But One Hour

I'm going to get personal for a minute. We're going to have a little
heart-to-heart. I want you to think about a place you go to feel close
to God. A place that you consider sacred. Is it your room when your
kids aren't home? The park down the street? Your beat up old Honda?
(that was mine) Now think about the reason why you go there. How do
you feel while you are there? What are you looking for?

Today I want to talk about a place that- I feel like- Heavenly Father
wants us to consider as sacred. A place where we can find answers to
our prayers and relief from our problems. Today my blog will be on
sacrament meeting. The hour we spend thinking of Jesus Christ and
partaking of blessed, bread and water, witnessing we are willing to
follow Him.

One of the most common questions that I am asked (I wish I was given a
penny for every time some one has asked me) is, "I already feel close
to God, so why is it so important to go to church?" I have to admit, a
couple years ago I had the same question, but I had an experience that
changed my perspective.

At the beginning of my 2nd semester at BYU-I my Stake President held a
Q &A. This was our chance to write down and put into a bowl questions
that we wanted the Stake President to answer. The first couple of
questions were pretty typical for new college kids, "What do I do when
my roommate likes the same girl as me?" "How do I tell a return
missionary I won't be his wife after only one date?" "How do you know
if you should marry someone?" But some where in-between the stake
president pulled out the question that said, "how can I help other
students recognize the importance of the sacrament?" With just a
moments thought he pulled out his scriptures and turned to the book of
Mark 14.

To give some back ground; in this chapter Christ is with, Peter,
James, and John. They have just entered the garden of Gethsemane.
Christ turns to his faithful apostles and tells them, "sit here while
I shall pray " (Mark 14:32). We learn from the account of Luke (22:40) he
also asks them to "pray that (they) enter not onto temptation.." And
then Christ goes further into the garden while being "sore amazed" and
"very heavy" he then offers a prayer to Heavenly Father and says the
famous, humbling words, "father, all things are possible unto thee;
take this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but thine be
done." (Mark 14:36) He then took upon himself -willingly- as we learn from Alma,
"our pains and afflictions" "our sicknesses and temptations" in short,
everything we will ever feel and experience. (Alma 7:11-12)

After Christ had prayed and suffered, he returns to where he had left his apostles
only to find them asleep. He says to them, "couldest not thou watch
but one hour?" 

After rehearsing all of this, my Stake President said, "Out of all the hours we are 

given in the week Jesus Christ has asked us to only take one hour- in sacrament meeting- to think about Him and to remember him.
To reflect on what He had done for each one of us in the garden of
Gethsemane. I would hate to stand before Christ one day, only to hear
Him say, "couldest thou not watch but one hour?"

Since this experience I had with my Stake President, I have found great peace and comfort from
going to sacrament meeting. It's a place I now consider to be most sacred.
I want to invite everyone to think of ways you can make sacrament
meeting a sacred place. And to watch "but one hour".

I promise if you do, you will be blessed.