Easter Sweetness

Easter is just so great. I was called to give a last minute talk in my ward and I truly "spirit" winged it. I didn't just wing it because I did pray before walking up to the pulpit. It felt so good to be complimented on my Portugues but at the same time I know that my English is going down hill super fast. This blog probably looks like a foreigner is writing about his travels but can't express himself so well in his 2nd language. The sad part is my native language is my weakness. Through the Savior's sacrifice I know I can become better ;) No but really, lets talk about this "ultimate sacrifice" as the prophet Alma puts it. Why is it the ultimate?

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng

It is the ultimate because it is the greatest act of charity the world has ever seen and it was the last time anyone will have to sacrifice something living to suffice the demands of justice. We truly live on mercy. Even when we fall, the grace of God is sufficient for all who humble themselves before Him. Easter lets us be humble. Easter enables us to do marvelous things. A soul can be healed through the atonement of Christ and crying eyes can be dried as we rejoice in Christ. This is our sacrifice: humility and service. We must dedicate ourselves to the service of others.

If you are one of my friends, or someone that doesn't know me personally, or not even religious, this state of mind works to bring peace to mankind. Humility and service to those we love and .... to those we do not know, so that we can love them, too. We all want peace, right? Well, where does peace come from? Is it an invisible force that we cannot define because we cannot see it?  Or is it something divine? I know it is divine because I have seen with my own eyes how the atonement of Christ has changed a killer to a pacifist, a homeless pot smoker to a six-day-a-week professional worker, an alcoholic to become a family man, and I have seen myself change from a frivolous teenager to someone who knows what it will be like on the other side.

My testimony of the atonement becomes more sound everyday as I serve those I love and those I don't know so that I can love them. We cannot say we love everyone when we don't strive to get to know them. Strive to get to know everyone this Easter season. As you do you will feel a little bit of what it was like when Christ atoned for us in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prayed for every...single....being. He got to know us. I imagine this is partly how he was able to perform that great act of charity. Because of him I can be redeemed and become a better person in general. If you don't believe in God, take hold upon my words and let this seed of faith that I have tried to plant on the website grow within you -- then cultivate it! You will see how a life well-lived is delicious because it sprouts good fruit. I guarantee you that you can find refuge and the light that you may lack in Christ. I find it. What I find that is good, I eat and hold real tight to the taste.

Love to everyone,
Ian