Importance of the Atonement

 

 

So this week was a really rough one. A family in our ward had marriage problems when I got here and the couple split even though they were sealed. She left and was living with her boyfriend in another city. Her oldest son has had drug problems but stayed here with his dad. They found him dead on Tuesday from suicide.

Turns out that day we were next door. Teaching about the importance of the Atonement in our lives. Right after we left, the neighbors were called over to help try and revive him but he was already gone.

Stopped by the church to see the family. I walked up to the mom, a great lady who was just a little lost. She hugged me like she was never going to let go. the ward here sadly rejected her for her sins. I saw her son, an 18 year old, and I can't even imagine what they were going through.

 

After the funeral, we went and sat down in their tiny house to talk to them. All they had was a mattress. As she began to talk, she spoke of her sons desire to help the family get back together and how her prayer to the lord to see if what she was doing was correct, was drastically answered by her sons death.

As I looked at her, I just listened as she talked and talked and talked. At then end she looked at me and said that she felt at peace because she was going to make the necessary changes to come back but didn't feel like she could. I told her, "Your value is not measured by how many times you fall but rather how many times you stand up after you fall." I learned through the Spirit that night that it was true. 

It doesn't matter what you have done. The Atonement is available to everyone. As we finished the lesson we sang God Be With You Til We Meet Again. The spirit was so strong. I stumbled through tears in the closing prayer because I felt the son's spirit with us and the Holy Ghost as well. 

 

On Sunday I gave a talk about this very concept, Jesus Christ overcame the Fall, He overcame it all. He is our Savior and our King and I am so grateful that I have finally come to understand.

 

Love,

Hermana Farner