Look Up!

Look Up
3 Nephi 17 (my favorite chapter ever...& it was shared in conference a few times).
10 And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him; and as many as could come for the multitude did kiss his feet, insomuch that they did bathe his feet with their tears.
11 And it came to pass that he commanded that their little children should be brought.
12 So they brought their little children and set them down upon the ground round about him, and Jesus stood in the midst; and the multitude gave way till they had all been brought unto him.
13 And it came to pass that when they had all been brought, and Jesus stood in the midst, he commanded the multitude that they should kneel down upon the ground.
14 And it came to pass that when they had knelt upon the ground, Jesus groaned within himself, and said: Father, I am troubled because of the wickedness of the people of the house of Israel.
15 And when he had said these words, he himself also knelt upon the earth; and behold he prayed unto the Father, and the things which he prayed cannot be written, and the multitude did bear record who heard him.
16 And after this manner do they bear record: The eye hath never seen, neither hath the ear heard, before, so great and marvelous things as we saw and heard Jesus speak unto the Father;
17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.
18 And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying unto the Father, he arose; but so great was the joy of the multitude that they were overcome.--
This is so powerful. Can you feel it? Can you imagine kneeling with Son of God as He prayed to the Father FOR YOU? Not even the Nephites who prayed with Jesus Christ could explain of the complete joy that they felt. This is what I felt this conference weekend. I can't tell you all the things I learned or of the joy I felt. My prayers were answered. I felt my Savior's love. I hope that each of you had a similar experience and if not, I invite you to watch or listen to conference again with personal questions in mind. Heavenly Father WILL speak to you through the prophet and the general authorities. They are called of God! He knows exactly what you need to hear. LISTEN!
I just wanted to say how much I love Jessica Vargas, a laurel in the Santa Fe Hills ward. She is such a beautiful light, with the cutest freckles, and an unbelievably stunning voice. If you haven't heard her sing already, look her up. She says that something unique about her is that not many people know that she can sing. SHE IS INCREDIBLE! Originally we wanted to go over to her house for a few minutes, to ask her to sing at our missionary booth at Cal State, but we ended up staying for an hour. She opened up to us and expressed a lot of hard things she has had to go through in her life. Whenever she is struggling, she says she reads D&C 101:16, "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God," and remembers that everything is going to be okay. We opened up the Book of Mormon and testified of the importance of daily scripture study. Jess made my day when she said that we make her happy, "Being a missionary seems like the life. I love it when you come over!" Even better, she sang a beautiful song for us on the piano. Her voice gives me chills every time and always bring the spirit. "Everything is going to be okay."
Over these past couple weeks, the Lord has taught me something very important, and so has my mom. "Trust in the Lord with ALL thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In ALL thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths," Proverbs 3:5-6. I want to live by this.
I know that this week we trusted in Him and were lead to someone who really needed the gospel.
Sneaking through a gated community, we knocked on a door hoping that Genesis (a potential investigator) would answer the door. To our surprise, a somewhat familiar but unfamiliar face came to the door. The young man's face was completely bloodied and broken; his eyes were literally blood-shot red and many stitches lined up across the side of his face. Through the small movements of his mouth, we could hear him mutter his name: David. Although it was painful to open his mouth, he explained that he got in a serious car wreck on Sunday and was unconscious in the hospital until Wednesday! May I add, his mom didn't even know where he was or what happened to him. He allowed us to come inside to pray for him. As I prayed to give him strength through the Savior, we felt the power of God's love for him.
My companion and I testified of the Savior's life and infinite sacrifice for David. We read Alma 7:11-13 with him and told him that Christ suffered for ALL the pains, sickness, temptations, trials, weaknesses, and sins of the world. Jesus Christ knows. He understands, perfectly! David was astonished that Christ did that for every person that has ever lived and will live. Maria's (his mom) eyes were teary and full of motherly love. I can't imagine what was going through her mind as her son was missing, let alone when she found him with a beat up face! She started speaking to us in her native language, Spanish. David translated for us and said, "She says that God has been such a blessing...He helped me even when I was prison, He saved me from the accident, and He even brought you here to us!"
"I think I need to start coming to church, this is amazing," David said. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and he was so excited to read it. My companion offered the closing prayer and it was even more powerful as Maria joined us in the prayer and we prayed together for David's recovery. We prayed in gratitude for our Heavenly Father's eternal sacrifice, for sending His own Son to die for us. I know that Christ did come. He is the Son of God. He came and redeemed us from the fall. He bled from every pore. He was hung on a cross. He died and rose again. HE IS RISEN!
And of course, conference was amazing. Don't forget to LOOK UP!
♥ Sister Alexis Skabelund
451 W Bobier Dr
Vista CA 92083-1906
United States