With Easter approaching the Christian world prepares to celebrate the miracle of our Savior's resurrection, his victory over death. Tomorrow night, for Family Home Evening, our family will spend some time looking at the website the Church put together to help us remember Jesus Christ and the last week of his life. Check it out when you have a moment. Share it with your friends. I hope to share a few more thoughts about it after I have a chance to look at it and watch the video.
Because of Him
During this past General Conference we had the opportunity to hear powerful testimony borne of our Savior. President Boyd K. Packer shared the following:
The Witness
“Like most things of great worth, knowledge which is of
eternal value comes only through personal prayer and pondering. These, joined with fasting and scripture
study, will invite impressions and revelations and the whisperings of the Holy
Spirit. This provides us with
instruction from on high as we learn precept upon precept.”
“Your secret yearnings and tearful pleadings will touch the
heart of both the Father and the Son.
You will be given a personal assurance from Them that your life will be
full and that no blessing that is essential will be lost to you.”
“A supernal truth that I have gained in my life is my
witness of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
“Foremost and underpinning all that we do, anchored
throughout the revelations, is the Lord’s name, which is the authority by which
we act in the Church. Every prayer
offered, even by little children, ends in the name of Jesus Christ. Every blessing, every ordinance, every
ordination, every official act is done in the name of Jesus Christ. It is His Church, and it is named for Him—The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
“After all the years that I have lived and taught and
served, after the millions of miles I have traveled around the world, with all
that I have experienced, there is one great truth that I would share. That is my witness of the Savior Jesus
Christ.
“Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon recorded the following after
a sacred experience: ‘And now, after the many testimonies which have been given
of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he
lives!
‘For we saw him.’
“Their words are my words.”
“I believe and I am sure that Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of God, and that He lives. He is the
Only Begotten of the Father, and ‘by him, and through him, and of him, the
worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and
daughters unto God.’
“I bear my witness that the Savior lives. I know
the Lord. I am His witness. I know of His great sacrifice and eternal
love for all of Heavenly Father’s children.
I bear my special witness in all humility but with absolute certainty,
in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”
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And from the talk given by Elder Carlos H. Amado:
“…in the most sublime show of His love for humankind, and in
the full exercise of His will, He walked bravely and determinedly to face His
most demanding trial. In the Garden of
Gethsemane, in utter loneliness, He suffered most intense agony, bleeding from
each pore. In total submission before
His Father, He atoned for our sins and also took upon Him our illnesses and
afflictions in order to know how to succor us.”
“Christ was the first to be resurrected and never die again,
to possess forever a perfect, eternal body.
In His resurrected state, He appeared to Mary, who as soon as she
recognized Him, began to worship Him.”
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After listening to President Packer during the last General Conference, I decided to go back to listen to the last General Conference address by Elder Bruce R. McConkie. Here is a link for those who are interested:
I love to bear my testimony of the Savior. Because of Him we can receive peace and joy in this life. Because of Him we can receive the strength we need to make it through trial and tribulations. He willingly suffered "our illnesses and afflictions in order to know how to succor us." He willingly gave up His life and took it up again. Because of Him we will be resurrected. Because of Him we can return to our Heavenly Father and obtain eternal life.
I am grateful for a living prophet and for living apostles. I am grateful for the Holy Scriptures that testify and teach of Jesus Christ--the Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price. I am grateful for the Holy Ghost whose mission it is to bear testimony to each of us of the divinity of our Savior and His atoning sacrifice.
