"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding." (Prov. 3:5)‏

This week I had three separate experiences that have helped me to trust more in Heavenly Father, while trying to continue to lean not on my own understanding....

The first experience was while driving our truck. I was stopped at an intersection, that I was very familiar with, in the process of making a left turn (here they drive on the left so this would be similar to making a right turn in the U.S.) and I was only looking to my right, the direction of the oncoming traffic in the lane closest to me. As I began to move forward I suddenly felt prompted to stop and look  in the opposite direction. As I stopped,  a pedestrian had to jump out of the way as he had crossed in front of our truck. We waved at each other and I went on my way realizing the heavenly warning I had received which prevented an auto pedestrian accident.

The second experience happened on Monday, March 24th. Mom and I had walked on the beach and after arriving at our normal spot, I sat down in the sand and watched for Mom as she does an additional 5 laps. Upon returning home I went to put my sunglasses back in the truck and only then realized that somehow I had misplaced the keys to the truck as well as the key to our apartment. We quickly walked back to the spot where I had been sitting and from fifty (50') feet away I could see the keys in plain site. At no point was I prompted to check my pocket or to look next to where I was sitting. Additionally, my pants have a Velcro pocket which makes it even more difficult to lose the keys. Nonetheless, the keys had fallen unnoticed from my pocket.

In the middle of this photo in front of the large rock are my keys laying in the sand. This photo was taken a few days after the actual event, as I didn't have my phone/camera with me when the keys were left. On the day I left the keys there were a couple fisherman close by.

 The third experience occurred this morning while studying the scriptures (Mom was with the District Young Women on a march from the one large grocery store (Shoprite) to the chapel in Beira). See if you can find Mom in this first photo....

I was studying D & C 88, which in and of itself could provide several years worth of Sacrament meeting talks based upon the multiple concepts that are included in this "olive leaf...plucked from the Tree of Paradise, the Lord's message of peace to us."

Verse 11 is speaking of Jesus Christ and the light of Christ:

 "And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;" (D & C 88:11) 

All the light in the world, either from the sun or man made sources is because of Jesus Christ. "the light which shineth, which giveth you light".

Additionally, our eyes ability to see light is because of Jesus Christ. "is through him who enlighteneth your eyes" 

He gives us light and also enlighteneth our eyes and if we recognize Christ as the source will "quickeneth your understandings" (plural)

You will probably recall that we attended General Conference in October 2011 when President Boyd K. Packer said: 

"It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church." (Counsel to Youth) 

In the first experience, I had been warned by the Spirit which prevented a major mistake. The second experience is interesting because even though I feel I was worthy of having the companionship of the Spirit, I at no point was prompted about having left the keys. This reminded me about how Nephi learned that The Lord is always in control.

 Nephi learned to "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" 

(Prov. 3:5).

The killing of Laban "who had fallen to the earth before [him] ...drunken with wine" (1 Ne. 4:7.) After "the Spirit" speaks to him three times he says: "I did obey the voice of the Spirit...and smote off his head with his own sword" (1 Ne. 4:18). Never again in the book is this incident mentioned. Perhaps, Nephi never tells his family about it. If he had it would seem that Laman & Lemuel would have tried to use this against him during their "rebellions" (2 Ne. 1:2; Alma 18:38).

While returning from Jerusalem with Ishmael's family, his brothers Laman and Lemuel rebel and desire to return to Jerusalem. Nephi exhorts them to have faith in the Lord. Nephi says his brothers "were angry with me...that they did lay their hands upon me...they did bind me with cords , for they sought to take away my life,...But it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou...give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound. And it came to pass that when I had said these words, behold, the bands were loosed from off my hands and feet" (1 Ne. 7: 16-18). He asks according to his faith to be given strength to burst the cords, but the Lord causes them to be loosed from his hands and feet.

About eight years later, Nephi is commanded to build a ship. His brother think he is fool, they do not believe he can build a ship and that it can cross the ocean (see 1 Ne. 17:17-18) Nephi speaks to them, they become angry with him and desire again to take away his life, this time by throwing him into "the depths of the sea; and as they came forth to lay their hands upon me I spake unto them, saying: In the name of the Almighty God, I command you that ye touch me not...and whoso shall lay his hands upon me shall wither even as a dried reed...for God shall smite him" (1 Ne. 17: 48). His brothers were confounded and "neither durst they lay their hands upon me nor touch me with their fingers, even for the space of many days....And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thine hand..unto thy brethren, and they will not wither...but I will shock them, saith the Lord...And it came to pass that I stretched forth my hand unto my brethren, and they did not wither...but the Lord did shake them.." (1 Ne. 17: 52-54).
The ship is built and after sailing for "many days" Laman and Lemuel become angry with Nephi and they "did take me and bind me with cords....nevertheless, the Lord did suffer it..." 

(1 Ne. 18: 11) 

Nephi learns that that Lord is always in control. Perhaps he can burst cords as in the case of Alma and Amulek while in prison who pray "O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ, even unto deliverance. And they broke the cords with which they were bound" (Alma 14:26) or perhaps he can loose the cords. One day he may tell Nephi to shock them and the next day require that Nephi be bound for four days and wait for his brothers to reach the point in which they "loosed the bands" (1 Ne. 18:15) After these four days in which his wrists and ankles were "swollen exceedingly...and great was the soreness thereof. Nevertheless, I did look unto my God, and I did praise him all the day long; and I did not murmur against the Lord because of mine afflictions." (1 Ne. 18:15-16)

After the death of his father Lehi, Nephi records this prayer: "O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh;" (2 Ne. 4:34)

How great it is for us to be serving as missionaries!  As of today, only eight (8) months left.

I love you!

Marching, marching and a zone conference!

Hi y'all!

This week started with Kretlys, Dilles, and us making a shrimp dinner 

for P-day. We cooked a big batch of shrimp and then each did a side-dish.

  It was yummy!!

The next day, Chanelle called and told us that she got accepted into the RAD-TECH program!! Two days after they interviewed her! Yippee-Ai-Ay!!! SO, so excited for her! And she got her first picks for clinical sites - Primary Children's and the U hospital. All those hours in the cadaver lab (and a killer interview!) paid off!! We had Kara surprise her at work with flowers. ;)

On Wednesday, after running around doing stuff all day for Zone Conference, etc, I made banana bread and we took it to Elder Olsen (from P.C.). One day, when Dad and I were at his apt, I asked all the elders if they knew how to find pop bottle caps for us girls to make jewelry. He piped up and said that he'd been collecting them and that he could get some for me. I told him that I'd make him some banana bread as payment. ;) It was a "win/win"...

Thursday was the day before Zone Conference so we were going back and forth to the airport to pick up elders that were flying in from the out-lying areas. It's too far and not safe to travel from some areas by bus, so they have to fly. 

Friday was Zone Conference, which is always fun to see all of the elders that have moved from our area. I wish I could say that I love the meeting/training portion, but it's all in Portuguese so it's pretty hard to follow. My vocabulary - and attention span - only go so far and seven hours is a LONG time! Sigh.... But I LOVE seeing the elders and being able to visit with them.

After the long day on Friday, I got up bright and early to join all the Young Women in the district on a 'march.' We all started in town at the main grocery store and walked down the streets to the church, about 3 miles. The president, Amalia, had given each branch a piece of fabric to make a banner and the girls carried these as we walked. She had them stop every so often and recite the YW theme and we sang hymns as we walked. She had gotten police escorts to ride/walk to the side of us so we wouldn't get clobbered by cars. It was pretty cool!! 

Some of the girls had hymn books to sing. Here's the neighborhood off of the street that we walked along. This guy jogged along the side us for awhile.

The second girl on the left is Isabel's daughter and the woman to my right, Telma, is the new YW president in Dondo that we pick up every Sunday for church because she moved about 30 minutes away from it. She's 35 and a high school science teacher. She's married and they have been members of the church for 3 years. I really like her. She's great!!

When we got to the church, they took a group picture and then pictures of each branch.

Here's our little Dondo branch.

After pictures, we went inside and a member the District presidency, who happened to be Amalias brother, Freeman, spoke to the girls. Then Amalia spoke and had a Q & A. Mariana translated for me. One of the questions was similar to the US. 'Can I go to the school graduation dance when I know there will be drinking and other things going on?' I guess they have this one big dance, similar to our Prom, and the parents come and watch for the first hour and then they leave and the kids are on their own and it gets crazy. So people went back and forth, but they finally decided that you should go for the first hour but then leave when the parents do.
Another question wasn't so easy to answer. One girl said that her father made her go buy his beer every Sunday. She didn't want to do it, but she knew she needed to be obedient and respectful of him. What should she do? When I heard that, I said to Mariana that maybe she should just talk to him and explain that she wanted to keep the commandment to obey your parents but she also wanted to obey the commandment to keep the Sabbath Day holy. Would he please not ask her to do this thing? Mariana said, 'That's good. I'm going to tell them.' I'm feeling a little smug (never a good thing and it always blows up in my face when I am...) while Mariana is explaining this to the group, when Mariana turns to me and tells me that it is more complicated. If the girl doesn't buy her father's beer, he can kick her out of the house. That's the law here. If your child displeases you, you can kick them out.
 That put a whole new spin on my pat answer.
After the discussion, Amalia had me teach a class on decorating their flip-flops with strips of fabric, like we did at our girls camp.

 I could only teach 7 or 8 at a time, so while we worked at the back of the cultural hall, they had each branch perform something. They danced, did skits, and sang.
One of the branch YW presidents, Veronica, was doing her flip flops while some girls danced and I joked with her that we ought to show them how to dance. She's about my age, and a riot, and when I said that, she said 'Sim!!' (Yes!) and told the announcer that we wanted to dance. I told her I was just kidding and asked if we really were and she said Yes again so we were the next ones up. The girls were so hilarious - they went nuts!! They clapped and hooted! It was pretty funny. One of the leaders (she's only 19 yr.) taped it on her phone but I haven't gotten it from her yet.
When I got home six hours later (and I left early - before they served lunch!), I showered and cleaned up. Pres. Kretly had gone that morning to drive some elders to a distant city so Sis. Kretly was alone. Dilles were busy that night so Dad and I went with Sis. K. to get some dinner and then we stopped at the padaria for bread on the way home.

On Sunday, Sis. Kretly came with us to Dondo.
Here's the young men preparing the sacrament:

I taught the first hour of Primary and taught them the 'Here's the church, here's the steeple" rhyme because the lesson was on respecting the chapel. It's a nursery rhyme but even the older kids really got into it. Creativity is lacking here, so anything the least bit creative is amazing to them, but sometimes difficult for them to grasp.
After the second hour, we zipped to another city because the branch president was an elder and he was being released because he goes home in a couple of weeks. They only meet for 2 hours so I went to Primary the first hour and sat behind this little girl. I loved her hair!!

After church, we came home. Long day - but not over yet... we had Dilles and Sis. Kretly for a pancake dinner. Then we packed it in.
We love you guys so much!!! Hope you feel the love-vibes from 10,000 miles away! ;)

Follow the Spirit

President Thomas S. Monson has said: “Not a day has gone by that I have not communicated with my Father in Heaven through prayer. It is a relationship I cherish—one I would literally be lost without. If you do not now have such a relationship with your Father in Heaven, I urge you to work toward that goal. As you do so, you will be entitled to His inspiration and guidance in your life—necessities for each of us if we are to survive spiritually during our sojourn here on earth. Such inspiration and guidance are gifts He freely gives if we but seek them. What treasures they are! I am always humbled and grateful when my Heavenly Father communicates with me through His inspiration. I have learned to recognize it, to trust it, and to follow it” ("Stand in Holy Places," Ensign, Nov. 2011, 84).

Perhaps, more than anything else, President Monson is known for acting on Spiritual promptings. What a great example he is to all of us. 

Last Saturday, while I was safe at home, (having just experienced the miraculous rescue of our truck from the deep water experience), as I was about to take a nap,  I received an impression to send a text message to the nine (9) teachers and thank them for their prayers. 

This is the English version of my message: 

Dear teachers, thank you for your prayers. I do not believe that we could have crossed the Red Sea without your righteous prayers. Prayer works! "nevertheless for the righteous sake, yea, because of the prayers of the righteous, they were spared." (Alma 62:40; Mor. 5:21)

Some background: Odete Fernando is the 16 year old former YW president, now Seminary teacher in Dondo. Dondo is a small isolated city about a 45 minute chapa (converted Van that holds 20+ people) distance from the next large city of Manga. On Friday, the day before our training meeting, Odete called me saying that her non-member step father, (semi-active mother) would not allow her to attend the training meeting unless I spoke with him first. He had a very reasonable concern that she return home before dark. I assured him that the training would be done by 11AM and that she would head home directly after the training. He consented to her attending and I thanked him for his loving concern for Odete.

Unknown to me, Odete had been assigned to be the concluding speaker the following day in Sacrament meeting. Her assigned topic was prayer. She concluded her talk by recounting this water/prayer/rescue experience and reading my entire text. She returned home and saw my text which she read to her mother and  step father. She testified that she knew that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and that she was able to teach her parents about prayer.

This is Elder Maezane from Maputo called to serve in Angola. He is waiting in Mozambique to receive his Visa to Angola. He just returned from the MTC/temple in Brazil. He served for 3 months in the Brazil, São Paulo West mission. The current mission president is Jose Luis Del Guerso. I was his trainer 35 years ago!

 

 

 This is an institute class for Beira 1 & 2. Everyone loves Mom and wants to be next to her in all the photos!! The teacher is Julio Joaquim Vicente, 24 years old, seated on the front row with the pink shirt.

 

 

Looking out our apartment window, we can see this woman sweeping up the sand in the street to sell. She probably earns about $.10 cents per hour. On the far side of the street you can see the large pile of sand she has accumulated. 

Mom with a gorilla glue eyeglass repair project....'use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without'.

 

 

 I Love You!

How great blessings the Father hath...prepared for you.‏

It has been raining for the past few days....the weather app on my phone says there is a 100% chance of rain today!!

Gratefully, our home doesn't leak and we are 15' above ground level!!

Today, we had our monthly training for our Seminary & Institute teachers. We had 13 out of about 16 in attendance. Mom gave a good thought about the parable of the starfish in which she used a sand dollar and gave each teacher a sand dollar to take home.

 I read from 2 Ne. 11:4 "all things which have been given of God from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him." The sand dollar as you know has two marks that can symbolize the crucifixion marks in Christ's hands.

While driving home with 5 young men riding in the back cab and 6 of us inside, we began to cross a large body of water from the recent rains. Soon after we entered the water, I realized it was way too deep. 

At first I tried unsuccessfully to back up. The water had entered the engine compartment and there began to be a lot of smoke. I placed the car in 4 wheel drive and prayed that the engine would not stall. We were in limbo for about 5 minutes as I tried to go backward then forward. 

The water was now entering through the floorboards of the truck. The engine was starting to lose power....I'm certain as a direct result of the combined prayers of all those present, we were finally able to drive forward and exit the water. We have had many extreme experiences here in Africa, but as of now, this is probably #1.

 

Earlier this week I read these verses and it seems as if I had never noticed them before:

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye are little children, and ye have not as yet understood how great blessings the Father hath in his own hands and prepared for you;

 And ye cannot bear all things now; nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours.

 And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more.

 Wherefore, do the things which I have commanded you, saith your Redeemer, even the Son Ahman, who prepareth all things before he taketh you;

 For ye are the church of the Firstborn, and he will take you up in a cloud, and appoint every man his portion.

 And he that is a faithful and wise steward shall inherit all things. Amen." (D & C 78:17-22)

Be of good cheer and receive all things with thankfulness! Seems like a good approach to use on raining days and he that is a faithful steward shall inherit all things.

While driving in Manga we drove past this front yard...

 

 

Today, we drove past this church in Beira. The name is the church of Light, perhaps they can consider a name change to the church of water...

 I love you!

We are the lucky ones

This week started off with a bang because it was transfers so we were driving around the district picking up elders and dropping them off and running back and forth to the airport. We got home from the last pick-up and drop-off at 1:00 am on Monday.

Here's two of our THS missionaries getting transferred.

 And here's our tallest missionary, Elder Olsen, who's from Park City. That's his companion to the left.  They'll turn some heads....;)

     The next day, Mariana came over and said, "Sister, I am sad." She's earned ALL the money that she needed for her mission application in ONE MONTH from the English/Portuguese lessons that's she's been teaching! The Indian woman referred four other people to her.  This is a miracle!! It's $86 for the passport, $50 for the yellow fever shot, plus the cost of the medical and dental exams, and lab-work. That is a fortune for the people here!
    So, she completed her whole mission packet and it was ready to send to Maputo, except for the passport that she was waiting for, but it costs $10 to mail it so she sent it with a missionary to Maputo to give to a member there. The member in Maputo was going to pick up her passport there and then deliver the whole packet to the mission office to process. But the member took it home and promptly forgot about it.  And the passport office ended up mailing her passport here to Beira. So, she needed the passport receipt that was in the packet - the lost packet - and she didn't know how to get it from Maputo.
     I realized that we had an elder coming the next day from Maputo and called him right then to tell him the situation and see when his flight was.  Then I told her if the guy could find her papers and take it to the elder, he could bring it for her. She was so happy but super stressed because the member hadn't gotten back to her. We said a prayer that the guy would find her papers and get it to the elder in time.
  It was 'touch and go' the next day, but the guy did find her papers at his house, took them to somebody that took them to Elder Hales who brought them from Maputo. (Nothing is easy or efficient here....everything takes twice, or three times, as long as it should)  It was late when we got back home from the airport, but I knew she was really worried so I sent her a text and told her that we had her papers. Here's her text back:   

  I love that girl! I call her my African daughter and she calls me 'mom'.

We went to visit a seminary class and passed out their new manuals. They were pretty excited!  Although you wouldn't know it, judging by their faces.... They just don't smile for pictures here.
(not sure what happened to the picture with me in it.)

 This is the photographer who stood on a chair to take the picture. When I said that I'd take HIS picture, he jumped down, got a manual, and struck a pose.  

Saturday we had our Seminary and Institute training, we talked about reaching 'the one' and I told the Parable of the Starfish, but I changed it to 'Sand-dollar' and gave each of them a sand-dollar. They liked it and the next Sunday, one of our teachers spoke in Sac. Mtg. and used the story in his talk. 

  The people here love stories and if you give them something, they treasure it. A few days later, one of the teachers broke his sand-dollar and sent Dad a text to see if we could give him another one. We gave it to him at the church, a few days later, and he was stoked. ;)
   But the event of the day happened on our way home. Nine of our teachers piled into the truck to get a ride home - four in the backseat and five in the back of the truck.

    It had been raining and one of the streets that we had to pass had a HUGE pothole that was full of water. Dad started across and when we got to the middle, the water was up past the headlights and we could tell it was too deep.  So Dad put it in reverse and tried to back out, but it was too late.....we were stuck! The water started coming in through my floorboard and I had to hurry and pick up all our things that were down there.
   I starting praying like crazy and Dad said a prayer, and then gunned it forward and it came free!  We were so relieved!! The water was so high it came in over the back tailgate and got the people back there all wet. When one of the teachers jumped out of the back of the truck, water sloshed out of his tall rubber boots. I felt bad because he had worn a new (new to him) suit for the meeting.  
 When I said that I had prayed and then Dad said he had too, a few of the teachers said that they had too.  Dad sent a text to the teachers later that night and thanked them for their faith and prayers.
  The next day, one of our teachers spoke in Sac. Mtg. and related the experience and read Dad's text. She was very emotional, which is very unusual here.  It was the only the second time that I've seen someone cry in church.  
   I was so scared, I didn't think to take a picture of the huge hole but here's what the floor - and my feet - looked like.  It was mud bath down there.  I had to scoop out the water with a paper plate that we had left from our training. 

  Our little branch meets in a house that the church rents. We use the living room for the chapel and the bedrooms for classes and the garage for the Primary. We have two elders in that branch and they live upstairs. The branch is growing and we don't have enough room anymore. This Sunday, we had a full-house so the missionaries asked the kids to give up their chairs and sit on the stairs so the adults could sit on a chair.  Here they are:

 Now random pictures:

Night-time at the veggie market where we buy our produce

 Walking behind this guy, you couldn't see anything but the bottom of his legs. He's picked up these bottles and washed them out to resale to people. He's carrying them in a mosquito net.
(This is in front of our apartment.)

 I was behind her on my walk. 

 Our Primary supplies:   I brought the water bottles to pour water for the kids. They were using the green bucket under the chair. It didn't work too well...... The first bottles that I brought disappeared so I brought more and wrote 'Primaria' on them in permanent marker. I've only lost one since then. ;)

 You have to be careful not to scrape your nails when you use the chalk...

 These are members from a branch in Angola. Angola used to be part of our mission until recently. Apparently, it's a lot better off economically than Mozambique, which isn't saying much, but judging from their clothes, it looks to be true. Aren't they beautiful??

 Here's some kids having a swim party after the big rains.

 Sad story:  This is Rodrig, one of our guards, with his cute little girl. He always smiles and  salutes us when we drive in or out of the garage.  One day, I noticed that he didn't seem to feel good, so I went downstairs and took him some food. When I gave it to him, I asked him if he was sick.  He said no, that he was very sad. Then he started talking (fast Portuguese) and I understood that his wife went to see her family and when he came home from work all the furniture in his house - everything - frig, etc. was gone.  I thought in American terms and said, 'Did your wife leave you? Does she want a divorce?" He said, No, no. Some robbers broke into his house while he was guarding the night shift and stole EVERYTHING.  This is the same guard that asked Dad for a loan of $3.00 a few weeks ago because the paychecks came late and he had no money to buy food for his family (He paid us back by washing our car).  The guards make about $110.00 a month. So, their years of hard work to save and buy a few things were all gone in one night. He was very, very sad. 

 
 Well, like your dad says, "We are the lucky ones."  I have learned real gratitude here and to not take things for granted like water and electricity.
And just so you know, we don't take you guys for granted - "Ahhh...."  ;)   
We do love you very, very much!!   mama

Moving days & "the blood that maketh an Atonement"-Lev. 17:11‏

The missionaries who live in Munhava have been many days without water..... but not anymore, because this week they moved to a new apartment!

The longest period without water was for eight (8) days at the beginning of the year, but there have been numerous times of three (3) days at a time.  Normally, when this occurs we bring them and their water containers to our apartment. For water storage the common practice is to use a 20 liter yellow container (which was previously used for cooking oil). These empty containers can be purchased for $2 on the street. Every home (including ours) has some.

The missionaries have smaller containers used to store purified water.  Additionally, upon occasion, they use our guards showers and we do their laundry.

Finally, enough was enough and even though the Rental Contract goes until the end of May and the rent for the month of March had already been paid, the mission wrote a termination letter to the Landlord. Therefore, on Tuesday, March 4th the missionaries were sleeping in a new and much nicer apartment!

Here is a photo of the new kitchen, complete with granite countertop!!

 

The young man with the suit coat is humble and always happy Elder Jose Caetano Antonio from Manga 2.  He was somewhat nervous as this was his first time flying. Previously, on August 22, 2013, Mom and I conducted a type of English proficiency test for him. He was then called to Londrina, Brazil which is within my old mission. 

  

While Mom selects the best avocado the woman in the red top sells various slices of goat!

 

 

On Friday, March 7th, Elder Anderson  starts his return home to New Zealand having completed his mission. 

 

Elder Sip from St. George took this photo of us today....

 

 

 Elder Anderson with his arm around Elder Ensaldo from the Pheonix area, who has also completed his mission. The other elders are from Manga 1. 

 

Here are some notes I made regarding the blood that maketh an Atonement.

Just before offering the great intercessory prayer and entering the garden of Gethsemane to endure “ the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.” (D & C 76:107; 88:106) Jesus gathered his eleven faithful apostles and said unto them: “Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me.” 

 (John 16: 32)

Earlier Jesus had taught: “...I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me....And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.”(John 8:16, 29)  

The apostle John testified of Jesus by stating: “... for God giveth him not the Spirit by measure,for he dwelleth in him, even the fullness.” (JST John 3:34)

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “None ever were perfect but Jesus: and why was He perfect ? Because He was the Son of God, and had the fullness of the Spirit,” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 187-188).

Once in the garden of Gethsemane “he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy.” (Mark 14:33) the footnote for ‘sore amazed’ states: “amazed, awestruck, astonished.” This has also been described as “terrified, surprised”

Elder James E. Talmage said that Jesus “was soon enveloped by deep sorrow, which appears to have been, in a measure, surprising to Himself ”(Jesus the Christ, page 611)

Now in the garden of Gethsemane as Jesus took the combined sins of all mankind, Jesus experienced for the first time in His life the loss of the Spirit as the Holy Ghost can not dwell where there is sin and Jesus was temporarily experiencing the effects of becoming the greatest sinner of all time.

Satan was of course present. The word ‘agony’ comes from the Greek word ‘agon’ which means: contest, struggle, fight, facing an opponent. At one point “.. there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and he sweat as it were great drops of blood..” (JST Luke 22: 43-44)

Luke the physician, records: “great drops of blood.” 

(JST Luke 22:44)

Why is this important ? The Old Testament records: “..the life of the flesh is in the blood...for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Lev. 17:11)

President Brigham Young explained: " the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, ...This is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of God upon him, he would not have sweat blood;"  (Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses vol. 3 page 206.)

Elder James E. Talmage wrote: "It was not physical pain, nor mental anguish alone, that caused him to suffer such torture as to produce an extrusion of blood from every pore; but a spiritual agony of soul such as only God was capable of experiencing." (Talmage, ‘Jesus the Christ’; pp. 613-614)

The Sacrament prayer for the water states: "that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them" (D & C 20:79)

"for behold, blood cometh from every pore" (Mosiah 3:7)  "his blood atoneth" (Mosiah 3:11) "the atonement of his blood" (Mosiah 3: 15) "the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins" (Mosiah 3: 16) 

In the Old Testament times, blood was literally sprinkled upon the believers.

"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant.." (Exodus 24: 7-8) 

King Benjamin's people prayed: "O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness for our sins" (Mosiah 4: 2).

During the time of total darkness in which “there could be no light” (3 Ne. 8:21) a voice was heard by the more righteous part that had been spared saying: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God..ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood;...ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and contrite spirit” (3 Ne. 9: 15, 19-20).

“To have a broken heart and a contrite spirit is to be humble and receptive to the will of God and to the counsel of those He has called to lead His Church. It also means to feel deep sorrow for sin and a sincere desire to repent.” 

 (True to the Faith, Sacrifice, pages 149-150).

Oh, that this Sunday and every Sunday, we may attend Church and offer the sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit in remembrance of the blood of Christ, which was shed for us.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: "So it is that real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the 'sacrifice unto the Lord ... of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,' (D&C 59:8), a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving 'away all [our] sins' in order to 'know God' (Alma 22:18) for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him." ("Deny Yourselves of All Ungodliness," Ensign, May 1995, 68)

I love you!