Alexa: Forget yourself and praise Christ!

So tonight I was reading in 1 Nephi 18 and I read verse 16 and it stood out to me! It says, “Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions” (1 Nephi 18:16) As I read this I thought of Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk, Believe Love and Do that he gave in this last conference. He stated, “We find the abundant life by forgetting ourselves and engaging in the great cause of Christ.” I thought that Nephi’s bravery and strength in this situation was incredible! This was when he had been bound by cords for days on a ship with storms and tempests surrounding him. When his brothers finally freed him, he praised the lord. I know that if I was in Nephi’s situation it would be extremely difficult to forget about what had happened and stop myself from being angry with Heavenly Father because he allowed me to suffer that. Nephi is a huge example to me! I know that if we follow his example and Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s words, by forgetting ourselves and serve and follow Christ  then we will be able to grow closer to Christ and our lives will be happier when we’re not focused on our hardships and trials. Our testimonies will be strengthened and we I’ll be able to be instruments in God’s hand if we allow ourselves to get caught up in his work instead of being held back by our own trials. If we do this, our burdens will also become easier to bear and we will have the strength to push through them and lift up others as well!