Hello darling friends-
I really mean that. Each and every one of you are precious. I hope you know that and remember it every day. You are not just precious to me and all of your loved ones, but to that Father in Heaven who created your spirit and loves you more than you've ever loved anything or anyone in your life. I hope this challenge is helping you see that! I am seeing more than ever, the importance of living in that knowledge because if you don't you will be pulled towards other things, unhealthy things, to replace that solid, comforting feeling of KNOWING that you are a precious child of a Heavenly Father. You need to know where your value truly lies, so you don't try and find it in worldly places. You will never be truly satisfied or truly happy until you know who you are and feel that amazing love!
I hope you had some wonderful experiences praying to be someone's angel this week! I don't know if I was anyone's angel but I did find Hillarie's dogs' ball at the park she had lost the night before! Haha! And I know several of you were my angels this week with emails, notes in the mail and nice long talks in person. Thank you so so much! You truly were the Lord's hands carrying me through another difficult, yet truly beautiful and spiritual week. 5 points for all of you!!!! (I know you do it for more that points)! :) What would we do without earthy angels? I seriously don't even want to know... I am so glad there are so many who are willing to carry the light of Christ with them and share it with those they meet. Isn't that incredible how that happens? We each have our own light because we each have divine potential, and we combine that with the perfect light of Christ and become the tree for other's to feel his love. Wow. We aren't just the tree, so we are rooted in righteous principles and strength, but we can be a tree for others along the path and help them feel that love and light and peace when they need it most, in their trials.
How was your week of mediation? I loved it and really enjoyed adding it to my daily routine. I hope to be able to do 10 minutes in the morning and evening like the woman in the video we shared suggested. I'm really glad that we worked on mediation in the week building up to our week focusing on the Savior, because it has a lot to do with what I'd like to start off talking about today. I first really learned about mediation and about literally taking our burdens to the Lord when Liza passed away. Camille showed me how healing and freeing it can be to visit someone we trust and love in our mind and find peace. I used that concept several times and in slightly different ways that year, and then more recently, this week, my friend, Dave Petersen, who is doing this challenge with us, shared an idea with me that I will share with you in a second. Today I taught this very important and slightly abstract (not really though) concept to the little primary children at church through words and songs. This is pretty much what I told them, though I might get more detailed with you...
Can Heavenly Father hear your prayers when you just think them in your head? Yes! Can Jesus? YES! If you are thinking about Jesus, does he know that you are thinking about him? YES! Ok. What did Jesus do in the garden? Suffered for our sins and felt all the sadness, anger, disappointment, grief, sickness, pain, fear... everything we would ever feel in this life, he felt it for each one of us, in addition to suffering the consequences of our sins and paying the price for them so we don't have to. Why did he feel all these things? To help us! Because he loves us. Did you ever get hurt, like fall and scrape your knee and your friend said, "Oh! That happened to me once. That hurts! Here's what I did to make it feel better..." Doesn't it feel nice to have a friend who knows what you are going through? YES! Doesn't it feel nice to know that they can help you feel better? Well, we have a friend like that and it's Jesus, and guess what else... He is a GOD! He has all power and can help us in amazing ways! What if we went to him in the garden, in our minds, and brought him our troubles and gave them to him so he could help us fix them, or even just take them away from us? (I had this picture of Christ praying in the Garden of Gethsemane in my hands).
Picture the garden, maybe some grass with some trees in the center and Christ is praying at the base of one of the trees. We can walk up to him and tell him of our struggle, maybe even kneel down beside him, lean on him, get a hug from him! Imagine we are taking that hurt out of our hearts (I acted like I was pulling a long string out of my chest) and set it on the tree (or altar) in front of him and ask him if he can take that pain for us and he will say YES! He loves us that much and that's why he is there in the first place, to help us be happy in this life and lift our burdens, or take them! At this point I reminded them of the story in the Book of Mormon of Alma the Younger, and how he had been very wicked and an angel stopped him on the road one day and how it made him so scared that he passed out and was unconscious for 3 days. During that time we know that he did a lot of repenting and was forgiven and saved by the Savior! But that whole time his body was just lying on a bed, but in his mind AND HEART he was visiting the savior and that was REAL!!!!! (you can read this story here) Pretty incredible. (This actually reminds me of a great quote from Harry Potter, in the last book, when Harry dies momentarily and sees and visits with Dumbledore, who already died. Harry asks Dumbledore if this is real or if this is just in his head. And Dumbledore says, "Of course it's in your head Harry, but that doesn't mean it isn't real!" So true! Haha) I gave the children some more examples of things they can take to the Lord in the Garden and I told them of one idea that Dave gave me this week, which helped so much, was the idea of taking my son to the garden and turning him over to the Savior so the Savior can heal him and do amazing things with him, help him grow into a wonderful man, that I could never do, and then I can have that peace of knowing he is in good hands, I have done so much to help him already and I will be inspired to help him in the future, but Christ is the one who saves, the one who heals. What a relief it was to do that on Tues. night and also remembering that I TRUST CHRIST with my son. Look what he did with me! He fixed me, saved me, molded me, taught me, carried me. Why do I doubt that he can do that for my son? Of course he can! It's time to let go and stop being a control freak (ok- I admit it!). Dave said that this brought him so much peace and literally helped him sleep at night again. He TRUSTED the Lord and then found peace. He said he also found this works with so many other struggles, big and small. This is grace, getting his help every day in every thing! Take it all to him. He has already been there and suffered so we don't need to feel like we are adding to his burden. The work is done! He is glad to help. It's his life's purpose... to save us everyday! I testify that it works. YES INDEED!! I could never have survived my sister's suicide without him lifting my burdens. I feel more peace about my son, my family and myself. I love him so much for it.
After this part of the lesson, the kids sang this song called "Gethsemane." It is one of the most beautiful, powerful and tender songs I have ever heard. This video of the song is especially powerful with the video they added to it. I especially love the angel coming to comfort the Savior. I want to be that angel. Please watch this...
Lastly- we need to leave the garden. After we have given him our burden, we can go on with life with new joy and peace. We can help and serve others on their journey. We can count all the amazing blessing that we have and choose to be grateful for all the goodness around us! GET GOING! Share the light! Teach others how to come to Christ. Enjoy nature. Spend time with our families doing things we love. Christ is with us in all of this and everything is going to be ok. He is up to the task. I just love him so much. I am grateful for the burdens that have brought me to the tree in the garden with the Savior because the relationship with him is worth it and the knowledge that he is there and he is "mighty to save" is an extremely valuable thing to have. I treasure it!
So this week- as we walk towards Easter Sunday (and conference) focus on the Savior and his precious, powerful atonement. Think about his love for you and what it really means. Think about the times he has already help you. Those memories will help you trust him with even bigger burdens. Study his life and his death and his resurrection.Try to be like him. These are all ways that we "come unto Christ"
I will send out more emails this week with stories and testimonies of the Savior. Read those and give yourself points for reading those too!
Here is your SURVEY! https://docs.google.
Please fill it out tomorrow.
Have a great week developing your relationship with and growing your testimonies of Jesus Christ, the Light and Life of the World. He is the tree. :)
Lots of love!
Sarah
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