Once Upon a Time

So today in church I was flipping through my scriptures reading all the old handouts and things that were stuck between the pages and what not.  I came across the talk "Your Happily Ever After" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.  I'd forgotten how much I loved this.  Here's what I had highlighted and underlined:
1)  Heavenly Father offers us the greatest gift of all, eternal life, and the opportunity and infinite blessing of our own, "happily ever after."
2)  The leaders of the church love us, pray for us, and rejoice in our faithfulness.
3)  "Once upon a time" promises something:  a story of adventure and romance, a story of princesses and princes.  Nice overcomes mean and good overcomes evil.
4)  Isn't that what we all desire:  to be the heroes and heroines of our own stories; to triumph over adversity; to experience life in all its beauty; and, in the end, to live happily ever after? (I had written to the side "yes.")
5)  These words are true:  You area beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose.
6)  He loves us so much that he granted us this earthly life as a precious gift of "once upon a time," complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love.  And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension.  Heavenly Father offers to us the greatest gift of all, eternal life, and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own "happily ever after."
***Here is where I felt the spirit.  I've been going through some trials of my own that I like to think I can take on by  myself, but really I need His help.  So I said a prayer.  I don't often feel the spirit as strongly as I did there.  I was reassured of my Savior's love for me and was reminded that He is always there for me, no matter what I'm doing or what I might be going through.  He sent me here to earth to learn these things and to help me with them.  Someone once told me that Heavenly Father would never give us something we couldn't handle.  So even though it might seem rough at times and like there's no way to turn, there is a way out and we will get through it.
7)  Such a blessing does not come without a price.  It comes only though understanding who you are and what you must become in order to be worth of such a gift.
8)  Every fairy tale has one thing in common:  they must overcome adversity.
9)  Has there ever been a person who did not have to go through his or her own dark valley of temptation, trial and sorrow?  (I wrote to the side, "no.")
10)  Sandwiched between their "once upon a time" and "happily ever after," they all had to experience great adversity.
11)  There must be opposition in all things.
12)  In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise.  Adversity helps.

That was just the first page of the talk.  This was something that I really needed to read.  Funny how things work out, huh?  I'm simply writing my story, it started with "once upon a time," and I'm slowly but surely making my way to my "happily ever after."  I've got my own set of trials and temptations and sorrows, but I'm working through them.  I have the help of my family and friends and bishop(ric), but most of all, I have my loving Heavenly Father.  He's there with me every step of the way, sometimes carrying me when I feel like giving up on everything.
Now, I know I've said it before, but I really don't boast of my spirituality, partially because I feel weird doing it, but a lot because I like to think I'm independent.  But this is one of those things that I hope I never forget, because it has really helped me realize somethings in life.  God is there for not only me, but everyone around me, and he loves each and every one of us sooooo much.  Jesus Christ died for us, and through him and the atonement, we can be with our Heavenly Father once again.  I love this gospel so much.  I'm so thankful for it and what it brings to my life; I don't know where I'd be without it.