REAL LIFE family relations

Yesterday I drove down to Centerville, Utah because I had plans to get a hair cut (one of my favorite things in this whole wide world) and I was going to stay with my wonderful aunt vicki and uncle denis. Before I came down, I had said a prayer to have opportunities to see my family in a new light. I asked that I would make connections from my real life to ideas that I had learned in my family relations class. I asked that I would grow my already loving family relationships in something deeper. I wanted to understand my family on a deeper level, things that I hadn't known before. THAT prayer was answered in ways that I couldn't have even imagined. I have come to understand my aunt so much better. She is a talker and so open and so awesome. She has been through her own gethsemane is continuing to learn from experiences. She has become what she is because of her difficult trials. She became something so much more relatable and understandable. I hope that I have touched her with my testimony over this trip and that I will continue to do so. I hope that the role I play in my family and her life in particular will be for my better and hers as well. 

While talking to my aunt vicki, I got to share truths that I learned in both my religion class and my family relations class, truths that she could relate to. My aunt vicki lost a daughter to ovarian cancer a little over 2 years ago. Needless to say, the eternal family and after life is an element of her testimony is crucial to her faith in our heavenly father. The understanding of the post-mortal existence means that she will someday she her daughter again and understand why she died. What a blessing of peace that the atonement of christ brings! 

We talked alot about how her family has evolved and how she has evolved. We talked about her parents and their parents. We talked about trends and how we can change them. We talked about how we can  become the generation that stops doing the things that our parents did but weren't healthy. Her generation in our family has made significant strides towards spirituality and more gospel based homes. Relating it to the scriptures, we talked about how heavenly father helps us understand what things that we are doing that are wrong and need adjustment. He makes weak things become strong unto us. When we understand the trends that are hurting our families, we can help change them. I love that through my humble aunt I was able to see truths of the gospel working in a REAL way in a REAL persons life. Her understanding of my family has affected me now. I can learn from what she knows and begin to change the trends that I can still see happening in my life. 

I love that the spirit world is so close to us. Our family members that have passed have has the same struggles as us because they are literally a part of us. We share the same blood and they have passed on traits that I have to overcome, just as they did. They have overcome the internal conflicts of righteousness that I still struggle with. Who better than to help me overcome them than them? My dad has told me before that I am so much like my grandma. At first I thought it was a compliment because she is one of the most wonderful women that I have ever had as an example. However, my dad continued to tell me that I was proud and independent. When i think of my grandma those words aren't adjectives that I would classify my grandma as. The more that I have thought about that, I have come to realize that she overcame those not christ-like qualities and made something better out of herself. It is such a comfort to me to know that someone close to me that I look up to has become so much more than what she was given. She has made flowers out of cardboard. She has given me hope for change. 

In my last post, I talked about how the atonement is the change that we experience but also a healing process in which we can become whole. My grandma has made herself into a whole piece through Christ. I don't think that I could gain more hope than by looking at her life and where she has ended up. SHe is living evidence of the atonement working, as are we all. I know christ lives because I have changed and become whole. My life is not complete and I have so much more to learn but the accomplishments that I have made, which are so minimal compared to others, are evidence of my Savior's love for me because there is no way that I  could have done those things on my own. Through christ we can become what is necessary to live with him again. He changes real people in real ways. He lives!