Thank You

Today I realized how ungrateful I am.

I listened to a man speak about parents. They were from Germany and lived during WWII. He spoke of all the trials they went through. The father was saved several times after he abandoned the German army and journeyed in secrecy back to meet his wife and children. One time, the man was caught by the Russians. With a gun at his head, the man knew he wasn't going to survive, but a Russian woman spoke out. On her request, his death was postponed to allow him to dig his own grave. While he was digging, he prayed to Heavenly Father asking that his life be spared that he might dedicate his life to the gospel, restore all that he had done wrong in his life, and return to his family and take care of them. Then, a group of prisoners were traveling by. A woman pushed the man into the crowd of prisoners, and his life was spared. He eventually escaped by miraculous  means and was reunited with his family. This is just one story of how the Lord blessed this family. His eye watched them all the way through, and I know He watches over me in my life. I'm grateful that I don't have to face these trying experiences.

After the speech of this man, I came to a horrible realization that I had left my brand new computer in my previous class. I was petrified. I almost ran across campus, praying that I would be able to find it. I knew it wouldn't be in the classroom still because someone must have seen it and either taken it to some sort of lost and found or (Heaven forbid) taken it for themselves. I felt it was very unlikely that someone would steal my computer, but I knew that finding where a person would deposit a lost item would be very time consuming. I decided to start by looking in the classroom (just in case that by some miracle it was still there), and when I didn't see it, I would ask the professor where a lost and found or something like it would be. I raced to the building hoping class wouldn't start before I got there (I was not fond of the idea of walking in on a class to ask if anybody had seen a laptop). When I got there, class hadn't started, and I could see from the door that the turquoise case of my laptop was sitting quietly under the desk I had sat in. I knew that the Lord had blessed me to find my computer with little effort on my part. I think the Lord was trying to really instill upon me that He is in control, He is watching over me, and I need to acknowledge His hand in my life more.

I have never had a gun pointed at me. I have never wondered if I was going to have food to eat. I've never worried about my house being bombed. I've never had to wonder whether I would ever see my family again. I have the true and everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. I have access to the word of God through scripture and living prophets. I grew up in a loving family. This week, I'm going to try to be more grateful and recognize the Lord's tender mercies in my life.