Lessons Learned

As some of you may know- I did end up pulling a prank on April Fool's day. It was a last minute decision on Wednesday before I drove home to Murray. Rylee had the idea that since I was going to be gone, we should pretend something happened to me. The snowy weather set up a perfect plan for us- that I crashed on the way home and was in the hospital. Little did I know I would later come to deeply regret this plan.

I actually had forgotten about the plan the next day because of the business of getting things packed in the car and on our way to Lake Powell. It wasn't until later in the day- after my sister Chantell pulled a prank on my whole family (She had Tiffany's old pregnancy test and came into the room asking what two lines meant. It was HILARIOUS only because a certain husband of hers isn't set on having kids just yet and the look on his face was priceless. He was pissed!)- that I remembered about it so I texted Rylee. She said that not too many people were responding to it but that she only posted it an hour before so it still needed time. I then expected to start getting texts or phone calls from people and just waited. Well a couple hours passed and the only texts I was getting was from Rylee telling me that a couple more people were asking what happened. It was enough to make me laugh but I was still a little shocked that no one had texted me to ask if I was ok. I later concluded that it was probably because most people weren't sure whether to believe it or not which makes sense. And then finally one person did ask me if I was ok and although who it was caught me off guard it also made me come to my senses that it isn't a good prank to pull on people because it really is a scary thing. So even though Rylee told me not to text back, the guilt started getting to me and I had to tell him the truth and end it.

The rest of that night I still felt a little guilty about the prank. I really thought about how it might feel to read about someone in the hospital and worry for their life. Now I know it was April Fool's day so most people probably figured it was a prank- but still just the thought of it wouldn't be good. I just tried not to think about it and that seemed to work until two days later..

It was Saturday morning and I was lying on my bed on the floor just being lazy when I heard my mom answer her phone and a couple seconds later say "you got in an accident?! Tiff's car is totaled?!"

My dad, brother, niece, and nephew were hit by a semi on their way to join us in Lake Powell. It was snowing so the roads were wet and slushy and the traction was lost. My dad couldn't gain back control of the car. They started to spin and ended up spinning into the other lanes where a semi was coming right at them. It is a miracle they all survived with nothing more than a possible broken rib and a hurt knee.

Now I experienced first hand what it felt like to hear about someone being in an accident. It is NOT a joking manner. It made me feel sick- both in knowing I could've just lost part of my family and that I had joked about this exact thing two days before.

Now I titled this post "Lessons Learned" because I learned many lessons this week. Not only did I learn to not prank about life threatening situations but I learned that God really watches over us and protects us. There should have been a lot more damage to the car and my family, but I know without a doubt that God was with them and protected them.

I learned to never let a day go by without telling my family that I love them because I'll never know if it'll be the last time I see them (at least on this earth). I know that's a depressing thought, but it's true. I could've lost 4 family members last week and when was the last time I told them I loved them? Besides after the accident- I don't know.

One last thing I learned is to live life to it's fullest and have no regrets. It may be that I'm the one that could die unexpectedly and I don't want to look back on my life and regret anything. It is for that very reason why we are told to be prepared. Don't think you have tomorrow to start reading your scriptures, start praying, or just in general become a better righteous person because what if you aren't here tomorrow? We need to live our lives so that at any moment if we die we won't be worried about if we were righteous enough.

(Soon to come: the happier outlook on my weekend in Lake Powell along with some pictures- once I get them from Chantell..)