Special Witnesses of Christ

I know that my Redeemer lives, and I know that we live in a time of living prophets on this earth. In this last dispensation, we have the blessing of having the fullness of the gospel restored to this earth. I know that if we listen to their teachings, that the Lord will speak to us individually through them (D&C 1:37-38) and He will not allow them to lead us astray. I pray that as you watch this video the Spirit of their testifying witnesses will touch you.

I bear testimony of these things in the name of my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Adversity

"Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days." - D&C 24:8

It seems no matter where we go in life, we can never escape the bumpy roads ahead. Just when things seem like everything is going perfectly and we let down our guard, we come across another storm. While caught in the storm, it is easy to let yourself become confused, to feel like you're not good enough, not strong enough, and that no one is there for you. Some even lose their grip on the iron rod during these trials, and let themselves be swept away by the mists of darkness (1Ne8:23, 1Ne12:17). Some, once off the straight and narrow path, feel like there is no way back, that they are lost, and that there is no hope for them anymore. This is not so.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has Atoned for our sins and and loves us. He has already paid the price; it is NEVER too late to return if we have lost the way. His arms are outstretched to us, and your price to him is beyond measure. He will never give up on you, He will never leave you alone, and He will always be there for you.

We are promised that we will not be given burdens heavier than we are capable of bearing. That doesn't mean we are incapable of losing our way. It just means that we have power over Satan, and that we have the ability to choose to give into the storm or hold on no matter what. Satan cannot MAKE us do anything. We are beloved children of God; we have the strength and power to overcome all things, great and small.

Trials, though hard, are able to be overcome and/or endured, and even if they seem to be too difficult for us to bear, it is because we must continually be strengthening ourselves. The way back to our Heavenly Father requires more than a passive endurance. There will be times that we will struggle, we will have to fight to continually work towards our end goal, the Celestial Kingdom. Trials are for our benefit and growth (D&C 122:5-7), for they strengthen us.

Many times, in the meantime, we cannot see the purpose that having trials gives us, and it can make going through them extremely difficult and frustrating for us as individuals. However, God is over all, and He knows what we are going through, and there is a purpose in all things. "For I, the Lord, have put forth my hand to exert the powers of heaven; ye cannot see it now, yet a little while and ye shall see it, and know that I am..." (D&C 84:119)

Many people mistake the message that we have the strength to get through all our burdens, and try to carry all of the hardship on their own shoulders. Heavenly Father has never intended for us to walk these roads alone, and it is His yolk, which when taken upon us, will make our burdens light and easier to bear. Angels attend us, on both sides of the veil.

"I have spoken here of heavenly help, of angels dispatched to bless us in time of need. But when we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil. Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of them reside in our own neighborhoods. Some of them gave birth to us, and in my case, one of them consented to marry me. Indeed heaven never seems closer than when we see the love of God manifested in the kindness and devotion of people so good and so pure that angelic is the only word that comes to mind.
... My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify of angels, both the heavenly and the mortal kind. In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. “[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved.”(Moroni 7:36) On occasions, global or personal, we may feel we are distanced from God, shut out from heaven, lost, alone in dark and dreary places. Often enough that distress can be of our own making, but even then the Father of us all is watching and assisting. And always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal."
-Elder Jeffery R. Holland, The Ministry of Angels



"My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands." (D&C 121:7-9)

Our Savior’s Love

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” (Robert Browning)

If we applied that quote to our Savior, and tried counting His love for us, I think that mathematically the number of ways He loves us would look something like this: (-∞,∞). However, something about infinite love is ungraspable to us. Everything in this life that we know of has a beginning and an end. How, then, can we even begin to comprehend a truly infinite love? I don’t know that we fully can in this life.

Our Savior has done more for us than any person has ever done for us. He prays for us, heals us, strengthens us, guides us, and He even Atoned for us. He will stand with us at the Judgment Seat, pleading to the Father for us. However, He doesn’t give us everything that we want because He loves us. He gives us trials, tests us, and reprimands us so that we are most benefitted in this life by His love. He knows what is best for us and because He wants us to be happy He makes us learn. That is true love.

In the book of John, I discovered a chapter while studying that I refer to as “The Prayer of the Savior.” As I was reading the chapter, in which Jesus begins praying, I realized that many of the verses are of Him praying for US! For YOU and ME!

“I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine . . . I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.” – (John 17:9, 15-19)

It was for us individually that He suffered in the Garden and then hung on the cross as they crucified Him. It was for us that He rose again and conquered death three days after He had given up His spirit. He gave us the gift of The Atonement so that we could be able to be resurrected and so that mercy and justice could both be mollified at the judgment seat. The Atonement allows us to be elevated from the Fall, so that we can return again to our Father in Heaven someday. We could not pay that price alone.

It also amazes me to see how He sees us. Here is this great and powerful man, God’s Only Begotten Son, our Redeemer, a God, and He sees us not as below Him, but as His brothers, sisters, children, and as His friends.

 “And again I say unto you, my friends, for from henceforth I shall call you friends, it is expedient that I give unto you this commandment that ye become even as my friends in days when I was with them traveling to preach the gospel in my power;” – (Doctrine and Covenants 84:77)

Short of romantic interest, our Savior’s love covers every form of love possible. He truly loves us with the most pure form of love that has ever existed.

“But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever, and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Wherefore, my beloved bretheren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ, that ye may become the sons of God that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”
 – (Moroni 7:47-48)

I remember once, as a young child, kneeling in prayer before I got into my bed so that I could sleep. To this day, I do not remember any of the words spoken that night. I do, however, remember what came after. Before climbing into my bed that night, I waited. Suddenly a warmth that I have never felt before filled me. Heaven had never felt closer than it did at that moment. A love too great to fill my small frame filled the room, and I knew without a single doubt that my Father in Heaven and my Savior both loved me, were proud of me and the path I was headed down, and that They stood by me. I am sure that the love I felt was just a fraction of Their love for me, for if I had felt any more, I would have had to change states, or be transfigured, so that I would not be consumed by the warmth I felt. I knelt there for longer than I had ever before after a prayer, basking in the love and warmth my Savior proffered me.

We, as Children of God, are of infinite worth to our Savior (D&C 18:10) and I know that He loves us. He stands with His arms outstretched to us, waiting to receive us if we but will open our hearts to Him and turn to Him.

I testify of these things in the name of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, amen.