fasting

I fasted for the first time in almost three years. It felt good. I like doing something that physically shows Heavenly Father and reminds me that I am serious about what I am praying for. I hope this is the beginning of coming back for me. I don't know if anyone even knows I have been 'away', but my testimony and desire to live perfectly have been floundering in a big way for almost two years now. All anyone sees in the multiple callings I serve in, the fact that we go to church, and that I am a good visiting teacher. What they don't see is that the girl who used to know the Book of Mormon like the back of her hand hasn't read it in months and hasn't really studied it in over a year. The girl who used to pray on her knees morning and night and in between, now barely goes beyond the cliche and routine meal and family prayer. I need to start praying again, studying the scriptures again, and having faith in the Savior and his Atonement. I know it is somewhere back there in my mind and my heart, but the last two years have turned me into a very different person than I ever thought I would be. Here's to new beginnings.

(Oh...and the fasting was done because I am no longer nursing or pregnant for the first time in three years, not because of stubbornness like the other things I have slacked on.)

Today as a stake we fasted for all the homes that have been flooded here in Flagstaff. It is funny because it hasn't really stopped raining since yesterday, but I know a lot of people are praying and serving, and that Heavenly Father is watching over us all.