Surprise emotions

Oh Sunday.  I love this day.  A day to rest, renew, teach, visit, bake, did I already say rest? ;).  Today though, it held surprise emotions.  A lesson given by a sister I truly love and respect brought back thoughts and feelings that hadn't emerged for some time.  The lesson was about our Prophet Joseph Smith, and was full of beautiful reminders of the man that he was and the gospel that he helped restore to the Earth.  She ended the lesson posing the question "Have any of you had experiences that have strengthened your testimony of who Joseph Smith was?"  Up to that point, I had been listening, but not participating too much.  But my heart started hammering and before I knew it my hand was in the air.  (What the??? Apparently my hand has it's own mind)  I then shared an experience that I've never written down, but is near and dear to my heart.  I thought it only appropriate that I write it down while it's on my mind.  So, here goes...

Even though it's been 2 1/2 years since I miscarried, there are times where the emotions hit like a ton of bricks.  My friends' question brought that on for me today.  When it all happened in July of 2009, we went in for our first appointment at what I thought was 11 weeks along, only to find that there was no heartbeat.  We were to wait until my body did what it knew it was supposed to do.  We went home stunned and saddened.  Joel's brother Adam was staying with us that week (poor kid!), so we felt the need to get out of the house the next day.  We headed to temple square.  It was a beautiful July day, and the gardens were gorgeous as always.  We walked around and just enjoyed the spirit that is in that place, even pausing to take some pictures...which will forever be meaningful to me.  We then headed over to the Legacy theater where they were showing the 'Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration' movie.  Although we had seen it before, we decided it would be a good chance to rest our feet and remind the kids about what a wonderful man he was and the life he had led.  As the movie progressed, naturally, my mind wandered to the trial I was experiencing, and how it directly related to what I was watching.  He endured so many trials, some similar to mine, most much, much harder, and his faith never, ever wavered.  It was truly a blessing that we had been able to watch the movie that day, because that very afternoon, my body spontaneously miscarried, but then hemorrhaged, which landed me in the ER, and then 10 hours later, having to have an emergency DandC.  I will forever be grateful to a loving father in heaven who had a plan for us, who gave us a Savior to atone for us, and then led this inspired prophet Joseph Smith to restore the Church of Jesus Christ on this Earth.  Without my knowledge of those things, I can only imagine the depths of despair I might have gone through thinking I would never get to meet my unborn child.  I can answer with a resounding 'YES!'  I have had an experience that strengthened my testimony in the prophet Joseph Smith - and it will always hold a place in my heart.  <3 <3 <3