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The first part of my talk was Zion-Grace's story that you can read by clicking here.
While this has been one of the most difficult experiences it has also turned out to be one of the sweetest and
I wouldn't trade it for the world.
Someone once said that “Pain is inevitable but misery is optional”
In the short 35 years that I have been here on earth I have learned that everyone has their own set of trials.
There are no escaping trials. I have yet to meet anyone who has been able to make it through this life without
a set of difficult circumstances that they have had to go through. And for the most part everyone that I have talked
with are so grateful that they have their set of trials and not the trials that so and so has.
I have also learned that every set of trials that I have been given by my Father in Heaven has not only strengthened
me but has prepared me to successfully overcome the next set of even more difficult trials.
I also have gained an understanding that these sets of trials were one of the reasons why I choose to come down
to earth.
As a potter I have come to intimately understand the analogy used in the scripture about clay in the potters hands.
For a lump of clay to reach its full potential it must be willing to allow the potter to take it through a series
of steps. If clay had nerves to feel each step would be increasingly painful but necessary to reach its full potential.
If the clay submits to the will of the potter it can actually be a very fluid and relatively quick process. But
I have also had lumps of clay resist the steps which has lengthened out the process and made it more difficult.
Hence the wisdom of the scripture found in Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
I have also learned that most importantly of all I do not need to go through these trials alone.
It is only when I have chosen to go through trials alone and try and overcome them by myself, that I have felt
despair and misery.
But each time I have humbled myself and accessed the Atonement of my elder Brother Jesus Christ I have been guided
through each of the difficult stretches of this path I am on back to my Father in Heaven.
Richard G. Scott recently taught “your understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide
much-needed strength and capacity in your life. It will also bring confidence in times of trial and peace in moments
of turmoil”.
I truly stand all amazed at the many gifts that the Atonement of Jesus Christ offers to me and would like to share
some of the insights I have gained in my life about the atonement and how it has brought peace in my life during
this very difficult trial.
1.First and foremost is the opportunity it affords me to be cleansed of all my sins so that I might be able to
return to the presence of my Father in Heaven and dwell with him and Zion Grace again. In Moses 6:59 it says “...ye
must be cborn again into the kingdom of heaven, of dwater, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the
blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and eenjoy the fwords of geternal life in
this world, and eternal life in the world to come...”
2.Second that it provides me the ability to become pure in heart. King Benjamin taught Mosiah 3:19 that we “...becometh
a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a jchild, ksubmissive, meek, humble, patient,
full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth
submit to his father.”
3.Grace for infants. In D&C 74:7 it says “But little achildren are bholy, being csanctified through the datonement
of Jesus Christ...” And in D&C 137:10 we are taught “...all achildren who die before they arrive at the byears
of accountability are csaved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.”
4.That He may know how to best succor us. President Bateman said “The Atonement was an intimate, personal experience
in which Jesus came to know how to help each of us.” and in Alma 7:11-12 we learn “...he will ctake upon him the
pains and the sicknesses of his people.” so he would know “… how to succor his people” (Alma 7:12)
5.The resurrection of Zion-Grace and our family. Joseph Smith said “You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction
of nurturing this child, after its resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of its spirit.” I will add my
prayer to that of Joseph F Smith who said “O! God help me to live and be worthy to join my innocent children in
their home with thee!”
After we told Spencer and Natalie about Zion-Grace I asked them and Elizabeth if I could say a family prayer. During
that prayer I specifically asked that we might be able to access the healing power of the atonement. I immediately
felt the most wonderful peace wash over my body. The sadness was still very much there but it was a peaceful sadness.
It was a sadness that I could bare. Each time since that moment when I have felt the grief wash over me I have
prayed to my father to help me to feel of his love and access the healing and comforting aspect of the atonement
and each time I have felt his loving arms surround me and fill me with love and peace.
I know that the Atonement is real and that Jesus Christ was literally resurrected. I know that our Father in Heaven
knows each one of us and loves us more than we can ever imagine. And most of all I know that while Zion-Grace's
body lies in front of me her spirit is very much alive and waiting for the resurrection when she will receive
a perfect body and we will have the opportunity to raise her.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
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