Holy Week - Good Friday

On Good Friday, Jesus Christ was tried, condemned, beaten, whipped, spit at, and crucified. Despite the unfairness of His trial and the horrible way they treated Him, He did not end His suffering until His work was finished.

Luke 23: 46 And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.

He made sure His mother was going to be taken care of, and then He was able to finish His work. He endured the darkest, hardest day in the history of the world alone so that we don't have to.

I am so grateful that He loved and loves us enough to sacrifice Himself so that He can be with us through our darkest moments.

Xoxo

Mattie

Holy Week - Thursday

On the Thursday of Jesus' last week of His mortal ministry, He sits down with His disciples for Passover, in what we call the Last Supper. During this time, He institutes the sacrament, washes their feet, and tells them He loves them. He also tells them that they need to do as He did to them. We read this account in John 13:

12 So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?
13 Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
14 If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.
15 For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

After their dinner, they went to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus walked off by Himself and prayed to the Father. Throughout the events of the rest of the evening, Jesus gives us many examples of His love and of ways to serve and be His disciples. 

During His time in the Garden, He asked Heavenly Father to remove the cup, but if it be His will, Jesus would do it. I love this example of how to work through any trials or challenges in our lives. We don't have to like them, and they can be really difficult, but we can do it, as Jesus did, by turning to God.

Jesus' example of perseverance during the events of this day is something we can all follow in our everyday lives. He did not let the jeers and taunts get to Him. He did not let the difficulty of the events of the day stop Him from continuing. He knew that His sacrifice was needed for us to be able to return to live with the Father again. His love for us was greater than the discomfort and difficulty of His Atonement and Crucifixion. He pushed through for us. His love and devotion to follow the will of the Father give me comfort in my trials. 

Xoxo

Mattie

Holy Week - Wednesday

We don’t know exactly what happened on Wednesday during the Savior’s last week of His ministry, but there is still so much we can talk about. 

Prior to His last week, Jesus visited His friends Mary and Martha in Bethany. On His way there, their brother, Lazarus, passed away. 

We read in John 11:35-36:

35 Jesus wept. 

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

When Jesus arrives in Bethany, His love for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha is so great, He raises Lazarus from the dead. 

Jesus’ love for us is so great, He suffered and died for us so that we can all live again, as He did when He rose on the third day. 

Xoxo

Mattie

Holy Week - Tuesday

On the Tuesday during His last week of mortal ministry, Jesus spends the day teaching and serving His followers. 

In the book of Matthew chapter 25 verses 35-40, Jesus gives the following parable:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

There are lots of ways to serve those around us, but the most important way is to make sure they know they’re loved and appreciated. As we serve others, we are serving and drawing closer to Him. I love that this leads back to loving God and our neighbors, as we’ve been learning this week. 

Xoxo
Mattie

Holy Week - Monday

On Monday, Jesus cleansed the temple and healed people. I love how this exemplifies the two great commandments we are asked to follow and that He focused on yesterday: love God and our neighbor. 

Jesus shows His love for God by cleansing the temple and creating a holy space for His followers to be able to worship Heavenly Father. He shows His love for His neighbors by healing the sick and blind. I love how Jesus gives us lots of examples of ways to show our love for God and our neighbor throughout His entire ministry. 

While we usually think about showing our love for God in spiritual ways, such as studying our scriptures and serving in the temple, there are other ways we can show our love for God. Just like Jesus, we can create a clean physical space in our homes to give us a holy, clean place where we can worship God. Even just having a clean and holy space in our homes brings the Spirit into our home, making it easier to love and serve our family (and neighbors).

Xoxo
Mattie

Holy Week - Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday, the beginning of Holy Week,  Jesus Christ’s last week of ministry on Earth. 

Ricky and I were able to discuss Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem today. 

His followers in the city laid down cloaks and palm fronds for Him to walk across as He rode the donkey into town, crying shouts of “Hosanna!”, which means, “please save us”. 

Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was. In Matthew 22:37-40, it states:

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

The first message Jesus gives in His last week is to love God and our neighbor. I think that is the most poetic and important message He could give at the start of the last week of His life, in which He embodies the spirit of these two commandments by following His Father’s plan in order to save us. 

I’m thankful for Jesus’s example throughout His entire ministry, but especially in His last week. I love the tradition of going through the events of His last week and am so grateful for the opportunity to study it every year. 

Xoxo
Mattie

Personal reflection and revelation.

It's been a while since I've posted on my blog. School has kept me insanely busy!

This semester is already halfway over! I had four classes, with one being only a seven-week course, so I am so glad that that class is over! I have a bit more time to work on the homework for my two digital content creation classes, which both include all of the editing and recording you can imagine for a video production course and an audio production course. After this semester, if I have done my math correctly, I have ONE semester left! I will not be taking classes in the spring/summer, but if all goes according to plan I will be finishing out my time at Ensign College in the fall semester!

I would like to thank my cute husband, my scholarship benefactors, and my Father in Heaven for all of the blessings, miracles, and support that I have been able to receive during my time at Ensign. While it has been stressful and exhausting at times, I have always been able to get my work done (mostly) on time.

I didn't have a long or thoughtful post planned for today. I just really wanted to get on and post a little update. I am really grateul for so many things, but I just wanted to give a shoutout to something that I have been participating in since August now and I wanted to share how it has blessed my life.

First shoutout goes to Sister Emily Belle Freeman, Young Women General President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She has a program called Inklings that is a worldwide institute class. Second shoutout goes to my sweet friend Tara, who posted about it on Facebook inviting anyone who wanted to join to do so. I jumped at the opportunity because I need Jesus in my life and I need an accountability buddy.

This experience has been such a blessing for me. Each week we read a chosen talk from the October 2024 General Conference, meet with our study group (mine meets on Tuesdays), and then every Thursday morning, Emily goes live on Instagram to discuss the talk. Afterwards, the Live story becomes available on her Inklings podcast. I haven't always been able to be on the live, but I really love and enjoy the fact that she has put each one on a podcast. Those are so much easier for me to listen to during my week. As life is crazy busy, sometimes I miss a talk. But I am getting better at being more proactive and listening to the talks in the week. I am trying to be better about listening to the podcast as well. I haven't always been a podcast kind of person, but I am slowly learning to love them–at least, the ones I've found that discuss the Gospel. :)

I am so grateful for the sweet messages and connections that I have been able to hear and receive due to this group of women I've joined with to discuss the Gospel with. We have had so many sweet, beautiful, powerful, and emotional experiences and interactions together. It has been so great to discuss the Gospel with them every week. It is the highlight of my work/school-week and I am so blessed to have been able to be a part of it for the last couple of months. :)

I hope you all have a great week! I hope that I will be able to post more frequently now that my classwork load is significantly lighter since one of my classes has ended now.

I am looking forward to the additional discussions about the Gospel that are coming this year. I am so grateful for a loving Savior and God who knows that we are imperfect, but He still wants us to turn to Him so we can live with Him again.

Xoxo

Mattie