Climbing Spiritual Mountains

Elder Scott didn't have his camera on him this week when it came time to e-mail us, so no pictures to go along with this post, however, he shared this spiritual thought with me that went along perfectly with a scripture block I had been studying that same morning:

So many times in our lives we have spiritual mountains that we believe we cannot climb. Today I had the chance to go up to the very top of a mountain. From the bottom I didn't even have the plan to go all the way to the top. Instead I had the plan to go chill at the nearby Catholic church and wait for the crazies that went all the way to the top.  But I started the climb, and confirmed the road was long and very difficult at times. My legs ached to stop. My throat thirsted for water, and my lungs wanted air, but I was surrounded by wonderful people who were also taking the same challenge as me. And they pushed me and helped me continue forward, and urged me to keep on climbing. They all had the same desire as me. All 22 of us were tired, but we helped one another and pushed to our maximum. Some got up the mountain super quick, others were slower, but working as a group, we were all able to make it to the top where we gained a most deserved rest. It was not easy. Some of us had larger challenges than others, but all of us made it as a team.

Many times we have similar spiritual mountains in our lives. Times when our spirit feels like it cannot go on, that it cannot make it to the top, but when we surround ourselves with good people, we can take on the challenge and make it to the top together. We can overcome the challenges in one way or another, and when we form a spiritual team, all of us can encourage each other and gain the ultimate reward.

As I was reading Elder Scott's words, I came across another quote that really resonated with me. It was from an address Jack H. Goaslind shared during the October 1995 LDS General Conference, "In our own lives, in our daily workaday world, we can create our own 'mountaintop experience' so unique and personal that I wonder why more of us don't readily do so. The spiritual mountaintop of which I speak is the development and refining of a testimony of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just as we can stand on the top of any great mountain and experience an awe-inspiring panorama, I believe we can stand in our own places and experience overwhelming awe in knowing that the Savior, in an act of love which defies mortal understanding, gave his life in taking upon himself our pain and suffering.

It seems to me that the power of a testimony of Jesus Christ is one of the great, untapped sources of direction in our lives today. I am convinced that each of us, however good, loyal, or dedicated we try to be in the gospel and in the Church, could do so much more if we did it with the power and influence of an unwavering faith in the Lord."

And one final quote by Booker T. Washington we can all take to heart, "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in this life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed."