The Perfect Gift

This is a parable that I wrote for a talk that I was asked to give on Easter Sunday 2009.

There once was a young woman name Angela, she had a hart of gold. Angela would do anything for anyone, she was just that type of girl. But there was one person in particular that she liked to do even more for, her little sister Mandy. You see Mandy’s birthday was coming up and Angela really wanted to show her love for here sister. They shared a special bond you see, and Angela wanted Mandy to know that she was really special to her. After thinking long and hard about what she could do for her beloved sister, she settled on the idea of making her a hat. You see Mandy was quite fond of hats, she even had somewhat of a hat collection, large hats small hats, fancy hats and ball caps, Mandy loved them all. So Angela decided that she would make her the hat of all hats. Angela put all of her extra time and effort into making this wonderful hat, she even did extra chores around the house to earn enough money to buy the materials. She picked the perfect fabric, with the perfect floral pattern she knew that Mandy would just love. She even snuck into Mandy’s room one night to measure her head while she slept, so she could get it just right. Weeks went by while Angela worked in secret, all alone, which meant that there were many late nights, because that was the only time she had. The day finally came, it was Mandy’s birthday, Angela was brimming with excitement, she could hardly contain herself. Excitedly she gave Mandy her present, I hope you like it Angela said, opening the box (which Angela had picked to match the perfect hat, there was no detail that Angela left out) Mandy exclaimed, its so beautiful, after looking at it for a few seconds, Mandy placed it back in the box and moved on to the next present. Angela was disheartened, a few days went by and the box sat on the shelf, never opened, Angela was saddened. Weeks and months went by, Angela was devastated. Years went by, dust had gathered on the box so thick that you could no longer see the pattern that so wonderfully matched the fabric on the hat, Angela’s Heart broke. During those years the sisters grew apart, the two who were once so close were now almost strangers. The thought of the hat tore at Angela until she could bear it no more. One day she called Mandy, “I just have to know” she said “ why did you never wear the hat I made you, I worked so hard on that perfect hat, my heart was in that hat and you never wore it, why did you not like it ” . Silence was all there was on the other end of the line, then faintly, “it was so perfect, I didn’t want to ruin it, so I put it in the box and never opened it so it would not get destroyed I didn’t want to ruin something you had worked so hard on” Weeping, Angela said, “my sweet sister, I made it with the best materials, so you could never destroy it, I tailored it, so it would fit only you, my sweat and even some of my blood went into making that hat, not so it would be beautiful, but that you would be beautiful in it. I made it for you.” A moment of silence passed, one that seemed to last for eternity, then softly Angela whispered, ‘its not to late, your hat will still fit”

The gift is what we make of it, Christ has given us everything, all things tie into the atonement. It is the gospel, the good news. Christ lives, this day he lives, the atonement is real, it is possible for man to be at one with God through Christ, the question is, do we allow this precious gift, bought with his precious drops of blood, to sit on a shelf, forgotten, unused, or become at one with Him and the Father, Through his perfect gift.

The Tender Blessings Of The Atonement

My favorite scripture for a long time has been Alma chapter 7 versus 11 and 12. It says "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." This has always been so powerful to me because often we think that Christ only suffered for our sins, yet these verses never mention sins, it speaks of pains and sicknesses and infirmities, and isn't that a way we might look at sins, as sicknesses and pains. Sins are the cancer of our spiritual lives, and if left unchecked it will lead to an infinitely more pain full death than any real cancer. As we apply the atonement in our lives we will see a Remission of our sins. Its interesting that remission is used to describe the condition of the cancer sufferer and the repentant person. It seems this word implies that the problem could come back, and indeed it can. If we fail to be vigilant, to watch our selves, those pains and sicknesses (speaking spiritually) could come back. To over come this Christ suffered for us, and the scripture says that he did this so that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities. Basically so he could be the perfect doctor, and not that he would know just the medicine to use, but he would also know how we felt, what anguish we were going through, so that he could help us in such a way that only one who had been through what we were going through could. This is why the atonement is so perfect to me. Its not a one size fits all hat that we get to wear, but tailor made suit to fit our personal circumstance. In this way it is equal to all. Just like a suit made for a 200 lb 5'10" man will not fit a 300 lb 6'7" person but if the Lord makes each of us a suit then no one has to go naked. People who know me know that all my life I have tried to be the good Mormon boy. I have never gotten into any real trouble, or been trouble to those around me. Some mistakenly think that somehow the atonement works more for me than it does for them, all because I have never done anything really bad. Plain and simple, that idea is wrong. We all fall short, weather by inches, feet or miles, its the same for all of us. We, on our own can not make it back to our Heavenly Fathers presence. That where the tender blessings of the Atonement make up the difference. Christ our Savior comes in and makes it possible for us to return. One final thought on this subject, the scripture mentions death, and I believe that it speaks of spiritual death, for it says that he will loose the bands of death. Notice it didn't say break the bands. Why would that be important, well Christ broke the bands of physical death, that is to say that all who have ever lived on this earth will be resurrected, but He only loosed the bands of spiritual death. In my mind I imagine being hand cuffed, and Christ coming to me with the key, but instead of taking the bands off my hands He just loosens them a click or two, just enough for me to pull my hands out. Now the choice is up to me, do I stay bound by these cuffs or do I use the gift of freedom given me and pull my hands out. The Atonement only works when we decide to do our part and just pull our selves out of the bonds that we are in. Christ has turned the key of our bonds, healed us of our cancer and even made us cloths to wear to our own home coming celebration, we should do all in our power to use theses precious gifts so that we might be at that glorious celebration above.

Answering Prayers

While reading the story of the Brother of Jared, in the book of Ether, I came to a realization of a pattern that the Lord often uses to answer our prayers. The brother of Jared had built barges to cross the ocean, but he had a few problems. First there was no light, and there was also no air, and how were they going to steer the barges. These 3 problems the Lord answers in three very different ways. In regards to the air, the Lord says make a hole in the top and bottom, and when you need air, just unstop the hole, if water rushes in, plug it back up. In regards the steering, the Lord in essence says that he will take care of that, that they need not worry. Then with the light problem the Lord answers with a question, what would you have me do. I think in life, that this is a model for us to live by. In some instances, when we come to the Lord with a problem He just gives us the answer to our problem, like make a hole in the top and in the bottom. Other times, the Lord says, don't worry about it, I will take care of it just have faith in me. Then other times, he ask us to present our idea to Him. In these cases we have to be much like the brother of Jared and go and molten our rocks our of the mountain, or in other word, put effort into the plan, and then work to bring the plan about, then when we are ready we present our rocks before the Lord and ask him to touch them, having faith that when we do that He will light them up. I believe that all of these ways the Lord answers our prayers promote our faith and help us to grow. I also believe that the Lord chooses the way to answer our prayers in the way that will help us grow the most at that time. The Lord, because he is the perfect parent, knows what will help us the most and is always there to mold us into the best person we can be.

Faith

What is faith ? Why is faith necessary ? I would venture to say that faith is the motivational force behind many things. Faith is what gets us through the day, if we didn't have faith that something better was waiting for us on the other side of our bedroom door we wouldn't get up. Today we had a lesson on faith in our priesthood class in young men's, I turned off the lights and we sat in a completely dark room and asked the question, who has faith that the lights will turn on. Nothing happened, and then asked again, who has faith that the lights will turn back on. Then one of my young men got the point. He stood up and said " I do" and fought his way between young men and leaders to turn the lights back on. I believe that that is what true faith is. True faith promotes us to action. It makes us sand up and say, " I do, I have faith and I will show it." Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principal of the gospel, and it is no surprise that repentance is the second. Faith promotes true repentance. When we have faith that the Lord Jesus Christ will forgive us if we come to him then of course we will repent and forsake our sins. If we didn't have faith in our savior, if we didn't trust that through him we could repent then we wouldn't. It wouldn't be worth our time. If we didn't believe that Jesus could do what he says he could do, then it would be like we were sitting in a dark room hoping that the lights come back on by themselves. Faith without works is truly dead, so let us not be found without faith and live.

The Natural Man Mosiah 3:19

We know that the natural or carnal man is an enemy to God, and that we all have a tendency to be natural. We also know through this same verse that if we yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit we can put off the natural man and become a saint. For a long time I never understood the significance of this verse, until I read it in conjunction with the Sacrament prayers. The covenant that we make when we partake of the Sacrament says that if we are willing to take upon us the name of Thy son and keep his commandments, and always remember him, the promise is that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. This had never hit me so hard before, but to always have His Spirit to be with us is so important. How can we ever yield to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, if we can't have Him with us always, to direct us and guide us. It is so important to live up to our covenants so that we can have the Spirit with us, so that we don't become enemies to God. Without the Spirit we can't return to live with our Father in Heaven again. We need the Spirit in our lives. We should always listen to the Spirit.

Spiritual Thought

What is easier, to have faith that the Lord will help you if you come to him with your problems, or to try to face them alone.

Starting Out

I thought I would start out with just my simple testimony. Over the course of my life I have studied the scriptures, some days I have been more diligent than others, but the peace that theses words have brought into my life has been profound. I know that God speaks to man, not only in years past, but also today, through the scriptures and through his Living Prophet. I know God Lives, I know that His Son Jesus Christ, atoned for our sins. I know that the plan of salvation is real, that God has a plan for each of us. I know that Families are a part of that plan. Families are forever, how beautiful it is to know that. Every day I ponder what it would be like without my family, and it grieves my soul, but knowing that because the priesthood has been restored and that the sealing power is back on this earth and that through this power I can have my family forever brings me the greatest joy that one could have. I testify of our Heavenly Fathers Love for His Children, He knows us individually, personally and completely. I know that our Savior loves us, He suffered for us, not just in mass, but he somehow stepped outside the bounds of time, and suffered for us individually. In essence he took each of us by the hand and led us through our tough times, through our pain and suffering, through our sins and transgressions, through our afflictions and sicknesses, and in that garden brought us back to the Father, and in a way bought us with his precious blood. How much we owe Him. I know he loves us, I know God loves us, and I know that Their teachings are true. I love the Scriptures and I hope that I might be able to share this with you through this medium.