Mountains to Climb

Our tennis shoes were tied, water bottles packed, the sun was barely peeking above the mountain. We were ready to hike! After four years of living in Northern Utah (and 10+ of living in St. George!) I had never hiked “the Y.” In fact, no one in my family has. With my mom and Zac in town, we hopped in the car early one morning and headed down to Provo. I’m not sure what everyone else was thinking, but I was certain that this was going to be a quick and easy hike. We’d stop to take a few pictures at the top, make our way back down, and be good to go.

Boy, was I wrong. Turns out, having one of us carry Ellie the whole way up, and one of us carry the backpack with six water bottles and a camera that weighs about the same as a small child was enough to slow us down a bit. Oh, and did I mention those switchbacks? Maybe I’m just out of shape or something, but they were killer.

By the third switchback, we were about ready to call it quits.

We kept going.

Perhaps it was an attitude change, perhaps it was just the hike itself, or perhaps some divine help may have been involved, but as soon as I made up my mind that we were hiking all the way to the top, it started to get easier. I was still out of breath by the time we reached the top, but we made it. And the view, man it was worth it. In fact, now that I’m home, no longer covered in dirt and sweat, and enjoyed an ice cream cone from the creamery, I keep thinking Oh that was so fun and so easy! I’d do it again any day! Ha! And we probably will. 🙂

On the way down, I thought about one of my favorite videos (it’s only five minutes long, worth every minute of your time!) We all have mountains to climb. I’m not always very public with my “mountains” and struggles that I face, but I assure you I have them. We all do. And it’s easy to get discouraged during our switchbacks, especially when the top seems so far away.

But, “If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word.” –Henry B. Eyring

(and a group photo I stole from my mom’s blog. Seriously, that view!)