzzy to me, but I remember bits and pieces. I remember feeling really shocked and looking in my rear view mirror to see if everyone was alright. I then turned to the side of the road, and just sat there. I was completely in shock. I was very grateful that I had my friend Jake in the car with me because he knew to immediately call 911. While he was on the phone he told me to call my mom. This was the moment I remember being the most terrified. I remember thinking that she was going to be so mad at me for getting an accident (...I may of may not have only had my license for four months at this point..) and I didn't want her to yell at me.
After calling my mom, she made it to the school in like 10 minutes. In between that time, I remember a lady coming and helping us. She told me to turn off the car because it was leaking stuff quite badly. After that, I only remember a few things, like my mom being there, and the cops asking me for my licence. I remember Hayden and Ashtyn Heninger pulling up to school, and Hayden giving me the biggest hug and telling me "I don't know what happened, but I know it will be alright." I don't think he knew how much those words impacted me. I remember a feeling of peace coming over me at that moment, and I just knew it would all work out.
The rest of that day, and weekend is still slowly coming back to my memory, but I know that the spirit was with me that day, and that I was helped through the accident because of the temple work I was able to assist in completing. My car may have been totaled, and my memory may have been washed away, but I count that as one of the best days of my life. That day solidified my testimony, and from that moment on, I knew I was stronger with the Lord on my side. I knew nothing was going to stop me from attending the temple. And I am very happy to report I have been at least once every week since the accident {minus the week of trek, and one week in December}and it has made such a difference in my everyday life. Thank goodness I have such a loving stake President who was able to issue a simple challenge that would change the way I spend my life.
In October, my stake was challenged to do Family history. I'm not going to lie, I scoffed when I heard this so called "challenge." I had always figured family history was for the people who had tons of time on their hands, plus I knew all my work had to have been finished already. So I fought the promptings and decided to put it off unless absolutely necessary. Boy, I really didn't understand what I was missing out on.
Around December I decided to attend one of the Thursday (before I knew it as Thorsday) night family history classes at my stake center. I set up my account, and went to work. It was one of my first times actually looking at my full family tree, and I was truly shocked at how much work I could be doing. From that point on, I devoted a few hours every week to finding my dear family members whose work hadn't been done. the spirit that I received from attending the temple was magnified by bringing my own family names. Soon, temple trips became a regular thing, and I made the challenge to try and go at least twice a month. Which had felt like a major sacrifice at the time.
One specific day, exactly a year and a day ago, I woke up early before school to pick up some friends and go to the temple. This morning seemed like any other, except it seemed slower, but that may just be how I remember it. I took my little sister with me, some of my best friends too. We went at five to the Jordan River temple, since it was the earliest/closest one to our school. We got in pretty quickly, but there was a fairly long wait. On the way home we realized that we would probably barely make it before the tardy bell rang. I decided I would drop off two of my friends, Tanner and Jake so they could make it to class, then Bekah and I would drive my little sister home so she could get on her bus to the middle school. This seemed like the perfect plan.
Turning onto the road in front of the school, we were heading South towards the main entrance where I was dropping them off when a little white car turned left and collided with us- head on. The rest of the day is quite fuzzy to me, but I remember bits and pieces. I remember feeling really shocked and looking in my rear view mirror to see if everyone was alright. I then turned to the side of the road, and just sat there. I was completely in shock. I was very grateful that I had my friend Jake in the car with me because he knew to immediately call 911. While he was on the phone he told me to call my mom. This was the moment I remember being the most terrified. I remember thinking that she was going to be so mad at me for getting an accident (...I may of may not have only had my license for four months at this point..) and I didn't want her to yell at me.
After calling my mom, she made it to the school in like 10 minutes. In between that time, I remember a lady coming and helping us. She told me to turn off the car because it was leaking stuff quite badly. After that, I only remember a few things, like my mom being there, and the cops asking me for my licence. I remember Hayden and Ashtyn Heninger pulling up to school, and Hayden giving me the biggest hug and telling me "I don't know what happened, but I know it will be alright." I don't think he knew how much those words impacted me. I remember a feeling of peace coming over me at that moment, and I just knew it would all work out.
The rest of that day, and weekend is still slowly coming back to my memory, but I know that the spirit was with me that day, and that I was helped through the accident because of the temple work I was able to assist in completing. My car may have been totaled, and my memory may have been washed away, but I count that as one of the best days of my life. That day solidified my testimony, and from that moment on, I knew I was stronger with the Lord on my side. I knew nothing was going to stop me from attending the temple. And I am very happy to report I have been at least once every week since the accident {minus the week of trek, and one week in December}and it has made such a difference in my everyday life. Thank goodness I have such a loving stake President who was able to issue a simple challenge that would change the way I spend my life.
 |
| Kaley and I got home from school to find beautiful flowers form our stake presidency members. (As you can probably tell, it was a VERY long day) |
 |
| The front of the car |
 | |
two days after the accident |
Comments
Post a Comment