Sister Savannah Slater: Week of June 13th: Priesthood Power Keeps Me Safe From Sin

As a mission, we have been focusing a lot on the priesthood and helping others be able to see how blessed we are the have the power of God restored on the earth. I have trying to apply that in my lessons throughout the week and it's been amazing to see what I've learned.

At the Trail Center, I took an awesome family from Herriman, UT on tour and asked them to help expand on the question "How has the priesthood blessed your family?" They talked about it as a family and shared experiences of times they had a priesthood blessing when they needed help or how they have comfort in knowing that they will be a family forever, but you could tell that the dad was trying to go deeper. There came a time when he turned his kids and asked "Let's think about it this way. Would you like some, half or full access to the Atonement?" Not only is having full access to the Atonement optional, but it is what our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want for us. Christ didn't suffer and die for us so that we could only partake of some of His Atonement, He wants us to have ALL of it. And it is through the priesthood that makes that possible. Through the priesthood we are able to partake of sacrament each week to be forgiven of our sins, we are able to be baptized by the proper authority, be sealed to our families for eternity and help those who have passed on have that opportunity as well. The list of blessings can go on and on.

After thinking about it a little more, I came to realize that without the priesthood, the church wouldn't be able to exist and, in the long run, we would have no way to return home to our Heavenly Father. Through the priesthood, we are also able to come to know our Heavenly Father because it is His power that we are accessing. There are so many things that we won't be able to understand about it because there is so much that goes into it, but I am so grateful to know that our Heavenly Father has given us the power we need to not only get through this life, but have a fullness of joy, hope and love as we do so.

Update on Eli and Christine: They are both doing so well and are progressing more and more every day. Christine has started praying out loud and reading everyday and Eli has been listening to conference talks all on his own. It is truly amazing to see how the Spirit changes people's hearts. They are so ready to be baptized! They are still set for June 25th and they could not be more excited. It's a good thing the feeling is mutual.