He Lives

Today I write for many reasons. The last two weeks I have experienced many thoughts, events, and experiences that have helped me ponder and develop a deeper appreciation for one of the most important men in my life; Jesus Christ. What started this sense of pondering was, in fact, a paper. In one of my classes my professors required me to write a paper about the Savior and how He was the "Master Teacher." My assignment was a 3-4 page paper that told of the Savior's characteristics, actions, doctrines, and principles taught in two consecutive chapters in the New Testament gospels. As I attempted to start my paper I felt, sadly, stumped. I couldn't believe it; 18 years of being a member of the church and you'd think I could handle this assignment. In an act of need I started asking friends, roommates, and family for two chapters and what they thought displayed the Saviors role of "the Master Teacher." Finally I thought I had my two chapters. Right now, off the top of my head, I can't remember what they are.... But I know I wasn't supposed to write about those chapters. Because as I started to prepare my paper I thought of someone I really looked up to in my life. Someone who had displayed not only wisdom in the gospel but a deeper understanding of the Savior than I feel I have. This person is my dad. I realized that I hadn't asked him about his thoughts on my assignment. So i shot him a text, and figured that it would just be nice to have another opinion. Within a few hours I got a text back. My dad suggested for me to write about John 18-19. This seemed a bit curious at first because these chapters cover the Saviors crucifixion. out of all the chapters that include Jesus healing the sick, preaching the gospel, and performing miracles, all of which taught and converted many, my dad suggested chapters where no parable is told, no healing is done, and no teaching is performed. However, my dad explained this to me: Jesus Christ was not the master teacher because of what He taught but because of what He did. As I pondered and wrote my paper I realized Dad was right; The Savior taught all of us by example as He did the most selfless thing in the history of the world; He died for all.
I don't want to cover all of the things that I wrote in my paper, here instead is a link that leads to that if you are interested in reading it. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wRx26U7TZULWa9AATWPZ5xGlV8BmqIUID54FGncnAQA/edit
Instead I would like to address what this understanding of the atonement lead to in the following week.

This weekend, as we all know, was Easter weekend. Easter use to be time when me and my sisters would look for eggs, eat lots of bunny shaped chocolate, and get new Easter dresses that my mother would either buy or make with her talent of sewing. However, within the last few years I have started to, finally, understand the deeper meaning behind Easter: The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This Easter weekend was especially special because it happened on the 185th general conference session; A time where the Prophet and Apostles speak to church members all around the world to give guidance, inspiration, peace-bearing messages, and the words of the Lord. To enjoy conference weekend me and three of my good friends went to Salt Lake City where we wanted to enjoy watching conference. I will admit though, this trip, originally, seemed to be mostly a "weekend get-away." We spent the weekend by going out a lot, chatting, spending time in the city shopping, along with watching conference.
  However, one of the days as me and my friends were just laughing and enjoying our time a random thought came to mind: As I looked around at what I was doing I realized that at this point in time hundreds of years ago Jesus Christ was enduring the pains of the atonement and the crucifixion. I am not a religious scholar; I did not know exactly what times the Savior endured such pains. But I realized as I looked around at my friends and the world around me that while I was enjoying some pleasant things at my point of life hundreds of years ago the Savior was enduring the most unbearable things imaginable. This made me feel a bit sad to think about Christ suffering so much. However, as we  listened to the apostles I learned some valuable things about the atonement.

In conference President Packer said something that really stood out to me: He said "The atonement [of Jesus Christ] bears no scars." For me this meant that if we use the atonement in our lives we will not have any scars left (our sins will be forgiven and the Lord will remember them no more). But how interesting is it that ,while our scars will be healed and never seen, Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, will always have the scars of the nail prints in His hands? Elder Holland said in his phenomenal conference talk today "This Easter I thank [Christ] for standing triumphant over death although he stands on wounded feet. This Easter I thank Him for extended his arms in unending grace, all though he extends it with pierced palms and scared wrists." Christ truly suffered much for us and we should remember the prints He will always carry on His body to remind us of what we should be doing in this life.

Just as Elder Holland thanked the Savior for His sacrifice, as well as Heavenly Father for allowing such things to happen, I want to express my gratitude for the Savior as well by bearing my testimony of Him. I know that He suffered, bled, and died so that all men could not only be forgiven of their sins but so that they would never feel alone; for Christ truly has endured all of our pains, sufferings, afflictions, and loneliness. He knows how we feel at all times. But most importantly I know that He lives. I can not express this loudly enough. I can't prove this to anyone. I can't explain the resurrection. But I know that He lives. I believe with all of my heart that He lives. Because He lives we all have a second chance. We all have this beautiful gift that was paid for by our loving older brother that allows us the chance to return to Him and erase our spiritual scars. Christ extends His arms out to all of us and He will never let us go. He will never let us down. I know that He lives, I know that He loves us, and I know that He, along with Heavenly Father, is aware of each of us. I am not ashamed to add my testimony of these things to those of the prophets and apostles. I am so grateful for this Easter season and for Jesus Christ; The redeemer and Master Teacher.