Elder Jace Yeoman: Buen Dia!!!!

Hello Everyone! Sounds like everyone is having fun getting back into the swing of things at school...I wish you all the best with that. And those that are working, I wish you all the best with that as well!!

This week Claudia got baptized and it was an incredible experience! She worked very hard to be able to be baptized and she had tears in her eyes throughout the whole meeting. And anyone that knows me well will laugh at me for this but I sang at her baptism..It wasn't too bad but it wasn't too good either haha! But she is awesome and going to be a huge help to the ward and her family, I have grown to love that family a lot!!

This past week I was thinking about something I could do to better my studies and I realized something that really helped me..that everything in the Gospel revolves around the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is the base of everything that we believe! And everything else we do is basically to strengthen our testimony of our Savior, like reading the scriptures, praying, and keeping the commandments! So, I have been studying a lot about the Atonement, and how it really is the basis of everything!

I saw an example this week that I loved and would like to share. So with the fall of Adam and Eve, the results were that they were cut off from the presence of Heavenly Father, and subjected to death and sin. Because of this, we are also cut off from the presence of God, but we also have a way back to him. Now, the Atonement of Christ is like a bridge that we have to return back to the presence of Heavenly Father. But the neat thing about it being a bridge is that we still have to walk across it, it isn't a teleport system, which means that we still must do our part. Through living the Gospel daily, and following the teachings of Christ we slowly progress and move across this bridge to Eternal Life. But if we don't do our part, we cannot go across the bridge, we stop walking and the Atonement no longer has effect for us. To be able to have effect, we must keep walking across the bridge, and never stop! Through constant repentance this is possible! And the great thing is, if we are doing our best to get across the bridge, we will have all the help we need from the Grace of the Lord. This is a perfect plan, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect.

Now, I also came across a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants that I loved and that shows really well Christ´s role and love for us. D&C 45:3-5 says

3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.

I love this scripture, it really represents how much Christ loves us, and how he is our advocate..when I think of advocate I think of a lawyer doing everything possible to win his case (there you go dad) and in that same way, Jesus Christ is our advocate for the Father. Christ already suffered all things, paid the price for our sins, and now it is up to us to do our part. As we strive to do our part, Christ will make it known unto Heavenly Father that we are doing as much as we can! That is how judgement will be perfect, because the person who suffered it all and knows exactly what we are going through, ultimately will be our judge. So do your best. Strive to live how you should and I promise that Christ will make up the rest, and that he will be pleading on our behalf! I know that is how it is! And I know that Christ lives and loves us more than we can comprehend. This life is tough, but we must be willing to make the sacrifice and be true disciples of Christ!!

I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Yeoman