Life Altering Decisions

There are so many choices in this world. So many choices that can change the path of our lives by one tiny decision. I have made many of those.
The first monumental decision I made was when I decided to be baptized when I turned 8 years old. I am not going to sugar coat it; I had no idea the impact of this decision at such a tender age. However, I did have some understanding of being given a clean slate. I was devastated when I made a wrong choice after being cleansed in this way, but I have since learned that this is part of the learning process. In order to become perfected, we, at times, will make wrong choices and face those consequences.
The next major change for me was by making a wrong choice. I did something my parents did not know I had done. It may sound silly to some, but I was not yet old enough to attend dances but I spent the night at a friend's house and still went. I did not enjoy my time at this party/dance. I felt sick the whole night. When I went home, I went to talk to my mom and confessed what I had done. I even gave myself a punishment. This was a turning point in my life to not rebel against my parents or the church we attended. I never wanted to feel that way again.
My next major decision was to go to college. I was very close to my next oldest brother who was serving a mission at the time for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prior to him going, he attended Brigham Young University. Because of his decision, I wanted to be close to him and share in that experience and ONLY applied to this school. Thankfully, I was accepted and it was there that my true and fuller testimony of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ began.
Following this decision, I ended up moving into an apartment that I would share with 5 of the most influential and important people of my college experience. From the examples and rules, I began to see where my own expectations of myself were somewhat slack. Things happened that year that demanded I know that The Book of Mormon is a true book written and translated by Prophets of God.
From this point, I later met and was engaged to someone who taught me exactly what I did NOT want in a husband. It's not that he was a bad person, we just had different ideas and expectations for marriage and life in general. It was because of this situation that I firmly decided to find someone who matched the inner me. It was also because of this situation that I began to have a closer and more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World, and friend to me.
After this experience I studied Isaiah from The Old Testament in the Bible. I then decided to go on a mission and share the testimony of Jesus Christ and the importance of the RESTORED gospel of Jesus Christ. This was the most important decision of my adult life. It was during and through my mission that I KNOW that Jesus Christ is real and living. I KNOW that His gospel has been restored to the Earth. I KNOW that I cannot deny these things and the experiences I have had.
It was also through this experience that I learned more what it means to be a wife and mother. I watched so many different families and marriages and children. I took note of what I wanted. The only way I could accomplish those tasks, however, was to find someone who viewed the world as I did and someone who could help me build that future. I didn't know it while it happened, but I found my best and forever friend and began to get to know him and all of his inner thoughts and share mine with him. Marrying him has made me the happiest woman in the world. Raising children with him is incredibly rewarding and it is hard to imagine things being better than they are, but we know that, too, is possible.
You know, when I sat down to write this, these things weren't even what I was envisioning saying. For someone, perhaps even myself, I need to acknowledge and proclaim these words. I know that when we hope to find the answers of our hearts, we find God, and in finding God, we find happiness and an abundance of blessings to fill our lives with joy. God's work is to bring immortality and eternal life to all of us on earth. Man was created to have joy. These things ARE true. I know they are. I have prayed and searched and studied and have had profound experiences that have given me the faith that I have. In order to partake of that "eternal life" or, in other words, "eternal joy," we must find God and obey all of His counsel, not just the parts we agree with at the moment. It may be difficult at times, but so was walking and talking, and here we all are.