The featured image is of Davidson’s Glacier in Alaska. It is truly a wonder and an awesome sight to behold. God’s creations in putting in place the plan of happiness also strike awe and wonder into our hearts. “May the remembrance of what our eyes have seen and our hearts have felt increase our amazement at the Savior’s atoning sacrifice.” As I read Elder Ulisses Soares’ address “In Awe of Christ and His Gospel“, I looked back on my life and the times I was struck by how wonderful and awesome the gospel is.

Spiritual Wonder

The first time I experienced the gospel wonder was at age seven. The missionaries knocked on our door and my mom let them into our home. They had something I couldn’t put my finger on. I later understood that it was the Spirit being brought into our home. I only remember one episode from the messages they shared. They were sharing the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood and showed a picture of Peter, James, and John ordaining Joseph Smith. One of the Elders asked me who the three men were. In all the bravado and confidence of a seven-year-old, I stated “That’s easy! That’s God the Father, that’s Jesus Christ, and that’s the Holy Ghost!” as I pointed to the man in the middle, then the one on the left, then the one on the right. This got a laugh from the missionaries as they explained once again that it was Peter, James, and John.

I experienced a similar wonder during my freshman year in college. I lived in W-Hall at Deseret Towers on campus. About 30 to 50 young men were on my floor, all about the same age. Many of these young men were firm in their testimonies. I was not one of them. As the year progressed, I watched one after another receive calls to serve missions. The excitement, power, and wonder that filled our floor was something to never be forgotten. It inspired me to find out once and for all where the truth was. I have no doubts that I was positioned on that floor to experience that environment so I could regain my testimony and move forward in the gospel.

In Awe

The gospel of Jesus Christ cannot leave us in anything but awe of how it’s constructed. If you analyze the church’s teachings and doctrine therein it is hard to find anything more merciful, logical, and all-encompassing. The fairness of the gospel, its focus on individual circumstances and environment, and the way it takes into account all of God’s children is nothing short of incredible.

Let’s take the final judgment. There is nothing so comforting as the understanding that I will be judged individually, based on my actions and the circumstances in my specific life. There isn’t a one-size fits all judgment, just like there isn’t a one-size fits all degree of glory. No one else affects my judgment. I will go where I have earned to go once Christ’s grace has been applied.

Every aspect of the gospel is similar in nature. Whether it be the family, commandments, worship, ordinances, covenants. Everything is in an order that is logical and makes sense to the human mind.

Another aspect of the gospel that leaves me in awe is the dedication of the members. Those who have taken upon themselves the name of Christ and always remember Him dedicate themselves to serving in the kingdom. The everyday examples of service, teaching, magnifying callings, and loving of neighbors leaves me speechless. That doesn’t even take into account all the quiet acts that are done that the public at large doesn’t hear about.

Continuous Improvement

I work in technology, more specifically I work in application architecture. One aspect of the work I do involves something called Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD). This method allows for constant improvement to software applications and reduces the down time to install updates.

In our lives, we should also look to having CI/CD. In our case we should call it Continuous Improvement/Continuous Dedication. We each have our weaknesses that we can improve. I have several and I try to work on them a little everyday. At the end of the day, I can look back and see that I have moved forward and improved myself based on the work done on my weaknesses. This in turn leads to continuous dedication. It is a feedback loop. When you improve, you dedicate yourself more, this then leads to more improvement which leads to more dedication. In my opinion, this is how we can walk the covenant path.

As we improve and increase our dedication, we are exposed to more of the wonder and awe that is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve read The Book of Mormon, I always learn something new. I always find something to wonder at or be in awe of. My testimony is strengthened and I want to know more.

Conclusion

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is wonderful and awesome. It is filled with so many amazing things. I cannot help but to sing “I stand all amazed” and “Oh it is wonderful” (Hymns #193). As we continue on the covenant path, may we find more things that awe us and cause us to wonder.