"I Am the Gardner and I Know What I Want You to Be."

So who enjoyed conference this weekend?!  SOOO good!!!!  I learned so much and am so much more prepared to face the real world (which comes sooner than you think!)

I was especially touched by Elder Christofferson's talk on Sunday.  He talked about a gardener and seeing this wild, rampant bush.  So the gardener went out into the garden and cut back the bush and it was almost like he could hear the bush saying "Why are you cutting me back?  I was doing so well and I was flourishing and growing!  If you had just let me keep growing, I would've been the biggest plant ever!  Why did you cut me back?!"  And he replied, "I am the gardener and I know what I want you to be.  One day, you'll thank me."  Our interaction with God is the same thing. 

Sometimes, God "cuts us back" and we don't understand why.  We may fail to receive a promotion which we have worked incredibly hard for; we may not got accepted to our school of choice; we may not win an election for some type of position of authority.  Whatever the case may be, it seems as if we would have flourished and grown and been better off if we had been able to receive that promotion or been accepted rather than rejected.  Then we shake our fists towards the heavens saying, "Why did you cut me back?!  I was doing so well!!  I would have flourished!!  Why?!"  And then we have to remember that God is the gardener.  God knows exactly what he wants us to be and he knows exactly what is best for us.  He is, after all, the creator and grand master of the Plan of Salvation.  He knows precisely what needs to happen in order for things to pan out the way they are supposed to.

Call me crazy, call me sick with Provo fever, call me desperate, call me whatever you desire, but I will admit that I seriously want a "significant other."  Someone to love, to hold, to just be there when I need him.  (I think I am validated in this considering I have never had a real boyfriend, and I am in Provo, UT where there are currently 11 engaged couples in my ward [as of the last count].) This scenario described above has happened to me, where I shake my fists at the heaven and just constantly question why.  He was so perfect!  Why couldn't it have worked out?  He is such an amazing guy!  Why couldn't I have had just one date?  I really needed someone with his understanding.  Why did he have to leave now?  The question are endless.  I have asked Heavenly Father several times in my fervent prayers to help me understand this mystery, to give me a valid reason why this should be happening to me.  The answer came in the form of General Conference.  "I am the gardener and I know what I want you to be.  You will thank me later." 

Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.  Be content with what you're given and know that it will all work out.  Heavenly Father doesn't want us to fail, so as long as we follow him, fail, we shall not.