Blog Switch!

Hey guys! My good friend Whitney an I decided to switch blogs today! Hop on over to Whitney's Blog to read mine when you're done here! :)


I assume most of you know me since Hannah and I are partly connected at the hip. Well, my shoulder is connected to her hip due to my lack of vertical altitude. For those of you who don't know me my name is Whitney Reid. I spend most of my time in the gym either tumbling or coaching. While I love love love the time I spend with my team, I love the time I spend with the Lord even more. I am a proud member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and am a little obsessed with this lovely church. When I grow up I want to be a graphic designer, but my true dream is work for EFY as a counselor and a speaker. I have a dream to be a motivational speaker one day. Until then I hope to reach people from the words of my blog. I want to do this because I have a piece of something so great that I want everyone to hold for themselves. This is my testimony.

This story began one day when I got on Facebook to see a message from one of my friends. This friend was turning 16 and for her birthday party she wanted to do something a little different. She wanted to hike mount Timpanogos, the tallest peak in Utah. And she wanted to do it all in the middle of the night.

Now I don't tell you this because the actual hike has any significance to you. I tell you this because this hike taught me something about life. This is the part that I want to share with you.

{picture via Google}

This hike began after dark when we drove to the base of the trail. The goal was to make it to the top before sunrise. We knew it was going to be a challenge, but we were so excited. I believe this is a sliver of how we felt as we prepared to leave our Father in Heaven to come to this earth. We knew the trials we would have would be very hard, but we were so excited. We cracked our glow sticks and started up the trail.
The first little bit of the hike was easy, that is until our bodies realized they should be in bed. When we first came to this earth we had no worries, but soon the world began to catch up to us. We climbed that mountain in the dead of night. It was very dark, and it was very hard to see what was below your feet and to know where to walk. We each placed glow sticks on our backpacks to show the person behind us where to go. The glow sticks in our lives are the prophets of old, as well as the prophets of our day today. These people know the trail, and they know where to go. They are being led by our Father in Heaven. If we follow the direction the lead us in we will not fail. We will be guided strait to our destination, and we will be able to avoid many trials that come from straying from the trail.
When hiking Mount Timpanogos you spend much time on the side of a mountain and you don't know where the edge is. In life we must stay as far away from the edge as we can and hold fast to the iron rod. We must strive to remain righteous at all times. At times the trail is small and you must walk single file or you will fall off the side of the mountain. In life we sometimes feel as if we are all alone. Sometimes we feel as if we are walking this path all by ourselves with nobody standing next to us, but in reality all we need to do is look up to our Father in Heaven, because he will always be right there by us holding his glow stick to show us the way. Glow sticks and flashlights don't light the trail very far. They don't show us the finish line, and they don't show us how close we are to the finish. They just light up enough of the trail to take the next step. This is the same way God leads us on our paths. He doesn't reveal everything at once, but if we stay faithful to him, he will continue to give us enough light to take a few steps forward on our trail to eternal life.
As we began to near the top the trail became rocky and treacherous. Our legs began to hurt more than they had hurt at any other time during the hike. It was the hardest part of the trail. In our lives it is always darkest before the dawn. The trail is always the hardest before the sun comes up, just as our trials are always the most difficult before they get any easier.
The trail was rough, but it was well worth it when we were able to see the beautiful sunrise. Life is going to be hard, but it is worth it in the end if we remain faithful and don't stray from the path.
When we began our descent down in the morning we discovered that the trail was much easier to follow when it was lit. We found a joy and excitement in our hiking that we didn't have the night before. We still had had absolutely no sleep, and our legs still hurt. The only thing that was different was the light of the sun to show us the path. In our lives when we walk in the light of Christ we are able to find the only true joy that can be found. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings us joy beyond measure and even though we will still have the same trials, and might even be given more difficult ones, they will be much more bearable with the Lord by our side.

Thanks Hannah for letting me raid your blog. I had loads of fun. And to all of you reading this...

 "Go climb that mountain"

-Mercy River

Feel my Sunlight