Relief Society General President teaches women the power of the Atonement

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Saturday, Sept. 29, Latter-day Saint women from across the globe gathered in church buildings and around computers to hear a message of hope shared by the Relief Society President.

Sister Linda K. Burton, Relief Society General President, addressed the congregation emphasizing God’s love for his daughters. Burton spoke about the power of Christ’s Atonement and suggested three guidelines for better understanding and how it can be applied into daily living.

1. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

2. There is power in the Atonement to enable Church members to overcome the natural man or women and become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

3. The Atonement is the greatest evidence Latter-day Saints have of the Father’s love for His children.

Burton said that only after Church members have a faithful and sure understanding of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, will they be able to strengthen their own homes and families.

“Our testimonies, like yours, have been written in our hearts as we have faced assorted soul-stretching challenges and adversities,” said Burton. “Without an understanding of Heavenly Father’s perfect plan of happiness and the Savior’s Atonement as the central feature of that plan, these challenges could seem unfair.”

In order to help the audience better understand the Atonement, Sister Burton shared an analogy found in a Primary lesson. A woman who had fallen into a deep pit called out for help. A passerby heard her call and lowered a ladder to get her out. She told the women that they are that woman in the pit, and sin represented the pit that they could fall into

“(The Atonement) not only enables us to climb out of the pit,” she said. “But also gives us power to continue on the strait and narrow path leading back to the presence of our Heavenly Father.”

Burton stressed  the third guideline, the Atonement being the greatest evidence of God’s love.

“A Father would not send his son to face intense suffering and pain, if not for love,” Sister Burton said, quoting President Eyring.

Burton closed her address by asking the women of the Church a series of questions in order to fully understand that they are daughters of God.

“How does knowing our worth to Him change how we keep our covenants?” said Burton. “How does knowing our worth to Him affect our desire to minister to others? How does knowing our worth to Him increase our desire to help those who need to understand the Atonement as we do — way down deep? When each of us has the doctrine of the Atonement written deep in our hearts, then we will begin to become the kind of people the Lord wants us to be when He comes again. He will recognize us as His true disciples.”

 

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