Aburto - With One Accord - April 2018

Sister Aburto speaks about the journey that monarch butterflies make each year.  Millions of butterflies migrate in unity and create beautiful gatherings along their journey.  Like the Monarch Butterflies, we are on a special journey too back to our Heavenly home.

• We are on a journey back to our heavenly home, where we will reunite with our Heavenly Parents.
• Girls and boys, young women and young men, sisters and brothers, we are on this journey together. In order to reach our sublime destiny, we need each other, and we need to be unified. The Lord has commanded us, “Be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.”

She speaks about the saint in the old world after the Savior died and was resurrected and compares them to the saints in the new world when Christ visited them.  She compares some of the things that both people had in common.

• Some of the things that the faithful Saints did in unity in both places were that they testified of Jesus Christ, studied the word of God, and ministered to each other with love.
• The Lord’s followers were one in purpose, in love, and in works. They knew who they were, they knew what they had to do, and they did it with love for God and for each other.
• Some of the blessings they received were that they were filled with the Holy Ghost, miracles took place among them, the Church grew, there was no contention among the people, and the Lord blessed them in all things.

She points out that one of the reason they were unity was because they had both been personally ministered to by the Savior.

• We can suppose that the reason why they were so united is because they knew the Lord personally. They had been close to Him, and they had been witnesses of His divine mission, of the miracles that He performed, and of His Resurrection. They saw and touched the marks in His hands and feet. They knew with certainty that He was the promised Messiah, the Redeemer of the world. They knew that “He is the source of all healing, peace, and eternal progress.”

She says that we can have this same unity without seeing the Savior as we draw closer to Him throughout our lives.

• Even though we may not have seen our Savior with our physical eyes, we can know that He lives. As we draw closer to Him, as we seek to receive a personal witness through the Holy Ghost of His divine mission, we will have a better understanding of our purpose; the love of God will dwell in our hearts; we will have the determination to be one in the kaleidoscopes of our families, wards, and communities; and we will minister to each other “in newer, better ways.”

She speaks about the ministering efforts that we are now part of.  She says that we can be part of this special process and see blessings and miracles take place in our lives and in the lives of those we minister to.

• Miracles happen when the children of God work together guided by the Spirit to reach out to others in need.
• The Lord is now giving us the opportunity to counsel together each month in our priesthood quorums and Relief Societies, so we can all be more active participants in our ward or branch kaleidoscope—a place where we all fit in and where we are all needed.

Sister Aburto concludes by reminding us that we can walk the path of discipleship.  Our lives are not perfect but it is more important to recognize where we are now and not where we have been.

• Every one of our paths is different, yet we walk them together. Our path is not about what we have done or where we have been; it is about where we are going and what we are becoming, in unity.

The imagery of our lives working in unity like monarch butterflies brings to my mind, beautiful images of thousands of butterflies traveling together along the path of life.  What a great example of how we can grow in unity through our personal ministering efforts.  We can create beautiful things as we reach out to those in need of some friendship, support, and love.  I have been thinking lately about needing to get to know some of the new people that have moved into my ward this summer.  I am sure some of them could use a friendly face, a warm hand shake, and friend to make their new ward more comfortable.  I am going to try to make that happen and provide a little light to those new faces.