Happy Easter!

Apr. 15th, 2017

Happy Easter to All!!! 

It’s a truly beautiful time of year and reason for celebration. I love learning about the Savior’s last week of life, because I feel it is so telling of his character and what it means for us. And with Easter being tomorrow, I thought that I would take some of the new things that I’ve found and apply them to my thought process as I take the sacrament and think about the meaning behind the holiday. 

First off, I learned something really cool in my Book of Mormon class that just kind of blew me away. In 3 Ne. Chapter 18, Christ institutes the sacrament among the Nephites after his resurrection. As He blesses the bread, he asks them to partake of it in remembrance of His body - which he “has shown unto you.” As He blesses the wine, he asks them to partake in “remembrance of [his] blood, which [he] shed for you.” Now, why might these phrasings and wordings be important? 

For starters, let me start with my original viewpoint of the sacrament - I tended to focus more on Christ dying for me. He gave up His body, he was whipped and bled from every pore in the Garden of Gethsemane, and the symbolism behind those things in His life is what I tended to focus on. However, when you look at how Christ administers the sacrament to the Nephites, the meaning behind the words takes on a bit of a different meaning. Christ shows His resurrected body to the Nephites. That isn’t the body of His crucifixion, but rather a resurrected, glorified version of himself. This was revolutionary to me - it is an aspect of the atonement that we all get to have hope in; our own resurrected bodies. This is one things that Christ did for us. It is a lot more joyful to remember what he did. Again, as he talks about the blood he has shed, we remember that resurrected bodies don’t have blood - another wonderful aspect of the happy and joyful nature of the Atonement. I had never thought about the meaning that the sacrament could have, and it’s something that I definitely want to implement as I take it every week. As I’m repenting of my sins, I can recall what was overcome for me instead of the suffering involved. And in all honesty, I think the gospel works much better this way. It fits with the happy and joyful nature behind everything that Heavenly Father is about, and the love that is behind everything that happens. I love the gospel! Remember that this lovely Easter Sunday. 

Becoming like a Little Child

Apr. 8th, 2017

“Growing up is not the problem. Forgetting is.”

One of my all-time favorite children’s books is “The Little Prince,” and in all honesty, I couldn’t tell you quite why. I know that I find the words themselves beautiful, and there’s just so many ideas that are so complex yet so succinct in only the way a child would truly be able to understand. So when I saw that there was an animated adaptation on Netflix, I popped in my earbuds, grabbed my sketchbook, and set to watching it – and they summed up the ideas behind the story in those two little sentences!

If you’re around me often enough, then you may have heard my life goals include never growing up. Not that I have a severe case of “Peter Pan Syndrome,” but what I mean is that things meant for children are so beautiful and fun and wonderful – and I do truly mean wonder-full. It’s why I want to be an illustrator, and why I love the little things – kids are difficult little guys at times, sure, but every time some new wonder comes their way it’s as if it was for the first time again. They are innocent and when they discover the world around them, it is marvelous.

But we do tend to grow up on occasion. We forget to notice the new buds on the trees, we rely heavily on our own abilities, and drown out the world around us because working hard is the only way to make something of yourself in the world. That doesn’t mean, though, that growing up is a bad thing. It’s inevitable, and in this life, we must learn and grow so that we can develop a sound relationship with our Heavenly Father. We therefore must distinguish the difference between literally growing up and figuratively doing so.  We can’t avoid the literal part, but as for the figurative part, it is something we must try to do. We can’t forget what it was like to be a child.

There are several scriptures where the Savior uses the imagery and implications of becoming a little child. Luke 18:17 says, “Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in nowise enter therein.” Matthew 18:4 states, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as a little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Several times, in the Savior’s visitation to the Nephites, he asks them to “become as a little child,” which is what I really want to focus on.

Often we talk about how children are teachable and humble because they take their parents’ word as gospel, but what about receiving the kingdom of God? I think, based on that description, there is more to it than just being humble. It is being innocent. I don’t think that the children understood the magnitude of the Savior blessing them one by one, but I do think they thought it was a marvelous experience. This is similar to us, being the children of God, not really understanding everything about the kingdom. But was is in store is marvelous and wonderful, and we can’t forget that. It will be beyond our comprehension, but it will be something that gives us peace and happiness and sheer amazement. And we get a crack at trying that out here on earth with the bits of the gospel that we have been given to understand. Do I often marvel at the power of prayer, and what it entails? Do I wonder at the power behind the atonement? Do I stop and pause to look at the simple elements of repentance? Often, I forget. And forgetting is truly a problem. I hope, as I am made aware of this new element to becoming as a child, that I can slow down not just to appreciate budding flowers, but to marvel at everything Heavenly Father’s gospel has given me. 

The Intimate Atonement

Apr. 1^st, 2017

I thought about saying that I forgot to write a blog post this week, but I’ve always been bad at April Fools’ Day pranks!

This lovely weekend, I’m sure you all know, leaves us in the middle of general conference. It always amazes me how the spirit helps these speakers have the right words to say for all that listen. In correlation with what we learned this in class this week, I want to echo what Brother Griffin talked about as we learned of the Savior’s coming to the Americas – the Savior’s atonement was not only infinite, but intimate as well.

We talk all the time of how the Savior suffered for all of mankind, how he “took upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy” (Alma 7:11). We often talk of everything He did for everyone, but what is everything that He did for you? One by one He showed the Nephites that he died for each of them. He showed them how much He loved and cared for them on such an individual level. I think in a way similar how we each get to hear individual messages specifically for us at general conference.

But how do we remember that what he did for each of us was so individual?

I don’t know if we’ll ever truly understand exactly what happened, but I’ve been thinking about how we might be able to internalize that relationship, and I think in addition to study and meaningful prayer, we can remember the atonement by being kind to our fellow men and following the example of the Savior. I think this can help us remember the individual struggles each one of us goes through, and how we can all overcome by being lovely and helping each other. This concept kind of came to me when I saw my mom help someone out earlier this week – we were in a restaurant, and my back was to the entrance of the store, but she saw someone in a mobile chair struggling to open the door and she ran without a second thought. Simple, but individual for that person’s needs. I remembered that example a couple days later when I saw a young mom with a stroller, a baby, and a toddler trying to wrestle her 2 year old off the elevator – I got to help her out. Those are the little things that make a difference to everyone – when we are the Savior’s hands, we have the opportunity to help fulfill his mission while becoming Christlike in the process.