He makes it enough

Well, it’s been a while since I’ve come home so I figure it’s about time that I start writing again. 

The last two weeks have been full of large and small miracles. So many people have been asking how I’m holding up or what I’m feeling and to answer that I’m doing great and I’m so full of gratitude. The Lord is truly sustaining us through all of this and He has definitely extended us His merciful hand again and again. There have been so many people that have showed us God’s perfect love through their selfless service and sacrifices. I cannot thank all of you enough for the mercy you have shown us. It just strengthens my testimony that a lot of the time, God shows us his infinite love through others.

Last week I had a huge advanced functional anatomy exam at BYU that I was so nervous for. I hadn’t had time to study at all due to the circumstances so all I could do is get on my knees and ask for divine help. I was trying to prioritize and I knew that my family needed to come before even my studies in this situation so I asked a merciful Heavenly Father to help me because I couldn’t do this all alone. I begged Him to just help me get a passing score on the test so I wouldn’t fail the class. I did all I could to cram for the test the morning of but I didn’t feel like it wasn’t even close to sufficient to what I needed to have studied. I walked into the class with a prayer in my heart and trusted that with faith in Jesus Christ all things are possible.

Surprisingly, I was the first to finish the test and handed it to my T.A. to be graded. I didn’t feel like I had failed but I also didn’t feel like I did amazing either. The test was out of 100 points but there were 4 bonus questions making it possible to get 104 points out of 100. My T.A. handed me back my paper and my jaw dropped as I saw my score: 103/100. I had missed a single bonus question. That was all! My T.A. said it was one of the highest scores they had seen so far on this test. I walked out of the classroom on cloud 9. As soon as I walked out I found an empty classroom and got down on my knees to thank my Heavenly Father. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude and felt so humbled. I cannot deny that I had divine help during that test. It was the most incredible experience because as I was taking the test I felt as though my mind was clear and that everything that I had ever been taught about this subject was freely coming to my memory. It was a perfect example of John 14:26.

“But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name,

he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance…”

It would be completely and utterly wrong of me to try to take even partial credit for that score because I know without a doubt that it was because of God. That was a huge miracle for me and I can’t deny that I received divine help. I learned a lot from that experience. It wasn’t until the next day, however, that I learned an incredible lesson from my aunt about my experience. She compared it to the atonement. Alone our efforts will never be sufficient. No matter what we do it will never be enough but through the Savior’s atonement it’s enough. In fact, the atonement makes it more than enough. The atonement takes our insignificant efforts and our weaknesses and makes them more than sufficient through our faith in Him. I wasn’t able to do it on my own. My very best efforts didn’t even come close to being enough but God took my faith and my desires and made up the difference. He even made it more than what I thought was possible. The atonement is my favorite thing in the entire world. I will never quite understand it’s greatness and magnitude but as I do learn more about it I am filled with even more gratitude. The Lord is so merciful to us even when we don’t deserve it. That’s perfect love. I testify that he loves us so dearly and is so very aware of each of our individual situations. He’s there and he loves you. Don’t ever doubt that.

God is supporting us and making our burdens light.

Through Christ, all things are possible

 Love you all!

Come what may and love it

Jessi Israelsen