THE LAST STRAW

After being abandoned left to fend for themselves, the Smiths continued to travel with a family by the name of Gates.  On the final leg of the journey, Joseph was assigned to ride in the last sleigh of the caravan.  One of the boys knocked him down as he attempted to get into the sleigh, and Joseph reported that he was

“left to wallow in my blood until a stranger came along, picked me up, and carried me to the Town of Palmyra.”

This was the journey that the Smith’s took from Vermont to New York, at that time Joseph was only a boy.

This story may seem slighty random but I do have a point.  I was reading it this morning and it reminded me of the atonement and how it works.  When we can do nothing else and are left like Joseph to “wallow in our own blood” (figuratively speaking) that is when the Savior comes and picks us up, and carries us the rest of the way.  When our sorrows, grief, or guilt start to weigh us down it is Christ that can ease that burden.  I have personally felt the comfort and power that comes from the atonement;  only because I have fervently sought Him out in prayer.  The atonement makes it possible for me to get out of bed each morning and go out and do missionary work. One of my favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon that describes the atonement so well is in:  Alma 7:11-12 .

Have you ever felt the power of the atonement in your life?