Hello my magnificent family,
I have had a wonderful and difficult week. This week we focused on the Atonement. I had been asked to give a talk in the mandarin branch and to sing in the Tri-Valley YSA Ward. Those are the two groups that we are serving in now. My talk was about applying the Atonement in our lives. I learned greatly from my preparation in this talk. I decided to talk about the Fall since I wanted to make sure that we had a greater understanding of our need for an Atonement. Then I spent time studying and pondering on how to apply the Atonement. At first I thought of honesty. We must be honest with God to allow him to know the depth of the wound we have otherwise He can't treat it in a way for us to fully heal. Then I thought of seeing what Jesus Christ asked us to do to apply His Atonement. That is when I came across the scripture 2 Nephi 31: 9-16.
" And again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them.
And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?
And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.
And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying:
He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.
Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism—yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel.
But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.
And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved."
In these few verses are written the doctrine of Christ which is also the way to our applying the Atonement. In verse 9 it teaches us that the example of Jesus Christ
"showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate..." Then Jesus Christ invites us to follow Him. How do we follow Jesus Christ? The fourth article of faith teaches us the way: "
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Second, repentance. Third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. Fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost." The first thing we must do to apply the Atonement in our lives is have faith. Believe and act upon the things that we have been taught. I have thought a lot about how the plan of our Heavenly Father is a plan of empowerment. At the end of our Heavenly Fathers plan we are to become "perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)
For us to become stronger we need to workout. For us to become more spiritual we need to read the scriptures, say our prayers, attend church, etc. For us to become like our Heavenly Father we need to work on attaining His attributes. Each week during sacrament meeting we look at how our lives went the week previous.
"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness..."
Then as we are shown our weaknesses we should ask how we can overcome them. "
...I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." (Ether 12:27) After having faith in Christ and believing that Christ will be able to atone for our sins we decide to make goals to change during the next week. As we do this our Heavenly Father blesses us with His spirit which then sanctifies us and helps to burn away desires we have for evil and build within us an even greater desire to do good.
This is when our actions are necessary.
"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward."
We must act upon our desires. Heavenly Father even helps us to know a little more of our true nature in the last verse. He tells us that the power is in us! We have the power to change, we simply need to act upon that power. If we do not act upon our desires then the Lord teaches us,
"But he that doeth not anything until he is commanded, and receiveth a commandment with doubtful heart, and keepeth it with slothfulness, the same is damned" (Doctrine and Covenants 58:27-29).
I have been hit this week with a knowledge of my own guilt as I have found that I have difficulty at times in accomplishing these tasks. My faith is not always applied and so I do not change during those times. Yet, I have decided this week to try a little harder in bringing souls unto Christ and applying the Atonement in both theirs and my life. I know that as we have faith and apply the Atonement we will be given the power to accomplish greater good than we have ever imagined. I know that the doctrine of Christ is true. We must first have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and then endure to the end. Only then will we be able to receive of the blessings our Heavenly Father desires to give us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Sincerely,
Elder Christensen
