Here's looking at you, kid

“How Sweet The Joy This Sentence Gives…”

Happy Easter.

Today I thought I ought to tell you about one of the best things since before sliced bread, namely the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

This weekend has been especially special, and I will tell you why. Modern day revelation has revealed to us the date on which Christ was born, that day being April 6th. April 6th was this Friday. April 6th 2012, this past Friday was also Good Friday, the day we recognize as being the day that Christ was nailed to the cross on Calvary Hill. The night before he bled from every pore, totally alone, as he lived each of our individual lives so that he could take upon himself all of our sins. He was betrayed by his friend Judas Iscariot for thirty pieces of silver. 

“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:3-5)

He was condemned by his people. They beat him with a scourge, and they stripped him of his clothes, and then crowned him with a crown of plaited thorns. 

At the end of the day, he was nailed to a cross, and hung from it for many hours  until he died—“Gave up the ghost”. He was completely and totally alone. He died. He, the only perfect man to live on this earth died, as a sacrifice so that we all of us can one day live in the infinite love of our Heavenly Father forever.

Why did he die? Why did this perfect Son of God sacrifice himself for us. I am a sinner, you dear reader are a sinner. None of us out worthy of him. But he sacrificed his life because he loves each of us, infinitely. His love is so perfect that he would do anything for our sakes. He loves me, and he loves you, and he will forgive us for every sin we have ever done. We may not be worthy of him. But with him, and his every lasting atonement we can be perfected. We can be made worthy of his love. His grace is sufficient for us. 

Three days after he died and was buried, he arose from the dead. He lives. He lived then and he continues to live now. 

“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, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

 That 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.” (Doctrine and Covenants 76: 22-24)

I want to testify to you that God lives, and that we are his children. He sent his Son, even Jesus Christ, down to this earth that through him we might all be made to return to his presence and live again. I know that through Christ, I can be made perfect. I know that he will hear me in all my prayers, and comfort me in all my trials. I know he loves me. And most of all I know he lives. And I hope that all of you will come to know this too, and of his infinite love for every one of us, as individuals. And I testify that I knows these things to be true, in the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sometimes I Miss It…

So my dear roommate Abigail, has this large binder which she refers to as her missing book. Inside are letters and pictures, and texts from friends and family, and even excerpts from her grandpa’s journal. Occasionally she will pull it out and go through it—sometimes even gathering us roommates around her as she does so. It is there to remember all of the good times had with good people. Right now I wish I had a missing book.

Ever since I came to college I felt I have done rather well at the whole not being homesick thing, but sometimes you just can’t help it. I miss the Tri-cities quite a lot right now. Right about this time of year, the roses are blooming around my house, and Mom has started planting new flowers, weeding, watering, and exhausting herself working in the garden—she enjoys almost every minute of it too. In the backyard out raspberry bushes are blooming with little white flowers, preparing to bare forth the little seedy berries that will fill our large freezer to the brim. Olivia, my five year-old niece, is getting excited for when we can pick them all. In the next few weeks we will get the majority of the year’s rain, and the days will be glorious in the downpour.

My friends and I would be doing crazy things. Meghan and I would be planning a sleepover, during which we will indubitably watch Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights  and stay up until she can’t keep her eyes open anymore. Tate and I would be planning our next junket to go kidnap our friends and get slurpies or something of the sort, or perhaps we would do something more creative. We would also be getting really excited over filming more of our movie trilogy Ninjas vs. ELMs, perhaps we would even have finished the second movie, and be preparing for the hilarity that will be the third movie.

Amidst all of this would be playing Killer Bunnies and Phase 10 with Mom, or maybe even Risk, sometimes winning and sometimes losing. If I were still in high school, this would be the time when I start thinking of studying for my AP tests. In about three weeks, I would start freaking out and studying more than I ever had the entire semester. But now such things would be too far away to even consider wasting my time in such pursuits. 

Knowledge Bowl would just have had its last competition, and rehearsals for one-act plays might be beginning. 

If home I would have in all likelihood had just tested for my second degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do this last Saturday. It probably would have been ten times harder than my first degree test. It would be worth it though, just as it always has been. 

Yes home. I do miss it. The people, the places, the things we would do, but life has moved on. I am now at college. I dance, and I run. I took up study in an area I didn’t think I would—International relations. I have friends, not like the ones from home, but friends nonetheless. I have wonderful roommates, and my perspective on people has somewhat changed. I am quieter than I used to be, but that is probably because I am not entirely home here yet. I speak Italian now. I also know all the causes of WWI, inside and out. I understand the economy a little more, and I love to waltz—though dancing the guys part is quite an interesting experience, especially when your partner is at least 5 inches taller than you, and your wearing heals. 

I call home weekly, I write my friends semi-regularly, and skype them even more often. My family is coming to visit this weekend. I am glad I am here at BYU, but sometimes I simply miss it all. I miss home