“Come, Follow Me”

živijo!

Not much happened this week.  It would have been nice to know that it was “Cancel on the Sestri” week, but now we will know for next year.  I am sure that people had a good reason for why they were busy.  It just seemed like we had such good plans at the beginning of the week, and then at the end of the week we thought, “What happened to everybody?”

We did have one lesson though with a wonderful lady who is less active.  We love meeting with her and she has such a strong testimony of Christ, but right now she is just “doing her own thing”.  We are really trying to remind her of her testimony and bring her back to church.  We were sharing with her a talk from General Conference in 2007.  It is a great talk by President Monson about how the Savior lives (April 2007, “I Know That My Redeemer Lives!”).  It was beautiful and while she was reading it, I just thought about what it really means, the knowledge that the Savior lives.  It doesn’t just mean that we will live forever; it doesn’t just mean that we will have peace after this life.  It means that we can have all joy and happiness in this life.  For me it means that not only did He die for me, but He also lives and lived on this earth for me. 

I was studying this concept more in personal study this week.  I thought, it’s not just that the Savior died for us, but also that He lived His life every day in such a way that we have a template to follow.  He provided a living example of how we should live our lives.  This thought has really touched me because I like to think that every day of the Savior’s life He recommitted to living for us, and thought about each and every one of us.  That kind of commitment can only be motivated by a perfect love.  It is incredible to me that someone would be willing to do that for me.  I found a really great scripture, Romans 5:10-11.  It just re-emphasizes this point. 

While I have always known this gospel was true, sometimes it was hard for me to feel a personal connection to Christ.  It is easier for me, sometimes, to feel a connection to Heavenly Father, but I think this week I really gained a stronger testimony of the role of the Savior in my life.  I realized that it is only because of His sacrifice that I have the relationship that I have with my Heavenly Father!  That is something I would never give up, and I don’t understand how anyone lives without that relationship, it brings me so much joy and strength every day.

I know that all of us have much to learn about what our Savior did for us, but I also know that there is nothing preventing us from deepening that knowledge and testimony today!  There is no job, show, meeting, or obligation more important than setting aside time to get to know our Savior better.  Because none of these things can bring us more joy, peace, and soul enlarging love and understanding than we receive when we get to know our Savior.  I hope you all have a wonderful week and take some time to prayerfully study and build your relationship with the Savior.

Sestra Brown