The Power and Mercy of Jesus Christ's Atonement

     Before His arrest and execution, Jesus Christ chose to momentarily retire to a garden called Gethsemane, knowing that the darkest hours of His mortal existence would soon be upon Him, and still having yet more arcane messianic duties to perform before He could surrender Himself to His persecutors.

     As He led them on to the garden, His apostles took notice of their Master's morose behavior, and became increasingly aware that something was amiss. But they could not, at that time, fully comprehend the enormity of the final task that their Master was about to undertake.

     When Christ was beginning to approach His preappointed destination within the garden, He instructed His apostles to wait behind and watch before He continued to walk forward, alone, into the encompassing night. He only walked a little further, just out of immediate sight of His disciples, before He kneeled to the ground, and uttered these words:

   "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." (Luke 22:42)

      The cup that Jesus spoke of was the Atonement that he was about to make, at that very moment, for the sins of all mankind. This means that in these pivotal hours before His death, the sins of all past, present, and future penitent transgressors would be siphoned away from their adulterated souls, and pressed upon His immaculate own.
     This was a labor willingly undertaken out of love, and a task so painful and strenuous that it would cause Him to physically bleed from every pore in His body.

     Why then, we must ask ourselves, did He do it?
     The Bible enlightens us with this this one simple explanation:

"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the World to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." (John 3:16) ".. And the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1John 1:7)

He is Risen

         As we bask in the reverent afterglow of our most recent Easter Sunday it would no doubt do us all well to remember the sacred purposes behind our festivities.
        We should never get too swept up in the distracting frivolities of colored eggs and chocolate bunnies and forget that one thousand nine hundred and seventy eight years ago, Jesus Christ, the Lord, Savior, and Redeemer of the world, conquered death. And, in doing so, He ensured that we could follow in his stead, and have hope for salvation for our souls after our own inevitable descent into the grave.

       The most miraculous story in the history of the world is as follows:

       Three days after Jesus Christ's cruel and savage crucifixion (a humiliating and excruciatingly painful method of Roman execution)  at Golgotha, a small group of women, all earnestly loyal disciples of Jesus Christ, journeyed to a tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea, which was the location where the body of Christ was laid to rest. When they arrived at the site, and were just beginning to contemplate how they would manage to move an immense boulder that was blocking the entrance to the sepulcher, they were met with a shocking scene. For they observed from afar that the boulder had already been rolled away, and the threshold to Christ's tomb was exposed.

The First Vision

      In the spring of 1820 at Palmyra, New York, a young boy named Joseph Smith retired to a secluded grove of trees with private intentions to pray to God. It is impossible to determine exactly what Joseph expected, if he indeed expected anything at all from his prayer, but there can be no doubt that he never could have expected what he received: An answer.

        Not only an answer though, but an answer that was given in the most direct and personal way possible. An answer that, though it would dramatically alter Joseph's personal life, and set him on a course for humiliation and persecution, would bring salvation to innumerable souls.

An answer from the lips of God Himself.

What took place that day in a humble grove of trees would bring spiritual light to a world that for centuries had been clawing and clamoring for truth in benighted darkness. It would become an entreasured juncture in the annals of history, as the day that God broke His silence to once again commune with men.

This is the story of the first vision:

My Testimony of Christ

I feel there would be no better way to begin a new gospel-oriented blog than with this, my solemn and personal testimony.

First, I believe in Jesus Christ.

I know that He is my Savior.

I know that He suffered and died for my sins,

and that knowledge, for me, is overwhelming. I cannot even attempt to fathom the full weight of Christ's sacrifices for me alone without finding myself struggling to fight back tears. He suffered through persecution, agony, humiliation, and death so sinners (the company of such that you and I are not exempt from being associated with) could have a chance. Just a chance to repent of our sins and return to God's presence. A chance that He undoubtedly knew many would turn down; ignorant or apathetic of the fact that their souls are not their own, and have been bought with their Savior's blood. Indeed, Christ gave his life so that even the very men who drove the nails into His palms would have a chance to be forgiven, if they would only repent and accept Him as their Savior.

          Therefore I know that there is not one soul that Christ does not personally know and love, regardless of their sins and shortcomings.

      I know that Christ lives, and I know that He leads and guides His church to this very day. I know that in answer to an adolescent boy's humble and unassuming prayer, the true gospel of Jesus Christ has once again been restored to the earth, no different now than it was when Christ himself established it Himself, during His own earthly ministry. I know that Joseph Smith was called as a prophet of God to restore His true church to the earth. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and serves to further affirm His divinity as the Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind.
        I know that we are all part of one eternal family, and I consider everyone who reads these words to be another brother or sister, who came from the same God that I have come from, and who will return to Him after death.

        I could go on, but there is more power in brevity. So suffice it to say this. First and foremost God exists. He is our spiritual Father, and He resides as a glorified and perfected being in a state of paradise that we know as Heaven. Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son in the Flesh. These supernal progenitors of the human race love every soul that ever has, does, and ever will exist.

 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is God's true church.

      Jesus Christ lives, and He has invited everyone to come unto Him, and receive His gospel, fully restored and reinstated through modern day prohets, and all blessings therein. Through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism into His true church, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, I promise you will find a new and perfect peace and joy in life, and a greater understanding of your place and purpose in God's eternal plan. I promise you blessings as you endeavor to learn more of Jesus Christ, your friend and advocate in life and death, and His gospel. If you so desire, you can begin right now to gain a testimony of God's love for you with earnest and sincere daily prayer. I declare this in the name of Jesus Christ, and conclude with an affectionate amen.

From Humble Beginnings

        My name is Elder Radley Davis, and I have been called to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This blog is just one of the many ways that I will be sharing my knowledge, love, and testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as I possibly can. 
      As a missionary I have voluntarily sacrificed two years of my life to share the principles and doctrine of Christ's true church with the people of Rochester, New York, and, with the help of the Internet, also the world. If you ever have any comments, questions, or concerns about my posts I will always do my best to address them.

      To start, here's a little bit of information about myself, as the author of this blog. I'm a twenty-year-old guy from West Valley City, Utah, and right now I am very far away from home. I'm far away from the family and friends and possessions that just months ago composed the entirety of my life. I left everything that I knew and loved to all the more fully lose myself in the service of the Lord. However, this is no special sacrifice. Thousands of other Latter Day Saint missionaries around the world have done the same.
      I do not receive payment for my service as a missionary, and to be honest I don't want to. I would never accept monetary compensation for being a servant of the Lord, because the blessings and joy that I've found in righteousness and obedience to God's commandments are reward enough. My personal life is on hold for the moment, but I am not embittered in any way by such a stagnation. God has given me many blessings throughout my life. In fact, I have become a missionary because he has given me too many blessings for me to ignore. Inviting more of his children to come to Him is something that I can do for Him in return. It would be selfish and calloused to not want to impart the joy and understanding that I have been blessed with to anyone, and indeed everyone, who would desire to receive it.
       All I want is to share the perfect happiness that I have found with others who may be searching for the like. I know that the only way to obtain this perfect happiness in this life is through living righteously, and observing the commandments that God has provided us with, and I believe everyone else has the right to know the same. After all, we are all craftsmen when it comes to building the Lord's Kingdom, and we should never be afraid or ashamed to take up whatever tools we have to assist God, who would surely hold the role as our master foreman.