i'm a salmon.

last weekend i had the opportunity to go to a local salmon hatchery.

i know... it sounds really exciting {note my sarcasm}.

the thing is...

it was actually very cool.

when you first arrive, you walk over a small bridge where you can see countless salmon.

these salmon are returning to where they were born.

 after a lifetime of making their way to the icy oceans

 {from this exact hatchery} 

and growing into mature fish,

these salmon return to their birthplace, to reproduce, which will end their life cycle.

 the hundreds of salmon we watched from the bridge were attempting to jump upstream 

passed a man-made fish barrier.

after repeated jumps, these salmon try the alternative underwater flow 

which leads to the fish ladders and ultimately, holding ponds.

the ladders at the hatchery are surrounded by glass walls.

this is to allow observers to watch as the fish use every last ounce of energy they have

 to make it to the holding ponds.

many of the fish die in this process, if not before.

many of the fish in the ladders are clearly bruised, beaten, and sickly.

so, i know you are now wondering why the heck i am writing about salmon.
i promise there is a correlation.

the thing is, after watching these salmon try to make their way back home,
i realized something strange...

we, as christians, are just like the salmon in a sense.
weird analogy, i know, but hear me out...

in the LDS church, we believe that we came to earth from a pre-mortal existence.
we lived with our father in heaven and chose to come to earth.
we are blessed with a body at birth
and are given free agency to make our own choices as we learn and grow.

just like the salmon who leave the hatchery to mature and grow,
and then do everything in their power to return to the hatchery...
we come to earth in order to gain experiences,
 to make choices {hopefully good ones},
to learn,
to develop and to progress into the best people we can,
all so that we can return to heaven again.

so, what are we, 

if not like the salmon...

spending our entire lives trying to build ourselves up.

trying to reach a 'higher ground' {or ladders in the salmon's case...}

trying to be better people.
trying to get home.

{my cute family on the bridge} 

{my sister-in-law and niece looking over the bridge at the salmon} 

{niece and nephew} 

{salmon watching}

{my beautiful niece} 

{grandpa loves his grandkids!}

{i spy a salmon!}

{baby c obviously had a great time too!}