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Come Follow Me Insights, Easter · Scripture Central

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Hello everyone. Thanks for listening to come.
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Follow me, insights with Taylor and Tyler, presented by
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scripture Central. We use a lot of visuals in our
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videos. So, if you want to see the
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visuals, we invite you to find us on YouTube.
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Thanks for listening and enjoy. I'm Taylor and I'm Lisa.
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This is scripture Central's. Come follow me.
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Insights today a special Easter episode and thank you for being
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with us today. And Delight to have you here
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Lisa, we love spending time, talking about the gospel, and
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sure. Any scriptures we want to begin
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with this question. Have you ever had a moment in
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your life where you felt like you needed healing or that there
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was chaos or disorder in your life?
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One way to look at Easter is, as a time of healing of bringing
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order where there had been disorder or peace, where there
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have been chaos. So as we spent some time today,
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talking about the Glorious resurrection and the Of Jesus
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healing Divine love for our souls in our bodies.
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We hope that you can see in your own life where Jesus has and can
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kill you. There are two paintings that
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have to do with the crucifixion and the resurrection the times
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before. And after that, I wanted to talk
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about for just a moment because they show that Christ is the
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focal point of Strength and of healing.
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One of those is a painting by Leonardo da Vinci called The
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Last Supper. I'm sure you all have seen it
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and it depicts the very moment where the disciples the apostles
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ask, whether they are the person, they are the ones who
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will betray the Lord. So let me read a few verses to
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you from Matthew chapter 26, starting in verse 20.
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On and as they did eat, he Christ said, verily, I say unto
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you, that one of you shall betray me, and they were
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exceeding sorrowful and began every one of them to say unto
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him. Lord, is it?
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I, we capture the apostles at that very moment.
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And if you look at the 12 of them, they are feeling a torrent
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of emotions they are. Ke Chaotic.
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The only one who is Serene and peaceful and strong in that
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painting is the Lord there in the center, but they asked Lord,
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is it? I, and so in this painting
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reminds us of the importance of humility and of self-reflection.
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It was actually painted to be in the dining room of a monastery.
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So the monks could feel as if they sat with the apostles and
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with the law, And could be reminded that they also needed
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to ask. Lord, is that I, what sins do I
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need to remove from my life? How can I be more devoted unto
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you and Christ stands there? Steady ready.
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Only a few hours from Gethsemane.
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The second painting is Caravaggio supper at Emmaus and
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I would say that this asks the opposite question it asks Lord
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is it the The that doesn't come from the scriptures about this
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moment, but but what happens is, so these two disciples had to
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walked with Christ on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem to
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Emmaus and and they had begged of him to come and have supper
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with them. And what's interesting about
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this story is they are walking with a stranger.
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So they're walking in the stranger, joins them.
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Now we know, it's Jesus but they don't know.
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And there is this moment this this reveal were suddenly they
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see this is the savior and this painting or talking about
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capture this moment almost like a snapshot of the very moment of
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surprise and excitement truly this is Jesus Christ.
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Let me read a few verses that talk about that moment.
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I'm in Luke chapter 24 verses 30 through 32 when it came to pass
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as he Christ set up meet with them, he took Bread and blessed
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it and Brake and gave to them and their eyes were opened, and
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they knew him and he vanished out of their sight.
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And they said, one to another did not our heart burn within us
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while he talked with us by the way.
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And while he opened to us the scriptures and the painting
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captures, this moment of surprise, one of the disciples
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has thrown his arms wide. The other half stands as if to
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jump out of his seat and Once again, the savior is there in
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the center, the Paradigm of strength and peace.
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Reminding us that we too want to recognize him Lord.
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Is it the how can we better recognize him in our lives?
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This is a really powerful pairing, two important questions
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that we can think about, at Easter or any time in our lives.
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Lord, is it, I where can Hi, be more aligned with thee and then
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Lord. Is it the where have I seen the
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in my life? But I may have missed it, very,
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very powerful. In fact, the resurrection story,
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when we read them carefully in the scriptures, there is a lot
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of surprise of people discovering that Lord.
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It is the and being not knowing in advance that this was what
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was going to happen. Now we have the benefit of
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hindsight we know how the In story, turns out, but for all
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the disciples they were a little surprised similarly, in our
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lives. God often does surprising or
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shocking things that, at first in the moment, we may not
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recognize how he is healing us or bringing order where there is
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disorder or bringing peace, where there's chaos.
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And in the moment, we may not get it, we may fill ourselves,
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shocked or worried, but when we ask the question, Lord is at the
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Where can I see thy hand? Steadying my life?
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I think we're more likely to be like these disciples like, oh my
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gosh. Jesus is everywhere in my life.
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Bringing peace and healing and order out of chaos.
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I really love this word Easter because I think it's a great
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reminder of this very concept that every day as we think about
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the Rising Sun, we can remember That it is a symbol, that all of
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us will be resurrected. All of us can have God's
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stability and Order and peace where there's chaos.
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So the word Easter comes with a word East and every morning in
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the East the sun rises every single morning.
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So whatever your experience in a life you may personally be
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feeling chaos or disorder or that you need healing and maybe
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that's not going to be solved immediately.
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But every morning, God gives you a reminder that just as sure as
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the sun rises and just as sure as the sun himself rose that
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Jesus was resurrected you too. Will rise from your chaotic
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Fallen circumstances and be at peace and see that the Lord it
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is. The it has been with me in my
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life. So we have this other word
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resurrection and the word re in Latin means again.
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And sore means on or above. And this one means, right?
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So, literally means to stand. Up to stand upright.
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Again that's what Resurrection is.
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We've been dead. We've been raised back to life
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in some future day. All of us will be raised from
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Death. We all need the symbol of
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Resurrection on a regular basis. We need a healing, there's chaos
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in our lives and we want to be able to stand upright.
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Again, instead of feeling like we're in, this Fallen nature,
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we're just in the dust of suffering and struggling.
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So, Christians now have Sunday as their Originally it was
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Saturday but now it was seen as Sunday.
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Now, originally, if we go back to the creation story, God
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spends his time over six days, creating peace, Harmony, and
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Order where there had been disorder.
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He separates. There's been all this chaos
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chaos, and he separates opposites puts everything in its
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place and he brings peace. And the Sabbath day is a day for
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God to sit in his Divine temple, on the throne, And that is a
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symbol that the world is no longer at War.
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It's at peace, there's healing and Harmony.
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So, one of the invitations for the Sabbath day is to remember
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God's Divine rested. That's what he offers us.
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Now, it's interesting, the Last Supper that Lisa just shared
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with us that that painting The Last Supper that last supper was
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a Passover meal. As we remember, the Israelites
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were stuck in the chaos and the disorder of their fallen
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situation in. Edge in Egypt that symbolizes
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all of us and only God could save them and extract them and
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he could solve the disorder, he could heal them and bring them
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to his symbolic Temple at Mount Sinai were there.
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There was going to be divine rest and healing.
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So now when we celebrate Easter Sabbath and every Sabbath where
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we partake of the sacrament, which is a version of the
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Passover, we remember God's creation that he places.
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Order where there's been chaos he heals.
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And that everything is at Divine rest, and this is all created
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because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that he has taken
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us out of our death and lifted us up into Divine rest.
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So we hope you can feel this theme and see in your life where
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God has given you healing and divine rest.
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And that every Sabbath, every Easter, for every Sunrise can be
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a Minder to you that healing through Jesus Christ is
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possible. So you may have noticed a
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pattern that when I come and join Taylor or Taylor and Tyler.
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I often love to be able to speak of women in the scriptures and I
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must say that the four gospels have more activity, more
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interaction with women than probably any other place in the
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scriptures. And so, I love that and I'm
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here. Here.
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And I wanted to talk about some of my thoughts about having
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women in the in involved with the Resurrection, the
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crucifixion as well. We know that women were at the
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cross trying in any way that they could to strengthen him.
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Although, you know, in the end he had to endure this on his
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own, but they were there showing him their love their devotion.
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So in the story of the Resurrection women have the
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Which have interacting with angels.
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We see both in Luke 24 and in Matthew 28, that they are told
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he is not here. He has risen.
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And they were there when they get this special moment.
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With angels, they're there to serve.
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I think that reminds us when we are serving we have blessings
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opened up unto us as well as the blessings that we hopefully are
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giving to those, that we serve, they were their Acting out of
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love. And I think that reminds us that
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when we act out of love, God is there God, his angels, his
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spirit is there in our life, so let's focus on Mary Magdalene
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the different gospels have slight variations to the story
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but we know that in in every single one Mary Magdalene, is
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there and she, she is there at the tomb on Sunday morning.
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We know that she's already seen if we're in John 20, we find
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that she has already seen that. The tomb is empty.
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She's gone and reported it to the apostles Peter and John have
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run to the tomb Peters burst into it.
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John has entered and they've seen that they've seen the
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Linens but no Christ, they end up returning to their home.
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But Mary seems to have and because if we open John chapter
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20 and we look at verse 11, but Mary stood without at the
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Sepulchre weeping. And as she wept, she stooped
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down and looked into the Sepulchre and seeth, two angels,
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in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet
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where the body of Jesus had Lain and they say and her woman, why
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weepest thou she saith unto them because they have taken away my
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Lord and I know not They have late where they have laid him so
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she then as we know interacts with the Risen Lord himself and
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in verse 14, when she had the said she turned herself back and
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saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus and he saith
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unto her woman. Why weepest thou whom seekest
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thou she supposing him to be the gardener.
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Saith unto him, sir. If thou have borne him, hence,
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tell me where thou Hast laid him and I will take him away.
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I think it's, I think it's beautiful that she mistakes the
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Lord of us all someone, she has been completely devoted to us
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followed for years as one of his most devoted disciples and she
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sees him and mistakes, the Lord for a loan lowly Gardener.
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So then of course, There is such.
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So it's kind of like she is having a Lord, she doesn't even
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get asked. Lord, is it thee?
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If we continue in verse 16, Jesus saith unto her Mary.
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She turned herself and saith unto him rabboni which is to say
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master so that is her lowered. It is the moment she recognizes
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him and what an amazing and wonderful and all inducing
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moment, it must have been This is important thing.
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Again, we're in our lives. When we are dealing with a need
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for healing or we have Brokenness, we have to first,
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ask more, does it? I what can I do to solve this
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problem? But not just on our own board is
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at the where we can see that God is in the details.
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He often is gardening in our lives, making things, beautiful,
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and fruitful, and sometimes we miss it.
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And if we seek, we will like Mary C, we will see the Lord
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gardening in our lives, bringing Bounty where perhaps, we thought
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we saw destruction or chaos or disorder.
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I want to share one of my favorite general conference
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talks. About Easter is Elder wirthlin.
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Joseph B wirthlin and his talk entitled Sunday will come.
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Let me read some of his words. He sizes that there will be that
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moment when the resurrected Lord is there.
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When he and Foretells that all of us will one day be
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resurrected. So Elder wirthlin says on that
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Friday the savior of mankind was humiliated and bruised abused
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and reviled. It was Friday.
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It was a Friday filled with devastating consuming sorrow
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that nod at The Souls of those who loved and honored.
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The Son of God. I think that all the days since
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the beginning of the world's this world history that Friday
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was the day Darkest each of us will have our own Fridays, those
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days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards
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of our world Li littered about us in pieces, we also
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experienced those broken times when it seems, we can never be
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put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
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I believe that all of us have had Friday's and we've had those
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moments when we feel completely broken, when we are in need of
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the savior's healing. So Elder wirthlin continues, but
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the Doom of that day did not endure the despair.
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Despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected,
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Lord, burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and
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appeared gloriously triumphant as a savior of all All Mankind.
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And in an instant, the eyes that had been filled with overflowing
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tears, dried. But I testify to you, in the
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name of the one who conquered death Sunday, will come in the
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darkest of her sorrow Sunday will come, no matter our
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desperation. No matter our grief Sunday will
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come in this life or the next Sunday will come.
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This is a really important reminder, Lisa, we all suffer.
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We actually all signed up in the premortal Life, wanting to
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experience joy. We were willing to sign up to
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have suffering that we would have opposition that we would
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have to sometimes experience the bitter.
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So we would know how to prize the sweet and what is the total
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or complete or ultimate sweetness?
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It is the love of Jesus Christ, it's that fruit that is talked
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about in first Nephi at the Tree of Life were after getting
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through those dark moments holding on the rod, we fall down
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the tree and partake of that sweet fruit.
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And I don't know anybody who desires or glories and
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suffering, it's hard, we've all had it.
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And yet those moments, when we endure, Become moments of
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personal. Resurrection, where we are
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uplifted again and see more fully.
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The sweetness of God's love and peace.
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One of my Friday's was when I lost my hearing.
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I grew up with a mild hearing loss, but it worsened.
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And then in my mid-40s, just nosedived and I had already had
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one cochlear implant put in. And then a few years later, the
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second year lost its Hearing, in fact, I had travelled to India
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with Taylor. He was starting a tour of India
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and Nepal and Bhutan. And the morning we were to catch
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the flight my natural Hearing in my other ear.
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Just didn't work, but we drove to the airport.
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So Taylor gave me a blessing and we continue to fly to India.
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That something would change. But by the time we had arrived
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there, nothing had changed. And somehow even though we
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thought we had the converter, right, when I plugged in, my
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recharger for my cochlear fried. So I had one ear that wasn't
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Hearing in one ear that had limited battery charge left.
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So I turned around and flew home.
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Yeah you had eight hours of battery charge and I also
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remember this really good man from India.
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The This ophthalmologist who stayed up till midnight waiting
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for us to get to his office just so we could check to see.
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And he was just so kind and so thoughtful, I don't you think
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even charged us and just remember at 3:00 in the morning,
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we realize you'll need to head home without hearing all the way
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back to United States. Hoping that maybe some doctor
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United States might build a help reverse this hearing loss, it
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was, it was frankly, a very discouraging, very scary moment.
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It's he was an audiologist, not an ophthalmologist, but yes to
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there's all the other details, right?
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So I arrived home and I asked my brother-in-law to give me yet
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another blessing, and he gave me the most beautiful blessing
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after he and my sister left. I kneel down on my knees and
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just plead with the Lord weeping.
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I was so afraid. Because my cochlear gave me
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comprehension, but the quality was a little strange till after
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three years of having a and the other ear wasn't hearing
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anything. And I wept, I said, well, I ever
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hear my son become a teenager and his voice change and be
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deeper. Well, I hear my daughter.
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Go to the temple with the man that she loves.
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Well, I hear the voices of my grandchildren.
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I was so fearful not to have any kind of sound quality that would
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be natural and I plead with the Lord and I had a sure witness of
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the Lord's love for me. I had a sure witness of his
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power to heal all wounds to fill it my gaps.
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And I knew that I would have ultimate healing.
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That didn't mean that, you know, they're at the moment, I
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regained all my natural hearing but I knew that ultimate healing
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was sure. Right?
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Knew that the resurrection was sure.
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This experience came in the middle of President, Nelson's
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challenge, that we read the book of Mormon and I knew at that
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moment, that the Book of Mormon was true.
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And that one of the greatest truths, that it taught was that
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the Lord keeps his promises. So I knew that what I was
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learning and feeling at that moment that he would keep those
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promises that he was giving unto me.
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I also knew that I needed to testify of this and so I testify
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to you that the resurrection is sure that God's love for
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everyone of us for you, is sure that the Book of Mormon gives us
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that strength and that Promises of the Lord will keep his.
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His, his word unto us. I want to bear that testimony to
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you and say those words in the name of the Savior Jesus Christ.
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Amen. This is a really powerful
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testimony Lisa. We've known each other.
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Now, for several decades, and I've always known you as
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somebody who is faithful who loves God, who wants to bring
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good to the world. And I was gone for three weeks,
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you were at home suffering with this hearing loss which
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eventually you lost all of your hearing.
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You didn't get the answer you wanted and you had to get a
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another cochlear implant. But I remember coming home and I
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had been worried about you. You for these three weeks,
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haven't been able to interact, much with you wondering, how is
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she doing? And I get back and there have
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been this transform moment. I mean, I was actually in some
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ways shocked because I couldn't imagine how can my wife get any
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better than she is? She's already amazing.
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It's almost like you had been upgraded and up leveled in your
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life. I came home And instead of just
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the chaos of the suffering, you'd had, this probably would
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have maybe the most powerful witness you had ever received of
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the reality of the love of Jesus Christ that the resurrection is
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real, that the Book of Mormon is a witness of Jesus Christ.
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I remember coming home, just basking in your just expanded
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love and testimony in the face. Of suffering that was still
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ongoing. That had not been resolved and
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is almost like, it didn't exist because you had just been
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wrapped up in the totality of God's love that healing will
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come very, very powerful. So we share these things with
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you because all of us suffer Sometimes more sometimes less
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Easter is a time to remember. We should be oriented East
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towards the Rising Sun. A symbol, that everyday Jesus.
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Will heal us every day. The sun reminds us that order
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and peace is possible that God is in his Heaven is the temple.
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He is there. The world doesn't need to be at
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War when God is in his Temple. Things are at Peace.
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So, no matter the chaos or the disorder, or the lack of
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healing, your life, we invite you Lord, is it?
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I Lord. Is it the can we see him in our
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lives and let his divine presence seep into the cracks of
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the Brokenness and feel our souls to the brim to overflowing
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where we know? And we can taste the sweetness
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of the atonement and have the Hope in the ultimate
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resurrection that he has promised to all.
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And we leave these things with you and in the name of Jesus
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Christ. Amen.
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Know that you are loved and spread light and goodness.