Today’s reading: Helaman 5:27-52
35 Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
36 And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.
37 And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
38 And they said unto the man: Behold, what do all these things mean, and who is it with whom these men do converse?
39 Now the man’s name was Aminadab. And Aminadab said unto them: They do converse with the angels of God.
40 And it came to pass that the Lamanites said unto him:What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?
41 And Aminadab said unto them: You must repent, and cry unto the voice, even until ye shall have faith in Christ, who was taught unto you by Alma, and Amulek, and Zeezrom; and when ye shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you.
42 And it came to pass that they all did begin to cry unto the voice of him who had shaken the earth; yea, they did cry even until the cloud of darkness was dispersed.
Aminadab, amidst all these happenings with Nephi and Lehi, watching them in a pillar of fire as if they are conversing with someone, this stirs a feeling within Aminadab. His soul is awakened enough for him to cry out and point out to the Lamanites that something marvelous is happening. We know that Aminadab is a Nephite by birth but for whatever reason dissented from the faith and has left the traditions of his father’s. We know that he has been living among these disbelievers. Yet in this moment, he awakes to a feeling. Consequently he has the opportunity to testify of Christ and to call those around him to repentance.
President Uchtdorf said:
We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.
What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us.9 .
Earlier this year in our ward’s fast and testimony meeting, we had a great example of this concept. A man I had never seen before made his way to the pulpit. He mentioned that earlier in the month, he had attended a sales training. This training involved many, many people. Something happened during the training that reminded him of God’s love. This remembrance was powerful to him. He promised after the training that he would attend fast and testimony meeting so he could witness. He mentioned that just because he bore his testimony, that didn’t mean we would see him in church every Sunday. It didn’t mean that things were going to change with him, but it did mean he felt something and he acted. His was a powerful and honest testimony that day and he touched me deeply. The spirit was very strong with his witness of God’s love. I greatly respected his example of candor and action.
In life, we all go through dissensions. We all leave the truth, or traditions of our fathers, at some point or in some way for a while along our journey of faith. The beauty in this reading today is that God always feels after us and, if we let our hearts feel Him, those truths resurface and edify us and those around us. This feeling and or witness may or may not lead to full reactivation but it is a moment for us to testify, to account and be blessed for any and every effort we make.
A lover of words, walking barefoot in the grass and kitchen dance parties, Patti is always ready for the next adventure. She lives in UT with her ninja husband and three small children who remind her that Jesus wants us to be kind and that storytime is the most important time of the day.