Live it to Learn it...

A while ago I was talking to someone and they told me, "Oh, I don't have a testimony of that so I don't do it!

It was hard for me not to say something to them. All I could think was, You have to do it to get a testimony about it! How does not doing it help you in any way? You will never have a testimony about, let's say paying tithing, until you start paying it and see the outcome. If you don't pay it you aren't magically going to start understanding it and it's blessings.

Another thing we talked about was how does understanding the Atonement help you in your trials?
How can knowing that Christ have felt what you are feeling help you?

For me, it was huge when I grasped this. For so long I felt alone. No one understood me, no one knew what I was going through, no one cared. When it all sunk in that HE knew how I felt, He knew exactly what I was going through, He was there for me when no one else was, He could truly feel my pain and heartache,  it was as if a weight was lifted. I didn't feel alone any more. I will always have someone who knows and understand all, even if I can't put into words how I feel. Knowing that he knows how you feel doesn't make the trial go away. For me, it feels as if instead of me carrying this burden alone, he is sharing it with me. He is there with me and helps me as much as he can without removing the trial.

Several years ago my daughter, Em, had to have a blood test done. She was only 3 at the time. I can't remember how many people it took to hold her down. She was screaming, crying and was scared to death. It was the first time I truly wished I could take her place. Give me the pain, I would take it for her, don't make her suffer. Even though we still have to go through the pains and trials in this world Christ is there with us, wishing he could once again take our place. He already did in Gethsemane. He paid for our sins and felt our pain, even though we have to feel the pain too.

He truly is the source of peace in this chaotic world.

I loved the Visiting Teaching message this month and I'm grateful that I volunteered to give it! (which I NEVER do)!

“The Savior is the source of true peace,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Even with the trials of life, because of the Savior’s Atonement and His grace, righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace.” Understanding that Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace can help us find inner peace and increase our faith in Him.

Jesus Christ said: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Bearing testimony of that truth, Linda S. Reeves, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, said: “The Lord has been merciful to me and has helped make my burdens light. He has helped me to feel great peace.”