Remembering

Anyone who knows me really well knows that I do not have a good memory.  I often called Dory from the movie “Finding Nemo”.  I can re-read a book and it could be brand new for me.  My kids find this trait of mine quite awesome and use it to their advantage…

I use a variety of techniques to help me remember.  I have a calendar on my phone and write all of my appointments in there.  I write things on sticky notes or make lists.  Sometimes objects help me remember like daisies, pinwheels, or music.  But those things for a different reason for remembering.

 

On April 25^th 2008,nearly five years ago, I had the privilege of holding an angel.  She was perfect.  She was pure and she was silent.  While in labor, my sweet daughter passed away.  I don’t need a reminder on my phone to tell me to remember my Rebecca Phoebe.  I don’t need sticky notes on my computer or a list to write down.  She is forever etched into my heart.  The remembering that I do for her is much more  eternally deep place.  I will never forget her.

Every Sunday we as members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have the privilege of renewing our baptismal covenants by partaking of the sacrament.  We are commanded to always remember or Savior Jesus Christ and in return we will always have His Spirit to be with us.  Is the Savior etched deep into our hearts?

Elder D. Todd Christofferson said, “The sacramental prayers confirm that one of the central purposes of the sacrament as instituted by the Lord Jesus Christ is that we might “always remember him”.  Remembering the Savior obviously includes remembering his Atonement, which is symbolically represented by the bread and water as emblems of His suffering and death.  We must never forget what He did for us, for without His Atonement and Resurrection, life would have no meaning. With His Atonement and Resurrection, howver, our lives have eternal, divine possibilities.”   

 

We covenant to always remember our Savior and to keep His commandments and in return we will always have His Spirit to be with us.  Let’s talk about the opposite of remembering.  Let’s talk about forgetting our Father’s mighty hand.

In the Book of Mormon we are constantly reminded by Nephi’s faithfulness to the commandments that he and his family were given.  As some of his family were desirous to return back to the wicked Jerusalem Nephi said this, “Yea, and how is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath done for us.. Yea and how is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do ALL THINGS according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him.  Wherefore, let us be faithful to him. “

I have noticed that it is pretty easy to go with the flow and not count blessings as much when life is going well and perhaps forget the daily blessings that are given to us.  What are you forgetting that the Lord has done for you?  It is easier for me to get through the trials of my life when I remember the small and simple things that I have been given and to remember that the Lord is involved in the details of our lives.  Even to the smallest of details.

Mosiah reminds us in Mosiah chapter 2 of the things that maybe we take for granted.  He said:  -I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning and is preserving you from day to day by lending you breath that ye may live and move and do according to your own will and even supporting you from one moment to another- I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.  AND BEHOLD ALL THE HE REQUIRES OF YOU IS TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS… for if ye do, he doth IMMEDIATELY BLESS YOU.

This verse hit me with a lot of force shortly after I lost my daughter.  Anyone who has lost someone dear to their hearts knows how precious even breathing can be.  Even living one more day.  There have been many times as I have been crumpled on my knees, too weary to carry my heavy load any longer and I choose consciously to keep his commandments more fully and I receive immediate blessings and peace spoken to my soul.  Remember His hand even in the small things.

I would like to shift from the forgetting the Lord in our lives to two other things where it may be hard to always remember him.  Those two things are afflictions and sins.  Sometimes you have afflictions because of your own choices and other times because the choices of others.  Either way, the Lord gives afflictions so that we may come back to Him. 

In 1 Nephi 17:41, it says:

“And he did straigten them in the wilderness with his rod; for they hardened their hearts, even as ye have; and the Lord straigtened them because of their iniquity.  He sent fiery flying serpents among them; and after they were bitten he prepared a way that they might be healed; and the labor which they had to perform was to look; and because of the simpleness of the way, or the easiness of it, there were many who perished.”

We all have fiery serpents in our lives that our scary and devastating.  We all have the simple antedote to the bites of life.  It is to look to the Savior and live.  The Lord saves the righteous! Then the righteous may forget.  He straightens them because he wants them back.  Sometimes the straightening is severe.  But the way back is simple.  Look and Live!  The Lord understands the human nature of cycles.  Be gentle and humble yourself when you see yourself straying.  There is power in faith and obedience. There is always peace and healing to be had after trial and sin.  All you have to do is look.

 In Jacob 3:1- But behold, I, Jacob, would speak unto you that are pure in heart.  LOOK unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause.

  “Look” has the imagery of turning away from what concerns you and turning to God with firmness and not getting distracted by the trial at hand.  When you do that He WILL console.  I have had experiences where I consciously chose to LOOK and was immediately blessed.  Remember to LOOK!

I love reading about Lehi’s son Jacob.  Even the preface of what Lehi gives him gives an indicator at how much more Jacob understands because of afflictions that he was born into.  1 And now, Jacob, I speak unto you: Thou art my ^afirstborn in the days of my tribulation in the wilderness. And behold, in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the rudeness of thy brethren.

 2 Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine ^aafflictions for thy gain.

FOR IT MUST NEEDS BE AN OPPOSITION IN ALL THINGS.  If not so, my first-born in the wildernss, righteousness could not be brought to pass.. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness

If we didn’t have opposition, whether it comes in the form of sin or affliction, we could experience no happiness for we wouldn’t know the difference. 

In 3 Nephi chapter 27:14-15 it says “And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

“And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works”

I firmly believe that we all have our own cross to bear.  Maybe it is illness, financial difficulties, wayward loved ones, loss of loved ones, being single, or the inability to have children.  The list can go on and on.  It has been in my own gethsemanes where I have learned the most.  Those times where you feel utterly alone and that no person can truly understand what you are going through.  Those times when you wish you could pass on that bitter cup.  I am coming to realize that when I passing through my intense sorrow and grief, heaven is never closer.  When I lift my eyes, mind and heart and remember Him you lifted himself on the cross for me, do I remember that he bore all things so that he may know how to succor me.  This is where the Sacrament promise to always remember him can come to my rescue because as I remember, I remember the hope that is the Savior.    

To those who are weary with trying to continue to provide the necessities of life remembering this scripture can bring the rest that you may need- Come, my brethren, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy and eat; yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Wherefore, do not spend money for that whish is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy.  Hearken diligently unto me, and REMEMBER the words that I have spokem; and come unto the Holy One of Isreal, and FEAST upon that which perisheth not, neither can be corrupted, and let your soul delight in fatness

As I carry my own cross through life, I am not alone as the Savior was. In the Liberty Jail where Joseph Smith experienced his own Gesthemane, we read of incredible words of strength and courage given to Joseph Smith.  Here is what the Lord said to Joseph in Section 122

5 If thou art called to pass through ^atribulation…

 6 If thou art ^aaccused with all manner of false accusations; if thine enemies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father and mother and brethren and sisters; and if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife, and of thine offspring, and thine elder son, although but six years of age, shall cling to thy garments, and shall say, My father, my father, why can’t you stay with us? O, my father, what are the men going to do with you? and if then he shall be thrust from thee by the sword, and thou be dragged to ^bprison, and thine enemies prowl around thee like ^cwolves for the blood of the lamb;

 7 And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee ^eexperience, and shall be for thy good.

 8 The ^aSon of Man hath ^bdescended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

All these experiences shall be for our good.  And the Savior experienced them all.  Most readings of this passage ends on the “Art thou greater than he” but the next sentence to me seals the deal. 

 9 Therefore, ^ahold on thy way!

Hold on thy way!  Keep putting that one foot in front of the other.  Hold fast to the teachings and commandments that are given to us.  Put your faith in the Master who knows the intimate corners of your heart.  Remember him!  Remember him that we may have joy.  Because after affliction comes joy.

Now for the how. 

Remember that scripture I read earlier about the fiery serpents.  Where those who were bitten just needed to look and live?  Our “how” is the same.  Very simple.  Very effective.

D. Todd Christofferson said:

We should first put in place the things that make it possible to always remember Him—frequent prayer and scripture study, thoughtful study of apostolic teachings, weekly preparation to partake of the sacrament worthily, Sunday worship, and recording and remembering what the Spirit and experience teach us about discipleship.

In short, to “always remember him” means that we do not live our lives in fear. We know that challenges, disappointments, and sorrows will come to each of us in different ways, but we also know that in the end, because of our divine Advocate, all things can be made to work together for our good.  It is the faith expressed so simply by President Gordon B. Hinckley  when he would say, “Things will work out.” ⁴ When we always remember the Savior, we can “cheerfully do all things that lie in our power,” confident that His power and love for us will see us through.

May we always remember Him—“that [we] may always have his spirit to be with [us]”   I bear my witness of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I bear witness of the reality of the living, resurrected Lord. I bear witness of the infinite and personal love of the Father and the Son for each of us, and I pray that we will live in constant remembrance of that love in all its expressions.” 

I love that phrase, “Things will work out.”  Keeping that in your head and the Savior in your heart, you cannot fail. 

My experience with my precious Phoebe is one that I would never trade.  The veil was so thin those few times that I was in her precense.  I had a taste of what heaven must be like even through my intense sadness and grief.  It is difficult traveling through this world without her.  It would be even more difficult without the atonement that was made to make it possible to see her again. 

As I always remember my savior I am able to see his mighty hand in my life even through some of life’s toughest challenges.  As I LOOK and LIVE I am healed from life’s stings.  As I remember and hold on my way, I am saved to be lifted up at the last day.  Just as the Savior was lifted up on the cross, I too will be lifted up because of his redeeming love. 

 I miss my daughter, but I don’t need a reminder to remember her.  As I remember my Savior I am carried through the afflictions of this life to grow and experience joy that I have never felt before.  I am not forgotten even if at times I don’t always remember him.

1 Nephi 21 it says, “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the [daughter] of her womb?  I will not forget thee. Behold I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands. 

How grateful I am that I am safe in his hands.