Dear Friends,

July has certainly hit with a vengeance. It seems that only a few short weeks ago we were all talking about how long winter lasted and how cool the temperatures were until June. Then we had the hottest June in history. Now all we have is the hot weather and little relief. But, alas, that is July.

July is known for Independence Day and how we are blessed with many freedoms. I was contemplating this very thought over the week-end. I contemplated the gift of freedom and how we, in this nation, enjoy so many things that those of other nations do not have. One of the greatest freedoms we have is the freedom to worship the gospel of Jesus Christ. This thought led me to think of Heavenly Father's plan for the gospel to be restored to the earth and how many things had to be put in place for that to happen. The world had to have men receive revelations hundreds of years ago in order for the world to be ready to receive the gospel. Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1400's which laid the foundation for the commercial mass production of books. The success of printing meant that books soon became cheaper, and ever wider parts of the population could afford them. Columbus sailed to this hemisphere and found a land that could and would be inhabited. The Pilgrims fled the tyranny of a King in order to worship as they chose and came to this continent. The weather also played its part in the restoration. A volcano on the other side of the world caused a great cloud of ash to float across the Atlantic Ocean and because of it, crops failed in Vermont, leading to the relocation of one Smith family to a small town in New York. A young boy full of faith was led to wonder about which church to join and he went to a grove to pray about it.

All of these events had to happen and Heavenly Father was aware of each of them and helped put the pieces of the puzzle in place so that the Gospel of Jesus Christ could be restored to the earth. Each piece was necessary and important.

Our lives are a little like one of God's puzzles. There are many pieces. If we take one piece on its own, it doesn't show much, but as we work through the puzzle of our lives, we see a little more of the total picture. Sometimes we don't understand the disappointments, the illnesses, the difficult times and we wonder if Heavenly Father is even aware of us and what we are going through. I think we tend to forget that He has the picture, the whole picture, of our lives and He is hoping that we will have enough faith in Him that we will trust Him to put it together so that the end result is glorious and truly worth it. So, I am hoping that each of us can remember during this great month of July that freedom of religion is a great gift, that following the gospel plan can help us to truly be free. If we have faith that we are living the best that we can, our lives will fall into place and the picture will be unbelievable.

Love,
Pat Romney