Trials of faith!

  We always talk about faith and what it takes to have faith but when it comes down to us using our faith do we have the strength we need to continue in faith?
   It is very hard when you feel inspired to do something like ( moving to Az.)  then excercizing your faith to move not knowing why or what the outcome will be....in my case Arizona was filled with so many life lessons for me and my family that are priceless and so many memories made with my family including Emily my younger sister having her second baby it was such a blessing to be there for her and get to know her sweet baby boy Clark and daughter Jane I love them so much!! We were also able to see my brother in law Cameren get baptized which was such a special day and blessing that we were able to be a part of such a special memory I will never forget!!
    My kids love their cousins Iris asked me everyday is Avery coming over or I want to go to Averys house! When are we going to my cousins house?? It was so fun being able to get to know the Huskinson kids better, Ethan is such a funny guy I love how he does his fortnite dances and Ella is
such a sweet heart! Eli is so sweet too he always has a smile on his face and he loves playing with his
cousins too! Sam and Avery have a special bond haha he told her it's ok to marry your cousins I may have to clear him up on that lol....
   My parents are the best!! They took us in and gave us soo much I will never be able to repay them! They are so generous and loving. I know we are not the easiest to live with but they took it like champs! It was so nice spending more time with them and my kids loved getting to know them better too!
  Well I was out here in Arizona I was also able to meet Al Carraway three times!! She is such  an inspiration to me and I love hearing her story it gives me so much strength. She is the sweetest person I just love her! It was such a blessing to be able to meet her! I also met some amazing friends here that I will never forget! I know my kids did as well!!
    So many memories were made these last 6 months holidays and birthdays spent together playing at the park together  walking along the lake and the beautiful sunsets and palm trees, cactus and mountains! All the Sunday dinners together are all such  special memories that I will always cherish!
     We have had so many struggles on this journey! Finding work was a challenge....Derrick had several jobs and countless interviews and hours applying for jobs. I found work pretty quickly but in my field it's always pretty easy which is a blessing. Basically living out of boxes and my kids asking for toys that were in storage....it was hard for sure! Many many prayers and tears shed throughout this time it was HARD!
     Why did God send us here only to fail?? Well I think of a talk Elder Holland  gave, him and his son were driving and came to a fork in the road they were not sure which way was correct so they
said a prayer and both felt strongly that they should take the road to the left..so they did as they kept driving they eventually came to a dead end, his son said why did we feel like this was the right way? He responded by saying, maybe if we took the other road we may have wondered for miles and miles if this was the right one, now that we know for sure this was the wrong road we can continue our journey on the right path knowing it is the correct way! I can totally relate to this! I feel like this relates to my situation!
      Maybe there is a reason nothing came together for us these last 6 months....now we know it is not the right place or time for us. Now we can stop thinking and talking about the what ifs and maybe we will move and maybe it's time for us to just be content with our place in life and start enjoying life for ourselves and not for everyone else and trying to please everyone else and all their high expectations for us.
     It's our time to be happy and enjoy our lives and where we are at! We felt that it was time to go back to Joplin Missouri, and that this was a time for learning and to use our faith, I  really didn't think I would miss it much but you know what....I really did! I know it's cold and we have tornados but it just feels right and feels like home. Now we have to use more faith to leave Arizona and travel back to Missouri life is crazy!
      Faith is hard it's hard to act on impressions and prompting when you don't know the outcome...it's all the unknowns that make life exciting and a little scary but it's how we learn and become stronger better people, I wouldn't trade my trials and experiences for anything!  Here's to yet another chapter, full of trials and blessings! You may not always end up where you thought you were going, but you will always end up where you were meant to be!