he is risen...

Easter. Enlightened. Essential.

Easter for me usually involves egg picking/finding with family. This year I didn't even get to do that or dye eggs. Which is fine but it does add some fun for random festivities. 

My mom {Sherri} went to Vegas this past weekend and had has watch her car. We picked her up on Sunday and had a yummy Easter dinner! It was nice having her here since she hasn't seen Baby B in so long.

She actually told us she went to "Walk With Christ" before Vegas and really liked it. It is in Pocatello. They do it every year around Easter and it's just about Christs' last week before he died. Pretty neat experience for her to have. We were happy she enjoyed it. 

I also enjoyed Easter a lot more this year because I realized how important to me it actually is. Enlightened you could say. 

I have always had a testimony of Christ but I hadn't realized how much it has changed.

I remember when I knew I had my own testimony. It was before I went through the temple. I was in my interview with the stake president{Henry J. Eyring-seriously looks exactly like his dad haha mind boggling}and we had some small talk but then he just simply asked me:
"tell me your testimony of Jesus Christ"

I never had been asked that question in that form. I don't know why it took me off guard but it did. I paused and new exactly what I wanted to say and I did because of what I felt. 

I just told him I know my Savior loves me. Heavenly Fathers sacrifice and plan for us to have a Savior is hard to understand but I know it is essential. Both of their love for everyone, including me, is unconditional. 

Overtime, the above is what I knew but over the past 3 years I have come to know more of why I have that testimony and why I need it.

The gift of the Atonement is used in many different ways for everyone. That word, Atonement, was always strange before I knew what it meant to me in that interview with President Eyring. I didn't know how to 'use' it or live it. It wasn't until after I had Blaire that I knew what that kind of love meant. {still not as much but a touch of that sacrifice Heavenly Father made for his Son}

To have something you created in your hands for the first time is indescribable. You don't know that love until you experience it.
Before Blaire was born I started reading my scriptures and praying more regularly and after. I became closer to the spirit because I realized what my priorities were and should be. {still working on that}

I prayed for patience, to be calm, knowing how to love Blaire unconditionally as He does for us, and more. I felt the spirit in a new way and I don't want that to change.

I am truly thankful for a giving Savior. He is someone who knows me and the only person who knows how I feel at all times. He lives and is a cause for me to overcome my death. If I don't cherish that gift he has given us, which is life itself, I will have lost what it truly means to love. Forgiveness, repentance, and adjusting my life to be as He is is essential and a true reminder of why we celebrate Easter. 

I know He died for me and I know I can feel His love at all times. I am never forgotten. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

{I am excited to see where my testimony grows in the next few years to find what more I have learned. We all struggle and find our testimony in our time. Don't hesitate to know little by little what his gift can enlighten for you. I am saying this because I did miss out on a lot and can't have that time back. However, no regrets. Again, don't wait it's not worth it.}

With much love,

JPB

{I wrote a main blog page of what has been going on the past month of March. This post is 4 of 6 that I have written. I have posted this link as an easier way to find them. Enjoy!}