Heavenly Father is mindful of us.

Today during the sacrament I was just thinking about one line of the sacrament hymn we sung today: "Life evermore we'll know through Thee, our Friend." Sometimes I think we focus so much on how Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer that we forget that He is also our friend. He will listen to our struggles and listen to our heartaches. He will be there to lift us up. First and foremost, He will love us always, no matter what. He's not just our Savior, He's our Elder Brother and Friend. He loves us and wants us to be able to live with our Father in Heaven.

A couple of thoughts that stood out to me as the speakers were speaking today were:

The first speaker talked about agency, and used Elder Christofferson's talk in conference entitled "Fathers".

-God loves us so much, but He doesn't make us follow Him. No one ever makes us do anything. 

-A quote from Elder Christofferson he used was this: "Challenges are at times an indication of the Lord’s trust in you. He can help you, directly and through others, to deal with what you face." I loved that. The Lord has given us agency, and challenges, because He trusts us. And if we falter, or fail, He will send us help.

After the first speaker a couple of my friends performed a beautiful musical number of "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and it was so special; it was so great to hear them sing and bear testimony of our Savior.

The last speaker said, "Even as we have trials, Heavenly Father is mindful of us, and He knows our potential." I loved that.

Gospel Doctrine was great. We talked about how the Lord works, and how He calls us. The Lord works in many ways, some of which include helping us find a different way, letting us struggle first, preparing the way, and offering support. Someone said, "Heavenly Father is a God of miracles", and I loved that because it is so true. He can do mighty miracles, with and through us. Sometimes when the Lord calls us, we don't always know that He is calling us, or we don't exactly want to respond because we like being comfortable, or we're afraid that what He is asking us is difficult, or we don't recognize that it is Him. In order to be more receptive of when He calls us, we can ask Him! We can pray to understand and recognize how He calls us. We should also be doing the right things, and be in the right places. Our hearts need to be prepared to hear the word of God, and to hear Him when He calls us. Blessings will come when we do what the Lord has asked us to, and blessings will come when we work on our hearts. Someone shared this quote, which I thought was great: "There's no growth in the comfort zone, and there's no comfort in the growth zone." We can't grow if we don't take a leap of faith and step outside of our comfort zone. We will be blessed for it.

In Relief Society we talked about scripture study, and I loved what a couple of the sisters said: "We need to try and get something out of our study" (next to it I put #qualitystudy instead of quantity study). And the last thing that someone said was, "Sometimes we get distracted by what's going on around us and we forget to focus on the Savior and rely on Him." Scripture study is great, and you can learn so many things from it, but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort. Someone said that we live in a world where we want answers now, and the Lord doesn't always give us the answers right away. We need to be willing to work with Him to find the answers, and we need to be patient. He'll give us the answers when He knows that we're ready.

I'm so grateful for my Savior. I know that He is my friend, and I know that He listens to me when I am hurting and just want someone to listen. I know that He is also there to help me pick up the pieces and put them back together again. I know that He loves me, and I know that He forgives me, and I know that He was just waiting for me to forgive myself so that I can move on with Him beside me. I'm so grateful that He has been with me, and I am so grateful that He will always be with me. I know that I am blessed to be able to have Him beside me, and I am blessed to have so many friends and great examples in my life that He has sent to me. I'm so grateful for my Heavenly Father, and for His love and guidance. I know that He is always watching me, and I hope that He is proud of the woman that I am becoming because I have been trying so hard to be good, and do good, and change the world around me by changing myself, and I hope that He is proud of me. 

Last but not least, I'm so grateful for my dad, my grandpas, my uncles, and all of the great men in my life that I look up to. They are all great examples to me of how a man should treat his wife and children and I love them. Happy Father's Day!