Happy Easter

Jesus Christ What a wonderful time of year! We have been able to listen to general conference and hear the testimonies of special witnesses of Jesus Christ. As we celebrate Easter, it is my hope that we may all be able to receive our own witness of Jesus Christ and his divinity. These last 2 years I have had the opportunity to represent Christ as a missionary in Salta Argentina. When I first received this call I was a bit overwhelmed to say the least. I knew and loved the savior and I knew he was perfect, I had seen so many great examples of missionaries who in my eyes were basically perfect. As an 18 year old kid I was scared and stressed about the mission he had called me on and how I was going to complete it as he had completed his, perfectly. As I began my mission I expected to be the shepherd going and looking for that one lost sheep and bringing them back to the fold, but quickly felt as if I was that sheep that repeatedly was lost and needed saving. I realized very early in my mission that He will always be the shepherd and we must always follow Him. Jesus Christ gave us his example in all things, from the compassion he showed to others to the pure love that he gave, we can strive to be more like him each and every day. Though we never will be perfect in this life, we are sure to see miracles as we push ourselves to be the best we can be. I love to be a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Instead of focusing on the death and sadness of the crucifixion, we focus on the glory and triumph of his resurrection. “He is risen!” What a comforting phrase. In this day and age we sometimes lose track of the most important, we don't fully embrace the awesomeness of this phrase. Christ is not dead, but he lives, he is not some spirit that cant relate to us, but he has a body, perfect and resurrected. He has been where we have been and he desires that we get to where he is now, to live and be like him. I know with all my heart that my savior died for me, but I also know he lives for me! It awes me to think that Christ, in his moments of insane pain and agony, focused on us. He has graven us on his hands. He knew us then, he knows us now, and he will know us forever. Our beloved prophet has invited us to get to know him better in this Easter season as we Hear Him. Because he lives he can guide us, walk with us, lift us when we have fallen, and motivate us to keep going just a little further. In this season we celebrate not only what the savior has done, but what he enables us to become. The atonement as a whole enables us to be born again and become new creatures in Christ. The suffering in Gethsemane enables us to overcome spiritual death as the resurrection gives us the surety that we will overcome physical death. The atonement was something so universal and eternal, yet each and everyone of us may use it personally. As we apply the atonement in our lives every single day, we can invite his power into our lives. We can see the miracles that those in the scriptures saw. We can see the healings, physically and spiritually, and as so many saints in ancient days, we can receive a remission of our sins. I testify that is only through Him that these things can come to pass. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and there is no other name or person or thing or action that could ever allow us to receive eternal life other than Him. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.