As the weeks draw
nearer to closing, I have noticed that missionaries are entirely focused. Elder Hayden has had another baptism and is
working with several other towards baptism; time gets away from them on p-day
much quicker than earlier on in their mission.
For this week he sent me a talk that he just gave last week. I was very touched by his testimony at the
end especially with his conversion and the reason he decided to go on his mission
so I thought I would share. We miss him
and love him but are oh so proud of him… Enjoy!!
Testimony of Jesus Christ
Elder Hayden May - February 18, 2018
Today, like many days of my life, especially being a
missionary, I’d like to talk about someone who has changed my life. The man for
whom the scriptures are written.
No possible way that I could present His name would be
suitable to help us understand how truly important he is in our lives. He is
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He came
here with a divine purpose, one that none of us could fulfill.
In the Book of Mormon Christ teaches the people the purpose
of why He came to this world. “13 I came into the world to do the will of my
Father, because my Father sent me. 14 And my Father sent me that I might be
lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross,
that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so
should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of
their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil--15 And for this
cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I
will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. 16
And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name
shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold
guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.”
Those four verses from 3rd Nephi 27 teach a powerful lesson
about the purpose of the Redeemer. He came for many reasons, but one is that we
may repent. Repentance is one of the most misunderstood and most charitable
words in all of the Christian vocabulary. In these verses Christ teaches that
Him being lifted up on the cross allowed Him to bring everyone unto him so we
can be judged and He can allow us to be guiltless before the Father.
One of my
favorite hymns teaches this truth as well (Hymn 101 - "Guide Me To Thee")
“Through this dark world of strife,
Guide me to thee.
Teach me a better life.
Guide me to thee.
Let thy redeeming pow’r
Be with me ev’ry hour.
Be thou my safety tow’r.
Guide me to thee.”
Through the redemptive power of Christ he can always be with
us. He can guide us and help us to live a better life. I, like most of you,
have personally felt the joy of repentance. I know that this is why Christ
came. Without His sacrifice we would all be stuck, stagnant, and the Plan of
Salvation would be frustrated.
Boyd K Packer, one of the modern apostles, spoke of the
Atonement of Christ powerfully shortly before he passed away. He said, “The
Savior wrought the Atonement, which provides a way for us to become clean.
Jesus Christ is the resurrected Christ. We worship and recognize Him for the
pain He suffered for us collectively and for the pain He endured for each of us
individually, both in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. He bore all
with great humility and with an eternal understanding of His divine role and
purpose.
Those who will repent and forsake sin will find that His
merciful arm is outstretched still. Those who listen to and heed His words and
the words of His chosen servants will find peace and understanding even in the
midst of great heartache and sorrow. The result of His sacrifice is to free us
from the effects of sin, that all may have guilt erased and feel hope.”
My last story I have chosen to speak about is about the
purpose and reason of the mission of our Savior Jesus Christ. I speak
reverently about His suffering in the Garden.
“36 Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called
Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray
yonder.
37 And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee,
and began to be sorrowful and very heavy.
38 Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful,
even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me.
39 And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and
prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me:
nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” He came back after an our then
“42 He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if
this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.”
Walked back to his disciples, then “he left them, and went away again, and
prayed the third time, saying the same words.”
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, suffered the will of the
Father in all things. Only He truly understands what each of us is going
through because He felt that pain. Alma taught about this pain Christ felt and
why He needed to. “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.
12 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.”
Again quoting Boyd K. Packer, “The Atonement, which can
reclaim each one of us, bears no scars. That means that no matter what we have
done or where we have been or how something happened, if we truly repent, [the
Savior] has promised that He would atone. And when He atoned, that settled
that. …
“… The Atonement … can wash clean every stain no matter
how difficult or how long or how many times repeated”
Do we honestly believe that? Do we think the Atonement of
Jesus Christ can heal our hearts? Do we believe that our souls can be saved
because someone else already has come to save us? If not, please know that you
can receive help from your spouse, home teachers, priesthood leaders and Father
in Heaven. But if we do, then we need to live that belief. We need to allow
that change to come upon us. We need to have our sins be remitted by through
true and complete repentance. We have the right to do so and God wants us to
exercise that right.
In closing, I’d like to share a story from my life. I, like
many missionaries, grew up in the Church and enjoyed the life of Primary, Young
Men’s and other activities available as a young Latter Day Saint. As I neared
mission age however I started caring less about going to serve. I felt as
though I didn’t have a good reason to. About the time I turned 19, my bishop
started wanting to meet with me to help me prepare for a mission because he
knew I needed to go even if I didn’t know that. Being an arrogant teenager, I
told my bishop that I felt sincerely that I didn’t need to go. I could go to
school, get married and be happy while not going on a mission. He sort of
chuckled and basically told me that I must not understand repentance then and
from that point on in our interviews we studied what repentance was and why it
is important. We studied together about who Christ is and why he came. We read
scriptures and I thought, “well this is all neat but why should I have to go on
a mission?”
One of the meetings, my bishop shared this scripture from the Book
of Mormon with me.
“8 Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things
known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no
flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and
mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah.
9 Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he
shall make intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in
him shall be saved.
10 And because of the intercession for all, all men come
unto God; wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according
to the truth and holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which
the Holy One hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is
affixed, which punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the
happiness which is affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement--“
It was then that I realized how little of a knowledge people
have about Christ in this world. Without Him, no one can dwell in the presence
of God. No one can be clean. Because of Him we don’t need to feel the guilt and
burden and weight of the world on our shoulders that comes with carrying loads
of the stresses of life.
Christ has said, “28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” I have a firm testimony that He is
telling us the truth. I have felt the lightening of the load in my life.
This is why I am on a mission right now and why I want to
continue to do missionary work after the mission. I have felt the power of the
Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ and I feel it daily as I repent for big
and little things. I want others to feel this love. I want others to repent. I
want others to feel clean from the heartaches that sin can cause. I want them
to be lifted up and be baptized so they can receive the sanctifying power of
the gift of the Holy Ghost. I want to see my brothers and my sisters of this
eternal family of ours, gathered together for a family home evening in the
celestial kingdom of our Heavenly Father. He who knows all things and has
prepared for all things by using His holy and Heavenly Son, who is our Advocate
with the Father. I share this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
