Crimnson Trail

     I was listening to conference Paul V Johnson talked about a trail I loved to hike when I was home. This is that clip from that talk.
     "The Crimson Trail in Logan Canyon is one of my favorite hikes. The main part of the trail creeps along the top of tall limestone cliffs and offers beautiful vistas of the canyon and valley below. Getting to the top of the cliffs isn’t easy, however. The trail there is a constant climb; and just before reaching the top, the climber encounters the steepest part of the trail; and views of the canyon are hidden by the cliffs themselves. The final exertion is more than worth the effort because once the climber is on top, the views are breathtaking. The only way to see the views is to make the climb." More Than Conquerors through Him That Loved Us by Paul V. Johnson.
     This trail is no doubt the one of the greatest trails to hike on. It is my favorite hike in Logan Canyon.The views are so amazing that it is now a life long memory in my head. The first time I hiked up there I was with my brother and some of his roommates from his apartment.
      We started up that hike it started out easy but then got progressively harder. We were about mid-way through the hardest part of the hike when Morgan one of the roommates had to stop because he was getting sick. We left him thinking that he would be alright, wrong move on our part.
     We got about half a mile farther and decided that leaving him there wasn't such a good idea. As we started to turn around we started to see Morgan coming up. When he caught back up to us he told us that everything was alright and that he just shouldn't have had eaten the three ham sandwiches before we started the hike. He then went on to describe the sandwiches which had a lot of mayonnaise on them. As we continue our hike he goes on to tell us how the next person coming up will find a surprise next to a tree when they come up.
     As we came to the top the view was amazing. Everyone was glad to have not turned around. Yes, even Morgan being the one who emptied has stomach along the trip was glad that he didn't just head back. Even if it was rough to begin with, the end result was amazing.
    Just like hardships in our lives, sometimes the best results will come after the hardest climbs. Reminds me a little of a guy named Joseph Smith who prayed with all of his heart praying to God. Wanting to know truth because of all the churches that were around in 1820 not expecting to see God but then guess what happened to him...

My Conference Experiences

There is an event that happens 2 times a year in the LDS religion where our church leaders speak to us. It is a broadcast that is sent out to the entire world so the entire world can know what the prophet is saying.
     For me, memories of conference are really close to me now not only because I'm on a mission but it is because conference weekend would be a time that all of my family would get together. I love family-get-together-ness. It becomes more important as we grow up. I can remember sitting on the couch six months ago thinking to myself, "This is amazing." Knowing that this would be the last time for two years that I would be able to be with my family.
     My favorite conference memory was few years back when my family was not able to be together for the Saturday session of conference. We all had things to do. My dad and I had to go work on some equipment and we had to go to my dad's work to fix it. My brothers had to work or work on a school project. It was only my sister and mom at home but we were all listening to conference. How do I know that? Let me tell you.
     Me and my dad were listening to the conference talk given by Elder David A. Bednar titled More Diligent and Concerned at Home. It talks about how to strengthen the home. The first step he talks about is to tell the people who are your family or your close friends that you love them. Within a 15 minute time frame we had a text from everyone in the family flying around sharing the love we have for each other. That is how I knew how even though we were miles apart we were all listening to conference.
    I am telling you right now that conference is the coolest things in the world. Families grow closer together as you all come closer to Christ.. I love conference and I'm excited for the April 2nd and 3rd. I hope and pray all of you are able to watch conference.

Pray

     Years ago when I was 14-ish I had a habit of not making my bed. I would wake up in the morning, slide right out of bed, and stumble my way to the bathroom to take a shower. Oddly enough the bathroom was up stairs on the main floor. I still wonder how I made it up stair.
     I never gave a lot of thought about making my bed but I would reason that it is only a small thing that it doesn't matter. I could do it but I never had a good reason to do it.

     It wasn't until I went to college that I found the full beauty of making my bed. Just having a nice bed to go to at night was amazing. 

     What is the correlation between me making my bed and praying. It is simple, making a bed is small and simple and frankly just overlooked. Not to much though is given into making a bed. It is like prayer in the way that it too can be given little to no thought on what is said during the prayer. Sounding more like a route presentation then something that comes from the heart. This should not be the case. We have the opportunity of a life time to talk with the creator of the universe. More time needs to be put into what we saw during our prayer. I know that prayer the way to start our day and right way to end it. I know that as we make our prayers more meaningful we will be able say honestly to God, "I can feel your peace and your love."