Why Do We Need a Savior?

I was asked to give this talk in my new church ward. Here it is.
Why do we need a Savior?
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters. I’ve been asked to give my perspective on the question “Why do we need a Savior?” this morning for my talk. I started by asking myself what is a savior. A savior is a person who saves something or someone from danger, or one who brings salvation.
President Henry B. Eyring said “Our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent His Only Begotten Son to be our Savior. He knew that in mortality we would be in grave danger, the worst of it from the temptations of a terrible adversary. That is one of the reasons why the Savior has provided priesthood keys so that those with ears to hear and faith to obey could go to places of safety.”

After Adam and Eve broke God’s commandment not to eat from the tree of knowledge and were forced from the garden of Eden and cut off from God’s presence forever we’ve been in danger. We inherited their exile.

President Ezra Taft Benson said “When our Heavenly Father placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did so with the purpose in mind of teaching them how to regain His presence. Our Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen condition.”

We are cut off from our Heavenly Father’s presence, but thankfully, He knew this was going to happen as he knows all things, and He had a plan, He gave us a Savior. Articles of Faith 1:3 – “We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”
Elder Dalin Oaks said “The world needs a Savior. All people need to be cleansed from the effects of sin and to return to the presence of God.”
We are full of flaws, born of imperfections, and God knew this and he knew we would sin again and again. Heavenly Father knew we’d need to be clean to live with Him again, so He sent a Savior to sacrifice himself for our sins, for our mistakes. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22).

I know the pain of my own mistakes. The hurt I feel when I make those mistakes and break God’s commandments is painful. I couldn’t imagine feeling what our Savior felt; all the pain, all the hurt, all the sins of every person that will ever exist all at the same time and doing so willingly to fulfill the plan of salvation, to be our Savior. “For it is expedient that an atonement should be made … , or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement … an infinite and eternal sacrifice” (Alma 34:9–10).

Jesus gave his life for all of us not only to do Heavenly Father’s will for the plan of salvation but I think to culminate his teachings around universal love, tolerance, forgiveness, and pacifism. We need Jesus as our Savior so we can be saved and return to live with Heavenly Father. 1 Nephi 13:1 – “…that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.”
Elder David A. Bednar said “The Savior has suffered not just for our iniquities but also for the inequality, the unfairness, the pain, the anguish, and the emotional distresses that so frequently beset us.”

He willingly and passively gave up His life without resisting or fighting His killers. He told the truth and exposed corruption and evil, but did not resist or fight it physically, as He had advised many times in his teachings. “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

Jesus lived His entire life by example, including His death. His very death is His final lesson on achieving salvation through sacrifice. Jesus purpose as our Savior was to bind up the brokenhearted, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27; to intercede for us with God so we could return to our Heavenly Father, John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”; and He is to give rest to our weary souls. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matthew 11:29

C.S. Lewis said “He died not for men, but for each man. If each man had been the only man made, He would have done no less.”

Our individual salvation is not something that is a one-time deal; like boom you’re saved and DONE! Our individual salvation is and will be an ongoing process until we die because we will continue to fall and sin until we die. This is why there is the process of repentance. "You may in time of trouble think that you are not worth saving because you have made mistakes, big or little, and you think you are now lost. That is never true! Only repentance can heal what hurts. But repentance can heal what hurts, no matter what it is." - President Boyd K. Packer
Even President Henry Eyring said “Death is not the end; it is but one more step in a great forward march made possible by the redemption wrought by the Savior. This is the spirit of true science - constant and eternal seeking.”

Salvation doesn’t have to be some huge moment, it is a journey. Most of us will move towards it slowly, day by day, moment by moment. Elder Randall K. Bennett said “We fail only if we fail to take another faithful step forward.” We need to learn to listen to our hearts instead of our egos, to choose love over hate, or when we sacrifice instead of take, or when we our selfless instead of consumed by our own desires, when we choose the right without hesitating that is when our on-going journey towards Salvation takes a step forward. The more we focus on doing what is good and right the easier it will become to do good and make right. “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.... But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6, 8)

Also President Boyd K. Packer stated, “The mercy and grace of Jesus Christ are not limited to those who commit sins either of commission or omission, but they encompass the promise of everlasting peace to all who will accept and follow Him and His teachings. His mercy is the mighty healer, even to the wounded innocent.”
My last Sunday with the 2nd Pickerington Ward I was asked to sub in the primary for one of the 6 year old classes and the kids were learning a song for the Easter sacrament meeting. I was truly moved by the Spirit as they sung Gethsemane, Jesus Loves me. They sung with such a solemn reverence that only such little honest innocent hearts can do. This song simply puts so many reasons as to why Jesus was our Savior and why we so desperately needed him.

Song

Jesus climbed the hill to the garden still.
His steps were heavy and slow.
Love and a prayer took Him there
To the place only He could go.

Gethsemane. Jesus loves me.
So He went willingly, to Gethsemane.

He felt all that was sad, wicked, or bad
All the pain we would ever know.
While His friends were asleep He fought to keep
His promise made long ago.

The hardest thing that ever was done
The greatest pain that ever was known
The biggest battle that ever was won
This was done by Jesus, the Fight was won by Jesus.

Gethsemane, Jesus loves me.
So He gave His gift to me, in Gethsemane .

I’d like to close with my testimony, I know this church is true, studying for this talk, searching the scriptures, the doctrine, and the ensign; I was enriched by the word of God and it brought me comfort and peace. I know the scriptures are true. I know Jesus is our Savior.
I leave this with you humbly in the name of God’s son and our savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Engaged But No Closer to Married

We got engaged Valentine's Day weekend. Cliché I know, but it is a funny story.
He made steak, shrimp, twice baked potatoes, baked asparagus, and for dessert there were chocolate covered strawberries.
Since he used the indoor grill he kept setting off the smoke alarm so the fired department came twice.
My daughter thought the 6'6" fireman was HOT!!!
The first time they came out he hadn't proposed yet.
The first time he proposed he did with a ring pop. It was cute! And the girls' had told me a real ring was coming later, so I was cool.
The second time the fire department came out he had proposed with the ring pop and they thought that was funny and sweet.

After dinner, he took me into his grandma's in-law suite to do the real proposal.
It was box inside a box deal, there were a total of 15 boxes.
I was getting tired of all the boxes, but each box had pictures and quotes from facebook from our relationship.
and he had a poem he got on-line that was geek love poem that he had me read.
The ring is an antique looking blue diamond accented with white diamonds and hearts on the side in white gold.
It's beautiful and it was a sweet well thought out proposal.
He said his Dad proposed to his Mom the same way.
I said Yes.

All the kids were there and they put the video on facebook.

We've been together 10 months now and we still have no wedding date set.
We wanted May 4th since it's international star wars day and I thought he could remember that as our anniversary;
But his 2nd wife won't sign the divorce papers.
It's getting ridiculous.
They've been separated since Dec 2011/Jan 2012.
She lives in a different state.
She has a live in boyfriend or something like that.

We've sent her the papers 4 times now.
She holds on to them for weeks, loses them, sends them back with "corrections".
He has no assets, no money, nothing for her to take.
I think she's just being a pain in his ass because she can be.
It's frustrating.

If we could move forward and start making wedding plans I think it would help with some of the kids' anxiety.
And help with some of his stress.
We've sent the papers back one more time and if she doesn't sign them this time we have to get and pay for an actual lawyer.

I'm getting just exhausted from all the ex wife drama!!!

The Wacky, Weird, and Werewolf

So me and my geeky guy went to see the Force Awakens, he was practically vibrating with excitement.
He made us go to the mall at 6:45, I kept telling him the movie didn't start until 7:50.
He kept hearing 7:20, sheesh.
I had already spent 5 hours at the mall with his kids because it was his daughter's birthday weekend.
We got her nails done and his other 2 got pedicures for the 1st time.
She forgot to get a birthday dress for her party the next day.
So we had enough time to go buy a dress and we didn't even miss the previews!

This family is NEVER on time to ANYWHERE!
it's insane!

I wake the middle girl up 2 hours before we are supposed to leave and she's still the last one ready.
She's the last one to do anything.
She is SLOW doing everything.
She never finishes her food.
She wanted Mexican food, she ordered a chicken sandwich.
She leaves unfinished food EVERYWHERE!
My kid found an unfinished turkey sandwich tucked in the back pocket of my passenger seat of my car, GROSS!

And they ALL bite!!!!
No that is NOT a typo, lol.

The oldest girl says she's part werewolf.
We were sitting in an old church on a tour and it's all quite and peaceful.
She puts her head on my shoulder all sweet and innocent like and picks up my arm and just bites me HARD!
And I was like, OMG, as quiet as I could, what was that for, and she goes, a love bite to accept you into our pack!!!
LOL!

The boy is a too funny.
He loves shoes as much as my kid does.
The 2 of them go into a shoe store and I can't get them to leave.
He can't tell girl tennis shoes from boys tennis shoes.
My daughter had to go this section is for vagina's and this one is for penis'.
I don't blame him for being confused. The crazy colors do make it hard to tell and it's not like it was clearly labeled.
He will spend ages polishing and scrubbing cleaning his tennis shoes.
He wanted a $200 pair of tennis shoes and another pair of $300 work boots, he doesn't work!
You ask him to do chores and he looks like you as if he's suddenly gone deaf and mute.

I do love all 3 of them. I really do.
Quirks and all, and believe me they are quirky kids.
My man is all weird too.
I think that is why we are so perfect.
A perfect wacky, weird, and totally (werewolf) well-suited family.
Wait till my dad tells the kids the wolf story!!!

Love and Star Wars

Well, it has been awhile, and I have a new boyfriend, like around the time I last wrote.
It's going good. He is a HUGE Star Wars fan!!!!
He is my kind of geeky, lol.
I am totally in love with him.

He has 3 teenagers, 2 girls and a boy.
He does live 2.5 hours away.
So it is hard to get to go see him.
I have joined snapchat and instagram.
My kid was very proud of me.

His mother passed away at the beginning of October so it has been crazy busy.
His grandmother just turned 92.

His youngest daughter is turning 16 in December and wants a kitty.
She did want a baby sibling, but I told her I'm fixed and she quickly recovered with I want a kitty!!!

He RUBS MY FEET!!!
Now that's a keeper!

He gets me flowers every time I come to visit.
Lily's this last time.
Wild flowers before that.
Roses the first time and I told him I don't like roses and he remembered!

He is funny.
He is my pumpkin!

The kids can be exhausting.
There's always something going on.
My kid is in college so it's a different pace with teenagers.
I had forgotten how much chaos there is.
But they are good kids and for the most part they get along.

I'm super happy!!!!!

We have had many adventures together.
I will try to post a few here soon.

Saying Goodbye to a Good Man, Dadaw

It's always hard to say good bye. It seems even more difficult when you are saying good bye to the last of a generation.
The kid's great grandpa, her Dadaw, past away at 85.
There's only one other great grandparent left.

Dadaw was a good man.
He grew up in a different time.
His childhood home had no electricity, running water, internet, or appliances.
The kid would DIE if our house was missing any of those.
It was amazing to see all of his kids, grand kids, great grand kids and great great grand kids gathered together.
He truly was a blessed man.

He was quiet, dignified, kind, thoughtful, and when he said something he meant it.
It's hard to find people like that anymore.
He never rushed or hurried.
He really took his time to do things.
He was patient with everyone, especially his grand kids.

The last few years he had begun to suffer from Alzheimer's and was having trouble remember all the grand kids especially.
He had fallen and broken his hip and had to go into a home to rehab.
I just don't think he was able to recover from that.
The kid works in a nursing home/rehab facility and she sees elderly people go downhill quickly everyday.
She was so upset, she'd just gone down to visit for the 4th of July and hadn't stopped in to see him.
Everyone told her he wouldn't have recognized her, but she still wishes she had seen him.
They said he was doing fine and would be out in a few weeks instead she came home on Sunday and he died on Tuesday.

I told her she has to let go of that regret.
I know I have that with them Mom.
It bothers me to this day that I came home from the hospital.
You just don't know when people are going to die.
You can't guilt yourself over things like that, it's pointless guilt.
I told her to forgive herself.
Dadaw knew she loved him, just as she knows Dadaw loved her.

His love for his kids and grand kids was never in doubt.
He was so proud of all of them.

Yes, it is always the most difficult to say good bye to a good man.
We miss you Dadaw!

The Good Samaritan

This is my talk I gave in Church on the Parable the Good Samaritan.
The Good Samaritan – Luke 10:29-37

Most of us are quite familiar with the term the Good Samaritan. We use it frequently. There are hospitals named Good Samaritan. There have been books and movies named the Good Samaritan. There are now even Good Samaritan laws which offer legal protection to people who give reasonable assistance to those who are injured, ill, in peril, or otherwise incapacitated.[1] The protection is intended to reduce bystanders' hesitation to assist, for fear of being sued or prosecuted for unintentional injury or wrongful death.

And it all originated from a parable from the bible in the New Testament Luke 10:25—37 that Jesus used to answer a question from a lawyer. And that is what I’ve been asked to give my talk to you about today is the parable of the Good Samaritan. I’m going to review the parable and then go over two main ideas of it, the first idea of mercy and service and the second idea of it representing the plan of salvation.
A lawyer asked Jesus a question, what shall I do to inherit eternal life. Jesus responded to him what where the most important commandments, his response, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. Jesus said that was correct. But then the lawyer asked Jesus, who is my neighbor?

And that is when Jesus used the parable of the Good Samaritan to describe who our neighbors are.
I’m going to paraphrase Luke 10:29-37

A man traveling on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by thieves; they stripped him of his clothes, beat him, wounded him, and then left him for dead.
By chance a priest came by but he didn’t stop, instead he went to the other side of the road and past the injured man by.

Likewise, a Levite, when he came upon the injured man and looked at him, went to the other side of the road and passed him by and did not help him;

But a Samaritan on his journey, saw the severely injured man and felt compassion for him and went to him. He nursed his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them and put him on his own animal and took him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day when the Samaritan went to leave he gave money to the host and told him to take care of the hurt man and if he spent more than what he had given him he’d repay him when he returned.

Jesus, than asked the Lawyer which of these 3 men was a neighbor to the man that was attacked and hurt by the thieves, the lawyer answered the one that showed him mercy, and Jesus simply said, Go and do likewise!

I did not now this but back in Jesus’s time the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was called the “The Bloody Pass” and was extremely dangerous. Jerusalem is 2100 feet above sea level and Jericho is 825 feet below sea level, the road that connects them is winding and ample with opportunities to ambush people. Also, the people of Samaria, aka, Samaritans, did not get along with the Jews during Jesus’ time. Samaritans were seen as less than human and were often mistreated. The fact that Jesus used a Samaritan as the good person in the parable was quite radical.

The word “neighbor” in the Greek means “someone who is near,” and in the Hebrew it means “someone that you have an association with.” This interprets the word in a limited sense, referring to a fellow Jew and would have excluded Samaritans, Romans, and other foreigners. Jesus then gives the parable of the Good Samaritan to correct the false understanding that the lawyer had of who his neighbor is, and what his duty is to his neighbor.

Martin Luther King Jr’s thoughts on the parable were this -
“… "I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But by the very nature of his concern, the Good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
The parable shows on its first look a story of compassion, mercy, and service. A man stopping to help another man who has been injured and needed his help and he simply did what was right.

Maybe the priest and the Levite felt helpless, fearful the man was faking, or the robbers were nearby waiting to ambush them as well.
Maybe the robbers needed to feed their families by taking from the man they attacked and they were desperate with no other options then to hurt this man.
Maybe the man that had been attacked, only had his clothes and took this dangerous journey alone because he felt despair and had no more hope left.
Maybe the Samaritan was trying to change the opinion others had of his people in his time, of them being resented by others by the going against stereotypes.

If we shift our perspective to each character in the parable you see the story take on different angles. There have been times in my life where I’ve been afraid and helpless. Times where I have felt desperate and I have through careless words or actions hurt friends or family, and I have also felt despair and lost hope. And then there have been other times where I’ve been kind and reached out and shown mercy and compassion to my fellow man.

I decided to think upon this parable and think back on my life and try to remember any examples within my family of being the Good Samaritan and the more I focused and thought back I was taken by how my parents lived this parable and I didn’t even realize because it was just the normal way of life in the household.

We always had people that were in between places to live staying with us while I was growing up. One time the two neighbor boys’ mother went to get milk and she didn’t come back for 3 days. She had dropped them off just to play for a little bit while she went to the store get milk and we didn’t see her again for 3 days. Dad and Mom took care of them. Didn’t call the police and had a talk with her when she got back and after that they moved to Illinois to stay with their dad for a couple of years while their Mom got help. I was 9 I had no idea why it was taking her so long to buy milk.

My Mom and Dad were always helping people from big things, to small things, to family, friends, to strangers. We lived in the country with a lot of curvy roads and people would lose control of their cars and my dad would get the truck and go pull them out of ditches and bring them in the house and pour rubbing alcohol on their cuts. Sometimes they didn’t want an ambulance, cops, or tow trucks called for various reasons. So we’d patch them and their cars up if we could, Mom would get food and coffee in them and tell them to slow down and pay attention next time.

One of our closest childhood friends even moved in with my Dad while he was going through his divorce. I asked him why he hadn’t moved in with his own Mom or Dad as they had nicer houses. The house I grew up in has always been old. Mom always had Dad tearing down walls. I think the Kitchen has been 5 different configurations. The Living Room has been a bed room then a living room at least 3 different times and so on. He said yeah they have nice houses but you’ve always had a nice HOME!

My parents lived the Good Samaritan parable by loving everyone as they loved themselves as they loved me and my brothers. Every person they met they treated as their neighbor. My mother had a smile, a wave, and a laugh for everyone she met. She never knew a stranger; which sometimes drove my Dad nuts as she truly could talk to anyone and keep on talking. My Dad, though not as talkative, would never hesitate to offer his help to anyone who needed it, stranger, family or friend.

I’m thankful to my Heavenly Father for giving me my parents.

Gordon B. Hinckley wrote in Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes, “It is not enough just to be good. We must be good for something. We must contribute good to the world. The world must be a better place for our presence. And the good that is in us must be spread to others. This is the measure of our civility.”

My Dad told me he wasn’t sure if he and Mom had been good parents until he saw my brothers and I as parents; it was when he saw that we were kind, loving, patient, and helpful to our own children that he knew he and Mom had been good parents. I told him, you and Mom weren’t good parents, you were great parents, to us, to our cousins, to our friends, to the neighborhood kids, to the kid at the grocery store whose dad hit her across the face with his car keys and you picked him up and slammed him against the wall and told him if he ever did that again you’d break him in half. You are the example every father should strive to live up to. I’ve seldom seen my father cry and it’s usually been when someone we’ve loved has passed away. He looked at me with tears in his eyes and hugged me and said simply, today, I needed to hear that, Thank you, Sis! It is one of the few times I’ve ever felt I’ve actually helped my Dad with anything instead of him helping me.

C.J. Jung said - “You are what you do, not what you say you'll do.”

The 2nd interpretation of the Good Samaritan parable is one that was common in early Christian faith of it being a metaphor for the fall of man. I found several articles a few by Brother John Welch on this idea of the parable. One article called the Good Samaritan & Eternal Life, explains the characters of the parable like this, “The man who was going down is Adam. Jerusalem is paradise, and Jericho is the world. The robbers are hostile powers. The priest is the Law, the Levite is the prophets, and the Samaritan is Christ. The wounds are disobedience; the beast is the Lord's body, the Inn, which accepts all who wish to enter, is the Church. And further, the two denarii mean the Father and the Son. The manager of the stable is the head of the Church, to whom its care has been entrusted. And the fact that the Samaritan promises he will return represents the Savior's second coming.”

This studying of the parable shows it as an allegory of the plan of salvation. I didn’t even think of this 2nd layer to the parable until doing some praying for guidance in my talk and then changing what I was typing into my google search engine to include eternal life along with the parable's name turned up the articles.

The man never makes it to Jericho. He had to have the Samaritan’s help because he couldn’t make it in the world without him. Just as we cannot be saved without the savior and his atonement to bring us home to Heavenly Father. I believe Jesus is the Samaritan. But I think more likely we are the ones on the side of the road. And Jesus is the one who picks us up and gets us on our feet again and binds up our wounds and bears our burdens when we cannot carry them anymore. Jesus is the one who takes us to a place of safety and makes a home for us and He promises to return when the time has finally come.

Another article in the February 2007 Ensign called The Good Samaritan: Forgotten Symbols again by Brother Welch in which he states, “In His parables, Jesus taught the essentials of the Father’s plan of salvation. As a type and shadow of this plan, the good Samaritan places our deeds of neighborly kindness here in mortality within the eternal context of where we have come down from, how we have fallen into our present plight, and how the binding ordinances and healing love of the promised Redeemer and the nurture of His Church can rescue us from our present situation, as we serve and live worthy of reward at His Second Coming.”
To love one's neighbor as oneself is defined in scripture as having eternal life, or the very life of God Himself coursing through one's actions, thoughts and words. 1 John 3:14 states - "We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death."

I’d like to close with my testimony, I know this church is true, studying for this talk, searching the scriptures, the doctrine, the ensign, I was enriched by the word of God and it brought me comfort and peace. The memories from my childhood, especially of my Mother, whom I miss so much, that I hadn’t thought of in a long time and had honestly forgotten were a true blessing. I am grateful I was given this talk by the bishopric. I say these things in the name of our savior and God’s son, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hostile Wildlife

Finally, it is nice enough to go outside and be in the fresh air.
I want to walk. I want to work on the yard.
And everywhere there are bees, wasps, and just hostile wildlife that I am highly allergic too.
I sprayed the bushes, the windows, every nook I could find that they would want to build a nest.
But I couldn't sit out on either my front porch or my back patio because there were so many of them.
It sucked!

I'm going to have to spray again tonight since it rained again.
I just can't have wasps, bees, and the like building nests around the house, mailbox, and bushes.
I get stung and it is bad!!!!
The neighbor kid mowed on Wednesday and by Saturday it didn't even look like he mowed at all.
I have a dandelion sanctuary growing in my yard.
I think they are beautiful, but there was almost 1 bee per dandelion.

The dog kept chasing them.
I kept telling her stop, bad bug.
She just looked at me, like I can get it.
Last year she stepped on a bee and got stung in her paw.
Poor thing kept limping around licking her paw.

I can't spray my whole yard.
I am going to go this weekend and see if I can put something on the grass to kill the dandelions.
Something that the dog won't try to eat.
I might have to keep her off of our grass a couple of days while it works on the dandelions.
I just want to enjoy my yard without fear of being swarmed!