Fathers!

This Sunday, 19 June 2011, is a day that I am really looking forward to. That is because I get to mention another important person in my life. Yes, my mother is very important to me, but today I wish to talk about my father. That's right! It's Father's day this Sunday!

My father is just as important to me as my mother is to me, because there are things that my father was able to teach me and help me with that my mother just couldn't have done. It's not that my mother isn't a wonderful person. It's just... well, let's face it... I am a guy. There's only so much that a mother can teach her son.

While my mother was able to teach me about the gospel of Jesus Christ, my father was able to show me how to live so that I could be worthy to have the Priesthood, or the aurthority to act in God's name. He was also able to show me how I can use the Priesthood. Also, even though he didn't teach me much through words (that I remember), he did teach me many things through his example.

I will always remember times when he would accidentally let slip and blow his top, not for that reason, but for his responses after he would blow up. He always did his best to repair the damage done, whenever he could. He never was a man to hurt his family intentionally. If there was a time that he did, accidentally, hurt me, I knew that I could tell him. I love my father so much! Through his example, I hope I can be the best father to my children, later in my life.

Now, a little letter to my father:

Dad,

I love you so much! I am so grateful for the things that you taught me, even the things that I was happy and didn't understand. If there is anything that I would change, with what I know now, it would be to change myself and the things that I did and the ways that I responded. Thank you so much for being the best father to me that you knew how. Thank you for supporting me in the hardest time of my life. Thank you for supporting me on my mission. I love you so much!!!!

Now that y'all have read this, make a tribute to your fathers...

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

The Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ truly is amazing! Heavenly Father knew what He was talking about when He was creating the Plan of Happiness for us. He knew that we would make mistakes, so He knew that we would need a Savior to pay the price of our mistakes. Jesus Christ, our Savior, loved us so much that He was willing to fulfill our Father in Heaven's plan. Even Jesus Christ knew that this would require Him to come to earth (the same way we all come to earth). He also knew that it would require Him bleeding for us and dying for us on the cross. He also knew that He could have chosen to not do it. But he chose to do it. He loves us and He knew that it was required to fulfill Heavenly Father's work and glory, which is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)

Yes, Jesus Christ knew this. Yes, He died for us that we might become clean again and return to live with our Heavenly Father again. But it was not just for the price of our sins and mistakes, it was our to help us through our pain, so that we could truly be happy again!


How great is this plan that our Father in Heaven has created for us!


I bear personal testimony that the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ can help us with pain! A week ago today, I made a grave mistake with my driving. A simple mistake as not looking when changing lanes, in a construction area. Because I forgot to look, I hit a dump truck, and, as a result, the car came away with a bumper dangling on the driver side.


I made a mistake, yes. But I also felt the pain for the damage that I caused. I honestly feel that if I wasn't on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and that if I wasn't a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I would have struggled worse and felt worse and handled the situation I was in a lot worse. But because I know about our Savior's healing power, I knew that I could go through this week with his help, even if no one else could understand my pain.


Because the Savior was willing to bleed for us, even though it probably wouldn't have been his first choice, He can comfort us in ways that no one else could. He can touch others around us to help us in ways that they wouldn't be able to, if he didn't go through our pains before.


I am so grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who loved us enough to provide us with a plan in which He made it possible to return home to Him. I am grateful for an elder brother who loved us enough to suffer for us and go through the pains that we have gone through, are going through, and will go through. I am grateful to "have been born, as Nephi of old, to goodly parents who love the Lord" and to "have been taught and [I] understand, that we must do as the Lord commands" (We'll Bring the World His Truth). I am grateful for the opportunity that Heavenly Father has given me to serve a full-time mission and to serve Him for two years. I am grateful to be surrounded by people who have the same values that I have.