The Relief Society Teacher challenged us to think about the times in which we have felt the Saviors love the strongest. During the discussion I thought of three major times where I have undeniably felt the Saviors.
The first time I felt a strong presence of the Lord was also the first time I really had an experience with a personal prayer being answered in which I recognized it. I was 13 years old and at my second year of girls camp. This year the stake had decided to split us up into cabins based on which year we were in camp attendance. This helped us to get to know more girls in the stake. I was not very happy about this because my two best friends in the stake were in the year ahead of me. I was stuck with one girl that really annoyed me from my ward and another one who was nice but I wasn't good friends with. About half way through the week I was bugged to death by the first girl, but we both ended up in the cabin during free time, we were alone and doing our own things. Suddenly a huge rainstorm hit and we had to put up these huge wooden windows to stop everyone's stuff from getting soaked. It was actually really hard and we had to work together to get it done. After this we got to talking and she let me know all of the hard things that were going on in her life. I felt awful for not giving her a chance, because I hadn't known what she was going through. That night before our devotional I prayed so hard for her to find someone at camp that she could relate to. I felt a love for her that I can only explain as being the Saviors love for her. We headed for devotional and towards the end the teacher asked for people to share some life experiences. One leader stood up and said, "I don't know why I feel like I need to share this right now, but I feel really strongly about it." She then talked about her life growing up, and it was an almost identical story to the girl who I prayed so hard for. I was blown away. I thought in my head, you dont know why you need to share this, but I do. I have no idea if that leaders story touched my friend, but it proved to me that God loves all of his children, and he listens to and answers our prayers.
Another time I felt the Saviors love was when I was repenting for something that had taken the spirit out of my life. I was lamenting over the mistakes I had made, and I couldn't forgive myself. I often felt the Saviors love through that process but couldn't get rid of my bad feelings towards myself. I received a blessing in which I was assured that the Lord had forgiven me, and loved me. I have never felt the spirit as strongly as I had during that blessing. The resentment I had towards myself fell away as I realized more fully what the atonement was doing for me. The Saviors love healed my heart.
One more recent time where I felt the Saviors love was when I was praying to know if I should marry Travis. I was terrified to ask about this, because of the gravity of this decision. I had prayed about something like this before about someone else, and never received an answer. That experience had left me heartbroken. I was scared that the same thing would happen again. I didn't want it to happen, because I needed to be sure of my decision before I moved forward. I figured it would take a while for me to get an answer. As I knelt down to pray and told the Lord what I wanted and asked for a confirmation if it was right, I felt warmth and peace go through my mind. I stopped feeling worried, and felt confident. Knowing myself I made sure to write it down to keep that feeling with me when I felt nervous or scared. It took a another week for me to be 100% sure of what I wanted. I studied the scriptures, conference talks, and prayed a lot during that week. Finally, on a ward temple trip to the Manti Temple I was studying some talks on marriage and choosing an eternal companion, and was praying. I was asking for another confirmation of what I had felt the first night I prayed, the thought came to me, that I already knew what I should do , and I should stop questioning it. I knew that thought came from the Lord. He knows me, and my tendencies and he gave me the things I needed to hear and feel to make the right decision.
One more recent time where I felt the Saviors love was when I was praying to know if I should marry Travis. I was terrified to ask about this, because of the gravity of this decision. I had prayed about something like this before about someone else, and never received an answer. That experience had left me heartbroken. I was scared that the same thing would happen again. I didn't want it to happen, because I needed to be sure of my decision before I moved forward. I figured it would take a while for me to get an answer. As I knelt down to pray and told the Lord what I wanted and asked for a confirmation if it was right, I felt warmth and peace go through my mind. I stopped feeling worried, and felt confident. Knowing myself I made sure to write it down to keep that feeling with me when I felt nervous or scared. It took a another week for me to be 100% sure of what I wanted. I studied the scriptures, conference talks, and prayed a lot during that week. Finally, on a ward temple trip to the Manti Temple I was studying some talks on marriage and choosing an eternal companion, and was praying. I was asking for another confirmation of what I had felt the first night I prayed, the thought came to me, that I already knew what I should do , and I should stop questioning it. I knew that thought came from the Lord. He knows me, and my tendencies and he gave me the things I needed to hear and feel to make the right decision.
These are 3 of the most dramatic times I felt his love, but it has happened many other times as well. I am grateful for reminders of the Saviors love for me.
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