Change is beautiful

So the other day I stumbled across a quote from Ben Carraway, who served here in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mission. He stated, "change is beautiful."

As I was thinking about that it reminded me of high school yearbooks and the common expression, "never change." I remember reading it over and over again in my yearbook, which I didn't really appreciate. Considering the amount of changes I had undergone throughout my high school career, I felt that I had changed and grown a lot, and thus desired more growth and change. The last thing I wanted was to stop changing. Which led to me wonder, what does it mean to change? I feel that often as people change, the result is negative. They digress, or change for the worse, which has resulted in a negative outlook on change and why friends encouraged me to never change.

Yet, change can be beautiful. Change can be miraculous and powerful and inspiring. Consider the conversions of Alma the Younger in the Book of Mormon, or Paul from the New Testament. Men who underwent great change, where the result was wonderful and the impact tremendous. There are countless examples of people who changed, who progressed, and who we cheer on. Therefore, as children of God, I believe the desire to progress is instilled in each of us. Since the reason we came to this earth was to progress, to obtain a physical body and progress further than we were previously able. Progression is change.

However we can't do it alone, which is why our loving Heavenly Father provided a way for us to change. "He sent His Son to die for us, and rise with living breath" (Children's Songbook: He Sent His Son). Through Jesus Christ, our Savior, we can change, we can repent, and we can progress. We can grow, and excel, and learn. I am so grateful that I can rely on Him every day to become better. That every day I can experience a change of heart, and every day I can feel His love working in me to create something better than I was before. We were never destined to fail, which is why we can change; so we can succeed, and overcome. Whatever we're going through, He is always there and He is always reaching out for us. He is love and that's real, I know it. I know it because I have experienced it; every ounce of my creation and existence testifies that God is love.

Change is beautiful, and change is real. So change, and never stop changing.