It’s been a short five months for me, and I think I’ve gained more than I’ve given. In thinking the past few days about Relief Society and service, which is the topic I was given, I keep coming to back to teaching the doctrine of the gospel and strengthening each other in our faith and testimonies. This is perhaps the most important service we can do for each other, not just in Relief Society but in the Church as a whole.
According to Handbook 2 section 2.2, “the Church focuses on divinely appointed responsibilities. These include helping members live the gospel of Jesus Christ, gathering Israel through missionary work, caring for the poor and needy, and enabling the salvation of the dead by building temples and performing vicarious ordinances.” And the purposes of the Relief Society, as listed in Handbook 2 section 9.1.1 and in Daughters in My Kingdom, are threefold: increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek out and help those in need.
As I’ve pondered this past week, I find myself hoping that as a Relief Society we have been able to lift and strengthen and learn from each other each week. My mind keeps coming back to Sister Burton’s talk from the General Relief Society meeting last fall. If any of you have not read it, I encourage you to read it; the principles apply equally to the brethren as well as the sisters.
The talk is titled “Is Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ Written in Our Hearts?” In it she outlines three principles, which she promises will increase our faith in Jesus Christ. “Principle 1: ‘All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.’” In reminding us that we will all face challenges and adversities, she describes these as “soul-stretching” and points to a necessary understanding of our “Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of happiness.” No one likes going through trials. Adversity is difficult. But I like the term “soul-stretching.” Growth comes because of our experiences, because of the difficulties and challenges we face and how we respond to them. She also quotes Elder Oaks, who said, “Our needed conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquility.” Perhaps this is because we are humbled by suffering, and we are more prepared to turn to our Heavenly Father and acknowledge our need for His help and our reliance on the atonement. Whatever the case, those things which seem unfair enable our growth now and will be made right, in the Lord’s time, through the Atonement.
“Principle 2: There is power in the Atonement to enable us to overcome the natural man or woman and become true disciples of Jesus Christ.” It is sometimes easy to feel discouraged, to see how far we need to go rather than how far we have already come and how the Lord stands ready to help us. Elder Bednar said, “It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us.” We cannot make it alone, but our Savior has prepared the way and will guide us every step of the way, if we will turn to Him.
“Principle 3: The Atonement is the greatest evidence we have of the Father’s love for His children.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” We cannot comprehend what the Savior suffered, but we know that He suffered for us. We know that this was our Heavenly Father’s plan, so that we all have the opportunity to return to Him.
Sister Burton also mentions the people of King Benjamin, who experienced a mighty change of heart and covenanted to be obedient to God, adding that “making, keeping, and rejoicing in our covenants will be the evidence that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is truly written in our hearts.”
Knowing all of this, we have a responsibility to apply these principles in our own lives. But as we apply these principles, we must also teach them. We must teach the doctrine of Jesus Christ to each other, so that we each gain the understanding, faith, and testimony we need to be converted and have the Atonement of Jesus Christ written in our hearts.
I love Sister Burton’s closing words: from Jeremiah 31:33, “‘After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.’ I invite us to ask the Lord to write these principles of the Atonement in our hearts.”
The Lord wants us to be His people, but we must invite Him to write His law and His Atonement in our hearts. I testify that these principles are true. I know that Jesus Christ lives, and that He is the Savior of the world. I know that He atoned for me, and for each of you, to take away our sins and to lessen our trials and afflictions. I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants us to return to Him. I know that this gospel is true, that as we study and share it, we will increase in faith, and that we can have the Atonement written in our hearts and always remember our Savior. I know that this is the purpose of the Church organization, and by extension the purpose of Relief Society. I am so grateful for my Savior’s Atonement, and for the peace I feel in knowing that He has prepared the way for me to return to my Heavenly Father. On this Memorial Day weekend, I am also grateful to the many men and women who have made it possible for us to worship as we choose, to have the gospel in our lives. We can all know these things. We can all work, individually and as a ward, to have the Atonement written in our hearts. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
