Anna's Story: How To Become Spiritually and Physically Prepared

When faced with life's tempests, where do we find the anchor to keep us steady? This question rings throughout our latest Remember Podcast episode, where we have the pleasure of hosting Anna Connell, a beacon of inspiration in the realms of faith, fitness, and family. Anna's journey is a rich tapestry of early faith conviction, teenage rebellion, and a profound reconnection with her spiritual roots, nurtured by the guidance of an unwavering bishop during her transformative college years. She shares with us the parallels between nurturing the body and the soul, and as a mother, how her family's unity was put to the test when they welcomed a new baby amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our conversation with Anna also shines a light on the significance of being your own health advocate, as she recounts the trials of infertility and the dangers of a misdiagnosed ectopic pregnancy. Her story is a powerful reminder of the miracles that can unfold from a blend of faith and foresight. Even as she currently navigates the challenges of healing a broken foot, Anna's relentless spirit and deep-seated belief in faith continue to guide her through life's unpredictability.

As we close this chapter, we extend a heartfelt thank you to our listeners and invite you to reflect on the incredible narratives shared in today's podcast. We're reminded of the profound impact women, especially mothers, have on their families and the world at large. Join us in celebrating the insights on daily spiritual and practical preparedness, the importance of peace within the home, and the role of spiritual readiness in facing the future with confidence. Share your thoughts with us and connect on Instagram as we continue this journey of faith, resilience, and the unyielding power of preparation.

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:22

Hey, what's going on everybody? Welcome back to the Remember Podcast. I'm your host, Dallin Buechler, and it's so good to be back. I am joined today with Michaela Michaela, my amazing co host. I have to throw amazing in there every time. Yes, yeah, Michaela. Who do we have with us today?

Speaker 2: 0:39

Yeah, so we have Anna Connell with us. She is already so fun to talk with. She has her own Instagram page. I think it's like positively fit you can shout it out at the end, but she is just an influencer and shares that. But also shares a lot of cool stuff about making your life better and family and becoming fit and just lots of stuff, and so we're excited to hear your story and also hear how God has influenced you.

Speaker 3: 1:14

Okay, well, I will tell you a little bit about myself and share my story. I grew up in the church and I really I I've always known the church is true, always, like I knew from a young age and I could pull different experiences, um, as I, as I've thought back about this, like of different times where I I felt the spirit and and I knew the church was true. In college or in high school, I had, you know, I think, like a lot of people have a rebellious stage and a rebellious season, and in college I was. I went to my bishop and I was like ready to make a change and he really challenged me and like made me work to get back on track and, in the moment, like I had no problem doing whatever he asked me to do and I showed up, I read the things he wanted me to read, whatever like he asked me to do, I did and, um, and, looking back, like I recognize he really wanted me to understand and gain a solid testimony and that's what. That's what I did over. I mean, it was like I felt like it was years. I don't even know now, like, looking back, I don't really know how long that period was, but he put me on the right track and one of the things like, as I've been thinking about this, is like he made me work and he made me do the time. And when it was time and he didn't make I shouldn't say he made me I went in and I talked to him and I said this is the life I want to live, and he helped me get on track with the life that I wanted to live and so he helped me do the things that I needed to do to to get there. And when I met my husband and when it was time to get married, I was worthy to be married in the temple and to start the family that I wanted to start and and do those things so fast forward.

Speaker 3: 3:18

We start having kids, um, and I again, I recognize these miracles all along the way. We start having kids and my focus turns to teaching them and leading by example and, like I'm in charge, I'm responsible. I don't know, like I don't know what I thought having kids was going to be, but I have these kids and I'm like holy cow, now I'm I'm responsible to teach them all these things and so, um, I really put a focus on our health and like all the things that we were consuming food, church, the things in our home, you know, whatever we allowed in on a lot of different levels and and I started focusing on those things and I start like you know, you're trying to to teach these kids all along the way and help them understand, but you're still learning Like I don't know how to be a mom, I don't know what I'm doing, and you're still like trying to grow your testimony and learn all these different things. And and so fast forward. After our third baby, we felt like we needed to have one more and so we have a miscarriage and then we are like, okay, let's try again. So we get pregnant with our fourth baby. She is due April of 2020.

Speaker 3: 4:46

She came April 1st, in the very beginning of COVID, and it was crazy, but I felt a peace and a calmness and I felt him all along the way as we went through these different things. And we as a family had, obviously I'm talking about all these different things and and we as a family had you know, obviously I'm talking like about all these different things that we had put in place physically, you know, our health and our wellness and our I compare, like our testimonies with fitness. That's what I do, but it's the same exact thing. You got to work out a little bit every day. You got to feel your testimony every single day, like you got to do a little bit, and consistency is key here. So we're like teaching our kids and we had had this miscarriage and she's born right at the beginning of COVID and I'm like, can this get much worse? Like like it's insane to bring home a fourth kid. I was thinking, you know, we would bring her home during the kids would have like six or eight weeks of school left and I was going to be able to like get in a routine with our fourth baby and it was going to be perfect. And then COVID hits. I'm homeschooling, I have everyone home 24, seven. I'm like losing my mind, you know. And so I am really like diving deep into the things that I know, going back to like my college bishop days, right, like I'm. I'm like digging back into like that girl that works so hard and knows what she knows, right. So so that's 2020.

Speaker 3: 6:30

Um, the summer of the spring of 2022, we um feel like we're supposed to have another baby and I'm like this was like not, we thought we were done it for. My husband and I, both separately, like had a really strong feeling that we needed to have another baby, and so we're like, okay, let's do this. Well, it took us almost a year to get pregnant, and every month was so frustrating and it was like heavenly father, you've asked us to do this. We're trying to do what you've asked us to do. Why is this not happening? It's all good things. I was so confused and so, again, diving really deep into the things that I know and I'm diving into like this is you, we'll go where you want us to go, like on your timeline. So we get pregnant, and on Thanksgiving day 2022, we thought I had a miscarriage.

Speaker 3: 7:35

Three months later, we found out it was actually a ruptured ectopic pregnancy, which are super dangerous, and so I had had internal bleeding for three months and I was really sick. I mean, I knew that something was wrong. I kept going to the doctor and kept going to the doctor, kept going to the doctor and I'm like something is wrong. This is not like my last miscarriage. Something is wrong and I just kept praying. I'm like, heavenly Father, like they're not. So this is, this is something is wrong. I don't know what to do. This is weird, like, and I just kept having the feeling like just just keep advocating for yourself, keep advocating for yourself.

Speaker 3: 8:12

And so then I ended up having emergency surgery and I came back home five days later and I had this pain in my arm and I thought it was from my IV and they had done like a scan with contrast and and so I like I'm kind of talking myself like probably just the IV, whatever. But I'm like, oh, you might as well call. After everything we've been through, let's just call so um, or at that point I hadn't called yet and I'm sitting on the couch and I'm like just kind of looking at my arm and it's like kind of swelling, and I hear you have a blood clot, and I'm like, okay, so then I call. That's when I call. And I'm talking myself like okay, so I call the doctor, and they're like that's impossible, you don't, you wouldn't have one in your arm, just put a warm compress. Anyway, back and forth with multiple doctors, I am like fighting. I know what I heard, like, but what do you say to the doctor? Right, like the spirit told me. I mean then they're going to be like this gal's crazy. I mean, it sounded crazy. So, anyway, come to find out I don't just have one, I'm like covered in blood clots. Come to find out I'm. I don't just have one, I'm like covered in blood clots.

Speaker 3: 9:29

And I have to get on this heavy duty medication blood thinners for a really long time, like 10 months. My hair started falling out Like I had some health issues because of that, but those saved my life. And then eight weeks ago I stood up off the couch and I broke three bones in my foot, and it's all due to, like the medications and everything. So, so this I go back to literally two years ago, when we have this feeling to have a fifth baby and I'm still I have no baby and I will not, like I can't have another baby now. Um, and I have all these health things that have gone on for the last two years. And I have all these health things that have gone on for the last two years and, um, every doctor and anyone in the medical field that I've talked to is like I can't believe you're alive. Like most people, ruptured ectopic pregnancies are super dangerous. I don't know the percentage so I won't, but a lot of them, like, end up as fatalities, and so to have that for three months, like going on and on and on, is a miracle.

Speaker 3: 10:30

Um, but a lot of people, a lot of the doctors, have said, because of your physical preparation, like your body was strong, your body is strong and you've been able to get through what a lot of bodies wouldn't have been able to withstand, been able to get through what a lot of bodies wouldn't have been able to withstand. And so I think about, as I've like kind of thought about I don't know the theme of my life or whatever like there is power in preparation, whether it's our spiritual preparation, our physical preparation, whatever that might be. And people think like I'm. I think sometimes they think like I'm a fitness fanatic or whatever.

Speaker 3: 11:05

But when I start my day with movement and prayer, like I have kind of a morning routine that I do and it's to prepare my mind and my body, to have the spirit with me, like that is my focus and it hasn't always been my focus, but I've gotten to that place and I know that there's a power that comes from following the word of wisdom. That includes exercise, that includes that's not, I think, like it's really easy to say I don't drink coffee, I don't drink alcohol, I don't smoke cigarettes. So I check the box of the word of wisdom, but for me it's so much deeper and when we follow that and we really hone in on what he's asking us to do, I think we can feel the spirit. I know it because I've. I mean, I wouldn't be here today if I didn't listen to the spirit and I think that so often we're missing little miracles in our lives every single day because we're not looking for them. But if we do what we need to do to prepare ourselves to feel his spirit and to be guided by him, we'll be taken care of. So, anyway, that's a little bit.

Speaker 3: 12:20

That brings me to today, which I'm still have a broken foot and still dealing with a lot of things, but honestly, like and I told my husband the other which I'm still have a broken foot and still dealing with a lot of things, but honestly, like and I told my husband the other day, I'm like this is the mortal experience, like this is literally what we signed up for, like I signed up to experience what this body was going to be like and what this, what it was going to life, was going to be like here on earth, and that includes broken bodies and miscarriages and stress and highs and lows and everything in between Like this is what we signed up for. And that mentality and that focus keeps me out of. Why don't I have one more baby? Why me? Why have I dealt with all this stuff? You know it's like this is what I signed up for.

Speaker 2: 13:06

So not just being spiritually prepared but physically prepared, because our bodies are temples. And it makes me sad, like when I do see people who let their physical health like go downhill, right, and you can just see it Like it's. It's sad, it's hard and sometimes you can't prevent. Sometimes physical health just happens, right. It's like you have those you can have like mental health stuff. You can have illnesses that come up to you and you're not expecting it, right, and that is so hard. And it shows how much how aligned our body is to like our emotions, like when something goes wrong, like I am a human development major and like I've gone through so much health stuff too. But when I think about it I'm like I realized how, like how everything in our body contributes to our wellbeing. If one little thing is off, if you're deficient in one thing, it can totally screw up your mental health, it can totally screw up how you feel in your day, and if you have an imbalance, that can be the reason why you have this and this and this going on right, and so it shows how intertwined and how everything just goes together and when you think about it well, so is your spiritual health. That can totally impact your perspective, your mindset, the way you feel. It can affect your emotions when you have those moments of doubt or anxiety due to your spiritual well-being, of like I don't know what's going on, I don't know who to trust, I don't know who God is in my life. Right, that is so intertwined in our it's like it's so cool to know that there's two separate things, like you know, like coming on earth. Like coming to earth we were spirits before, but that our spirits come down with us but we have those bodies Now we have bodies and that becomes intertwined and what we knew from before is still with us. And when we gain that that physical like perspective, like in our minds now because we have minds but when we gain that spiritual perspective within our physical states here, how much better your mental health can be and how much better you will see your life physically Right, and it's just so intertwined and I love that. I love how you're working and advocating for that Right and trying to teach your family how important that is.

Speaker 2: 16:00

Because if you're not keeping up on your physical health, if you're not preparing, it will affect your spiritual health and you may start losing sight of you know, because God has created everything. God created your body, god created your spirit, god created the things you eat, the things around you, the things we can work out with, and all this like everything. So why wouldn't it be right? And so it shows how important that spiritual and physical preparedness is, especially when the world's going crazy and like I don't know.

Speaker 2: 16:34

Like being physically prepared isn't also just like are like exercising all the time. It's also being like literally and physically prepared for the world. Right, we've got to have that armor spiritually, but also like being prepared, like we were talking about this before, dahlia and I, about how the world's going crazy and how it's the last days right, and how we it's good to be prepared for those things. And if we prepare ourselves and have that armor and know what is in the end, and if we try our best and how that can help us in these last days and help strengthen us, it it just shows that that is so important and so vital, like to be healthy, but also to be prepared in all things.

Speaker 3: 17:22

So I'll just no, I completely agree. I feel like not that the Lord doesn't bless people, that don't try. I don't want to. I don't want it to come across that way. But the Lord rewards effort and when we we take the time to to make an effort to to try our best, whatever that is whether it's I can only read one scripture today, or I can only walk around the block one time today, or whatever that might be Like he knows our true effort and he will meet us where we're at, and so I just think that that's so important for us to to try. It's so easy to.

Speaker 3: 18:09

I think in motherhood, like you are busy, you are tired, you are like stretched so thin and you have so many different things pulling at you, and I mean like literally you're laying in bed at night like did I start the dishwasher? Did I do the laundry? Who has this tomorrow? What time do we have to get up? But I have found and I've like kind of done experiments over the years and in different seasons, like there were seasons where I was like 5 am first, alarm, jump out of bed, hit the ground running, and then there are seasons where it's like I'm going to have to work out after the kids go to school or after school or before bed. But I found that, like when I make an effort, even if it's 10 minutes, to just put myself in a place to almost protect my peace and to be ready to receive him and to be guided by him, my days go completely different. So maybe I'm not working out and maybe I'm not doing all these things, but when I take just some sacred time for myself to get myself in the right place, my day goes different, my husband's day goes different, because we all know that the wife is the one that is in charge, like if, if mama ain't happy, nobody. You know what I mean. Like it's I control, honestly, the vibe in our home and if I am off and I and I think that that is honestly Satan's way uh, like he knows right, he knows, kind of like, where the chink in the armor is Is that what they say? Or they know where the weak spot in the chain I don't know, cut that part out, um, but you know what I mean. They know where. He knows where our weak spot is and he knows that if he can frustrate mom, if he can make her second guess her body image or feel uneasy or whatever, then, like Satan, has his in with the whole family now. Now he can easily distract, he can easily like contention, you know what I mean, like all the things. But if you have a mom and I think that's why no, I know, that's why I feel so strongly about the work that I do and just this message is because if I can help more women and more mothers feel that peace, they're not just protecting their peace, but they're protecting the peace of their family and the way that they lead their family will be very different.

Speaker 3: 20:38

And I know this because I've tried it. I've literally done like tests on how my day goes and I've like written it down. I totally pay attention to the things because I want to make sure that when I'm talking to people about this, I'm sharing what's on my heart, that people know that it's not just like Anna. But this is it's truth and it's something that I know that if us, as women and mothers, who are so powerful, if we can be on the right page, then our kids will be raised differently and our relationships with our spouses will be different and stronger and better. And I just think sometimes we as women and mothers underestimate the power that we have and we do a lot of things, but we can do a lot of things if that makes sense.

Speaker 1: 21:31

Yeah, I love that there's so much power that men have, but there's so much power that women have, and it's different powers, different strengths, and they both influence the family. So so much I think as a man, I can say this my day is typically outside the home, like if I'm off, like it doesn't affect the home, I can come and retreat. And I'm not married. I hope to get married. I'm dating someone of peace, you know that, and so I think this is very important, as you were saying. It is important for us and us men and women, to learn how to protect our peace, our peace, and for us guys, it's often a lot of times easier when we can retreat to that feeling of peace at home, with our families, with our wives, and so I love that. That's awesome. And I want to speak a little bit about preparing, and we've talked, as Michaela said, we've talked briefly about you know at the end of times, and we've talked, as Michaela said, we've talked briefly about you know at the end of times that we've talked a little bit about this. I love preparation. Oh my goodness, like if I could build a bunker tomorrow or today, like if we could finish this out, grab a shovel and build a bunker and the government doesn't come after me for not having it up to code or whatever, like I would be doing that right now. Forget this. Uh, I love preparation, but, um, where was I going with that? Oh yeah, this is.

Speaker 1: 23:26

It's just funny to me that we're talking about this because last sunday I was actually asked to speak. This was a really funny, uh, circumstance. I spoke in my girlfriend's ward even though I had never been there. They asked me to speak there, but it was great. I love to talk and, as our listeners may know, but I basically spoke about what it means to have faith and trust in the Lord and His timing, and I talked a little bit about preparation. There's a couple of verses of scripture that I shared there that I want to share now.

Speaker 1: 24:04

In Doctrine and Covenants, section 88, verse 119, it says Organize yourselves, prepare every needful thing and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. And I want to break that down a little bit and focus on a couple of things. Prepare every needful thing, like that, means more things than just what is talked about right there. There's physical things, there's temporal things. Well, that is physical, but there's just a lot of things to prepare and this could be overwhelming for a lot of people. But if you're just trying to grow and stretch yourself and, you know, do what is right for your family and for yourself, then I feel like I feel like you're going to be there and so you can. You know, stop stressing. It might just be me that's kind of stressed, but I can stop stressing. But I really want to focus on a house of faith.

Speaker 1: 25:11

Faith is an action word. Faith isn't something that's like and this I have a problem with this when people sit back and say I have faith that the Lord will save me, like, have you ever seen the comic or the drawings of someone's standing on the roof of their house? There's this huge flood and everything's full of water, and they're just kind of sitting on the roof of their house. A boat goes by. They're like, hey, jump in the boat, we'll save you. He's like no, I'm waiting for God to save me. Helicopter flies by. Hey, we'll lower our ladder and you can climb up and we'll save you. No, god will save me. That's faith Well, it's trust.

Speaker 1: 25:54

I wouldn't say that's faith.

Speaker 1: 26:01

I Well, it's trust.

Speaker 1: 26:01

I wouldn't say that's faith. I'd say that's more trust than faith, because God will step into our lives and help us in more ways than we expect. And for that particular individual, he ended up dying. And then he stands before God and says why didn't you save me? And God said I sent people to save you. And so for those who are just sitting back kicking their feet up and just saying, just relaxing, you know, uh, yolo, you only live once. Um, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die, like those types of people, it rubs me the wrong way because, like they might say these are a lot of I've heard from these types of people I have faith, I trust that God will protect me. It's like great, but what are you doing to protect yourself?

Speaker 1: 26:55

God gave you hands to work with. He gave you feet to walk. He gave you a body to move. He gave you all these things in this world to work with. Resources are at your fingertips to utilize and to build, to create. Fingertips to utilize and to build, to create, and I've said this on previous episodes those people who create. We have wonderful opportunities to have podcasters come onto this podcast, people trying to add to the world, whether it's over their Instagram pages, whatever it is, people that are creating something to add to the world. And those people, they have this light about them that no one else I've ever seen have.

Speaker 1: 27:46

People who create, they are learning to be like God, and that is part of the reason why we are asked to prepare every needful thing. When we are preparing, we are creating, and as we are creating, we're preparing to be like our Heavenly Father. And that leads me to Alma, chapter 34, verses 32 and 33. And this is what that says. It says, for, behold, this life is the time for men and women to prepare to meet God. Yea, behold, the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end, for after this day of life which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. The night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. Prepare every needful thing now, because there's not always going to be time.

Speaker 1: 29:02

We talk about the millennium. You got to make it to the millennium and you know what a wonderful time to be alive that will be, to to be in the coming of our, our savior. But there's so much disaster coming before them, and we've seen it, you know, every single day on the news. Now we see it. Um, you were just telling us about a train wreck that you had. We've had the tornadoes back east.

Speaker 1: 29:34

The world is in commotion, there is chaos around us and where the rest of the world will start to panic, we can have peace. We can protect our peace through our preparation by performing these labors now, whatever preparation that might be, whether that's moving from the city into the country, which is what I'm going to do, and building my bunker but especially that spiritual preparation. Think about the attacks that we're having on the, the spiritual side right now, the amount of craziness in the world right now. And this has been happening since well, since forever, but like it seems like there's been a general uptake since the 2000s started, and like that's when I came into this world. I'm not the cause I, but there is chaos in the world and we need to be prepared. I have a.

Speaker 1: 30:38

Okay, this is the last thing I'm going to say, and then there's a saying that I have that I've said a couple of times on here the Lord has enough sheep. Every single person who has ever lived will yet live and who lives now on the earth today. They are part of his sheep, they are his sheep. He needs shepherds to bring them into his fold, and shepherds are prepared. Shepherds are strong Shepherds, know their purpose and so I don't know. That's the last of my thoughts is the importance of preparation. I love this message that you brought, anna, and I'm so grateful for you for saying it, and I'm so grateful for the experiences that you've gone through, even if, like I, would not wish that on anyone. You went through it and God was with you. You and you have such a wonderful story to share. Thank you.

Speaker 3: 31:41

Yeah, no, I'm. I was thinking about when you were just talking. I would not also wish this, but at the same time, I am grateful for the experiences that we've had because it has allowed me to strengthen my testimony so much. I talked about my bishop in college and I'm grateful for him every single day because he pushed me really hard and there was days I'm like I'm never going to get this, I'm never going to get here, but I did and it has like helped me get through these different seasons of life and continue to grow, and that's what we're here for. Like we're not here to be perfect, we're not here when you were talking about, you know, house of Order and all these things and like. That can sound and feel so overwhelming, but if we just try a little bit every single day, our testimonies will be strengthened and we will. We'll grow in the, in the areas that he wants us to grow, and we'll be who he wants us to be and we'll do exactly what we're supposed to do on this earth.

Speaker 3: 32:53

And so I think if we switch our mindset a little to what opportunities am I going to have today?

Speaker 3: 33:02

What opportunities am I going to have to prepare me, to be stronger or to get through whatever I need to go through. Like that's kind of has been my prayer for the last couple of years Like what am I supposed to learn from this? How, how am I supposed to get through this? But also, how can I like what can I learn from this opportunity? And that's a totally like when you change your perspective and you change your mindset, you change how you go through anything. And so I think if we can be more aware and if we can help more people be more aware of their perspective and their mindset and where they're at, then they can get through the chaos and the craziness of this world, because it is loud and it is a lot if you allow yourself to go there. But there is also so much peace and so much, so much strength that comes from our heavenly father and our savior, jesus Christ. And if we come to like, lock arms with them and and commit to doing life with them, it's a it's a totally different experience.

Speaker 2: 34:11

It definitely is, and I just want to before we end. I just want to before we end. I just want to, um, say something, uh. So I was looking as you guys were talking, um, just for like a talk or something for some, for our listeners, or I want to study it afterwards, but I was just kind of briefly looking through it just about, um, spiritual preparedness and how we can find that in our lives. I know we didn't really talk much about it, about how, right, we can say all these things, but how can we be spiritually prepared? How can we be physically prepared? Well, anna, you're a great example of being physically prepared and at the end, you can share your Instagram and so people can you know, see what you do and get influenced from that.

Speaker 2: 34:55

But to be spiritually prepared, there is a talk and I'm sure there's multiple talks, but I found one by Henry B Eyring, and this was given almost 20 years ago, guys, and he was warning, telling us be spiritually prepared. 20 years ago, and I'm sure years before that, there were prophets and apostles talking about being spiritually prepared, and there are today, right, it's a constant topic and they're always telling us be prepared, be prepared. I hear all the time right. And so when you hear it a lot, then it's that sense of urgency, okay, like we got to right, and there's moments where I don't know I'm going to say what the talk is. And then a little section that I found that I thought like a quote that he said so it's called Spiritual Preparedness Start Early and Be Steady, by Henry B Eyring, and so he talks about it and how to become spiritually prepared and why it's important. And there is one little quote that I want to share from this talk. He says decisions now to exercise faith and be steady in obedience will, in time, produce great faith and assurance. That is the spiritual preparedness we all need and it will qualify us in the moments of crisis to receive the Lord's promise that if you are prepared, you shall not fear.

Speaker 2: 36:14

And when we hear about you know the last days and we hear about what will happen, what could happen, from all the crazy conspiracies and maybe some stuff that people said they've seen in the past, like I don't know, or even from what the apostles say, right, and even in Revelations it says a lot of things. And it is so easy to be fearful, it's so easy to be like, oh my gosh. Okay, we got to be prepared. We got it, but how Like? And then, like Dahlia said, making a bunker, right, that's, that can be, you know, crazy. But it's like, what do you do? How can you be prepared right, physically and spiritually? And I loved what you said, anna. You said it a while ago, but it's been a while since I've talked. But you said how, since you're a mom and your house is crazy, right sometimes, and it's hard to find those moments where you can feel peace and prepare your home and prepare yourself right.

Speaker 2: 37:09

And I was thinking and in this talk, as I was reading through it briefly, he talked about reading a book and reading the Book of Mormon how that's so important. But then I started thinking there are moments like when you need to sit down, like if you're a college student or whatever, when you need to study. How do you prepare yourself to study? Where do you go to study? Like you said, anna, you need to set aside some time to have that peace, right. How do you do that and what does that look like for you? That's the same thing of when you want to study the scriptures or feel the spirit. You can't just there will be moments where you're going to have to really really choose to find and allow the spirit to come to you, because the world is loud, sometimes our homes are loud, sometimes our minds are loud, right, how do we find those places of peace and how can we prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually every single day to allow the spirit to influence us and to guide us, to help further us, like further us, in our preparation for when the Lord will come, and for these last days?

Speaker 2: 38:21

And I always talk to my mother in law like I'm married, and so the next thing is, like you know kids, right, what's next? Like how, how? Like I always worry, like the world is so crazy. I work in the school system and I see how hard it is on these children and how much things influence them. And there's a lot of children that do struggle because of their home life and I'm like, oh my gosh, how am I going to raise a family in this world? And well, what I can do now is prepare.

Speaker 2: 38:56

Right, there's preparation in all things and, like you said, anna, you being the wife, like it, you do set the tone of your house right. And and when you're upset, like my husband, like I just had my husband. But, like, if I'm upset, he's like, oh okay, like right, it definitely affects him. But like, if I'm upset, he's like, oh, okay, it definitely affects him. So, yeah, like you can set the tone of your house too, and by preparing now if you don't have kids, or just starting trying to make a change, cause life's crazy. But how are you going to do that? How are you going to find those pieces? It may look like how Anna said, you may need to physically set a time, time aside to find that piece for yourself, to prepare yourself, to better prepare your children.

Speaker 2: 39:39

And we've been given, years ago, the family proclamation. My mother-in-law says we'll just turn to that. There are promises in there. There's promises from the apostles and prophets and from God that if we do our best, the children will be saved. They will be and they are. He loves the children. We are his children, right? And if you do your best and if you allow your home to be a refuge for them, if you allow your home to be a refuge for yourself, then the Lord and his Spirit will abide with you and that can prepare yourself physically and mentally when the world is yelling so loud and when it's going to be chaotic, right.

Speaker 2: 40:25

So I just recommend finding moments of peace and really finding moments for that peace, to sit down and talk to the Savior, to pray, to read the scriptures and allow, even if it's for 10 minutes, try every day to get those 10 minutes with God and that will slowly but surely harden your foundation and really, really allow you to be sturdy and confident and allow your home you to be sturdy and confident and allow your home.

Speaker 2: 40:57

You'll hopefully see a difference in your home if you have children, or with your spouse, or with whoever you're living with, or if it's just yourself. You, hopefully, you will see a difference when you, from when you go outside, from when you come home. So, do those things, set aside time and you will find that peace and you will. When the time comes, you will know when you're prepared. Just like what Anna said about her physically, if she probably wasn't physically prepared, she probably wouldn't be alive today. Do those things so you can be prepared when the storms come, and so, yeah, that's all I have to say. And if you want to go ahead and give your page a shout out so our listeners can look you up and see if they can get help from you yeah, awesome.

Speaker 3: 41:44

Well, thank you guys for having me. It was so fun to get to chat with you and I feel like we could go on forever about this. It's a topic we're passionate about, but I really am grateful to be able to share this message with more people. So my page on Instagram is positivelyfitlife so positively fit life. You can find me there and I hang out in my stories a lot, so come say hi if you were, if you were listening to this and this is how you found me come find me in my DM, say hi and give me a follow.

Speaker 1: 42:18

Awesome, yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure to have you on. And when you say we could talk about this for forever, like I've already got more scriptures to share and, okay, I really want to share them, share so I'm going to. But all right, in jacob, chapter four, uh, verses six and seven, okay, I'm gonna be very brief mckayla gave me an eye just kidding uh, wherefore we search the prophets and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy and, having all these witnesses, we obtain a hope and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command this in the name of Jesus. And the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea. Nevertheless, the Lord, god, showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace and his great condescensions unto the children of men that we have the power to do these things. Preparation gives us the ability to move mountains, but our weaknesses point us to our Savior. Those are the last things that I wanted to say. That, no matter what and I love what you said, anna, that there are times and seasons, sometimes we can give it our all, sometimes we can't we can have comfort in our weaknesses that our Heavenly Father is with us, that our Savior. He suffered and died for us, and I just want to finish this pointing to the Savior that he did suffer for us. He loves each and every one of us and we love our listeners. So thank you so much to our amazing listeners for following along. Thank you, anna, for joining us and, michaela, it's always a pleasure to have you on and not have me do this on my own. I am so grateful for the amazing blessings that our heavenly father has given to me and being able to meet and have you guys in my life. So thank you so much.

Speaker 1: 44:22

Our listeners, if you haven't followed us yet where you've been, give us a follow on our Instagram page. It's at remember that podcast. Michaela does an amazing job of running that numberpodcast. Michaela does an amazing job of running that. And wherever you're listening, whatever platform it is, whether it's the Buzzsprout website or Apple Podcasts, spotify we would love to have you guys give us a review, let us know how we're doing. We would love some feedback from you guys so that we can work on ourselves, work on the podcast, and we can give you guys what you want to hear. And, yeah, if you have an amazing story, reach out. We love to hear your stories, as we've been blessed with Anna's today. And, yeah, remember him, thank you.