Never Alone

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