My Experaince with Lent

As you all may know, I am not Catholic. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but as I have learned about this holiday of Lent, I decided I wanted to participate in it. This is going to be my 40-day diary talking about my experience. For those of you who do not know, Lent is a 40-day fast from anything of your choice. During this time, you are supposed to turn towards Christ and spend more time with Him. For this reason, I have choosen 2 diffrent fast, 1 from sugar (I will eat sugar on dates, but not at other times), and one from social media and books that are not Christ-centered or educational. Now you don’t have to do 2, but I choose to do 2 since I go off sugar almost every spring anyway, and wanted to make it a little more of a challenge for me.

I don’t know how this experience will go, but I do know that Christ fasted for 40 days and miracles occurred, so I can fast for 40 days to show my love for Him. Here we go.

Day 1: I found this beautiful Poem. I don’t know where it came from, but here it is.

In the Bible, it rained for 40 days and 40 nights.

Day 41 came, and the rain stopped.

Moses committed murder and hid in the desert for 40 years.

Year 41 came, and God called him to help rescue Israel.

Moses went up on the mountain for 40 days.

On day 41, he received the Ten Commandments.

The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

Year 41, they walked into the promised land.

Goliath taunted Israel for 40 days.

Day 41 came, and David slew him.

Jonah preached a message of repentance to Nineveh for 40 days.

On day 41, God stopped His plan to destroy them.

Jesus fasted and was tempted for 40 days.

Day 41, and the devil fled.

After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples for 40 days.

On day 41, He ascended into Heaven.

We are all waiting for our 41st day, and it will look diffrent to all of us. I don’t know what day 41 of this experience will be. I don’t know how I will grow or what I will learn, but I do know that by day 41, I will have been changed. I will be closer to My Savior and Father in Heaven.

Day 3: This is sort of Day 2 and 3, but today the Lord is inviting me to step outside of my comfort zone. To open myself up to being vulnerable and to new opportunities with people. The thing is, I struggle with the uncertainty that others’ agency brings and how it could potentially hurt me. Here is the thing: it could also end in the best way possible.

Day 6: Let’s be proved. This is a new hyperfixation of mine that seems to be very fitting for this time. Lent is all about giving something up to draw nearer to Christ. Quite often, when I think of the word “proved,” I think of the Lord talking to us about tithing in Malici 3:10 “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, n.d.). I understand that this is talking about tithing, but I also recognize that this can be applied to lots of situations in life.

That being said, just like the Lord has said, “Prove me.” He will prove us and test us to help us be strengthened. I believe that this is something that I am going to experience during Lent. I am going to miss my books. My friends are sending me things on social media that I know I’m missing. That being said everytime I have turned to my scriptures or something that will help me gain knowledge, I have felt myself being strengthened. I am excited about how I will continue to be strengthened as time goes on.

Day 9

This is how I have felt during Lent. Having so much time to focus on Christ and let go of all other distractions has changed so much. My anxiety has been greatly reduced, and I have been filled with hope, faith, and trust. I am more in tune with the spirit. I have found peace and joy that can only come from Christ, and it is with me continually.

Before I could find this peace anytime I sought it, but to just have it with me 24/7 reminds me of my mission. Or at least the way the spirit was with me on my mission. Do I have 2 hours or more of study everyday no, but my focus can still be more on the Savior even with all the distractions.

Day 38: Lent has been great, but it did get harder over the last week. I started to struggle with keeping my goals and not doing what I want. I really wanted to read what I want, and I have wanted to get on social media. Not for social media but for the Facebook Marketplace. The temptations to break have been getting worse, and I have slipped a few times when it comes to sugar. I was only going to eat sugar on special occasions, and that has not been happening. Well, at least not over the past week, I most definitely ate sugar.

The good part of this is I can always start over.

Lent is over. As we all know, but this is something that I plan on practicing more within the coming years. It truly brought me closer to my Savior, it brought peace, and helped me refocus on my life on Him. It wasn’t always easy, but the peace that came from doing it was worth every second. I loved this, and I would invite all of you to try it.

Refrence

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (n.d.). Malachi 3:10. In The Scriptures. Retrieved February 23, 2026, from https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/ot/mal/3?lang=eng&id=p10#p10