Can't Imagine

During our reading this week we read of the Saviors visit to the Nephites after his crucifixion. It is amazing to "listen" to the things he has to say to the people. How he tells them of the hope and the love he has for them. It is just as awesome to imagine being there and being able to study at the feet of the Master. During our reading, my wife asked if i could imagine being at the feet of the Lord and feeling the love he had for those around him. To my surprise, my answer was i could not. I could not imagine what it would be like to be there. i would love to know how it feels to enjoy the warmth and the love that being with Christ in person would be like, but for the life of me i can not get my head around how wonderful that would be. I grew up in a home where we were supposed to know that our parents loved us because they said so. And to give credit to them, my mother did show affection, but my dad really did not know how. He was never taught how to so he did the best he could and that was by providing for his family. Please don't get me wrong, i love my dad, but i don't have a first hand experience of what its like to have a close loving relationship with a father figure, so how could i possibly imagine what it would be like to sit a the feet of the savior, the one that loved us so much he agreed to die for us. believe my dad would have put his life on e the line for his children, but he never showed it, and therefore i never learned what it felt like. The only thing i can do is keep trying to get closer to the Lord so that when the time comes for me to go home, i will be able to feel the love he has for me.

Could I??

As we read about Samuel the Laminite this week i thought about how the Nephite people must have felt. I know they were at a time when they had chosen to accept and participate in great iniquity. But all their lives they had been told they were the chosen people, they were loved of God and were better than everyone else. They were a prosperous people. Then out of nowhere, a man gets on the city wall and says you are evil, you need to repent and stop what you are doing. From the outside looking back I can see why the Lord would do this, but if i were in that time, could i have been one of the ones that took his sermon to heart and sought Nephi to ask for forgiveness and baptism? I like to think I am close enough to the spirit to be able to know when i am off course and need to take heed of what i am being prompted to do, but could i have done that then? If you grow up being told by your parents, friends, and family that you are righteous, good, and chosen, would you be able to humble yourself when an "Enemy of the State", a "Laminite" chastises you to repentance? I know most people will say absolutely, but really? Please. Put yourself in the shoes of the wicked Nephites and dig deep, then ask yourself the same question. I want to believe i would, but i just don't know. So now i will sit and wonder, if I have doubts, how can i judge the reactions of those people?