Sorry this is so small. I'm having problems copying it from email. Since people aren't posting, (Jamie's good), I'm going to post this. It's a talk Cassie gave last Sunday. I like it and it got me thinking and then writing my post. So I thought I'd post this first.
“And it came to pass that Jesus commanded his disciples that they should bring forth some bread and wine unto him.
“And it came to pass that Jesus commanded his disciples that they should bring forth some bread and wine unto him.
2. And while they were gone for bread and wine, he commanded the multitude that they should sit themselves down
upon the earth. 3. And when the disciples had come with bread and wine, he took of the bread and brake and blessed
it; and he gave unto the disciples and commanded that they should eat. 4. And when they had eaten and were filled, he
commanded that they should give unto the multitude. 5. And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto
the disciples: Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and
bless it and give it unto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name. 6. And
this shall ye always observe to do, even as I have done, even as I have broken bread and blessed it and given it unto
you. 7. And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto
the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.”
Much of my talk will be based on Elder Hamula’s talk “The Sacrament and the Atonement,” Sister Esplin’s “The
Sacrament- A Renewal for the Soul,” both in this past general conference, and my own personal experiences. Every
week we come to church and partake of the sacrament. It is the only ordinance that we repeat every week. Sister
Esplin says, “The sacrament gives us an opportunity for introspection and an opportunity to turn our heart and will to
God.” Obviously it is extremely important, and yet, I struggle focusing my thoughts for those 10 min to be on the
Savior. My mind wanders and I have to catch myself and I try to regain my focus. Elder Hamula talks about what we
should focus on during the sacrament, “With torn and broken bread, we signify that we remember the physical body of
Jesus Christ - a body that was buffeted with pains, afflictions, and temptations of every kind... We signify our belief that
while that same body was laid to rest in death, it was raised again to life from the grave.” As I read that I thought, our
bodies are similar- all of us have been hurt our bodies have been torn, bleed, bruised and laden with burdens. I am not
trying to say that we have suffered what Christ has but we can try to understand the pain He suffered for us with our
own experiences because it was our pains that He felt. It is so easy to say that Christ has felt everything I am going
through; but, I am slowly beginning to see that it is time that I stop saying the words and start feeling them instead.
Even though we will hurt a lot in this life, we can know that despite the pain we will rise again. And after this rise we will
be brought back into our Father’s presence. Elder Hamula poses, “The fundamental question facing all of us in not
whether we will live but with whom we will live after we die. While every one of us will return to the presence of God,
not every one of us will remain with Him.” “The sacrament prepares us to ‘see the face of God, even the Father, and
live.”’ I do not want to meet Heavenly Father and think, “Shoot, question, did I take the sacrament last week? Did I take
the opportunity to be made clean for this moment? When I was given this talk, Brother Easly suggested that I take a
day to think about the Atonement and the sacrament- well I work at the temple and so I figured that would be the
perfect day to focus my thoughts. As I was helping people with the endowment session a very old lady came to me,
she couldn’t stop shaking and her voice shook as well. As she proceeded with the endowment her shaking slowly
stopped. Before she left me, we exchanged glances and both of us were teary eyed. She understood the temple, the
Atonement, and her attendance was a testimony and it shone bight. She honored her baptismal covenant and always
remembered Christ.
From the scriptures that I read (3 Nephi 18: 1-7) I want to focus on a few words that have caught my attention as I
have pondered the sacrament. Brake, Blessed, Gave, Filled, and Testimony. A quick mission story:
“The minutes tick by- my companion and I wait by the door. The day to see if our work will be paid off- will all the
people we committed to come to church be here? 5 till, its starting, we sit in the back to be able to spot our
investigators, less actives and recent converts so that if they do come they will not feel weird walking to the front. I
check the door and window every few seconds. The opening song ends and I peak during the prayer to welcome them
if they come... The doors close, I sit silently and tears fill my eyes. I scan the room my heart breaks as I realize how
many people I love are not getting the blessings they need. They needed this strength for the burdens their bodies will
face this week. How did Christ do it? Sorrow engulfs me, what more could I have done? I take the blessed bread and
scan the room and this time see something different- all the faces that are here. The strong members that have come
for years, the mom of a convert family of a few weeks coming while her husband is struggling because she knows
where she needs to be. The Spirit fills me. My heart is being made whole again because my Savior knows how I feel,
has felt this sorrow but He knows how to succor me and fill me as well. Filled with a renewed strength. I can handle
another week, I can stand as a testimony for Him, evern if it this bad.”
Every week we come here, but in what attitude are arriving? Sometimes I come and think myself strong enough that I
am doing okay; it is usually the days where my pride blinds me to the many ways I am broken. Then there are the days
where I recognize that I am a broken thing needing mending by my Maker. Those days are the ones that have been the
most meaningful . One day I will stand as a resurrected being before our Heavenly Father and remember all of the times
when I willingly rebelled and made dumb dumb choices. But, I hope that I will remember many more times when I came
to Him broken and humbled truly needing His healing more than anything. I will remember the many times He blessed
my life and He will fill me with hope and make me whole again; my testimony strengthened and in turn standing as a
testimony for Him to see that I never gave up but kept trying even through my mistakes. I know