Reflection On Christ

     Today, I wanted to do something a little bit different. With Easter coming up this Sunday, I have been reflecting on Christ a lot, and all he did for us. I wanted to make a post full of pictures of Jesus that show a timeline of some of the most important events in His life. I hope you enjoy!


Before Christ was born, there were many who prophesied of the coming of a Savior. Isaiah was one of those prophets who prophesied of His coming.

"And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them."  Isaiah 19:20
    


Then, the prophecies were fulfilled, and Jesus Christ, our Savior, was born into the world.

"For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."
Luke 2:11
   


As a child He was blessed with great knowledge and wisdom, and even at the age of twelve was able to expound the scriptures to the astonishment of the rabbis and scribes.

“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.”  Luke 2:46



He went about, calling others to come follow Him, a calling He issues to each one of us, even today.

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Luke 9:23
 


 He spent His whole life in the service of others, showing us the way we must live, and taught us all what we should do.

 "And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise. And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat." Luke 8:54-55

  

 





And then, Christ would perform the Atonement for our sins. The first part of the Atonement was His suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane.

 "Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder." Matthew 26:36



The second part was of His suffering on the cross.

 "Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified." Matthew 27:22





And lastly, He was risen again on the third day, that we too, will all be risen again.

 "Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body..." Alma 11:44

We look forward to that day when Christ will come again.

 "Therefore the wicked remain as though there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works." Alma 11:41

I hope you all enjoyed this simple timeline of Christ's life and will take a special moment to remember Him during this wonderful Easter season.

Of Mice and MiceTraps

      Yes, I know they are called mousetraps, but I tried writing the title as mousetraps instead of micetraps, and I decided it sounds so much cooler as micetraps, so I kept it the way it is. Thanks anyways. So, about three weeks ago, we discovered a mouse sitting on our counter. Ok, more like Elder Gilbert walked into the kitchen while I was sitting in the living room, and all of a sudden I heard some loud screams coming from the kitchen. I ran into the kitchen in time to see a tiny little mouse run behind the oven. We then spent the next ten minutes trying to get it, but it was a lot smarter, and smaller, than us.

    We then went to a much more efficient means of...disposing of our uninvited guest by using mousetraps. At first, the mouse just stayed out of sight, and never even dreamed of coming out. But, after about a week, his curiosity got the better of him, and he was soon....disposed of. Chalk one for the missionaries!



     I thought about this mouse and how if only he had been satisfied with the large abundance of food underneath the stove, in the form of crumbs and who knows what else has fallen down there over the years, he could've lived for months in the lap of luxury. But, because he ventured out into territory he already knew was dangerous, he was caught, and destroyed.

     Are we sometimes like this mouse? Do we venture out into dangerous territory and get caught by the many traps of sin and misery that are out there? A scripture comes to mind. It goes, "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." (2 Nephi 2:27)

    This teaches us that we are free to choose. But, we are not free to choose the consequences of those actions we choose. With all the temptations and traps of sin in the world today, how can we stay strong? Helaman, a prophet on the American Continent, speaking to his sons, says, "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 12:5)

    We, like the mouse, know where those traps are. We know them for what they are, too. They are traps, and if we mess around with them, chances are, we will be caught and destroyed. They sometimes are disguised to make them look appealing, similar to disguising a mousetrap with a piece of cheese, or some delicious peanut butter. But, underneath all that is a lethal weapon, just waiting to spring on us and destroy us. I know that if we stand fast, and build our foundation in Christ, we will be able to avoid all the many various traps out there and we will be able to spiritually, stay in the lap of luxury where we are safe from being caught and destroyed.

Hidden Treasures

      Yesterday was our preparation day as missionaries, where we have from the hours of 10 AM to 5 PM to prepare for the rest of the week by shopping, emailing our families, and having a bit of R&R if we have time. So, as we always do, we headed to Walmart, TJ Max, and then, on to Goodwill! As I was rummaging through the ties I didn't really find anything at first that was even sort of appealing. But, I kept searching for a little while longer, and as I moved aside a couple of ties, I finally saw a pretty good looking tie. Not only that, but it was a Wembley! For all of you who aren't tie fanatics, which is okay, Wembley's rank up there with Trumps, and Georgio Armanis. Ok, maybe not that high, but just a teeny step below. I promptly purchased it for $1.68 - best purchase of my life!


  (No this isn't the actual tie, but it is a Wembley. Still, my tie is like ten times better)


    What does this have to do with anything? Well, it took me a little while to think up an analogy. As I pondered, I thought about all the different hidden treasures in our life that we search for often. Like lost keys, a good job, or in my case, a beautiful tie at a thrift store. But, there are also hidden treasures that can be found in less obvious places as well. I speak that of scriptures. If we just skim over the scriptures, like I did as I was browsing through the ties, we are going to be sure to miss out on so much. But, if we truly dive into the scriptures, striving to "uncover" the deeper meanings and personal applications, there is a treasure trove of valuable things that can be gained.




      Nephi said it best when he said, "Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3). I have found throughout my life that there is much to be gained as we feast upon the words of Christ by studying them diligently and not just browse. As we do this, we will find those hidden treasures found in the scriptures.