Elder Goss---W:61 Trick or ... nah, it is definitely a trick. (Nov 3, 2020)

Well this past week was pretty great! Halloween was a bit underwhelming, but I am definitely not complaining. In fact, the day of Halloween, the three of us decided to buy some pumpkins to make some Jack O'lanterns during the evening. However, every store we stopped by not only had super long lines, but also had no pumpkins! We even called pumpkin patches. Nope. All out. But!! Was that going to stop us? No! This setback wasn't going to vanquish our vision!!! So, we adapted to our circumstances, and instead we bought watermelons! Yes, you heard me. Watermelons. And we gutted said watermelons (so much pulp/flesh/whatever you call the red part), and we carved said watermelons (it was actually super easy), but THEN, we encountered a new adversary: we had no light! So, we all prayed and asked God, and he showed his finger and touched several stones... just kidding. At this time, we couldn't leave the apartment to get candles or matches or anything (we had to remain inside after 6). But we did not let our conditions determine our success! We had originally cut the bottom of the watermelons flat, so they would stand up, and there was just a bit of pink showing. So, we turned on the flashlight to our phones, placed the phones into two recently-bought plastic sandwich bags, and set the Jack O'lanterns on top, so the flashlight penetrated the transparent red flesh, and lo and behold our melons were illuminated! It was fun.   

 I said last week that I'd discuss a bit about trials/temptations, and this story perfectly illustrates ONE example of how trials and temptations, even when not fun, are healthy.

 I was not always someone who was good at adapting. In fact, outside of practical challenges, I still have a difficult time having control over my mind, heart, emotions, desires, etc etc. Just like everyone, sometimes my Natural Man gets the best of me, and when I make plans that become unobtainable, I get ticked off, frustrated, disappointed, and underwhelmed. I'm sure as a kid, if I realized that pumpkins were not an option, I would have lost it. The disappointment would have led to tears. But last Halloween, I didn't even think twice about it. I was confronted, and without groaning or moaning, my brain just figured a way to adapt. All my previous practical trials have led to a type of growth I call "instinctive adaptation."

But this principle is not exclusive to practical applications. Guess what? If you train yourself, you can learn to be "instinctively happy" in the face of emotional temptation. You might say it is the "little things" that determine our success. The more trials we experience, the more we are forced to adapt. We adapt to survive, and survive to flourish.

 Let me know what you learned! I love you all.

 Elder Goss