Good morning brothers and sisters,
I have been called to serve in the Guatemala, Guatemala City South Mission. I leave September 17th for the Guatemala MTC and will be speaking spanish.
The road leading up to this was not as I had planned it to be and I think about it quite a bit and find myself questioning timing and why did this happen and why other things didn't happen. Last night my dad said something that really caught my attention. He said, "life may not go how we think it should go, but we need faith that everything will work out how it should. We need to trust in Heavenly Father and in His plan and know that no matter what, He'll never let us down." He went on to say how grateful he is for the Savior and His role and sacrifice that makes the whole plan of Salvation possible.
Joseph Fielding McConkie gives an account of Bruce R. McConkie's last testimony while in his probationary state. He says, "Heaven does not send forth the Spirit to sustain weak doctrines. It is the power of the doctrine that attracts the power of the Spirit. Christ, Elder McConkie declared, died to preserve the truth. 'All of the terms and conditions of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation became operative,' he testified, 'in and through Christ’s atoning sacrifice.' Because He died, we have a plan of salvation! Because He died, our righteous deeds will rise with us in the Resurrection. Because He died, we, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel, may lay claim to a fulness of all that the Father has. With great emotion, Elder McConkie spoke of the “three gardens of God—the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden of the Empty Tomb.” He taught us that Eden was 'a paradisiacal state,' one in which there could be no death, no procreation, and no probationary experiences. It was from such a state, he explained, that Adam and Eve stepped down to become the 'first mortal flesh on earth.'. 'Thus, Creation is father to the Fall; and by the Fall came mortality and death; and by Christ came immortality and eternal life. If there had been no fall of Adam, by which cometh death, there could have been no atonement of Christ by which cometh life,' he declared. With trembling in his voice, he concluded, 'And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God—I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way'."
I love this testimony of the Savior and the plan of Salvation. As I was preparing for this talk, I asked several of my close friends and family members to write me a note on their feelings towards the plan of salvation. It was amazing to read all of these different testimonies. Some spoke of hope, infinite worth, love, peace, eternal families. One of the letters I received was from my cousin who is serving a mission in Kanas, and he wrote about when his little baby sister passed away and how he felt hatred and bitterness and anger and then when he looked at his parents and he saw them in a state of peace and comfort because they knew where she was and he talked about how he needed that peace in his own life and that he needed to know for himself. So he knelt down one night and he began to pray and ask Heavenly Father if it was all true and real and he said that he can testify to me and all of you that it is true. I remember I was at her funeral and I was crying and the pianist started playing, Families Can Be Together Forever, and I remember I was encompassed by the spirit and it confirmed that truth to me. I love all the different stories and examples that were in all the letters, they were all so different, but one thing they all have in common was that each and every one of the letters testifies of Christ and His atoning sacrifice.
I cannot put into words my feelings for the Savior, I've tried, but no words can explain the feelings I have when I think about Christ and His atonement. I love my Savior. I know He lives. He lives. There is no denying it. The atonement is my favorite subject to study. It is so difficult for me to comprehend. But the feelings I have when I am reading about Christ suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane and upon The Cross, are undeniably the Holy Spirit testifying of that those moments really took place. Who would do that? Who would be judged at an imperfect trial, so that I, a sinner, could have a second chance and a third chance and as many chances as I need? What kind of love must that be. I can testify to you, that Christ was killed upon the cross, because He loves us. I loved the hymn we sang in preparation for the sacrament, it was hymn #188 and verse one really stood out to me it goes like this,
"When in the wondrous realms above
Our Savior had been called upon
To save our world of sin by love,
He said, “Thy will, O Lord, be done.”
Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done"
He didn't go through all He did because He wanted glory, He didn't do it because He was commanded. He volunteered to suffer for our sins and give us a way to return to our true home, because He loves us.
I would like to add the testimony of Tad R. Callister. Brother Callister says, "One does not speak lightly of the Atonement or casually express him appreciation. It is the most sacred and sublime event in eternity. It deserves our most intense thoughts, our most profound feelings, and our noblest deeds. One speaks of it in reverential tones; one contemplates it in awe; one learns of it in solemnity. This event stands alone, now and throughout eternity. As Ammon recounted his success with the Lamanites, he gloried in The Lord, and then, in humble recognition of his inability to articulate it all, he declared, 'I cannot say the smallest part which I feel' (Alma 26:16). In like manner, the passions of my own heart extend far beyond my venal reservoirs. I feel as did Elder Marion G. Romney, who said, 'Contemplation of the Atonement . . . Moves me to most intense gratitude and appreciation if which my soul is capable.' Even then I am left sorely wanting. I have been trained by career to be a skeptic; it is inherent in the legal experience. But when it comes to the Savior, I am like a little child. I believe every written and spoken word of which he is the author. I accept every miracle "as is." I believe in every aspect of his divinity and rejoice in every drop of his mercy. I thank him again and again for his atoning sacrifice, but it is never enough--nor will it ever be. His redeeming act shall be remembered and savored "forever and ever" (D&C 133:52). I am overwhelmed, even humbled and 'amazed at the love Jesus offers me.' I feel as did Nephi, who joyfully confessed, 'my heart doth magnify his holy name" (2 Nephi 25:13). . . . I can truthfully testify that he lives. I now add my testimony to the many who have preceded me that his sacrifice was indeed an infinite and eternal Atonement."
As I've been working on my spanish, Sister Zelaya has been helping me learn to bear my testimony in spanish and I have it memorized and even though I don't understand much of what I'm saying. I can feel that it is truth. There is however a phrase that I do understand and is the most important phrase that I will ever say and that is, "yo se que JesuChristo vive." And that means, I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know it with my whole heart and I am excited to be able to tell the people of Guatemala that He truly lives and loves each and everyone of us and it is though Him that families can be together forever and death is not the end. As President Ucthdorf said, "there are no endings. Only everlasting beginnings." And I know that those everlasting beginnings were only made possible through our Savior and the Plan of Salvation. I know it is truly the Plan of Happiness and it is the only way we can be truly happy in this life. I love our Savior. I love this gospel. I know it is true with my whole heart.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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