Can you imagine what it would be like watching your friends, family, and many others burn to death? The feelings that come with that thought are almost indescribable. But that exactly what Alma and Amulek witnessed and experienced. Now think of not only witnessing that but having the faith to recognize that everything would be alright that those who perished were in the hands of their Father and that it was His will.
Alma and Amulek had the power of God within them and could have stopped the innocent from burning but Alma was so in-tune with the spirit that he knew he mustn't stop what was happening. When Amulek could no longer look upon this destruction he says to Alma, "How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the ^apower of God which is in us, and save them from the flames. But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in ^aglory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the ^bjudgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the ^cblood of the ^dinnocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day" (Alma 14:10-11).
God has a plan. We have a choice. Each choice has a consequence and we will be and are held accountable for each choice we make. Though things may not seem fair or right, God knows what He is doing and we just need to strengthen our faith and trust in Him to be able to say "Be it according to the will of the Lord" (Alma 14:13).
Our Father in Heaven loves us so very much and He will do nothing except it be for our good. I love my Father. Though I may not understand all things I know He does and I know that that is all that matters. I just need to keep learning, keep growing, keep trusting in Him, and doing all that I can to get back to Him then He will help with the rest.

Trust in Him.

Where is our trust? Is it in ourselves or in the Lord? Ponder that. Are you continually praying to Him asking for His help and guidance while continuing to do all that you can? If not something needs to change. I know I need to work on it and change some things. Its not always easy nor our first reaction but we need to make it so.
I love in Mosiah 9 & 10 how it teaches us the importance of trusting the Lord and relying on His strength rather than ours alone. "Yea, in the ^astrength of the Lord did we go forth to battle against the Lamanites; for I and my people did cry mightily to the Lord that he would ^bdeliver us out of the hands of our enemies, for we were awakened to a remembrance of the deliverance of our fathers. And God did ^ahear our cries and did answer our prayers; and we did go forth in his might; yea, we did go forth against the Lamanites, and in one day and a night we did slay three thousand and forty-three; we did slay them even until we had driven them out of our land" (Mosiah 9:17-18).
"...we did go up in the ^astrength of the Lord to battle. Now, the Lamanites knew nothing concerning the Lord, nor the strength of the Lord, therefore they depended upon their own strength. Yet they were a strong people, as to the ^astrength of men...putting [our] trust in the Lord; therefore, we did contend with them, face to face. And it came to pass that we did drive them again out of our land..." (Mosiah 9:17 & 10:10-11 & 19-20).
We can do a lot. But with the Lord with us we can do even more. Seek for His strength. Be worthy of it and strive to obtain it through righteous desires. The Lord is there waiting for you to put your trust in Him so that you can achieve more & reach your full potential. He loves you and will always be there to help.

With all Diligence

Today's post will be short and sweet! I was reading in Mosiah 7 today and I absolutely LOVE this verse!: "But if ye will ^aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all ^bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." Bondage can be a spiritual bondage, a temporal bondage or anything that is holding us back and keeping us from progressing and returning to our Father in Heaven. Don't let life get you down. Trust Him. He knows what He is doing and what we need. He loves us and will not give us anything that we cannot handle (1 Nephi 3:7).
Turn to Him and he will help you in all your endeavors as long as they are righteous. I love this work and I love my Savior and Father in Heaven sooooo much! Have an AmAzInG day!!!

God loves His children more than any earthly parent could.

Today I was reading in 2 Nephi 26, which talks about Christ ministering unto the Nephites. I love verse 24 which reads: "He doeth not ^aanything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he ^bloveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw ^call men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation." Our Saviors entire purpose and goal is and was to enable us to return to live with our Heavenly Father. As the Father and His son are one in purpose, our Father in Heaven doeth nothing save it be for our benefit as well. This is hard to remember when we see all of the suffering in the world, when we feel like everything around us is falling apart, and when our tedious life planning completely and slowly unravels; But it is all part of a much greater 'life plan' and part of our learning and experience here on this earth. We shouldn't be so concerned as to why its happening but more how we deal with what is happening. Are we helping those that may have less or who are suffering as much as we can? Are we taking the trials that come into our paths or the unseen turns in our plans and making them into something positive, into something to overcome and learn from? When we "^acheerfully ^bdo all things that lie in our power;... then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the ^csalvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed" (D&C 123:17).
We may not know all the whys or be able to paint in our minds the magnitude of God's love and plan for us but we can strive to make the most of things. When in those times of uncertainty or when we are in the darkest abyss that is when we have the potential to grow the most. That is when we have the ability to put all of our trust in the Lord and feel His love more than at any other time in our lives.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven love us. That is all we need to know. Now just put your faith and trust in them, do your very best, learn, and find what God has in store for you.
Also read D&C 121, 122, 123