The Other Side of the Atonement

More often than not, when people think of the Atonement, we ponder on how the Savior atoned for our sins. We think of how he bled from every pore, suffering for all of the wrong of the world. We relate it to being forgiven and becoming clean again. But one thing we forget, is the peace that the Atonement brings and the wholeness that it provides when we have been wronged by others.

This past week, for some reason, I have been thinking about the innocent people that have been wronged in one way or another. My mind keeps going back to Columbine, Sandy Hook, and even the Holocaust. 

Why does the Lord allow awful things to happen to good people?

"And when Amulek saw the pains of the women and children who were consuming  in the fire, he also was pained; and he said unto Alma: How can we witness this awful scene? Therefore let us stretch forth our hands, and exercise the power of God which is in us, and save them from the flames.

But Alma said unto him: The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgment which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day." Alma 14: 10-11

"For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God." Alma 60:13

Bad things happen to good people so that the Lord can judge justly and correctly. He lets people make these horrible decisions and effect innocent people's lives so that he can judge accurately the wickedness of their hearts because they chose to do those things of their own free will.

This is where the beauty of the Atonement comes in. Not just for the sinner who is wanting to correct the wrong they have done. But for the broken spirited, for the suffering of a loved one, for the hurt we feel from being wronged. When Christ was in Gethsemane, he suffered all the pains of this world; the sadness, the depression, the heartache, and the loss, along with the wickedness and destruction of hope and happiness. 

When we are in our darkest nights, not knowing if there will be a dawn, He knows what we are going through.

When we are broken hearted, thinking no one will ever love us, He knows how we feel.

When we have a hole in our heart too big to repair from losing a loved one, He knows how bad that pain feels.

No matter what the circumstance, He has suffered just as we are suffering. And He is there for us, to lift us up, to fill that empty void inside, to make us feel whole again.

He lives! To silence all my fears

He lives! To wipe away my tears

He lives! To calm my troubled heart

He lives! With blessings to impart

I don't think, at least for myself, we give Him enough credit for everything He went through in His last days. It is beyond my comprehension how much He suffered. I cannot fathom the hurt He experienced to save His brothers and sisters. Not to mention, He did it all willingly. What love He must have for all of us!

As I reflect back on what Easter means to me, chocolates and marshmallow Peeps don't come to mind, but instead the selfless gift of our Savior and His love for us. How our Father in Heaven gave His only son so that we could one day return to Him. Oh what a wonderful reunion that must have been! I can only imagine the love our Father has for His son and our brother, Jesus, when He returned. And how proud He must have been, knowing that He willingly suffered more than anyone should so that His children could return and live with them once more. 

Christ is the best gift that I could have received. 

Knowing His plan and where I fit in, and knowing that I can be made whole again is the best gift I could have received. 

Feeling His love around me constantly is the best gift I could have received.

I know my Redeemer lives!

(Here is a song the Brianne (Howard) Kirkland sang while I played the piano in church one Easter. Yes, my grandpa recorded it with his hidden camera inside his scripture case...Please forgive the crying child at the end.)

I'm LDS, and I Think Gay Marriage Should be Legal

Now before I go any further, I would like to provide you with The Proclamation to the Family. I stand firm with these teachings and believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and I do not condone or support gay marriage. On that same note, I don't condone drinking, or drugs either. But who am I to say that someone can not choose to do what they wish freely? If someone chooses to do something that I believe is wrong, they will have the Lord to answer to in the next life, and I have no right to prevent someone from making those decisions.

I have been on the fence about this issue for quite some time. One day I support it. The next, I change my mind. I understand both sides.

Side A.

"Gay marriage is wrong."

"It will ruin the sanctity of marraige."

"Marriage is between a man and a woman."

"God defines marriage."

Etc.

Side 2.

"Gays and lesbians are people too, and deserve the same rights that you receive."

"The government does not have the right to deny you marriage."

"If you love someone, you should be able to marry and provide equally."

Etc.

I didn't quite fully accept this until I saw a video discussion the other day. One person said "I do not think gays should be allowed to marry, marriage is a religious thing. BUT I do however believe they should have a legal binding like a marriage a "civil union" that has all the benefits of marriage but doesn't have the name. That way crazy religious people are happy and so are the gays. They can choose to celebrate this civil union anyway they desire."

The rebuttal: "Okay separate-but-equal. That's the same thing as saying 'You still can have a water fountain. You just have to use THAT one over there and you can't be at the water fountain that the white people use. And you should still be happy because you're still getting your water.'"

Made me think a little. By denying someone marriage, you are saying "You are not equal. You are different, so you deserve less." I believe that everyone should have the same opportunities here on earth, whether it be in line with what I believe and feel is right, or the complete opposite. I know what the end game is, and what side wins.

I'm going to remind you that I do think gay marriage is a sin and I do not condone it. But again, who I am to say someone can not choose freely.

I do think that religious institutions should choose whether they perform a marriage or not. For me and my religion, I do not believe that a gay couple should be allowed to enter into the temple. The temple is a sacred place, and you cannot enter if you have sin. And according to the LDS religion, being gay is a sin. Having same-sex attraction is not a sin. But acting upon it is. I personally believe that Heavenly Father gave people same-sex attraction as a challenge and a trial in this life, just like He gave other people other trials and challenges that they will have to deal with and overcome. Take Josh Weed for example. He has same-sex urges, but chooses to ignore those urges and married a woman and now has a wonderful family because he knows of the promises that our Heavenly Father promised us for the afterlife, IF he chooses to follow the commandments and teachings of the prophets. 

People against gay marriage say that it is going to ruin lives and destroy families. Frankly, it will not effect my family any more that alcohol or drugs will effect my family. I will raise my children, to the best of my ability, teaching them right from wrong. Gay marriage will be one of those things that I teach is wrong, right along side with drinking, drugs, pre-marital sex, etc.

And when they say that it will ruin the sanctity of marriage, how has Brittany Spears, or Kim Kardashian NOT ruined the sanctity of marriage? "About 1% of the total number of currently-married or registered same-sex couples get divorced each year, in comparison to about 2% of the total number of married straight couples." Huffington Post

When it comes down to it, let people make their own choices. Even if it against what you believe and you feel to be right, everyone has their own free agency.

And that is the beauty of this country.

(And if in the end I am COMPLETELY wrong and out of line about treating others the same as I would like to be treated and giving everyone a fair chance, then I will answer to the Lord. But at least I tried standing up for everyone having an equal chance at happiness.)

Crock Pot Week 5: Italian Chicken

So as you can see from my lack of crock pot posts, I am not very good at keeping a New Year's resolution. But I sure am trying!

It hasn't helped that we have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks. We went sledding with my company two weeks ago and I was completely beat after, and last weekend we moved into a new place and got our precious little Mo Memmott, which again, I was completely beat. (If you didn't get a chance to read my last post with pictures of our princess, here you go!)

Anywho, this week I wasn't going to do a crock pot meal because I hadn't gone shopping for stuff to make anything in particular, and was just feeling really lazy. I mustered up enough energy to look on Pinterest for a recipe, hoping I would find one that we had all the ingredients to. Luckily I found a recipe that we had all the ingredients for, and I didn't have to do much prep work before heading off to church. I DID remember to use one of my crock pot liners, which was a huge help afterwards.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1 packet dry Italian dressing

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

1-2 cans cream of chicken soup (depending how cream cheesy you want it)

Instructions

Place the chicken in a crockpot and sprinkle Italian dressing over it. Combine cream cheese and cream of chicken soup in a small pot over low heat and pour over chicken. Cook on low for at least 4 hours.

If you feel the sauce is too thick you can thin it to your preferred consistency with a little milk. Serve over pasta or rice.

I would say that this recipe was quite delicious! I used frozen chicken, and it was done in a little less than 4 hours on low. I let it cook a little longer with the lid off to help thicken it up, since I used 2 cans of cream of chicken soup. I also used 2 packets of the Italian dressing, which was a slight mistake. I didn't season it at all, but it still came out rather salty due to the dressing. I boiled some bow-tie pasta, shredded the chicken, and poured the sauce and chicken over the pasta. It was delicious! And with only 5 ingredients in the whole dish, and SUPER easy to make, I will definitely be making this dish again :)

Happy cooking!