He is not here: for He is risen!

I love Spring time. It is a time of new life and new beginnings. I love the warming weather and the new buds on the blossoming trees. I also love that it is again time for General Conference. This months General Conference was amazing. I particularly enjoyed Elder Holland's talk about the final week of the Savior's mortal ministry. His talk lead me to study and ponder about my Savior and the event leading up to the crucifiction and the resurrection.

I don't talk a lot about my work on my blog but I want to share an experience I had the other day. For those of you who don't know I am a Registered Nurse. I work on a Cardiac Step-down Unit in Bellevue Washington. Last Friday (Good Friday), I was working a short 'princess shift' from 3pm-7pm. The day was going routinely and I only had a couple hours left until my shift was over. I had an empty bed after discharging a patient and as all you nurses out there know an empty bed never stays empty for long. My charge nurse informed me I would be getting a patient from the Emergency Room and minutes later the ER nurse called up to give me report. This patient was very very sick. He was battling brain and liver cancer along with multiple other conditions secondary to his cancer. He was unresponsive and had many critical clinical and lab findings. I will spare you all the details but before too long the patient was being wheeled down the hall on a stretcher heading for my one empty bed. By the time I arrived in the room the tech and transporter were already moving the patient from stretcher to bed. As soon as we had him in bed I noticed he was not breathing. I could not feel a pulse or hear a heart beat. He was a DNR/DNI or no code. This meant he did not want any life saving measures to prolong his life. His journey in mortality had ended. The family had followed the patient up from the ER and were in our waiting room. I called the doctor and he came up to break the news to his wife of more than 60 years. The family wept together. I felt terrible for the family's loss. It hit me at that moment how devastating death would be without a testimony of the Savior and the resurrection. My patient's journey in this life had ended, but I knew that this was not the end for him. I knew that Christ had broken the bands of death and had overcome the grave so that we might live with Him again and with our families forever. I wanted nothing more than to give the family the peace that I had felt during times of death in my family that comes with a knowledge of the resurrection.

"We solemly testify that His life, which is central to all human history, neither began in Bethlehem nor concluded on Calvary. He was the Firstborn of the Father, the Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world.

"He rose from the grave to 'become the firstfruits of them that slept' (1 Corinthians 15:20). As Risen Lord, He visited among those He had loved in life. He also ministered among His 'other sheep' (John 10:16) in ancient America. In the modern world, He and His Father appeared to the boy Joseph Smith, ushering in the long-promised 'dispensation of the fullness of times' (Ephesians 1:10)." --The Living Christ

I am so grateful for the Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. I know Christ leads His church today through modern day revelation given to our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I am grateful for the blessings the restored gospel brings into my life. On Saturday morning Brandon and I attended the baptism of one of our friends. Hanna and her husband had moved into our ward from California. Her husband had been brought up in the church but had become inactive. They moved into our ward and came across the missionaries. Hanna is every missionary's dream...a real 'golden contact.' She was so excited about learning the gospel from the beginning and still continues to have that excitement to learn more everyday. Together her and her husband have taken the missionary discussions and have become active in the church. Just today I went with the missionaries to teach a young mother living in our building. She has many questions and really wants to find the truth about God and religion. I love how the spirit fills the room when we talk about the Savior and the Restoration of the gospel. I love the light that the gospel brings into the world and into my life. I love my Savior and I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church on the earth today!

"He lives! All glory to His name! He lives, my Savior still the same. Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives: I know that my Redeemer lives!"

Happy Easter!