Rasmania 101: Lecture series on the Atonement

This weekend we had a wonderful opportunity for service (the kind that's easy to do). The YSA stake had invited an LDS Cadet choir (Air Force Academy) to come and participate in some activities with our YSA's. They were performing a service--performing and sharing their testimonies, and we provided the service of hosting them. We were able to have the only female cadet stay with us. They arrived literally in the middle of the night Friday night. Roy and Jennie got up at 2:30 to go pick up our cadet (Audra). Saturday morning the leaders had a hike planned, but due to our late winter, the hike had to be cancelled. I don't think any of the cadets minded, since it enabled them all to sleep in. Some of the YSA's met to play games at 10:00 (instead of the hike), but I don't think any of the cadets made it. At noon we were treated to an organ recital at Temple Square. Roy and I commented to each other how we have these wonderful free concerts in Salt Lake and the only time we take advantage of them is when we have guests. After the concert the organist took us up to the choir seats and told us all about the organ. There are more than 11,000 pipes.
The Cadets then had a tour of the Conference Center Roy and I left the cadets and hurried home for a short rest and Caitlyn's violin recital. I decided that she's about passed me up on the violin--at least in tecnique. She did a great job. I tried hard for a picture, but couldn't get her to look at me.

The concert given in the evening by the Cadets was fantastic. The voices were good, some really good, but the spirit these youth brought with them was amazing. One young cadet (19) told his conversion story. His family are staunch Southern Baptists, he is from Kentucky. Needless to say, they aren't terribly happy with him, especially since he told them he was going to serve a mission in Thailand. I wish his parents could have been at that concert and heard the songs they sang about the Savior and that they could see his testimony in his countenance. He said that the first time he read the Book of Mormon, he didn't pray about it once--because he was trying to prove it wrong. Eventually, through the love of some members, he did pray about it. He said that it was love that brought him into the church. That was good for me to hear as I've been trying to share my testimony with Heeyoung. She needs love more than anything else right now.
Jennie and Caitlyn took Audra to meet the other cadets at a YSA Sacrament meeting this morning. She'll go back to Colorado Springs right after church. It was a short visit and a small commitment from us, but it went really well.

The girl tn the far right is Audra. The lady in the middle is the choir director, and the
other two girls are girlfriends of a couple of the cadets;
they came up from Provo to see their beaus and attend the concert.
The tall boy in the middle on the back row
was the convert from Kentucky.

Nan invited me to go with her to her stake for a series of lectures on the Atonement. I forgot to put this in the letter last week. The first lecture was by Tad R Callister. I'm sure some of you have read his book, "The Infinite Atonement." I have, but it's been a long time. Elder Callister said that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the single most important thing in our lives. He reminded us that to understand the Atonement, you must understand the Fall. The Atonement is to correct, reconcile, and to redeem. It is also to perfect us.
He quoted D&C 93:38 "Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God."
He brought up a question that I don't think I've really thought about before. He asked, "Could we sin in our premortal life? The obvious answer is 'yes' because 1/3 of the hosts of heaven chose to follow Satan. He talked about how the Atonement is retroactive. It covers those sins, which is why were were able to be born innocent. It's one of the times that the Atonement cleanses us. We are blessed to know that there are many times in our lives when we can be cleansed and begin again. We can even have this blessing every week if we are constantly repenting and seeking after our Savior.
Elder Callister also quoted Elder Boyd K Packer: "...save for the exception of the very few who defect to perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the atonement of Christ. Boyd K Packer: The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness
We were also told that the scriptures help us understand the depth and breadth of the Savior's power.
This made me think that a person would have to be very close to the Savior and have a great understanding of the Atonement in order to write an entire book about it.

This is a short video that we were shown in the class. Handel--the Messiah and Debtor's prison. It's worth a few minutes of your time. Handel, after writing the Messiah, put on a free performance to help the people in debtor's prison. It's a great example of what the Savior can do for us--it doesn't matter how great or small the debt.

Callister concluded his talk asking us how we could know personally if we have been forgiven. He said that it's very simple. If you can feel the spirit--while you're in church, or reading the scriptures, or in whatever circumstances, then you have been forgiven or the cleansing process is in effect.

If you're not bored yet, I want to share a little of this week's lecture. The name of the speaker was Lynda Wilson. She's a member from Nan's stake. She started out by telling us of a dream her sister had. Her sister (who lives in Hawaii) was dreaming she was in the ocean with lots and lots of people around her. Everyone was flailing around searching for a way to save their lives. Her sister noticed that she was wearing a life preserver, but there were so many that didn't have one. What she felt in the dream was that this was a Disaster. When she woke up she realized that the Disaster is The Fall of man. There are so many people in this world who are drowning. They are flailing around looking to be saved, but they don't know how to find the way. We have life preservers--we have the gospel, and we need to try and help those who don't.
Sister Wilson spent quite a bit of time talking about grace. Grace is an enabling power in our lives.
She said that she had heard once that Salvation is free, but exaltation is earned. She immediately went home and looked up the word "earned" in the scriptures and of course found that this word is not found anywhere in the scriptures. We cannot "earn" exaltation. We can only inherit it through the merits of Christ. Christ "merits" eternal life--He is the only one. We can do all things through Christ and, as we read in John 15:5, without Him we can do nothing.
She concluded by saying "It will always be about grace. What should be our response to that grace? We should come to know Him, love Him, and serve Him.
She also referenced the following talk. It is definitely worth some of your time to reread and ponder.
The Living Bread: Elder Christopherson

I hardly saw any of my grandchildren this week, but I received a few pictures.