The Atonement is REAL!

This last Sunday, I woke up earlier than I normally do, so I decided to just browse the Gospel Library on my phone, and see what interesting and uplifting stuff I could find to start my Sabbath day off right. Well under Institute, I found the subject: Preparing for an Eternal Marriage, which looked interesting. Not because I am getting married anytime soon... I'm not even dating anyone right now.... So anyways I clicked on it, and scrolled through and saw, Personal Worthiness and the Blessings of Eternal Marriage. So I clicked on it, just because. Little did I know that this would be the theme that I got out of everything that day. I would encourage you to read it - I think what reeled me in, was that it didn't look very long. And it actually didn't take me very long to read it. And I'm a slow reader. Anyways, here is the site - So READ IT.
https://www.lds.org/manual/preparing-for-an-eternal-marriage-teacher-manual/7-personal-worthiness-and-the-blessings-of-eternal-marriage?lang=eng
So after reading the scripture, Doctrine and Covenants 132:18, https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng  I realized how important it is to be prepared for an eternal marriage, no matter where you are in life. And I want to be prepared for when I find the right one. And in order for me to be prepared, I have to be sincerely repenting. All the time. Why? Because I sin all the time. Ok, well maybe not 24/7, but I most definitely am not perfect. So anyways, pretty much the rest of the day, I heard lessons that had to do with the atonement. Which was exactly what I needed.
The atonement is REAL!! Let me tell you why I know this! So I came home from Idaho, and all I do is work and watch kids, so I don't feel like I move forward in Arizona. Its kinda weird. But anyways, when I come home from work, I just kinda chill, and I only have institute once a week, and church on Sundays. Whereas at BYUI I have a religion class every Monday and Wednesday, we pray and sing hymns in all my classes and talk about Christ, at least once in every class. And after school we pray right before our tournaments and games, so I'm basically surrounded by the gospel and its influence. Which I LOVE. But here its different. I have to try very hard to motivate myself to wake up earlier and read my scriptures. So when I first came home, I struggled. I started not reading my scriptures, and not saying my prayers. And let me tell you.... I had no idea what an effect it had on me. Until like a week ago.
I was at institute and we were talking about the scriptures and our relationship with Christ, and staying true to our faith, and about the atonement of Jesus Christ. And it was when our teacher told us to write down what Satan enjoys seeing ME doing, that I realized that I have changed in just 3 months. 3 months. That's all it took. All because I stopped reading my scriptures and saying my prayers. I realized that because I stopped doing that, I started listening to music with bad words in them, I started watching movies that had not so good parts in them, I started buying dresses that I probably shouldn't be wearing, and I was treating my family differently than how I should be. But I honestly had NO idea. I didn't realize that I had been doing all these things, until that Wednesday when I looked back at my life these past 3 months. And honestly I was shocked, because I had never tolerated this stuff before, but now it was a part of life. And I'm not saying that I went inactive or started watching r-rated movies or anything like that, but looking back, I realized I did not have a good relationship with Christ, let alone any relationship. And I realized it was because I didn't do the little things. Reading my Scriptures and saying my prayers. Its just crazy because you hear that your whole life, that those are the most important parts of your day, but I had never experienced it, and gained a testimony of that before now. I figured out for myself that I was a victim of Satan. He very SLOWLY led me off that path of righteousness and I never even realized it. I have a testimony of the last part of 2 Nephi 26:22: "And there are also secret combinations... of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever." It happened to me and luckily I was saved by the Spirit (And my institute teacher). Anyways, I just love this gospel and am so glad that I have a relationship with my Father in Heaven, and that He loves me enough to help me realize what I had been missing. No I'm not perfect, but I KNOW that where you are is the best place for you to be, and I know that I am where I need to be at this time. I love this gospel and know that Jesus Christ has allowed me to repent and become a better person through His atonement. And I am so grateful for that. Oh and just a side note, one of my favorite scriptures is Doctrine and Covenants 50:23-24. "And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness. That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day."
It just goes along with what I'm trying to say. Haha. And I just love it. But what was also pretty cool this last Sunday was when I was coming home from church, just thinking about the atonement and the power of it and everything, and when I checked the time on my phone and set it down, the song "Let it Go" from Frozen randomly started playing. I think I had paused it half way through, the day before or something because it started playing at the chorus. I was going to turn it off, but then I realized that this song was talking about the atonement! Not really, but it made sense in my mind at the time. And of course not all of it reminds me of the atonement but its just cool to think about letting go of the sins I had and never going back to them. Here are the lyrics!

The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation,
And it looks like I’m the queen.

The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried

Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know

Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door

I don’t care
What they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

It’s funny how some distance
Makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me
Can’t get to me at all

It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free

Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry

Here I stand
And here I'll stay
Let the storm rage on

My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back,
The past is in the past

Let it go, let it go
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone

Here I stand
In the light of day
Let the storm rage on,
The cold never bothered me anyway

I just love how in the beginning, its like she is trying to just hide her sins and forget about them, but we all know that that isn't what Heavenly Father wants us to do. She then realizes that she has to let go of her bad past because it has been destroying her inside. My favorite part: "And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all." As she looks to Christ and has faith in Him, she can truly repent and be free of those sins. "Here I stand And here I'll stay" This part reminds me of Doctrine and Covenants 87:8-
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/87.8?lang=eng#7 and "Here I stand In the light of day Let the storm rage on, The cold never bothered me anyway." Is like Helaman 5:12-https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/hel/5.12?lang=eng#11
I love this Gospel for the joy it can bring into my life everyday if I live faithfully!