When
I was a young child, each Sunday my parents would send my brothers and sister
and I to a Lutheran church near our home in Iowa. One thing I remember very well was that every
week in children’s Sunday School we would recite a scripture together, John
3:16. It is the first scripture I ever
remember memorizing, and one I have never forgotten: For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. When I was 8 years old my family moved to
California. There the missionaries found
us and we joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I would occasionally hear this scripture
shared in our new religion, too, so I knew at a young age that it was an
important one. And it is.
Not
only is the Atonement a way that we can recognize Heavenly Father and Jesus’
love for us, but through it we can come to know of their very personal love for
each of us.
The
Atonement of our Savior covers the whole world and all people from the beginning
to the end of time. That can be pretty
overwhelming to think about. What we
need to remember is how personal the Atonement is.
Through
the Atonement each of our own individual circumstances are addressed. It covers each of our personal needs,
challenges, and possibilities.
We
recently held a Stake Standards Night where I sat on a panel which answered
various questions from the youth. One
question which was asked near the end of our discussion (I don’t remember it
exactly) was something like: What does
the Atonement mean? I answered the question extensively, but only in my
head, not where anyone else could hear it, and I regretted that afterward. So I’d like to answer that question now.
What
does the Atonement mean? It means
everything. The Atonement was an
intimate, personal experience in which Jesus came to know how to help each of
us individually. It means that no matter what I go through in my life, someone
understands. It means I never have to be
alone, that there is always someone I can talk to. It means that at every low
point in my life I have had a friend who listens and loves me unconditionally. It means that no matter what mistakes I make
there is a way to make things right again.
Three
years ago I slipped and fell on our icy driveway and broke my leg. As we waited
for the paramedics to transport me to the hospital, my oldest son, Allen, would
not leave my side. My whole family was
worried for me and upset about what had happened, but Allen had a deeper
understanding because he had broken his leg just one year before I did. He
understood the pain I was experiencing. He understood the frustration of
waiting in the emergency room. He
remembered the nervous hope that things could be fixed properly. He knew the
anxiety of waiting for surgery and the restlessness of being immobile. He knew
the recovery I would have to endure and the therapy I would need to go
through. My son understood my injury in
a more personal way because he had been through it before, he had experienced
it.
This
can be related to the Atonement, only on a much, much grander scale. Jesus has experienced all of our sorrows and
pains and sins and trials in a very personal way. He understands. He gives us hope.
Moroni
7:41 reads, “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that
ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his
resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in
him according to the promise.”
Elder
Bruce D. Porter said, “We all experience some level of adversity and
heartbreak. But having experienced tragedy, sickness, and disappointment in His
own life, the Savior knows how to strengthen us in such trials as well.
He is there not only when we cry out from the burden of sin but also when we
cry out for any other reason. Sometimes
we think of the power of the Atonement as something that works after this life,
as though it were something that applied only at the Judgment Day. But
that is not true doctrine. The redeeming power of Jesus Christ works
during our lives, day by day, moment by moment, as He gives us strength to
overcome, as He forgives us of sin, and as He brings us, through the Holy
Ghost, comfort, peace, and joy. My
prayer and hope is that we will discover the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in
our lives, that we will understand that the Atonement is not something
abstract.”
So
how can we do this? How can we understand
that the Atonement is not some abstract, general idea? How can we come to understand the intimate, personal
effects that the Atonement can have in our lives? We often speak of the Atonement in general
terms, about the sins and suffering of the entire world. But that’s not how we experience life. We experience things individually. That means that my Savior understood what I
felt when I was alone on the playground as a young child at school. He knows what it felt like when kids made fun
of me because my parents were Deaf. He
knew what it felt like when I had to suffer the consequence of poor decisions.
He even understands things like the disappointment of auditioning for the
school musical and not getting a part. He knows what I felt the day we discovered
that my infant daughter had cranial synostosis and would have to endure major
surgery to correct it – not only what I experienced but also how it was for my
husband, and my daughter, individually.
He experienced the different kinds of grief that came when I lost my dad
to cancer, and my friend to suicide. He understood the difficulty I had in
sending each of my kids off to kindergarten and the happy sort of heartache
that comes with sending older children off to serve missions. He knows my frustrations when I make mistakes
as I am continually trying to be a better wife or mother or sister or daughter
or friend. We all have examples from
every day of our lives, and the Savior knows it all. He’s been there. He’s experienced everything. I would not wish those pains and trials on
anyone, but the beautiful thing is that He loved me enough that he was willing to
experience those things for me, so he could understand. And He did this not only for me, but for each
one of us! My emotion in recalling these
experiences is not sadness but more of overwhelming gratitude for what He was
willing to endure for us.
It is
hard to imagine how the Atonement could be so personal, how the Savior could
really know each of us and our individual experiences so intimately. I love how Elder Merrill J. Bateman explained
this. He says, “The Pearl of Great Price
teaches that Moses was shown all the inhabitants of the earth, which were
“numberless as the sand upon the sea shore” (Moses 1:28). If Moses beheld
every soul, then it seems reasonable that the Creator of the universe has the
power to become intimately acquainted with each of us. He learned about
your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings.
He experienced mine. I testify that He knows us. He understands the
way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses. But
more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us if we come
to Him in faith.”
None of
us is perfect. Perfect people don’t need a Savior. The power of the Atonement
is that it saves us in our imperfections.
We are all works in progress.
Alma
7:11-12 says, “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. And he will take upon him death, that he may
loose the band 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.
Elder
John H. Groberg said, “I testify that no one has or ever will experience any
set of circumstances, be they disappointments, betrayal, pain, persecution,
suffering, or whatever, that cannot and is not swallowed up in the Savior! You can feel no hurt, emotional or physical,
that He has not already felt. There is
no combination of human emotions or physical illness or suffering that cannot
find refuge in the Savior’s sacrifice for us. He knows how to help us. He wants
to help us. Please let him."
Have you
ever seen a sign in a store that is undergoing remodeling? It usually says
something like, “Please excuse the mess, we’re growing”. I want that on a
t-shirt! “Please excuse the mess, I’m
growing!” It applies to everyone. This is what the Atonement is about for me.
This is where I know I can apply the Atonement every day. My life is not perfect, none of us are
perfect. We are always making mistakes, we are all broken. Our lives can be a mess, but we are also
always learning and growing through the things that we experience. We just need to look beyond the mess and see
the child of God that is growing in the middle of it. That’s what our Savior sees.
Our
prophet Thomas S. Monson has said that, “Our Heavenly Father … knows that we
learn and grow and become stronger as we face and survive the trials through
which we must pass. We know that there
are times when we will experience heartbreaking sorrow, when we will grieve,
and when we may be tested to our limits.
However, such difficulties allow us to change for the better, to rebuild
our lives in the way our Heavenly Father teaches us, and to become something
different from what we were – better than we were, more understanding than we
were, more empathetic than we were, with stronger testimonies than we had
before.”
I have a
testimony of the Atonement. I love my
Savior, Jesus Christ. It is through
personal experience that I count Him as my truest friend. He understands me and
my personal trials, experiences and heartbreak like no one else can. I am thankful that He loves me and every one
of us enough to help us through the “mess” of our experiences so that we can
continue to learn and grow and become more like Him.
