Random tidbits from the last few days

Thursday (like every 3rd Thursday of the month) I got to go do baptisms for the dead at the Oakland temple with my ward. The names I was given were from Chile, Denmark, Italy, Korea, England, Michigan, and probably a few other places I can’t remember. The Korean names had Korean characters followed by the name spelled out after. It was neat. I’d never seen that before. I was glad I wasn’t the one having to pronounce those names.

Earlier on Thursday I was filling my gas tank at Safeway. I put in my home phone number so I could get the 3 cent discount since my Dad has a Safeway membership card and as I was hitting enter I noticed a 6 in there. I must have mis-entered my number, there aren’t any 6’s in it so I was anticipating an “invalid phone number” message to flash on the screen, but instead it said “Kim Tweedy, your discount today is 3 cents a gallon” and I proceeded to fill my tank.

Yesterday was Lauren’s birthday and for the first time in a couple years I got to yell her birthday poem at her in person rather than over the phone. I wrote this poem for her when she was 8 and this was the 6th time I got to read it to her. At one point I yell her age as loud as I can. It’s fun. It’s a very childish, rhyme-y sort of poem; I just change the age as she gets older. I plan to yell it at her every year until I die. She’s going to love it when she’s 48 and I’m 60 screaming her age at her through a Dr. Seussish sounding poem.

And just for Danny, here’s a picture of Lauren taken about 5 minutes ago eating left over birthday cake. Notice her beautiful hair straightened with her new hair straightener from mom and dad.



I finally saw “Where the Wild Things Are” last night. My 2 friends and I ended up having our own private showing which was nice. I’d much rather wait for empty theaters than see something opening night. I didn’t know what to think right after it was over. It wasn’t exactly enjoyable to watch for me. I’ve decided that I’m glad I saw it, and it was definitely worth watching at least once, and if it’s going to be once it might as well have been in the theater (especially since we had it all to ourselves), but it will take a special kind of mood to want to see it again- and I’m not sure if I will.

Pictures for Danny

My bruddah Danny says “more pictures, less talking”. Usually I save pictures for facebook and words for my blog, but seeing as how my camera has been recently resurrected I’ll post a few of my favorite pictures that I found on it (most of them are from a trip to the Oakland Zoo just before Christmas last year). Maybe from here on out I’ll try to find a picture to go along with new posts, but for now these are for you, Danny. Hope you love them.










my favorites


Fudge in it's premortal state. This was soon turned into Christmas deliciousness

Daisies in April

‘Tis the season for weddings and engagements. Spring romances are being concluded by significant knot tying before the return to school and serious summer courtships are heading to a happily ever after beginning this fall to last for time and all eternity. With all these new engagements, bridal showers, weddings, and receptions happening around me, even though I have no reason to, it’s difficult to not think about my own happily ever after...beginning with a beautiful day in April full of daisies and sunshine, for I have come to the conclusion that April is the ideal month to be married in for reasons that nobody would guess aside from the fact that it’s spring time and the world is in a happy state of new blooms and bright colors and the world seems to naturally fall in love with and around this time.

Growing up I never spent more than 2 seconds contemplating my future wedding other than knowing that someday I’d be married. When I was 18 I was listening to my cousin describe the colors and her plans for her dream wedding and looking over some sketches she had of what she’d like her wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses to be like. My aunt asked me what I had planned for my wedding. I told her that until then I hadn’t really thought about it. “What? No, every girl thinks about and plans her future wedding”. Dang it, I was failing at being a girl. I hadn’t a clue as to what colors I wanted, what my dress should be like, what food to serve, what kind of cake I should have, and who my bridesmaids would be or even what kind of ring I would like, which seemed so important for a girl to know.

The more I hear about what my friends, family, and acquaintances go through to prepare for a reception the more and more I don’t want to have a reception at all. The whole thing seems over done and commercialized and overshadows the meaningful part of the day. It makes me wonder how one can enjoy that special day or be able to focus on the important aspects of the event with all the hullabaloo of the reception to worry about not only that day but for weeks and weeks prior. It turns out I don’t have a choice in the matter of to party or not to party and that I’m going to have a reception whether I want one or not. I told my mom that was fine. We could do something really simple. I suggested a “drive through” reception. Guests could enter one end of the church parking lot and drive by the groom and myself. We’ll swap wedding favors for gifts and maybe send a piece of cake and punch through the window as well, exchanging thank you’s and congratulations all within 20 seconds before they drive off out of the other end of the parking lot allowing the next car the honors of speaking to us briefly through the car window. We joked about tossing cake through rolled down windows as they drove by and waving as they passed.

I don’t know why, but my mom thought this was a horrible idea. I still think it’s a brilliant plan, but I guess she’s right that it wouldn’t be very nice for guests who might have had to drive a bit to get there just to see me. So next I suggested cookies and water in an undecorated bare cultural hall- much like “break the fast” in the Antioch 5th ward: multiple fold-out tables and metal seats, but no decor. Functional and easy. No mess, no hassle, just a spot for people to congregate to congratulate me and have a cookie. What else do you need? My dad loved this economically priced reception plan. Guess who didn’t? Darn it mom, just let me have my stress free, cheap yet tacky reception! If I have no hope of getting away with my dream of a drive by reception or the cookies and water plan there are a few things I do know that I do or don’t want at my reception.

Over the past 7 years I have attended multiple wedding receptions and bridal showers and have taken note on things I loved, things I didn’t love so much, but most of all, things I found to be pointlessly silly.

For example, I know for sure I’m not going to throw my bouquet for all the single girls to attempt to catch. I hate that part of receptions. I have never (willingly) participated in this event at any reception I have ever gone to. I think it’s stupid and I can’t imagine myself flinging a bouquet behind me to a group of girls to catch to determine which of them will be married next. I fail to see the point of it other than every other wedding party has done it since the beginning of weddings. Similarly there will be no garter tossing at my reception either.

Another thing that is traditionally done that I cannot understand is the couple cutting the cake and smashing it into each other’s faces- or even feeding it nicely to each other. What is this for? Pictures? A show for the guests? This is dumb. Someone else can cut the cake for me. I will eat it though- off of my plate with my own fork along with everyone else.

One pet peeve of mine at receptions is when you can’t even see the person you’re talking to because it’s so dark. I guess it’s supposed to be a more romantic atmosphere the darker it is. The first reception I went to as an adult had all the lights turned off except for white Christmas lights. I didn’t like it. I decided then at 18 years old I’d have all the lights on at my reception. My mom agrees that lighting is important but seems to think that I won’t need ALL the lights on if we bring in rented light post things. I assured her I DO need all the lights on. The end. Unless of course it’s outside during the day.

I’m not going to have dancing. Nope. Not a first dance, or a daddy/ bride, mother/groom dance or any kind of funky chicken.

I’m not going to have bridesmaids. I figure my sister can wear a special dress if she wants to, and if my future husband has sisters that want to wear a special dress they can, but I’m leaving it at immediate family and what they wear and if they want to is up to them.

I don’t want a receiving line either. Myself and the groom and maybe our parents can greet guests in an informal way in some designated location for the very beginning of the reception, but I don’t want people waiting in line to say hi to me and I’m not going to make our families/wedding party all stand and make our guests file in and shake hands and speak with people they probably don’t even know before they finally get to me. I once went through a line where I had to make small talk with over 10 bridesmaids and groomsmen I didn’t know before I finally got to my friend to give her a hug and congratulations (and then there was over 10 people on the other side of her). It was painful for me. It was painful for those in the line who had to do the same thing with a bajillion other guests and since the receiving line was so long, the line of guests waiting to shake all of their hands went out the cultural hall doors down the hallway and I felt like I was at Disneyland waiting in line for Dumbo’s flight.

There are a lot of silly and stupid things involved with getting married. I might not be able to escape a reception, but I might have more luck at avoiding a bridal shower. I’ve been to 1 bridal shower that was very nice and that I actually enjoyed. It was unlike any other bridal shower I had ever been to and I found myself pleasantly surprised at how nice they can be. Other than that, there was only 1 other bridal shower that I tolerated fairly well (because it was at my house and I was hosting it along with my mom and therefore, silliness and awkward moments were kept to a minimum). I find bridal showers to be awkward, full of weird games, and another occasion people have to spend money on a gift for you- usually indecent sleep wear given in the hopes that it makes you blush.

I was talking with my mom about wedding dresses and what they can do in the temple to alter the dress to be temple appropriate if it isn’t long sleeved or have a high enough neckline. She told me some girls wear a temple dress to be sealed in, and then their elaborate, pretty wedding gown to the reception. I don’t get it. If it’s your wedding dress, you should get married in it. It seems like a waste to wear it just to the reception- and how is that special? It’s no longer a wedding dress, but a reception dress that appears to be a wedding dress.

When I started thinking about wedding dresses and the nightmare of shopping for one I came to the conclusion that I didn’t need one. I hate shopping. I hate trying on clothes. Such hassle. I know it’s going to be nearly impossible to find a dress that I really like. When I thought about what wedding dresses are and their purpose, they seemed to me just one more pointlessly silly thing associated with marriage and weddings. And veils are just comical. They’re a bunch of tulle stuck on your head that has no purpose. Traditionally maybe it does in other church’s ceremonies, but it has no meaning for me and seems to be a waste of fabric. I am sure I would feel stupid wearing a veil as a part of my “reception attire”. It’s just not me. I started considering wearing a temple dress for my sealing and then just wearing church clothes to the reception. I wonder if I could get away with that. I wouldn’t be wearing a big pretty wedding dress for myself. It would be for everyone else to see me in and that’s not me either. I don’t need a beautiful elaborate white dress just because everybody else does.

My mom agrees with me about the veil thing, she didn’t have one. It turns out she didn’t throw her bouquet or cut the cake or dance at her reception either, but she thinks I’m weird for not wanting a wedding dress. Again, she vetoed my decision there and says I should at least go and try a few on when the time comes to see how certain styles look on me so maybe we could get ideas and make one if we can’t find a decent one that I like. Boooooo.

Maybe when I get engaged I’ll change my mind and be silly too, right there with the rest of them. I’ll have to re-read my thoughts here and realize how retarded I’m being and elope and thwart all my mom’s plans of a simple yet elegant reception and free myself from wasting hours trying on white dresses just so I can have a picture of myself in it for one day and show it off at a party.

Pointlessly silly. Usually I’m a fan of pointlessly silly, but not so much in certain cases. No bouquet toss, no receiving line, no dancing, no cake cutting or smashing it into faces, no darkness, and no elaborate wedding dress and...no fun? We’ll see. I’m still dreaming of that “drive through” reception. I’m going to see what I can do to pull that one off. That's a pointlessly silly I can live with.

A message to my sisters

I’m going to have to change the name of my blog to Katie’s blog about something (instead of nothing). Once again, I don’t find the following post to be pointless- and for that I apologize. Sunday was ward conference. I was supposed to give a 5 minute message in Relief Society. Since I was not in town that day, I wrote my message during the week before and my 1st counselor read it for me. I wrote this message specifically to my sisters in the 5th ward, but I think there are parts of it that every one can take something from.

My dear sisters,

I am sorry I’m not here to share this message with you in person. I hope that the same spirit I feel as I’m writing this to you will be conveyed through the reading of this letter and be present as you hear it. Actually, I’m rather grateful to have Rachel read this instead of my delivering it in person, because it will save me the embarrassment of crying in front of you.

Usually when I’m asked to teach a lesson, give a talk, or share a message without a topic being assigned one of two things happen: Either I know what I need to say right away and it’s the easiest talk/lesson/message ever written or, I think of a topic right away, but then think that’s not what I’m supposed to go with, struggle to find what I think it is I’m supposed to share, write and rewrite the lesson or talk only to return to the original topic I had thought of first. This time lucky for me there was no struggling and is one of those times where the message practically writes itself.

If there is one thing I would want for us to know at this time, it is that we are loved. I know we know this. It is such a simple truth and a truth that has been taught to us since we were sunbeams: “I am a child of God, and He has sent me here...”, but it is a truth that seems to be easily forgotten, and every once in a while we need a little reminder. The knowledge that God loves us is not just a comforting idea in our heads to be repeated as a “Sunday school answer”- it is a comforting feeling. It amazes me how much love our Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us as individuals and as a group of sisters in the Antioch 5th ward. My desire for us is that we are able to not only know in our heads that we are loved, but to be able to feel of it.

Growing up, I had always known God loved me. Primary made sure I knew. I knew it in my head and could repeat it whenever I was asked. When I was in Young Women’s we had a lesson about God’s love for us and how we were of worth. We were encouraged to ask our Heavenly Father during our next personal prayer if he loved us. I thought this was a stupid assignment. I’m not fond of people telling me what I should be praying about, especially in my personal prayers. I already knew God loved me, everybody knows that. During my prayers that evening, despite my dislike of being told what to do, I found myself sincerely asking my Heavenly Father if he loved me. The feeling that overcame me before I could even finish formulating my question was surprising. My answer wasn’t just a confirmation in my head of what I already knew was true like I expected or the normal “this is right and good” feeling, but an overwhelming feeling I was sent of how much I was cared for and loved- that God loved me was no longer just an abstract idea in my mind that I could repeat in Sunday school. I wasn’t expecting that feeling. I wasn’t expecting any feeling, at least not a feeling as strong and sure as that one was. It brought tears to my eyes as my understanding of what I meant to my Heavenly Father hit me. It left such an impression that I can remember that experience to share with you 10 or 11 years later.

I love my Heavenly Father, and I am so grateful to know of the love that he has for me and for you, and for each of us sisters in the Antioch 5th young single adult ward. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ that makes it possible for us to return to Him. I love my savior. He loved us so much that he gave his life in ransom for ours. The scriptures teach us that: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son...” (John 3:16) and “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). We are loved. We are of worth. We are cared about. It’s a wonderful feeling that I hope we are all experiencing and never forget.

Sometimes, many times, God’s love is seen and experienced through the love that we have for each other. In this way we also prove our love to Him. It is not necessary for us to die for those we love, but there are other ways we can “lay down our lives for our friends”. Mosiah 2:17 says “... when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.” I know that we all have a deep love for our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, it is what brings us together as sisters in Zion. I truly appreciate the love that we have for our sisters here in this ward. I can feel of the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for each of us and I know that our love of each other is a reflection and a symbol of the love we have for Them. I’m grateful for visiting teaching and the opportunity to share our love for our sisters, Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ through this service. I appreciate all of our efforts we give each month to strive to get every one of us visited, I know it’s not easy. I am grateful for my visiting teachers and the time they take to share their love for me.

I want you to know that you are loved by so many people. Your family and friends love you, my counselors and I love you, your visiting teachers love you, the bishopric and their wives love you, the stake RS presidency loves you, Stake leadership and general authorities love you, but most importantly Heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ love you. I know we know it, but I hope we can feel it because knowing it in our heads isn’t nearly as nice as feeling it in our hearts. We are of worth. We are known. We are loved. We should know it, and we should feel it.

Finally I would just like to thank you for everything you do and for all that you contribute to our Relief Society. We are a fantastic group, and I feel so blessed to be getting to know all of you.

I feel like I should write: Sincerely, or Love, Katie, since I wrote this like a letter, but I guess I should end it the way we’re supposed to: in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

What makes you smile?

I was thinking about smiling today and remembered a list I had created when I was 18 of things that didn’t just make me happy, but things that had actually caused me to physically break into a grin at some point in time if not every time I encounter it. I’ve always thought that if smiling were impossible my face would crack. Here’s the list (in no way complete) that I came up with 6-7 years ago of things that had made me smile:

☺ Christmas music (especially when it’s no where near Christmas)

☺ seeing the yellow notice outside my classroom canceling class for the day

☺hearing a favorite song come on the radio

☺flannel sheets on a cold night

☺good/happy music

☺seeing someone else smile

☺friends and cousins

☺chocolate

☺smell of fog

☺hearing a friend sing

☺remembering an interesting dream

☺anything and everything, but nothing in particular

☺little kids

☺feeling the spirit

☺hearing music with memories behind it

☺hearing children sing

☺swinging

☺riding on a rollercoaster

☺reading one of Eric’s (my younger brother) letters

☺getting a letter from a friend I haven’t seen in a long time

☺feeling happy

☺when things unexpectedly go well or change for the better

☺when I realize Heavenly Father has answered a prayer or given me something I asked for (or didn’t ask for)

☺Hearing the phone ring when I’m expecting a call (depending on who I’m expecting a call from!)

☺receiving a blessing

☺liking what I see in the mirror

☺realizing how sad I must look when I’m not smiling

☺hearing the rain fall outside while I’m in my warm bed

☺thinking of things that make me smile

☺hearing laughter

☺g-ma’s “evil eye”

☺oldies music

☺absolute silence in a group of friends/people when it’s not common

☺fun socks

☺seeing someone willing to help another

☺hearing g-ma tell stories from when she was young

☺meeting someone new

☺walking out of my last class on a Friday afternoon

☺giving a gift the other person really enjoys

☺realizing how much certain people care about me

☺hearing a compliment or something nice about me when the other person isn’t aware that I’m within hearing range

☺when someone says, “don’t smile”

☺having the hiccups when I’m trying to talk to someone

☺getting a good grade on a test when I wasn’t expecting one (actually- to edit this I smiled
when I got a good grade on anything whether I was expecting it or not)

☺seeing the way gay people act

☺Kim’s destressitizing breathing exercises

☺when the wind blows and hits me just right

☺bubbles

It once was lost but now is found

Spring semester in 2007 required purchase of this massive red book titled Medical Surgical Nursing. It cost a pretty penny, somewhere around 130 bucks I think. When I say massive, I mean massive. This wasn’t a book you’d take to class with you unless you were looking to get some muscle toning action to incorporate into your walk around campus. In fact, when I had bought it (along with a few other hefty texts) I was sore the next day from lugging it the mile to my car since I parked off campus just across the street at the LDS institute building. I hated paying so much for a book, even if it was of a significant size, but I accepted the price by figuring I could divide it by two since we were using it again the next semester which made it reasonable. I was happy that there would be one less expensive book to buy that upcoming semester even if in the long run it averaged out from the crazy cost of books the semester before. I was still happy I wouldn’t have to buy another super expensive ginormous dead tree.

With the end of the semester I went home to Antioch for the next 3 months. I brought Big Red with me, just in case I felt like perusing it to keep me from forgetting important nursing information over the summer break. Of course I never even cracked it open, but there was something comforting seeing it on the table in my room everyday and knowing it was there if I had wanted to. There it stayed untouched, yet clearly visible on the corner of my long table next to my doorway all summer long.

August was coming to a close and it was time for me to get ready to go back to Sacramento. I didn’t notice when it was exactly Big Red had disappeared, but when I was packing up my things it was not on my table. A DVD a friend had lent me that I had placed on top of Big Red went AWOL as well. I searched everywhere I could think to look for that book and the DVD. We came to the conclusion that somebody must have stolen it-nobody in our house had touched them and there wasn’t any other reason for them to be gone from their normal spot. My parent’s house was up for sale at this time and on most Sundays while we were at church and other random days a realtor would have an open house showing the house to people. We just couldn’t figure out how they managed to walk out of the house with that massive book unseen…in summer no less when big puffy jackets (that wouldn’t have covered the bulk of that book anyway) weren’t worn.

I thought, maybe, just maybe I really hadn’t seen it on my table all summer and left it in my room in West Sacramento and I left the DVD somewhere else. I could not imagine someone stealing them! Alas, ‘twas not so. Upon return to my room at my grandma’s house in West Sac I found what I already knew but couldn’t understand. The book and DVD remained mysteriously vanished. I wound up having to buy a replacement DVD for the one that was lent to me, and buying another Big Red book. Gaahh! It was most disappointing and very frustrating.

Fast forward to May 2, 2009 in the evening. My dad walked into the family room holding a large rectangular shape in front of him. What was that? The lights were dim and all I could see were some words reflecting the small amount of light it was catching. At first I thought it was a trivial pursuit game box. What is that? He kept holding it in front of him and said, “Look what I found!” I peered closer. Oh my goodness! That boxy looking rectangular form my dad was holding said “Medical Surgical Nursing Clinical Management for Positive Outcomes 7th edition” on it!!

“Where did you find that??” We were so sure it had been stolen. The whole family had looked everywhere for it that summer in 2007. I even looked at my Aunt’s house I had gone to when I knew I didn’t bring it there in case I did and forgot (I had brought it there on other occasions in the past).

He said he thinks someone had played a trick on us, because it was on the lowest shelf on the bookcase in their room behind a row of other books in front of it so you couldn’t see it by looking at the bookcase front on unless you pulled out the books that were on that shelf in front of it. The books on that shelf were not used (obviously) and stayed there for almost 2 years until my dad was cleaning it out and reorganizing it tonight and ta daaaa. There was Big Red. I guess some kid or strange adult who went through one of our open houses that summer hid it from me. I can’t believe it was in the house the whole time. What a weird hiding place, yet genius. Hiding a book on a book case in a room it didn’t belong in behind other books.

I asked if he’d found the DVD too. Nope, that one is still gone but now I’m thinking I should check my little brother’s shelves in his closet for it. He’s been gone in Brazil for almost the last 2 years and I don’t think anybody’s been through that closet much- I wouldn’t be surprised if I found it somewhere in there.

Christ’s atonement and the need for the resurrection

I got to give another talk in church today. It was “invite a friend Sunday” so our talks were geared towards those who might not be familiar with our church. Ta daaa, here it is if you couldn’t get it live:

Have you ever tried to complete a crossword puzzle- or for those of you who prefer numbers to words- a sudoku grid with a pen? Have you ever typed an essay without once hitting the delete button? Remember “do overs” in elementary school when you didn’t get it right the first try? Or maybe for some of us it’s a little more recent than elementary school. Can you imagine going through life without any way to correct our mistakes? What a drag that would be! How long would it take until we just gave up in frustration?

Before this world was created, God had a plan for us. We would be sent to this world. We would obtain a body, like He had. We would experience life and all the joys and pains that come with these bodies. Our lives would be a time to prove our faithfulness and love for Him. When our mortal lives were complete, the plan was (and still is) for us to return back to live with Him again.

When we were created, God knew that we would be imperfect. He knew human nature was not a sinless one. He planned on that, however, in the Pearl of Great Price, from the book of Moses, we learn that “no unclean thing can dwell” in God’s presence. How would we be able to return to live with him, if we are imperfect, unclean beings? Without a way to repent and become clean there would be no point in going through this life. It would be like trying to complete a crossword puzzle with a pen, or typing an essay without a delete button, or having no “do overs”. We’d never win. What is it we’d like to win? Eternal life, exaltation in the life to come, living again in the presence of God. Lucky for us we have been given a way so that life is not frustratingly pointless. We can win.

God knew we would not be able to keep his commandments in perfectness. Christ was the only one to accomplish such a feat. The laws of justice demand a price for sin. There is no way we could ever pay that price ourselves. Christ, our Savior, the only one who had no price to pay, paid our debt for us, through which justice is met and we receive mercy and salvation.

Jesus Christ volunteered in the life before this one to take upon him the sins of the world. He was born and was the only person in the history of the world to live a perfect life. He was the only qualified person to do what he did for us. He gave his perfect life in ransom for our imperfect lives. In the Garden of Gethsamane he took upon himself the sins, pains, afflictions and burdens of the world. As a final sacrifice he gave his life on the cross. He would not stay dead forever. 3 days after his burial, he rose as a resurrected being. His spirit and body had been reunited and he lives again. He had overcome death and paved the way for us that we might overcome death as well. Without Him, our bodies would lie as dust once our spirits left us at the end of our mortal existence, and our spirits would be in such a state that would be unfit to return to our Father’s presence leaving us under Satan’s dominion. Christ paid the price we could not pay ourselves to save us from such a fate.

The atonement accomplishes two things. First it overcomes physical also known as temporal death. Christ was the first person to be resurrected. We too will be resurrected. Everyone will have the gift of immortality in the life to come. After our bodies die, our spirit and our body will become separated. When we are resurrected our spirit and body will be reunited in a perfected form.

The second thing the atonement does is saves us from spiritual death which is not the same as temporal, or physical death. Spiritual death is the separation of ourselves from God. Remember how no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God? While every one will be saved from the physical death and be resurrected, to be saved from spiritual death requires personal choice and repentance. The atonement allows us to repent for our sins and cleanse ourselves if we so choose. It’s like being allowed to use a pencil while working on a crossword, or the delete button when typing an essay or using “do overs” when playing a game and you mess up first thing. It allows us to win.

Can you imagine what would happen if Christ hadn’t overcome these two forms of death for us? If we’re not able to return to God, where would that leave us? In the Book of Mormon, the 2nd Book of Nephi, Chapter 9 verses 6-10 describes the importance of a resurrection and what would happen without it and the atonement:

“6. For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the presence of the Lord.”

What this verse is saying is we need the resurrection to fulfil God’s plan that he has for us- the plan for us to return to Him. We need a resurrection because we have death. We have death because of the fall of Adam that occurred in the Garden of Eden. With the fall of Adam came not only physical death, but spiritual death which is being cut off from the presence of the Lord.

7. “Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement– save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth to rise no more.

8. O the wisdom of God, in his mercy and Grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God and became the devil, to rise no more.

9. And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God...

10. O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.”

So as we can see from these verses here, without the atonement, and without a resurrection, we would become subject to Satan, but God made sure that we would have a way to make it back to Him. He wouldn’t send us here with no hope or chance to return. Who wants to play a game you know you have no chance of winning? He wants us to win this one. He loves us so much he gave his only begotten son, the only person in the world who had no price to pay for his sins, as a sacrifice to pay the price for ours. He lives again, and because of him, we will live again and have a way to repent of our sins so that we might regain our Heavenly Father’s presence.

I know that these things I have shared with you are true. I am grateful for the atonement and what it means for us. Without it life would be frustratingly pointless and God’s plan could not be possible. I love my savior, Jesus Christ and I love my Heavenly Father. Life is not frustratingly pointless. Because of the atonement, if we play the game as best as we can and endure to the end, we can win.

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.