Have you ever felt prompted to do something big, scary, or hard? That happened to me at a time when I least expected it. The idea came as I was pondering in the temple: Write a novel that can introduce young readers to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I was taken completely by surprise. Not only was I the mother of five young kids at the time, but I hadn’t attempted a creative writing project in over a decade. Why me? And how? Although I felt inadequate, the impression had come as I was making a promise to share my time and talents to further God’s work, so I took it seriously. I started by doing some research on story structuring; I brainstormed plots, themes and characters; and I started writing.

 

Eight years have lapsed since that day, and my novel is now miraculously finished. I eventually had two more kids, bringing the total to seven. I continued teaching piano lessons after school and serving in my church calling. Three years into my novel project, my husband was called as the bishop of our ward. Life was so busy. But through it all, I kept writing.

 

The Lord often asks us to do hard things during our mortal experience—things that stretch us and may even seem to defy logic. Throughout my eight-year writing journey, I learned four lessons that have helped me see how God guides his children and enables them to accomplish whatever he asks them to.

 

1. We must sometimes step into the dark. For me, writing a novel was uncharted territory, and pursuing a project of this size felt scary. What if I didn’t get it right? What if the plot was too predictable and the characters unrelatable? I wanted the story to relay the sweetness of the restored gospel, but what if it ended up sounding preachy or cheesy? Worst of all, what if I never finished?

 

I drew strength from the example of the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi when he built a ship. God called him up into a mountain and there instructed him to build a boat that would carry his family across the ocean to a new land. As hard as writing a novel was for me, building a ship while living in the wilderness would have been much harder. I wondered if Nephi ever doubted the divine origin of his assignment. And how did he feel when it came time to announce his ship-building plans to everyone else in the family? It must have been hard, scary, and exciting all at the same time.

 

Like Nephi’s commission to build a boat, writing a novel was a task I had no prior experience with. But I wanted to be obedient, so I made a start. I read several YA novels that were popular at the time. I brainstormed plot elements, themes, and what my main character might look like. Deciding what to call her was easy: I had always loved the name Emily. I wanted her to have a compelling backstory and unique personal gifts, so I made her into an aspiring artist. She also has a poignant, recurring dream about the premortal life that motivates her to break free from her family’s cycle of poverty and spiritual darkness. Of the nearly three hundred pages I wrote, those dream chapters turned out to be my favorite. The heavenly setting intrigued me, and the concept that everyone has a departure tree from which they leave into mortality felt beautifully symbolic. Although very little has been revealed about the premortal life in the scriptures, it was fun and inspiring to explore different possibilities through my fiction writing.

 

The more I brainstormed, outlined, and drafted, the more the story started coming together. It was sketchy at first, like one of Emily’s drawings. But line upon line, it came. In the beginning, I wrote because I had been given an assignment and I wanted to fulfill it. But as time went on, I stopped writing out of a sense of duty and instead pursued the project because I wanted to. I was excited to be writing a book that could make a difference in the lives of teen readers. I wanted to create a fun, compelling, and inspiring story. I wanted young people to even feel excited to share it with their non-member friends. It was this hope that moved me forward, even amid uncertainty.

 

2. God has provided us with powerful tools. God prepared a way for Nephi to build a ship: He provided ore in the rocks for tools (1 Ne 17:10) and a divine blueprint: “I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men.” (1 Ne. 18:2).

 

I found that God had prepared resources for my project as well: ideas came in the shower and on drives to the grocery store, school, and doctor’s office. They came late at night and sometimes early in the morning. I squeezed in writing time while my kids were in the child care center at my local gym (after an obligatory lap around the track, of course). My husband sent me on a one-night “writing retreat” at a local hotel so I could work without interruption. The greatest help came when my sixth child started preschool and I had five whole hours a week to dedicate to writing.

 

Prayer, fasting, and temple attendance were also powerful tools. They opened the way for inspiration and the encouragement to keep going. Every General Conference, after hearing inspiring messages from God’s prophets and apostles, I would come away with a renewed determination to stick with my project. President Nelson’s April 2021 talk about moving mountains through faith in Jesus Christ gave me a special sense of hope: “The Lord does not require perfect faith for us to have access to His perfect power. But He does ask us to believe… Through your faith, Jesus Christ will increase your ability to move the mountains in your life, even though your personal challenges may loom as large as Mount Everest.”

 

I quickly discovered that some of my best tools were living under my own roof. My oldest daughter turned out to be an amazing resource. Just nine years old when I started the project, she is now seventeen—nearly the age of my protagonist. Discussing Emily’s story with her and implementing her ideas and feedback was so rewarding. My husband and other family members also read and gave suggestions, and I was even able to connect with several other budding authors who offered helpful advice. Once an initial draft was complete, I was gifted yet another powerful tool: my super-editor-sister-in-law. She saw holes in the plot that I had missed and suggested changes and additions that made the story sparkle.

 

Just as my ship was nearing completion, I felt prompted to start another, smaller project: a YouTube channel to help me build an online presence for sharing my novel. Starting my channel Choose Joy (@ChooseJoy999) was a journey in and of itself. I had to learn new skills and step outside my comfort zone as I conducted street interviews asking people what brings them joy. Again, God was good. He provided me with a new friend who was happy to serve as my co-interviewer. He also gave me a spectacular video editor—my tech-savvy brother—who offered to edit and produce all of my videos free of charge.

 

These were all forms of help I had never expected, but which I desperately needed. The Lord truly did provide tools and prepare a way!

 

3. God lets us take breaks. My biggest moment of frustration came about four years into my writing project. My husband was a new bishop, so I was on solo parent duty for most of the day after church. It was a Sunday night, and the kids were finally in bed. We were sitting together at the kitchen counter, and I let it all out.

 

“I keep thinking I can get some writing time on Sundays—even just thirty minutes! But Sunday after Sunday I just can’t. I’ve been working at this for four years now. That’s a long time. But I’m still not anywhere close to being finished with my book. I just can’t do this.”

 

I let my forehead fall onto the counter, wrapped my arms around my head, and cried. That book had been on my mind and my to-do list Every. Single. Day. I had tried waking up early to write. I had tried staying up late. But none of it seem to be enough. Why couldn’t I make consistent progress?

 

My husband listened. He gave me a hug. He urged me to take a break and work on smaller projects for a little while. So I did, and it helped. Three months and one short story later, I felt refreshed and ready to jump back on the novel bandwagon.

 

I find it interesting that after their arduous 8-year journey through the wilderness, Nephi’s people were led to the beautiful and bountiful seashore and allowed to rest there “for the space of many days.” It was only after this period of rest that the Lord asked Nephi to start building a ship. God wants us to do his work “in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength” (Mosiah 4:27).

 

4. Ship-building is for everyone. Since that poignant day in the temple eight years ago, I have heard stories about others feeling called to do what seemed hard or even impossible: A friend who felt inspired to go back to school for a master’s degree while raising her large family; a woman who was terrified to marry her longtime boyfriend, but she felt God urging her to do it; A family member who knew she needed to step into the world of conducting and children’s choirs even though she didn’t feel qualified.

 

God doesn’t just call Book of Mormon prophets or general authorities to do big, hard things. He wants all of his children to be ship builders. He wants us to receive inspiration and act on it in faith. Henry B. Eyring put us in the same sphere as the prophets when he said, “Your experience can possibly be similar [to Joseph Smith's]. You have questions for which you seek answers… you can ask your loving Father in prayer. I know from experience that answers will come to fit your needs and your spiritual preparation” (“The Faith to Ask and Then to Act” Oct. 2021).

 

Sometimes we will be asked to build small ten-foot skiffs, sometimes full-on arks. Over the course of my project, I learned how to trust in God and keep trying. I discovered that when I made mistakes, he met me with grace. When I needed help, he provided me with tools. I love this quote by President Nelson: "Faith always increases our access to godly power… Faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest power available to us in this life. All things are possible to them that believe” (“Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mountains” April 2021).

 

I can’t describe my feelings of elation when Emily’s Tree released on Amazon in February. It was like a dream come true. Readers have shared so much positive feedback, and many now want to gift Emily’s Tree to a daughter, granddaughter, or non-member friend. My favorite moment came a couple of weeks after release day, when a friend reported seeing a group of teen girls at my church discussing Emily’s Tree together. Another highlight was when a much older friend shared that he had steered away from LDS fiction his entire life, but this book drew him in and even brought him to tears. He found it engaging, relatable, and uplifting. My book was being read by people, and it was making a difference!

 

Regardless of what kind of ship we are asked to build, the end project is really ourselves. As we trust in God and answer his call to act, he will provide us with the tools and the rest needed to accomplish his purposes. We will then know that he is making faithful disciples out of us—disciples who can recognize his voice and trust him enough to move forward with faith.