Jesus Christ

Sisters,

What a great fast Sunday we had today.  I was touched by testimony and the teachings of the Savior.  It put me in such a great restful mood for my Sunday nap! Hahaha

Today we had an awesome lesson by our darling Michelle Hansen on The Life of the Savior.  It is always so hard to fit so much into such little time and she did it so well. Some of the highlights that we talked about today

· ·         Jesus is the ONLY on earth to be born of a mortal Mother and an immortal Father. This is why he is called The Only Begotten Son. From His Father he inherited divine powers and from His Mother he inherited mortality and was subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain and death.

·         NO ONE could take the Savior’s life from Him unless HE willed it.  He had power to lay it down and power to take up His body again after dying.

·         Jesus taught people much older than them truths and they were astonished at his teachings for he was only a child of 12yrs of age.  When Mary and Joseph questioned him he answered, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business” (Luke 2:48-49)

·         If we love God, we will trust and obey Him, as Jesus did.  If we love others, we will help them meet their physical and spiritual needs. Jesus spent his life in the service of others.

As I have mentioned before I love that this year is about going back to the basics.  I think it is so important to remember the simple truths of the gospel so that when we are called upon by naysayers we can answer with our testimonies in such a way that they too will be astonished. 

I served my mission in Columbus Ohio.  It is as close to a bible belt as I have ever experienced in my lifetime. 

I was there during the whole process of the temple being built .  Because of the temple coming to Ohio there was A LOT of opposition.  The thing that interested me about the opposition was that many claimed we didn’t believe in the very person our church was named after.  On numerous occasions we were given media referrals (when someone orders the Lamb Of God off a commercial) to which when we arrived to deliver the video we were verbally abused and attacked by an Anti Mormon (who ordered it just to bash with us) on the other side of the door.

One given day we had a referral that we were coming to deliver and were welcomed into the house of what seemed to be a very nice couple’s home.  They opened their door to us and welcomed us in.  Of course as missionaries we were thrilled about this kind of reception.  I was training a new missionary and thought this is a great opportunity to let her take the lead.  I gave her the look and she pulled the video out of her bag and asked them if they had time in which we could watch the video together.  At this time the seemingly kind couple snapped into action and informed us of how wrong we were, how we worshiped Joseph Smith and we weren’t Christian.  They identified themselves as Pastor of the local congregation and wanted to know how we felt good about ourselves to go around LYING to everyone each day.  I could feel the spirit of contention mounting and my companion started to cry.  I rose to my feet and started to excuse ourselves from the home, knowing that no teaching could be done in that kind of hostile environment.

As we approached the patio stairs to leave I had a distinct impression that I needed to ask them if we could leave them with a song.  I walked down another stair and it came to me again.  I was so shocked by this impression cause it was never something I had done before in all 14 months of my mission thus far.    I forced the words out of my mouth and said, “Pastor before we leave could we please leave you with a song?”  He was shocked by my question and said something along the lines like “okay?!”

I looked at my companion and the shocked look in her eyes and opened my mouth and began…

I believe in Christ; he is my King!
With all my heart to him I’ll sing;
I’ll raise my voice in praise and joy,
In grand amens my tongue employ.
I believe in Christ; he is God’s Son.
On earth to dwell his soul did come.
He healed the sick; the dead he raised.
Good works were his; his name be praised.

My companion Sister Miller joined me for the rest of the song.

 I believe in Christ; oh blessed name!
As Mary’s Son he came to reign
’Mid mortal men, his earthly kin,
To save them from the woes of sin.
I believe in Christ, who marked the path,
Who did gain all his Father hath,
Who said to men: “Come, follow me,
That ye, my friends, with God may be.”

I believe in Christ—my Lord, my God!
My feet he plants on gospel sod.
I’ll worship him with all my might;
He is the source of truth and light.
I believe in Christ; he ransoms me.
From Satan’s grasp he sets me free,
And I shall live with joy and love
In his eternal courts above.

I believe in Christ; he stands supreme!
From him I’ll gain my fondest dream;
And while I strive through grief and pain,
His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”
I believe in Christ; so come what may,
With him I’ll stand in that great day
When on this earth he comes again
To rule among the sons of men.

At the conclusion of the song both my companion and I, Pastor and his wife had tears rolling down our faces. The Pastor than asked if we would pray with them and he offered it.  In that prayer I don’t remember every word but I do remember him thanking God that we corrected his impression of us and that we really were who we claimed to be as his representatives and blessed us to have success at proclaiming his word.

I wish I could report that we ever saw him again, or that he wanted to learn more about what he felt that day, but I can’t.  What I can report is that I knew that HE KNEW that WE BELIEVED in Christ and his ministry and that WE BELIEVED that His loved conquered any bad feelings or contentions that were felt that day.  And regardless of our different denominations and backgrounds we were both able to worship through song together.

Sisters, the love of the Lord does conquer any challenge, any task, any obstacles that we may be facing.  It can be the VERY THING that heals wounds that have been created in family relationships, mends the broken hearts that are caused through sin, and even understand depths of sorrow that no other person in our lives can comprehend. I know that when we turn to the scriptures, the temple, prayer and fasting that WE WILL FIND HIM THERE to comfort and guide us.

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

–John 4:14-