What a wonderful world!

Listen up! Sometimes the world is the worst place! Like seriously, turn on the news. It's all people getting shot, buildings burning down, wars, and Donald Trump. *shudder*

It's super easy to get caught up in how hard things are. Sometimes the smog is so thick you can't see the sun at all and you start to wonder if it's still there. (That's halfway hypothetical and halfway a criticism of Salt Lake's air quality.)

A few weeks ago, Michelle and I were in Provo. The inversion had been so bad for like a week that you could barely see the other side of the freeway, which is super beyond gross. Because of traffic issues on I-15, we decided to drive back to our apartment through Park City, and I'm so glad we did. As we left the city, the air started to clear and eventually the sky was bright blue! I could see the sun! More importantly, I could see what was really around me and it was beautiful. The mountains and the homes and the clouds were so peaceful. It reinvigorated me and even as we drove back into the wall of brown air surrounding Salt Lake, I knew I could deal with it because I had seen the sun and had renewed strength from it.

On Wednesday, Farrari and I went to the Salt Lake Temple. Life had been hard since my first chemo treatment with navigating the side effects and feeling tired all of the time. I was feeling discouraged and surrounded by the hardships I have ahead. As we walked into the temple, it was like the fog around me was lifted. I looked at the paintings of Christ and it was like looking at the bright sunshine. Listening to the words of the session and reminding myself of the covenants I've made put everything into perspective. For the first time in a little while, I could see clearly my situation. Yes, cancer is hard. Yes, I'm scared about what is coming. But that doesn't even matter, because as I focused on Christ it was like focusing on the sun. By His light, I saw what is really around me and remembered that life is beautiful. The promises of the gospel are hopeful and never ending. As we left the temple and drove into the crummy world around us, it was like descending from the canyon into the dark smog. But my resolve and my faith were strengthened as I left carrying a portion of Christ's light with me to fight the darkness.

Life is so good! People are so good. I don't mean that people are nice. People are GOOD. Everyone is good inside. I firmly believe that. I have seen glimpses of this good side of humanity as people have learned about my cancer. My school is having a fundraiser for the American Cancer Association in my behalf in May. A coworker paid for me to go to an expensive restaurant with the other teachers and students -  I wasn't going to go because of the price. I've received numerous packages and letters and messages from people who are GOOD and want to help. Every time one of us follows through on that GOOD side of us, the light of Christ increases and the worldly darkness starts to fade a little more. I'm so inspired by the GOOD people around me.