Good morning brothers and sisters,
I am so happy to be able to speak to all of you today. My mission was by far the hardest two years of my life, but it was the most rewarding two years of my life. I learned many things on my mission. I learned how to love others with the love of Christ, how to serve God with everything I have, and many other things. I also learned how to sacrifice all that I have. Such as sacrificing my education, a job, my friends and family. But, the most important thing I learned is the greatest sacrifice: the atonement of Christ.
I thought I knew all I needed to know about the atonement before my mission, but I learned way more while serving my mission. Afterall, when your mission presidents father-in-law is Bruce R McConkie, you will learn way more about every doctrinal subject. More than you think you could. For those who don’t know, Bruce R McConkie was an apostle for the Church from 1972 to 1985, and was known for his powerful talks and knowledge of the gospel.
My experiences on my mission truly gave me a different insight to the role the atonement plays in our lives. It helped me understand how vital it is to our daily lives. The atonement is not something Heavenly Father wants us to save for a rainy day. In fact, He wants us to use it every day. He wants us to use it all the time. We make mistakes every day and we are prone to sin. There is not a single day that goes by, where we don’t sin. However, Heavenly Father gave us the opportunity to repent of our sins and come closer to Him.
The atonement is the suffering Christ went through in the Garden of Gethsemane and the pains He bore on the cross. As we understand, the atonement was the sacrifice Christ made for our behalf. Sometimes we fail to comprehend everything the atonement encompasses. The atonement allows us to become clean through the blood of Christ. We can be forgiven of our sins by both Christ and by man. And because of the atonement and resurrection of Christ, we will someday be made perfect. Our mental and physical disabilities will be gone and we can be made whole. All this because of our Savior.
In my own experience, the most important part of the atonement to remember is that we can become new people as we repent and use the atonement. To expound on this, I want to use a few examples from the scriptures.
The first one is Alma the Younger. As we know, Alma the Younger went about destroying the Church. He was leading people astray and preaching false doctrine. However, as he went about destroying the Church, an angel came to him and told him to repent and he was struck dumb. We have to remember that we usually won’t have an experience like this, however, we can be changed the same way Alma was changed. A couple days later, Alma awoke and said in Mosiah 27:24, “I have repented of my sins, and have been redeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.” I love this scripture and the power in his testimony. He truly had been converted of the Lord and proclaimed it to everyone he could proclaim it to.
He continues on to say in the next two verses, “And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.”
These two verses show us that we must be changed through the atonement. We must become righteous. I love the deeper understanding we can get as we understand the change we must have in order to truly draw closer to God. We must have the inner desire to grow and love. Alma and the sons of Mosiah ended up being some of the greatest missionaries in the Book of Mormon. All because of this single incident, they converted thousands of people.
As we consider this mighty change of heart, we must also consider the other thoughts that Alma had during this time. Many years later, as he is describing this event to his son in Alma 36, he says, “I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.” It is important for us to remember the things we are taught. We can’t and won’t have a change of heart, unless we remember our past mistakes and strive not to do them again. This doesn’t mean that we must dwell on our sins, as Alma continued and said, “And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.” He couldn’t remember his pains anymore, and he wasn’t harrowed up by the memory of his sins. Or in other words, his past sins didn’t stress him out. He still remembered them, but he didn’t allow them to negatively impact him.
We too must remember the things we are taught and repent of our sins. As we do so, we will be like Alma and will not be harrowed up by the memory of our sins. Imagine the great feeling that can come upon us, if we remember and repent. We must forsake our sins and go forth doing good. The Lord knows we will continue to fall. He knows that we will make mistakes, but if we do as Alma did, we will not be pained by our sins and transgressions.
Another example I would like to use is Saul, who later became Paul. He, like Alma, went about persecuting the saints and destroying the Church in Acts 9. He went about preaching against Christ and against His gospel. However, we see again that Heavenly Father had other things in store for Saul. While traveling on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul and told him to go to the city. When he arrived in the city, he ended up being baptized and started to preach the word. We read in Acts 9:20, “And straightway he preached Christ in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God.” Isn’t it amazing, how he just went from persecuting the Church to preaching about Christ? His conversion shows us that the atonement can change us. We can be redeemed through the atoning blood of Christ.
The story of Paul teaches us that there is always hope. There is always opportunity for us to change and grow. However, we must be open to that change. We must give up dangerous habits, in order to be saved by the atonement. We have to follow the counsel given to us in Mosiah 3:19, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”
We have to get rid of the natural man, which consumes everyone. We have to turn away from the temptation and the evil things of the world. We have to turn towards the righteous things in life. As it says, we need to become as a child. We must become humble and full of love, we have to submit our will to Heavenly Father. As we do these things, Heavenly Father can and will work on us. He will help us become stronger and help us strengthen our testimonies.
I can name plenty more people in the Book of Mormon and Bible, however, I think that would take us all day. There are countless stories in these scriptures with people who used the atonement of Jesus Christ to their benefit. They saw a change that needed to be done and they ran with it. They looked for ways to improve and they did everything in their power to rid themselves of all uncleanliness. They got rid of their bad habits and turned towards God. And we can too. That’s what I did on my mission.
I know you were probably all waiting for me to share my experience. When I first arrived on my mission, I wasn’t getting along with my companion or the other elders. There was a lot I needed to do to grow and change. It’s important to remember that repenting and using the atonement doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing something extremely bad. Sometimes it can just be bad habits that you need help overcoming. That was my problem. I had bad habits I needed to get over.
Within the first few weeks of my mission, my mission president wanted to honorably release me to come home. Going home from the mission at only one month is not something any missionary dreams of. I didn’t want to go home. I had just sacrificed so much after coming home from Vegas and returning back out on my mission. There was a lot of stuff I needed to do.
The one thing I am grateful is a mission president who saw something in me and saw what I was capable of. My mission president saw my potential and was not ready to release me. He wanted me to use the atonement. He gave me a second chance and a third chance and tenth chance. I thought I would be released early multiple times on my mission. I just hadn’t quite gotten to where I needed to be.
As the months went on, I continued to improve. I used the atonement of Christ and I put it into my life. I was striving to improve and become the person that Heavenly Father wanted me to do. I started to look for ways to change and get along with my companions and the other elders. All I wanted to do was show myself and those around me that I was capable of being a great leader and being a great missionary.
Ten weeks before my mission ended, my mission president called me in for an interview. He confirmed my fears that I would probably be a junior companion for the rest of my mission. He told me that I was a great elder, but I just hadn’t been doing what I needed to do. He told me to go one week. After one week, I needed to try and go two weeks. I need to take it one week at a time and just try to have one almost perfect week and then two and so on. I started to turn towards the Lord more often. I knew He could help me and that He would be able to get me where I needed to be.
For the next six weeks, I did everything I could to change. I wanted to show my Heavenly Father and those around me that I was capable of change. I was wanting to show people that I could do it. And I did it.
Right before my last transfer, I got called into my mission president’s office. I figured it had to be a good interview because I hadn’t done anything too stupid. He explained to me that I had in fact been doing good. He told me that I was doing good. Then he extended the offer for me to be a district leader for my last transfer. I, of course, happily accepted. And for my last month, I was able to help those in my district and be an example to the other elders. I was happy to be able to teach them, help them, and grow with them.
I share this story because I want people to know that the atonement can change someone’s life. I don’t think anyone in my mission would have thought I would be a district leader when I first came in. I was immature and was not leadership material. However, as I realized what I could become and saw the potential in me, I decided I wanted to do better things. I utilized the atonement to the best I could.
I know the atonement is there for all of us to use. I have been able to use it to draw closer to our Heavenly Father. It’s meant to be taken into our lives. We should embrace the atonement. As we make mistakes, we will be forgiven through the atonement. Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help and to ask for forgiveness. Our Heavenly Father wants us to use this gift He has given us. I know I have been forgiven as I have repented and have strived to become a better person. I challenge all of you to ask for forgiveness and draw closer to Heavenly Father through the atonement. Christ did not suffer for nothing.
I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to Him. He loves us so much that He sent His only Begotten Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, to suffer and atone for our sins. I know that the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ and that it was translated by Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God. I know Joseph Smith restored the gospel today and that he was a prophet of God. I know President Russell M Nelson leads and guides the Church today. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thank you for reading!! Love you all!
