“Coming into the Light”
‘He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened…” (Mosiah 16:9)
My Parable- “Coming into the Light”
Our trip home from Andorra turned out to be quite an interesting journey. After spending a tender, grieving weekend with Omar and his family following the loss of young Omarcito, we faced a difficult drive home. (See Omar David Villarroel Cova 2014-2026 )
We saw on our phones that the journey was blocked by hours of traffic to return home. We decided to take the longer road but with less travel time. It was to go out through East Andorra/French border. Also looking at the weather app, we were trying to get ahead of the freezing rain and snow that would start in a couple of hours.
It is hard for me to describe the journey home, but felt like a parable in imagery. As you read the steps of this story, consider how they mirror our trials and our efforts to follow the Savior into the light. (connected with the pictures above)
“Coming into the Light”
Choosing the path
We began our drive with a prayer, asking for guidance on which route to take. The impression we received was that either way would be fine. Seeing that the French route promised less traffic and a slightly shorter arrival time, we set off into the overcast mountains.
Entering the Storm
In the over cast of Andorra we started our journey. We first went through the small villages which we are familiar with. What we hadn’t realized was that we were climbing higher in altitude. The promised freezing rain and snow began earlier than anticipated and we realized we were driving into the storm. We started seeing snow from previous storms piled high on the side of the road. We faithfully followed our map through the winding mountain roads and snow. As a "California girl" driving a small IONIQ, I’ll admit I was nervous seeing snow begin to stick to the winding mountain roads! We wondered if we had made the right choice, yet we felt a quiet, steady assurance that we would be okay.
The Price of Safety
After crossing the French border, we faced a choice: take the mountain pass or pay tolls for tunnels. Most cars seemed to head toward the pass. We decided to pay the tolls for the tunnels and shorter route. Then we wondered if we were misinterpreting the french signs. Were they were saying that the tunnel is closed? We pressed forward trusting our map and found refuge from the storm in the 3k tunnel that helped us skip the pass. All the tolls probably cost us about €50. A small price to pay for safety
Light in the Valley
When we emerged from the tunnel, the heavy snow had significantly decreased on the ground and in the air, leaving only light flurries. Winding through the scenic villages below, the landscape showed almost no trace of the immense snow we had just left on the other side of the tunnel. We were going slow, this time due to the speed limit. As we drove up over a ridge we saw this incredible scene of golden light flooding a long skinny valley through the clouds. It was beautiful. A camera could never capture the full scene. We marveled at how the sun, though setting, managed to find that one opening in the clouds to light up the valley out in front of us. We wondered if every sunset in winter was like this for these people.
As we continued to drive to the other side of the valley the sun continued to set. Now crossing the valley we could not believer the beauty we were seeing. We tried to capture it with the phone, but it can not show the grandeur of what we were seeing. It was beautiful to behold.
We wished we could continue to watch the beautiful scene, but we were not home yet.
Into the Dark
The beauty was eventually replaced by darkness and heavy traffic. We spent the final hours crawling through the Pyrenees, Now we practiced being patient with all the slow downs and additional tolls. Though the trip took more than double the time we expected—we were so happy to get home safe and sound and to have enjoyed the beautiful journey. We arrived home - safe and sound. The house was warm and felt so good to be here. We had missed a devotional with our Young Adults, but just in time to see President Heckman on the screen for our mission call training on a “40-day fast”.
Reflection
Life is a journey - sometimes hard and scary, other times breathtakingly beautiful and joyful. If we press forward with faith and hope in our Savior Jesus Christ, we can find "joy in the journey" and eventually arrive home to our Heavenly Father, our Savior, and our loved ones.
This is an unaltered photo from an IPhone through a window while driving. The scene was actually better than this! The drive home was a wonderful tender mercy of coming out of hard times and into the light.
