FHE: Power of the Atonement

The topic: I've been reading a lot of stories about tragedy and loss lately, and while I appreciate that these stories help me empathize, it can really get me down. And crying gives me a headache. I chose to do the lesson on the Atonement to learn more about how Christ can heal those who have been through so much pain, and to be comforted by His love for our brothers and sisters.

Resources: 

Mormon Message Video - Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

This video is about a man whose pregnant wife and two of their children were killed in a drunk-driving accident. This is my favorite part:

"For the first few months after the accident, I felt, I think it was just the initial shock that such a huge part of my life was now gone. And that's a very difficult thing to go through, to kneel down and desire to speak to my Father in Heaven when I'm so lonely or when I'm so anguished. It's an interesting conversation to have. He doesn't immediately try and make it better. He listens to me first. And I thought that was very helpful. He allowed me to get that anger off my chest. But inevitably He would always come back and teach me about His son, Jesus Christ.When I did feel anger, or there was just a deep sense of loneliness, I didn't direct that at the person that had caused this. It directed itself at the Savior."

Isaiah 53:3-5:

3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

I also just noticed that the General Conference talk Strengthened by the Atonement of Jesus Christ is on the homepage of lds.org. In this talk, Elder Oaks speaks of  the burdens of mortality and how Christ can succor those who suffer. It's awesome.

What We Learned: Whew. A lot. I was particularly impressed with the reminder that anger, sorrow, and all other emotions can actually be swallowed up in Christ. As the man in the video spoke of giving his anger to the Savior, I thought of the experience of punching a pillow when you're mad. You don't punch the person you're mad at, you don't punch a wall—those things just hurt more. You find something that can take it, something soft that can absorb all that force. And, if you direct the insurmountable fear, frustration, and grief at Jesus Christ, he can take it all. His Atonement can handle it. It can handle anything! I don't feel that I can express here how much that means to me right now. I couldn't express it during the lesson either—I ended up crying again and just kind of hoped El-ahrairah knew what I meant. (He did.)

Honestly, the intensity of my emotions while discussing this totally floored me. There are a lot of difficult things going on in the Church and in the world quite recently; like many people, I have questions and concerns to work out and haven't been feeling so good about things lately. But having this opportunity to examine and share my understanding of the love and Atonement of Jesus Christ was surprisingly powerful, and I'm grateful for that experience.

Challenge: This is the challenge every day of mortality, to remember Christ and His ability to strengthen us. Remembering that He is at the heart of everything we believe and hope for.

This is a painting of Jesus Christ with a girl, Baylee, who passed away on Sunday. (Source)