Faith on a Rock

Some people may wonder if God exists and why other people, like myself believe he does. I would like to share with everyone why I believe in God. My parents raised me in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I always went to Church with them. However, one thing I will always be grateful to my parents for is that they always told me and my siblings that we had to learn for ourselves if the doctrines we were taught were true. One day when I was about 14 years old, I was thinking about what I had been taught my whole life and wondered if I knew if it was actually true. As I pondered, I remembered several scriptures from the Bible and Book of Mormon where God says "seek and ye shall find" (Bible: Matthew 7:7-8, Book of Mormon: Moroni 10:3-5). So, I decided to test God at his word. I didn't even know if God was real. I found a quiet place to be alone for a little while. Then I started to pray how I had been taught. I opened my heart to God and asked him straig...

Now that I'm home from my mission, I need to really work on improving my health. It's been 3 years since I herniated my discs. I've received several blessings for my back, but I still have pain. However, one of the last blessings on my mission inspired me to continue. I know I can heal. I know I can overcome this trial. I don't know how long this pain will plague me. But I will not let it get me down. I'm 23 and have the rest of my life to live happily. To start off, these scriptures are inspiring me and give me strength to continue. D&C 42:14 "By the prayer of faith" 89:20 "Shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint." 84:80,83 "And any man that shall go and preach this gospel of the kingdom, and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint; and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground unnoticed. ... For your Father, who is in heaven, k...

There's something in my life that has plagued me for a while now. Most people know I have back problems, but not everyone knows the whole story. Here it is: Fall semester 2010 I joined the Air Force ROTC at Brigham Young University. I was so excited to be part of the Air Force. I loved it, but it was physically demanding. Duh. I could take it though. I was suffering, but enjoying it. Then about halfway through September I started to have some pain in my right leg. I thought I just needed to stretch my hamstring, but nothing I did could stretch my leg. I asked my sister, a dance major, for help. That didn't work either. So I pushed through it for a while thinking it would loosen up on its own. It didn't. It continued to increase. I finally went to the doctor and asked about it. The doctor told me that it seemed like I had a tight muscle pressing against my sciatic nerve. She sent me to physical therapy to loosen up. The physical therapy was good, but the pain shifted dow...