My Mormon Heritage

I have been doing a lot of thinking these last couple days ( strange I know) about where to go from here. As I said before, I have felt very hopeless about what the future will bring. As I was making dinner today, my mind started to wander and I had many cool thoughts. I started to think about my Mormon history. As a people the latter day saints were not loved by people outside their religion. They were persecuted and driven from town to town and state to state. Many men, women, and even children were murdered in cold blood for no other reason than they thought differently than others. Our prophet Joseph Smith was shot and killed by a mob. There lands were taken illegally and our Temple was burned to the ground. They were left with no other choice than to go west and try to start again as a people. Thousands of saints died because of illness, starvation, or froze in the winter because of lack of shelter. So many people lost everything! I am sure that there were many times when they felt their futures were grim. They wondered if the sun would come up the next morning. Would they ever find a place where they would be free to live and believe how they wanted? Eventually they made it to what is now the Salt Lake Valley. There struggles were not over, but slowly they began to rebuild and start again. They stayed together as a people, and never compromised who they were. Now fast forward to the present day. There are millions of latter day saints all over the world! We are an amazing people, with strength and determination to overcome what ever the world throws at us. I wonder if we would be who we are today if not for the trials of our pioneer ancestors faith? Today the world tries to tell me how I should think and feel, and what I should believe in. They try to make me feel guilty for my beliefs in the issues of the world. I am told I am old fashion and I need to change and adjust with the times. But I know that I am not alone. I know that in hard times, we will all come together, and through our trials we can become better people, stronger people, and our testimonies will grow. In these hard times, we have two choices, we can give up and admit defeat, or we can come together as a conservative people, build eachother up and become stronger. I choose to become stronger. I will never give up! We may have lost this one battle but the war is not over, and one day our Savior and brother Jesus Christ will rule and reign again, and I will be at his side knowing that I never changed who I was because they world told me to. I am so grateful for my pioneer ancestors, and for everything they sacrificed for me and for my faith.