Why We Can Live Forever

Today, I spent my time reading a conference talk given by Bruce R. McConkie back in 1985. This apostle of God has given some of the best talks I have read. The talk that I read today was called "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane" and it's main focus is Jesus Christ's atonement for us.
Never have I seen anything that has been able to so well describe an act that is so unknown to men. The atonement was the biggest event in history, but most people do not really understand how deep it goes and how much it affects us.
As Elder McConkie says "We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane.We know he suffered, both body and spirit, more than it is possible for man to suffer, except it be unto death.We know that in some way, incomprehensible to us, his suffering satisfied the demands of justice. As near as we can judge, these infinite agonies—this suffering beyond compare—continued for some three or four hours."
But the atonement didn't just end after the pains in the Garden of Gethsemane. It continued on as he went to trial and faced punishment for his righteous acts. Elder McConkie describes the scene like I have never heard it before "The Roman soldiers laid him upon the cross, With great mallets they drove spikes of iron through his feet and hands and wrists.Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape and curse and deride. This they did, with evil venom, for three hours from 9:00 A.M. to noon.And truly he was, for while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.And, finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll—when the victory had been won, when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things—then he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost.Then, in a way incomprehensible to us, he took up that body which had not yet seen corruption and arose in that glorious immortality which made him like his resurrected Father."
After all this suffering and pain, the atonement was complete. And "Again, in some way incomprehensible to us, the effects of his resurrection pass upon all men so that all shall rise from the grave." So that all men can have immortal life. Then he makes a connection that I have never before thought of.
"As Adam brought death, so Christ brought life; as Adam is the father of mortality, so Christ is the father of immortality. And without both, mortality and immortality, man cannot work out his salvation and ascend to those heights beyond the skies where gods and angels dwell forever in eternal glory.Thus, Creation is father to the Fall; and by the Fall came mortality and death; and by Christ came immortality and eternal life. If there had been no fall of Adam, by which cometh death, there could have been no atonement of Christ, by which cometh life."
I have never before thought of the atonement in this light, and compared it to the fall of Adam. It has changed my view of what Christ did for us and strengthened my faith in him. I know that because of what Christ did in his last moments of mortal life on this earth, that we can be raised from the dead, cleansed from sin, and return to our Heavenly Father once again.

Ye Hear the Sound of the Trumpet

A while back I posted as my facebook status some verses in Nehemiah chapter 4. These verses for some reason have been stuck in my head since I first read them a few months ago. In verses 19 and 20 it reads " And I said unto the nobles, and to the rules, and to the rest of the people, The works is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: us God shall fight for us."

During this time in the Bible, the Israelites have been taken captive by the Babylonians, a few were selected to travel back to Jerusalem and allowed to rebuild some of the city. Their leader, Nehemiah, tells the workers to start reconstruction of their defensive walls. Their enemies are opposed to them rebuilding this wall and are planning to attack and destroy the city again. So Nehemiah orders half of his workers to continue working on the wall and then the other half to stand guard and keep watch. As he does this the wall finally gets rebuilt and the Israelites are able to live in relative freedom again.

I still don't know exactly why these verses have stood out to me so much, but I have been re-reading them almost everyday. I think it works as a perfect analogy to us today. The righteous are far outnumbered in this world and we have a large and mighty work placed before us in building up the Kingdom of God. As missionaries this is our primary goal and we are separated one far from another across the world. But as we work and as we teach, we know that it is not us fighting the fight, but God.  He shall fight for us, and with his power we will be able to do whatever he wants to do.

As Does the Bible

    As a missionary we have set apart a lot of time to study out the scriptures. We constantly are searching out doctrines and principles, ready to answer any question at a moments notice. We use scriptures to back up everything we say, for it is not our gospel but Gods.
    In the Book of Mormon introduction page it says "[The Book of Mormon] contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everlasting gospel". I spend a lot of my time studying from the Bible, reading both the Old and New Testaments, and have found that every question can be answered using scriptures in the Bible. The only problem is that a lot of the scriptures are unclear or vague, which is why we now need The Book of Mormon.
     The Bible alone is enough to know of the doctrine of Christ, but the language used in the Bible often makes it easy to misinterpret and confuse plain and precious truths. The Book of Mormon clarifies, it puts in simple language the same doctrine that is taught in the Bible, in a way that can not be misunderstood.
    The Book of Mormon is just another testament of Jesus Christ and it contains, as does the Bible, the fullness of the everylasting and true gospel of God.