Bishop asked me to speak of my personal reflections of the Savior. To be quite honest this has not been an easy topic for me. Speaking about my feelings is not a skill I’ve learned well over the years. So this week has been quite the struggle for me to put into words my thoughts of the Savior and how He has affected my life.
I’ve also never before worried about not having mighty spiritual moments. But I did this week. I worried about giving a talk when I don’t have anything impressive to share? My concerns were eased after listening to Elder Ballard’s conference talk again. If you remember he spoke of a gold miner that was frustrated with the lack of gold nuggets he was finding. A wise old prospector taught him and me an important lesson. “Walking over to the pile of rocks, the old prospector said, ‘Oh, there is gold all right. You just have to know where to find it.’ He picked two rocks up in his hands and crashed them together. One of the rocks split open, revealing several flecks of gold sparkling in the sunlight.
“Noticing a bulging leather pouch fastened to the prospector’s waist, the young man said, ‘I’m looking for nuggets like the ones in your pouch, not just tiny flecks.’
“The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold.
“The old prospector said, ‘Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.’”
So my goal today is to share with you three of the little flecks of gold that have brought me great spiritual wealth and brought me closer to my Savior.
Fleck #1: His example of service: Christ was always serving those around him. We have many of the great and miraculous ways he served recorded in the scriptures. He healed the sick. He blessed the children. He fed the 5000. Sometimes we focus on these miraculous ways and miss the small seemingly insignificant acts he also performed. Many times after he performed a mighty miracle he stopped and spent some time with that person – teaching them, comforting them and bringing them peace.
I know I can’t accomplish the miracles that Christ did but I can follow His example as I reach out to comfort a troubled heart or bring peace to a worried mind. I most likely won’t have an experience like in 3 Nephi where I see heavenly angels and fire coming from heaven to encircle my children. But I know there are earthly angels that encircle them here every Sunday in Primary and teach them that their Savior loves them and cares for them. I may not be able to take some loaves and fishes and feed the 5000 but by paying my tithing and fast offering to the Lord, He will take my few pennies and dollars and do miracles in the lives of those that need it.
Fleck #2: When I was in college I purchased a little statue carved from olive wood. I was so captivated by this simple piece. The man I bought the statue from told me its inspiration came from a scripture. The statue is an upright hand with a little boy resting in it. The hand and the boy are not carved to look like two pieces but instead it has been carved to look as if the boy is part of the hand. I went home and found that scripture. It has since become my favorite. The reference the merchant was referring to is found in Isaiah 49. But I prefer the similar one found in the Book of Mormon - 1 Nephi 21: 13-16.
“Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.
But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me – but he will show that he hath not.
For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel.
Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.”
When times get difficult I know on many occasions I have been as faithless as Zion and asked the Savior if He had forgotten me. I have been assured each time that he cannot and will not forget me. He has “graven [me] upon the palms of [His] hands.” His atonement, death and resurrection weren’t done for all of us as a collective whole. They were done just for me. They were done just for you. Not only did he do those amazing, miraculous works just for us he is continually helping each of us.
Elder Richards said in his talk, “The Atonement Covers All Pain”, “The Savior is not a silent observer. . . . Perhaps His most significant work is in the ongoing labor with each of us individually to lift, to bless, to strengthen, to sustain, to guide, and to forgive us.”
How does he know how to help us? How does he know exactly how to help us? I came to understand just a small bit of this as I was reading Alma 7:12.
“And he will take upon him death, that he my loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”
I have always concentrated on what the atonement can do for me. Until this verse I had never considered how the atonement affected Christ. This verse taught me that the Savior chose to experience all our infirmities so he could know the perfect way to help me.
President Henry B. Eyring taught: “It will comfort us when we must wait in distress for the Savior’s promised relief that He knows, from experience, how to heal and help us. … And faith in that power will give us patience as we pray and work and wait for help. He could have known how to succor us simply by revelation, but He chose to learn by His own personal experience.” When experiencing anything difficult many of us gravitate to those who understand and have experienced what we are going through. What better person to turn to than the Savior, the one who truly knows, the only one who can perfectly understand what we are going through.
Where can I turn for peace?
Where is my solace
When other sources cease to make me whole?
When, with a wounded heart, anger, or malice
I draw myself apart searching my soul?
Where, when my aching grows?
Where, when I languish?
Where, in my need to know?
Where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?
Who, who can understand?
He, only One.
He answers privately.
Reaches my reaching.
In my Gethsemane, Savior, and friend.
Gentle, the peace He finds
For my beseeching.
Constant He is, and kind.
Love without end.
As we truly realize that it was “my Gethsemane” we can sing and be joyful “for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established; . . . for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.”
Fleck #3: Let me tell you about my grandmother. She was an extraordinary person. First let me describe her. She was very petite – 4’11” to be exact. She had this perfect head of white hair. Her clothing was always very nice. I remember she even wore her nice blouses and slacks camping with us. And she did actually go camping with us – tent and all. She was a convert to the church. I will always be grateful that she and her children joined the church. Through many of her life experiences I have learned perseverance in the face of trials. I have learned from her to have a good attitude and to have fun with life. I look forward to following her example and serving a mission with my husband.
During my freshman year of college she got sick. Her funeral was the first I remember attending. I remember walking into the viewing and seeing her lying there. My only thought was it wasn’t her. She still had the beautiful clothing on. Her hair was still perfectly styled. But something was missing. Her spirit was gone and her body remained. It was the first time I was truly grateful for the resurrection. I will one day get to see her again. I will get to see her extraordinary spirit reunited with her petite body.
President Monson said in a talk in last April’s General Conference: “No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord. Spoke the angel:
“Why seek ye the living among the dead?
“He is not here, but is risen.” 12
Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.
The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth.
“For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 13
He is risen! He is risen!
Tell it out with joyful voice.
He has burst his three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice.
Death is conquered; man is free.
Christ has won the victory!
Jesus Christ stood up in the Premortal Council and volunteered to come to Earth and become our - become my Savior. I know he didn’t volunteer in ignorance. He understood his role in the plan. Jesus was the cornerstone of the plan. Without him there would have been no resurrection. Without him there would have been no repentance. Without him there would have been no salvation.
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1 comment:
Thanks for sharing these very thoughtful comments. I was especially touched by the image of the boy in the palm of His hand and the idea that God has not forgotten us.
Love ya, Cindi
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