I will be serving as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brazil Maceio Mission from Feb 20 2008-Aug 20 2009. I will be spending my time teaching everyone who will listen about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ--that God still speaks to man, that we have a prophet today, that the authority to administer ordinances has been restored, and that through faith, repentance, baptism, and enduring to the end we will avail ourselves of Christ's grace and be saved in the Kingdom of God. One can know these truths for themselves through sincere prayer, with real intent.
If you are curious about what else we believe, please visit mormon.org or lds.org.
If you are already a member, consider making your own blog to discuss the LDS faith, per one of the Brethren's request that we use blogs and other new media to proclaim the gospel (having more true stuff about Mormons on the internet than false information). I think it was Elder Ballard, and it was at the commencement exercises of BYU Hawaii.
Thank you, and see you in 18 months!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
leaving on my mission
Hello readers, I'm leaving on my mission today. That mostly likely means that there won't be anymore posts for the next 18 months. I hope you have enjoyed the blog thus far.
Sabrina (Sister Sabrina Lynn Huyett) :)
Sabrina (Sister Sabrina Lynn Huyett) :)
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
How the Atonement Heals Emotional Wounds
The atonement of Jesus Christ can cleanse us from our sins, if we approach him in faith, humility, and contriteness. We repent, and we are forgiven. We understand how this process works. But we are also told in Alma 7:11-13, that Christ also suffered for our pains, sicknesses, and infirmities, so that His "bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know...how to succor his people."
I was talking to a friend whose fiance broke up with her just before the wedding. She experienced emotional pain for months. I suggested that she use the atonement to help heal her heart, and she asked me "how?"
What an excellent question! I didn't know how to respond. We know how the atonement takes away our guilt; how does it relieve us of emotional wounds? We are told that it does...but how? How do you access that?
Elder Merrill J. Bateman said, "Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt 'our infirmities' (Hebrews 4:15), '[bore] our griefs, ... carried our sorrows...[and] was bruised for our iniquities' (Isaiah 53:4-5)."
That is a comforting thought, the knowledge of which helps us to feel closer to Jesus; but still, how does one access this healing?
In pondering this, I consulted another friend, who has also had intense emotional pain, but has been completely healed of it. He told me that the first step is to stop being mad at God. "Although it sounds strange, whenever you ask 'why is this happening to me?,' you are feeling some degree of anger toward God." After that, he said that he prayed every time that he felt the plague of his emotions. When you feel angry, lonely, hurt, miserable, etc., you can't feel the Spirit, and you need to pray until you feel peace. My friend Kaila told me that the only answer to prayer that we are guaranteed is peace. Sometimes my friend had to stay on his knees for quite a while until he felt peace, but it always came. The peace didn't always last long, especially in the beginning, but as he continued with the process, the intervals of feeling peace between bad feelings elongated, until now, when he constantly feels peace about that situation. He doesn't feel the weight of negative emotions anymore regarding the people involved or the things that happened. He feels to rejoice and praise God for healing his heart.
I think I would do well to pray until I feel peace each time I feel bad feelings. What do you think of this method?
I was talking to a friend whose fiance broke up with her just before the wedding. She experienced emotional pain for months. I suggested that she use the atonement to help heal her heart, and she asked me "how?"
What an excellent question! I didn't know how to respond. We know how the atonement takes away our guilt; how does it relieve us of emotional wounds? We are told that it does...but how? How do you access that?
Elder Merrill J. Bateman said, "Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt 'our infirmities' (Hebrews 4:15), '[bore] our griefs, ... carried our sorrows...[and] was bruised for our iniquities' (Isaiah 53:4-5)."
That is a comforting thought, the knowledge of which helps us to feel closer to Jesus; but still, how does one access this healing?
In pondering this, I consulted another friend, who has also had intense emotional pain, but has been completely healed of it. He told me that the first step is to stop being mad at God. "Although it sounds strange, whenever you ask 'why is this happening to me?,' you are feeling some degree of anger toward God." After that, he said that he prayed every time that he felt the plague of his emotions. When you feel angry, lonely, hurt, miserable, etc., you can't feel the Spirit, and you need to pray until you feel peace. My friend Kaila told me that the only answer to prayer that we are guaranteed is peace. Sometimes my friend had to stay on his knees for quite a while until he felt peace, but it always came. The peace didn't always last long, especially in the beginning, but as he continued with the process, the intervals of feeling peace between bad feelings elongated, until now, when he constantly feels peace about that situation. He doesn't feel the weight of negative emotions anymore regarding the people involved or the things that happened. He feels to rejoice and praise God for healing his heart.
I think I would do well to pray until I feel peace each time I feel bad feelings. What do you think of this method?
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