Peace In Spite of Trials

Numbah 1: I apologize for not having blogged in a really long time. My bad. I know the excuse of "I've been busy" (albeit true) is a lame one, so I won't tell you that I've been busy.

Lemme just catch y'all up on a few things that have happened: I was transferred to Sonoma. My new companion is Elder Kent. I love it here. It has been a pleasure serving here so far. Wonderful people. Great experiences. Good news right? Agreed.

But in other news, I have to have surgery....

Again.

For those of you who don't know, back in April I had to have an emergency surgery to remove a staph infection from my chest. The infection was..... really bad. There really is no way to sugar coat it. I very nearly died. And since then, I have been "fine". No symptoms. No fevers. No throwing up. No body aches or chills. Zero indications of sickness like last time. But however, the wound that got infected hasn't been healing and continues to drain. Just peachy right? So I have to have corrective surgery to fix it and stop it. It's the only solution to take care of this problem. But other than that, I know pretty much nothing. I only know that my operation will be soon, that recuperation will take a couple of weeks, and that this is all I got to fix my health problems.

You must be wondering: How are you taking this? How are you feeling? Are you coping alright with this? Aren't you scared? What if this ends your mission because it's worse than you thought? How can you possibly go through surgery again while on your mission and keep going?

My answer to all of these questions and the myriad others that I am sure you are thinking and I know I have already asked myself is this: For some odd reason, I have no worries. I have no fear or doubts. I have the oddest sense of calm and serenity in regards to this whole situation. I know hardly anything that could be considered reassuring; on the contrary, everything that I know about this and what the possibilities are should be extremely disconcerting to me. And yet they aren't. Why?

Because I know without a doubt that my Father in Heaven is watching over me, just as He did the last time. Because I know without a doubt that I have a Savior who will be there no matter what happens.
Because I know without a doubt that no matter what happens, the Lord is in it.

This knowledge gives me peace and comfort in this time of obvious turmoil and trial. This knowledge keeps me going. It pushes me forward because I know that I will be taken care of no matter what as I exercise my faith and trust in God and His Son Jesus Christ. I know this to be true. And I invite you to ponder this as well. I'm sure you have trials in your life right now. Very possibly more daunting and frightening than my own (after all, my life isn't threatened or anything like that right now). And yet, in spite of such things, you can feel the serenity and calm that I feel. All you have to do is trust in your Father in Heaven. Pray to Him if you must. Ask for His help and support. Seek for refuge in His loving embrace. You will find it; just as I have. I testify of the reality of the relationship we have with our Father in Heaven. He loves us; we are His children. He is always there for us. Go to Him and His Son Jesus Christ. There is only peace and comfort in Them and Their Divine Help. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.