"[God] maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45)

We had a power outage this past weekend that lasted for about 6-7 hours. It had started to bring back memories of the year we had no power for 3 days. You need to know something about me. I get a little edgy when I am cold. A little edgy when I am tired. A touch off when I am hungry. A touch out of sorts when I have an infection. If you throw all of those together...well, let me just say, in the nicest way possible, that all heck breaks loose and it is better to not be around me when they all come together. My family knows that they need to stay out of my way. So, this past weekend, when it was getting closer to the 5 hour mark with no power and it was getting dark outside and the temperatures were dropping, I was really trying to hold it together...I hope the Lord sees fit to take me when "The Big One" comes, I am not much of a "pioneer" without my modern conveniences, such as food, heat, light, medicine, a warm bed, did I mention food?

Sometimes, things just go wrong and for no apparent reason. The power goes out on the best of us, and we are cold, hungry, tired, and we have an infection all at the same time. Things could definitely be worse (I have experienced way worse and I try to accept what I am given and be grateful...note the try, it doesn't mean that I am happy about it, or that it is easy). One of the conclusions that I have come to when bad things happen to good people (which happens all the time), is that "[God] maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45). Power outages, unfortunately, don't skip homes that are paying tithing, or even paying their electrical bills. They happen to whomever happens to be on that grid. Power outages happen to the best of us. They make life inconvenient, change our routine, test our patience, make us slow down, sometimes they make us questions why things have to happen to us, sometimes they may even make us question our faith. These are not necessarily bad things.

Another conclusion I have come to about bad things happening to good people is that unbeknownst  to us, these trials, or power outages, can actually be strength building opportunities for us. The Lord has said, "I will try the faith of my people" (3 Nephi 26:11) and taught through His prophets "...ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith" (Ether 12:6). Sometimes, as I am riding my bike up a long, steep hill I have to look down rather than up. This is the proper placement for my head. The hill looks flatter, I am able to focus on each stroke as I pedal, and I slowly, oh so slowly, make my way to the top. It is with my head down, humbled in prayer that is in the proper position that makes all the difference, when I need help in my deepest, and darkest hours of my "power outages". Elder Henry B. Eyring said, "Trouble itself can be your way to strengthen and finally gain unshakable faith" (Mountains to Climb).



Life isn't always filled with lights and without its storms. I sometimes wish it were. But then I look back at all the growth that has come form all that hard work, diligence, and perseverance of pedaling up those long, steep hills and you know what? I wouldn't change a thing. I to add my voice with the prophet Nephi and say, "I know that [Christ] loveth His children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things" (1 Nephi 11:17). Things work out, if not in this life, then in the next. We are loved beyond measure and we are not left alone in the dark. This I testify.

The day after the storm...and after the power outage. The sun always comes out after the  storm.

Note how the branch is hanging down from the weight of the snow, this is several hours after the storm has ended.

The mountains from our home. I am standing in our driveway. We received at least a foot or more of snow, and the mountains received 48" or more!

"I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12)

Okay, I love sugar cookies with frosting that is almost as thick as the cookie. I can usually find these kind of cookies at the store. I could eat about a bazillion of them in one sitting. Well, maybe not a bazillion, but I do eat a lot of them. They are filled with sugar (it's the first ingredient) and bleached white flour, and fat. They are so enticing, looking so pretty with sprinkles on top and have absolutely no substance. But I sure think they taste good, until I eat too many of them. What does eating super fattening cookies have to do with Jesus Christ you may ask? or living the gospel? Well, actually, a lot. Let me explain.

Adam and Eve were created "...and the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Eating cookies isn't going to make me die, but it does make me think about what is good. It is my choice to "partake" or not. Just as it was for Adam and Eve to partake or not to partake of the tree of knowledge. This was the plan, for Adam and Eve to have a choice as to whether or not they would partake of the fruit. "...even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:15-16 italics added). Every day we are "enticed" by something, whether for good or bad. The beauty of the whole things is that we get to choose what we want to "eat", whether or not we will be enticed, or yield to those enticings.

Being enticed, what exactly does this mean? Enticed means: "to attract artfully or adroitly or by arousing hope or desire: tempt" (Merriam-Webster). Being enticed is a good thing because "...man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other" (2 Nephi 2:16). The Lord Himself said, "And it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet- Wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation" (D&C 39-40). It is through this process of being enticed that we are able to learn for ourselves what is good and what is bitter (see Moses 6:55), or what is "light" and what is "dark". We get to choose whether or not we want to follow the Light or the dark (see John 8:12). We must be careful to not call dark light, or light dark. We are warned: "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter" (Isaiah 5:20)!

When we have experienced "light" or "tasted this light" (Alma 32:35) there is a difference in the way we can see, behave, think,  and act. Light lets us see, be, think, act good, because "whatsoever is light, is good" (Alma 32:35). Think about when you have been in a room and the lights are brightened ever so slightly. You might notice it at first, but when your eyes adjust, you don't really notice. But, turn the lights out, you are in the dark. Then you really notice the marked difference between the light and the dark. When the lights come back on, you think it is very bright. The Lord has blessed us to be able to discern between good and bitter a little at a time, "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Nephi 28:30) so that we aren't blinded by the light and close our eyes to all truth, for "truth is light" (D&C 84:45). If we eat all the cookies, all at once, we get sick. They wouldn't taste so good. Truth is taught a bite at a time, or a "light" at a time. "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path" (Psalms 119:105). The words of the Lord, or the scriptures are little lights, or cookies if you will, that lead us in our path to Him. They illuminate our way as we read, study, act, follow, as we "taste this light" (Alma 32:35). They will lead us to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ said, "I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). With these words of hope, He was desiring to entice us to follow Him and walk in light and walk in truth. There will be people we come in contact with the won't be able to discern light, or even be enticed by it, even when it is right before them (see John 8:13). But that isn't our worry or concern. We can choose to "press forward, with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20). We get to choose to be enticed and "taste the light", those wonderful, delicious "cookies" that will fill us up and always make us feel good.