So I taught Relief Society about a month ago, and I've been meaning to put up a few quotes from some General Conference talks that especially inspired me. The topic was that because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we never have to be alone if we CHOOSE to come unto him. I've discovered that as I get older, there are many different phases of life when we as women can feel alone. Miscarriages, infertility, being a new mom home alone all day, being a newly-wed and never seeing your husband because of school and work, divorce, all your children leaving the house and becoming and "empty-nester", being a missionary in a foreign place, health problems, moving some where new, endless dates and never finding the right guy... I'm sure the list can go on. Though I haven't experienced all of these, I know they are very real scenarios that many face.
However, we don't have to dwell on this feeling of being alone! We are never alone! There are so many good things we can do to serve others around us. And we always have a Savior who loves us and NEVER leaves us alone!
I hope you enjoy these quotes as much as I do!
"The Crimson Trail in
Logan Canyon is one of my favorite hikes. The main part of the trail creeps
along the top of tall limestone cliffs and offers beautiful vistas of the
canyon and valley below. Getting to the top of the cliffs isn’t easy, however.
The trail there is a constant climb; and just before reaching the top, the
climber encounters the steepest part of the trail; and views of the canyon are hidden
by the cliffs themselves. The final exertion is more than worth the effort
because once the climber is on top, the views are breathtaking. The only way to
see the views is to make the climb. A pattern in the scriptures and
in life shows that many times the darkest, most dangerous tests immediately
precede remarkable events and tremendous growth. After much tribulation
come the blessings."
- Paul V.
Johnson, More than Conquerers Through Him That Loved Us.
"At times it may seem that our trials are focused
on areas of our lives and parts of our souls with which we seem least able to
cope. Since personal growth is an intended outcome of these challenges, it should come as no surprise that the
trials can be very personal—almost laser guided to our particular needs or
weaknesses. And no one is exempt, especially not Saints striving to do
what’s right. Some obedient Saints may ask, “Why me? I’m trying to be good! Why
is the Lord allowing this to happen?” The furnace of affliction helps purify
even the very best of Saints by burning away the dross in their lives and
leaving behind pure gold. Even very rich ore needs refining to remove
impurities. Being good is not enough. We want to become like the Savior, who
learned as He suffered “pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind."
- Paul V.
Johnson, More than Conquerers Through Him That Loved Us.
Whenever
I hear the word laser, I think of Buzz Light-Year off of Toy Story! So I just
have this image of buzz lightyear, pointing this laser straight into my soul!
These “laser guided” trials we experience can make us feel alone, because they are so tailored to our
“personal growth” to help us become more like the savior.
"Now I speak very carefully, even reverently, of what may
have been the most difficult moment in all of this solitary journey to
Atonement. I speak of those final moments for which Jesus must have been
prepared intellectually and physically but which He may not have fully
anticipated emotionally and spiritually—that concluding descent into the
paralyzing despair of divine withdrawal when He cries in ultimate loneliness,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
The loss of mortal support He had anticipated, but
apparently He had not comprehended this. Had He not said to His disciples,
“Behold, the hour … is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his
own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is
with me” and “The Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things
that please him”?
With all the conviction of my soul I testify that He did
please His Father perfectly and that a perfect Father did not forsake His Son
in that hour. Indeed, it is my personal belief that in all of Christ’s mortal
ministry the Father may never have been
closer to His Son than in these agonizing final moments of suffering.
Nevertheless, that the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it
was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort
of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it
was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had
never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how
the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins.
For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like
to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have
the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly
alone.
But Jesus held
on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a
state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His
feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful,
that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been
paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was
utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.”
Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him,
Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life
where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin,
hellish darkness, and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He
could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. Brothers and
sisters, one of the great consolations is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not
have to do so."
Elder
Holland- None Were With Him
