And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved. (Omni 1:26)
In 1987, I began to awaken to my need, most specifically and personally, for a Savior. My weaknesses and my foolish indulgences in fearful, dishonest choices had brought me down into such depths of humility (2 Nephi 9:42) that the only way to describe it is to use Alma’s words. I felt I was in “the deepest abyss” (Mosiah 27:29).
In all of my previous 24 years in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I had been focused on taking His name—the name of Jesus Christ—upon me and doing all my prayers and all my service in His name. I had no comprehension that I needed Him beyond that.
I imagined that taking His name upon me was sort of like having it stamped on my hand so I could go through a turnstile to get within praying distance of our Heavenly Father’s throne. And so my worship was focused on our Father in Heaven. I had no idea that I—a baptized, confirmed and endowed Latter-day Saint, as devout and active as a woman could be—needed more of Christ than that.
Then the day came when I found myself face to face with my need for a Savior. I will never forget the joy I felt coming back at me through the veil on the day I told my Heavenly Father I desperately needed His Son, Jesus Christ. It was like I had just given my Father the greatest gift I could give Him!
That was the day when I came to myself, like the prodigal son, and took my Father’s offering of the Way back to Him—”a Savior, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
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