Skip to main content

Because He Came

I just love everything about Sundays. I love having a day of rest. I love talking to my family. I love taking the Sacrament and renewing my covenants with my Heavenly Father. I love spending three hours in church meetings discussing the principles of the Gospel. I love the Sundays when I get to direct choir rehearsals after church. Today we had stake conference and I got to once again hear Elder Bednar speak. It was so incredible to shake his hand yesterday, and I felt so uplifted and inspired by his messages! How cool is it that I got to hear an apostle and his wife speak twice in one weekend? When I got home, I got on lds.org to read some Conference talks. On the home page, I found this link. It was a five part article about the five years that President Monson has been our prophet. One part of the article that really struck me was a quote found in part 2, which highlighted some of his teachings from the past five years. Talking about our Savior Jesus Christ he said, "Because He came, there is meaning to our mortal existence. Because He came, we know how to reach out to those in trouble or distress, wherever they may be. Because He came, death has lost its sting, the grave its victory. We will live again because He came. Because he came and paid for our sins, we have the opportunity to gain eternal life." 

The more I have learned about the Savior's life and ministry, the Atonement, his crucifiction, and his resurrection the more I have grown to love him. Every time I think about the Atonement, my heart fills with gratitude. I start to think about how often I make mistakes, and need to rely on the Atonement for repentance. How merciful is our Father in Heaven that he was willing to allow his only Begotten Son to suffer for our sins, so that we are able to make mistakes, learn from them, repent, and then continue on the course towards eternal life! Elder Bednar talked a lot this weekend about the enabling power of the Atonement. Our burdens in life will not necessarily be taken away from us, but through the Atonement we can be strengthened. He challenged us to go through the Book of Mormon and mark examples of when the Lord did not take away the burdens of the righteous, but strengthened them and made their burdens light. 

I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that he and our Father in Heaven know each of us by name. I know without a doubt that the Atonement is real, because I feel it bless my life each and every day. I know that death is not the end, that we will all be resurrected and reunited with our loved ones on the other side of the veil. I know that if we rely on the Atonement, we can obtain eternal life. I know that Jesus Christ set a perfect example for us to follow. I know that I am a member of his true church on the Earth today. I know that President Thomas S. Monson is a living prophet and representative of Him on the Earth today. I am so grateful for all of the blessings that I have because He came. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Life Changes and New Adventures

          I thought that I had the next couple of years of my life all figured out. I am a prime example of a chronic over-thinker, and the queen of the pro/con list. I had carefully thought out every recent decision I had made. I was settled at the school where I had been working, I had a good apartment and ward, and I had just been accepted to a 2 year long Master's of Education program, which would fulfill one of my long term goals. Yet something still felt off. Despite the fact that I thought I had a good direction in my life, I felt confused and unsettled. It felt like I was trapped inside a box. I would walk in one direction, hit the wall of the box only to turn in another direction and hit another wall.          The problem was, I just could not figure out what it was that wasn't right. I started taking the long way driving home from work each day and praying about my concerns. It took a couple of weeks of this before seemingly o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Shipps on a Ship Part 1

        It truly feels like just yesterday my grandparents gathered our family in the living room of our rented beach house and told us that they were taking us on a Disney Cruise. In reality, it was a year and a half ago and at the time it seemed like November 2014 would never come. It still almost felt like a dream even as we boarded our plane to Orlando last Saturday after MUCH airport turmoil, i.e. Michael forgetting his carry on at security, Jonathan getting a bloody nose, and me almost losing my debit card. Against all odds, the Shipp cousins made it to Orlando in one piece. I always get teary-eyed when I see my family after a few months away, and this time was no exception! Just as we were getting settled into our hotel room, we found out that our toilet was broken, so we had to move rooms! Once we were finally settled, Uncle Dave was kind enough to take as many cousins as could pile into his van for a McDonald's run. We spent Sunday in Downtown Disney, visiti...
Post a Comment
Read more

Until We Meet Again

           On Friday, my Grandma Freeman passed away. She was almost 90 years old and lived a long, full life. She was kind, loving, a hard worker, and fiercely loyal. She taught elementary school, and I've always loved the fact that both of my grandmas were teachers, and good ones at that. We joke in our family that teaching runs in our blood, and it's an honor to be able to carry on her legacy.            For most of the years I was growing up, she lived in New York, in the small, small town of Hornell. My dad would take us on weekend trips to visit during the summers. In fact my first time driving on the highway with my learner's permit was on the way up to visit them one summer, and I remember proudly announcing that when we walked into the house. We would always start off our visits with a trip to the ONLY restaurant in town (Pizza Hut) and then stop by the ONLY grocery store in town (Wegman's) for ice cream to take home,...
1 comment
Read more