"On the first day of Christmas,
my true love gave to me
a partridge in a pear tree."


I have decided to take these next twelve days to reflect on those doctrines which have sustained me in my life. On this, the first day of my twelve days of Christmas, I think about how my faith in God has kept me.

I have had many occasions to make difficult decisions, and have been fortunate enough to have been taught to rely on my God. When I was a teenager, trying to decide what path I would take, after much fasting, prayer, and pondering, I realized that it didn't matter what my role was in life, so long as I dedicated it to the Lord as His disciple.

After that, none of the other choices open to me mattered as much. That decision colored how I chose my future career, my choice of whether or not to serve a mission, everything. And when my world crumbled, I could have chosen to abandon that faith. Fortunately, because of the support of wonderful friends, I did not.

Even now, I know the real possibility that I could lose the little I have left. But I have already come to terms with that possibility because after all was taken away from me, the one thing that nothing could touch was my faith in God. For that, I am grateful.
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