A friend of mine once asked me a couple of months ago, "What does the Atonement mean to you?"
At first, I thought, "That's easy, it means everything!"
Then I realized that I couldn't effectively communicate my feelings regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ .
I had to think about it a lot. I tried over and over to put it into definite and simple words, but they wouldn't come as easily as I thought they would, but with my Zone Leaders Workshop and a little inspirational Fireside from Lindsey Stirling(My mission allows me to rub shoulders with celebrities sometimes more than once!). I finally have my answer.
About a month before the Lindsey Stirling Fireside, our Zone Leaders set up a workshop for us to learn titled, "Lay it at the Saviors Feet". An awesome Sister Missionary(Sister Rowley) wrote about her own experience from it here.
When they asked us to think about our regrets and what we could have done better, I couldn't think about anything I honestly regretted, sure, things that I could have done better, but life is a work in progress!~
A verse of scripture that did come to mind was when Peter asked Jesus what John the Beloved would do,
"If I will that he[John] tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me." (John 21:22)In this case it said to me, "Well, what does it matter if I want someone else to take the spotlight or to be center stage? Right now I want you to follow me." (I realize it's a bit out of context and in reality Jesus was talking about how Peter was to follow the Savior in martyrdom, but at this time, that was what the verse was saying to me)
I pondered on that for a couple days. What does it mean to follow the savior?
The Atonement of Jesus Christ is something which strengthens me. It cleanses me of my sins and regrets. The Savior felt everything that we have felt, as it says in the Book of Mormon, "...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..." (Alma 7:12)
These are the facts of the Atonement but my friend had asked me, what the Atonement meant to me... which I was still struggling to put into words and as Albert Einstien said,
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."This is where Lindsey Stirling comes in.
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| Picture taken from mormon.org |
Let it be known, I now appreciate Lindsey Stirling. She is a fantastic public speaker. This past Wednesday, she came to the Visitors' Center(on her day off, I might add) to speak those who wanted to listen. There's a Deseret New's article on what happened 'here'.
Lindsey opened the fireside with this statement, "What does it mean to finish at the wrong finish line? Absolutely nothing."
She went on to relate to us one of her experiences as a cross-country runner in high school, in typical Lindsey flair(I can't really communicate that in plain text... So I'll just give a summary).
In this particular race, the men's and women's courses were right next to one another. She had been running near the front of the pack, yet she had lost sight of the lead runners. Soon she caught sight of the finish line and ran with all her might! Though to her dismay, she quickly found out that it was the men's finish and she had just led everyone who was following her to it.
There were many interpretations you could get out of the story but she went on to tell us about how our own definition of a finish line might be a little different from Gods definition for us.
Next, she told us about her experience in America's Got Talent, when she auditioned after thinking and praying long and hard about it.
She got past the auditions and in her own words said, "After that, I started attaching my happiness to doing well[in America's Got Talent], just getting to the next round, saying to my Heavenly Father, 'If I just make it to the next round, then I'll be happy'"
To finish her story, she told us about the end of her Live Television Debut. I don't remember the exact words which she used but it was heart-wrenching enough. The celebrity judges gave her 'the giant X' halfway through her performance then afterwards proceeded to tell her she would never amount to anything.
I'd read about her experience before she spoke to us but coming from her in person, it became a real event to me. I hurt for her.
Lindsey's confidence was shattered and she felt like she would never perform again. To finish her story, she related a quote from a movie, "Cool Runnings", (I've never seen it, but apparently it's super good stuff).
Coach Irv was a four-time Olympic gold medalist yet for his fifth, he cheated, was caught and had his medals stripped from him. When he was asked by his trainees years later why he cheated, he said about the medals and their confidence in themselves, "If you're not enough without it, then you're not enough with it."
Lindsey wanted us to understand that our sense of self-worth can't come from the world. We can't attach that self-worth to something which is transient.
She then told us about her service as a Sister Missionary.
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| Taken from Mormon.org |
"Confidence comes from the Spirit", she said, then she referenced D&C 121:45, which states,
"...let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God..."
You might be wondering, "Is he just including all these references to Lindsey Stirling so he can brag about it?"No, I am not.
I am including this because of what happened after the fireside which allowed me to state in simple terms what the atonement means to me.
You see, I haven't had much interaction with celebrities of high caliber(big surprise, right?). Well afterwards, she was basically mobbed (in the nicest sense of the word) by her besotted fans, who rushed up to her like children who had just heard that cotton candy was free at the Carnival for only five minutes.(I really wish I got a picture of that...). I stood back and watched.
What really surprised me was that Lindsey didn't act annoyed, didn't tense up, didn't do anything which told me that she was frustrated with her fans.
She did the exact opposite.
She posed patiently with each person. She tried to talk with them(sort of). She kept posing with people once she had been told that the Visitors' Center was closing. The lights were turned off and everybody was told to get going and even as she was leaving to the backstage, she still took pictures, apologizing profusely that she had to leave.
It was interesting. Yes, you can make the argument that she's a celebrity, she's just doing her job, but for me, it was the catalyst of my thought process.
As I was watching all of these people, a scripture came to mind about the Savior when he visited the people of America,
As Mormons, we are supposed to remember the Savior at all times and in all places, trying to be like him and do what he would do. Earlier in the fireside, she had referenced "The Lion King", when Mufasa came to Simba in a vision telling him,
"...he took their little children, one by one, and blessed them, and prayed unto the Father for them." 3 Nephi 17:21
Lindsey, whether she realized it or not, was emulating the Savior(from my viewpoint).
"You have forgotten who you are, and therefore, forgotten me."We are to remember that we are children of our Heavenly Father and that he loves us. His Son, Jesus Christ, came to the Earth not only to show us an example of how to live but to perform the Atonement, to make sure that we could return to our Father in Heaven.
From that, my mind shifted into high-gear, jumping from idea to idea like a kangaroo hyped-up on caffeine-
- As we remember who we are, we remember our Father in Heaven.
- We remember the Savior and try to be like him.
- Memories are important
- As we make choices and learn from the mistakes we remember, character is formed
- Confidence is gained as we follow the commandments and as we, "...let virtue garnish our thoughts..."
- The Atonement helps us change ourselves so that we can be confident in the presence of God.
- Missionaries are super-confident sometimes. (okay, pretty much all the time, at least to the public...)
- Eureka.
Then it made sense. The atonement means so much to me because I can choose. I make mistakes. I mess up. I trip and fall, then get back up.
The Atonement of Jesus Christ means I can make choices in confidence. I am free to act. I don't have to be afraid that I'll be shut out of the presence of God because I made a mistake. I know that as long as I am sincerely trying to move forward and take the appropriate steps of repentance, I can be confident before the Lord. I can't choose my consequences, true, but I can choose the best course of action according to my beliefs. I can make choices to determine my character and try emulate Jesus Christ. The Atonement means that I can one day stand before Heavenly Father and, "though [my] sins be as scarlet", because of Jesus Christ "[my sins] shall be as white as snow" Isaiah 1:18
It was a fantastic step forward for me~
So, yeah, it was good.~
In other news:
So not only was Wednesday a happy day, it was also a sad one; it was transfer meeting! My trainer, Elder Radford finished his two years of service and headed home. My trainee, Elder Elliott is training a brand new missionary, fresh from the MTC whose name is Elder Hamblin. I've included a picture of all four of us in one final shot... A lot of people whom I respected and looked up to finished their service on that day.
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| (Left to right)Elder Hamblin, Elder Radford, Me(!), and Elder Elliott |
This was the friend of mine who supplied the picture of Lindsey Stirling speaking at the Visitors' Center.
It's been a while since I've seen her so it was great!~
Due to a lesson which my leaders gave to us and a small fireside by Lindsey Stirling, I can say with confidence why the Atonement of Jesus Christ means so much to me.
Enjoy a complimentary video about the Atonement where the Apostles testify of Him!~
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