Who Am I Really?

This posting has nothing to do with my being a Dallas Cowboy Fan who is saddened that they were creamed yesterday and are no longer in the playoffs. But, there is always next year.

I was raised in another religion which confused me and didn't have all the answers I was looking for. That is why I studied with the missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, went to church there, and learned who I really am.

When I went into my teenage years, there were many things that began to confuse me. Who was I praying to? If God was three people in one, if he were some all powerful being with no shape or form, who was He? The Lord's prayer was a big part of my growing up years. But, it seemed so impersonal to be saying the same thing over and over again every night. I always tagged something to it when I was finished. During the years of the Vietnam War, I would always bless the soldiers asking God to bless them and watch over them. Did He hear those prayers? I never knew.

When Christ was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane (that's what I was taught-that Christ was praying, nothing else), if they were three in one, was he praying to himself? When Christ was baptized, was there some miraculous way that he was in the water and speaking to himself when the words were spoken "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased"? And then the Holy Ghost who was represented by a dove. How were all three of them there if they were one?

Yesterday's Sunday School lesson and Relief Society (women's organization) lesson were both about the creation and who we are. In Genesis it says we are created in God's image, male and female both. So, if I was created in His image, didn't He have to be a person, one who had a body of flesh and bones? Otherwise, I would have been a person who was "three in one" just like He was; I was created in His image. The image I had was this magical person who could change himself into Christ, the Holy Ghost, or himself. Is that the image I was created after?

I know that Heavenly Father is a being of his own. He had a body and now dwells in the heavens with a body once again. When I pray, I now know that I am praying to my Heavenly Father, a real person. How personal that is. To know that I can pray to my Father and that he hears and answers my prayers is such a comfort to me. To know my purpose here on earth is a comfort to me. What my purpose was before I knew who I am, I don't know. But, now with the knowledge I have I know that my purpose is to obey his commandments and try with all my heart to become like Him.

In the hymn, "E'er you left Your Room this Morning", there are these words: "So when life gets dark and dreary, don't forget to pray." Times get rough, there are days I would rather not get out of bed, too much heartache around me, too many responsibilities, bad day with depression; but I know that I can pray to a Heavenly Father who loves me and understands me and knows who I am. What a beautiful and comforting thing to know that my Heavenly Father is listening to me, his daughter; and that he truly cares about me and knows who I am. He knows my needs, He knows my sorrows, He knows when I am happy and when I am sad.

Who Am I Really? I really and truly am a daughter of Heavenly Father. How blessed I am to have found the true gospel of Jesus Christ and have the answers that I had yearned so much for as I was growing up.