The Last Dance

August 12, 2024

Hey yall, my apologies for not sending emails these last couple of weeks. I've been contemplating my relationship with the Savior and my upcoming release as his representative. These last few weeks have brought with it joy, pain, frustration, sorrow, weakness, and happiness. I've said goodbye to old friends made some new ones and have been enduring to the end. I can't believe the end is here it's crazy how we've talked about it the whole time and now it's actually here. In the mission field we call missionaries going home that they are "dead" or "Dying" and as I've been reflecting on the meaning of this my mind has been drawn to the thought of the life ministry death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ.

There are a couple verses in Mark I would like to share with you that pertains to the very point I've reached on my mission.

Mark 14:32-36

32 And they came to a place which was named Gethsemane: and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here, while I shall pray. 33 And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy;

34 And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.

35 And he went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

In that most burdensome moment of all human history, with blood appearing at every pore and an anguished cry upon His lips, Christ sought Him whom He had always sought—His Father. “Abba,” He cried, “Papa,” or from the lips of a younger child, “Daddy.”

This is such a personal moment it almost seems a sacrilege to cite it. A Son in unrelieved pain, a Father His only true source of strength, both of them staying the course, making it through the night—together. Jeffery R. Holland

To earn forgiveness, one must make restitution. That means you give back what you have taken or ease the pain of those you have injured.

But sometimes you cannot give back what you have taken because you don’t have it to give. If you have caused others to suffer unbearably—defiled someone’s virtue, for example—it is not within your power to give it back.

There are times you cannot mend that which you have broken. Perhaps the offense was long ago, or the injured refused your penance. Perhaps the damage was so severe that you cannot fix it no matter how desperately you want to.

Your repentance cannot be accepted unless there is a restitution. If you cannot undo what you have done, you are trapped. It is easy to understand how helpless and hopeless you then feel and why you might want to give up, just as Alma did.

The thought that rescued Alma, when he acted upon it, is this: Restoring what you cannot restore, healing the wound you cannot heal, fixing that which you broke and you cannot fix is the very purpose of the atonement of Christ. When your desire is firm and you are willing to pay the “uttermost farthing,” the law of restitution is suspended. Your obligation is transferred to the Lord. He will settle your accounts.

I repeat, save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ. Boyd K. Packer

I know that Jesus is the Christ! I'm forever grateful for the opportunity he gave me to be on my mission!

I know this isn't the end, it's only the beginning!

Message me for homecoming details! Love yall!

TILL NEXT TIME THIS IS YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD UTE FAN SAYING GO UTES AND ILL SEE YALL IN THE NEXT ONE PEACE