I believe we can find happiness in our lives and overcome pain, regardless of the trials in our lives.

Some of my earliest memories as a child are of being beaten by my father and later scrounging for food while he was passed out drunk. I had what some would call a rough childhood. I have had friends that had worse, so I’m grateful not to have endured more. During that time, I shared my troubles with a younger brother. My mother stood by the abuse and later left us, after my parents divorced. We were later placed into foster care when my school became aware of the level of abuse and neglect that we had endured.

At first things didn’t get any better for us, and we endured several setbacks along the way. We went through two short-term shelter homes, and one uncle before we were placed in a long-term foster home. While in that home, I encountered something that helped me change my life. The family were less active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints who decided to start going to church again while we lived there.

While attending church, I made an important discovery. I learned that I had a Heavenly Father that loved me and wanted me to be happy. Until this point in my life, I hadn’t experienced much happiness. I realized that if I looked for happiness in my life, Heavenly Father would help me find it. This has been a guiding light in my life since that time.

After that foster home, I had the misfortune to be cycled through several other foster homes. Some of the families were members of the church and some were not. Some of them showed me genuine love and others looked at me as a paycheck. All during those continuing trials, the memory of a loving Heavenly Father helped me to know that I could find love and joy.

Part of that happiness came from me and my outlook on life. While my circumstances didn’t change greatly in the different homes, my outlook did. I found that if I had a positive outlook on things, I would be happier, and it would later lead to my circumstances changing for the better. Happiness is not something just given to you. It’s something you have to find for yourself in all that is around you.

I am now a husband and a father. I am not a rich man by any means, but I have worked hard and I have a home. My family is a great source of joy in my life. I am amazed at the greater amount of love and happiness I have felt after becoming a father. I am grateful my Heavenly Father sent me to a home where I would find the Gospel. None of this would have been possible if I hadn’t decided to look for that happiness that I know my Heavenly Father wanted to bless me with.