Jesus!
Let me tell you what....there are some pretty creepy looking pictures of the Big Guy floating around out there on the internet. That isn't meant sacrilegiously at all, but some other religions have some pretty tripped out conceptions of what he looks like... that's not meant as a slam, it's just that in my life I have become accustomed to this one and I love it dearly.
Anyway, so yes, He and His gospel have had the biggest impact on my life. First and foremost they have taught me the right way to live. They've taught me to be honest. To care about other people, in most instances even more than I care about myself. They've taught me to follow the promptings of the spirit, to trust in righteous priesthood holders, and that I can still hear the voice of the Lord today, both personally and through those who have stewardship over me. But most importantly it has taught me that I can be saved and live with Heavenly Father and my family in the Celestial Kingdom forever all because Christ was willing to give His life and atone for my sins....all of ours. I've often thought how poetic it is that Christ even suffered for those people who were putting Him to death, like Caiaphas. I mean how selfless and awesome can one person be. In the case of Christ...pretty darn. Perfect in fact.
However, I think the biggest impact He has had on me has come in the last year or so...a lot of it even in the last month. When I broke up with Dave at the beginning of the month I was freaked. For those of you who saw me after Matt you know that I was a mess for quite a long while. But the thing was that I dated Dave a lot longer and loved him a lot more than I love Matt, more than I ever dreamed possible. So, naturally I was expecting the fall out to be a lot worse. Now....in the case of Dave I have fared a lot better than I did after Matt. Part of that is because of Dave being who is. He really did love me and he loves the Lord and I know he was doing what he really thought the Lord wanted him to, and he treated me a lot better than Matt ever did. Not that Matt treated me bad per se, he just didn't handle the situation in the greatest way possible. Part of it also was that I had been praying to the Lord for some time before it happened that He would give me the faith, strength, and courage to handle whatever happened with our relationship...whether that was Dave and I splitting or having it progress to something further. But, I was still afraid when it happened that I would tailspin the way that I did after Matt. But, y'know Christ really has been with me through this. He has given me the faith and hope to know that everything will work out in the end. And he has given me the strength to move on and find a way to be happy on the outside even if I I'm hurting on the inside. I have seen my faith and knowledge grow so much this last month. I have received the knowledge that I really am the Lord's daughter and that He wants what's best for me...even if it means in the moment I'm miserable. And y'know how in the BD it says that once we truly understand our relationship to the Lord, that we are His children and He is our Father, that prayer becomes natural and instinctive? Well, I'm here to tell you that that's true too. Since I had that confirmation to me my prayers have become so much more sincere and at times when I find myself with a few extra minutes to kill, like when I'm on break from work at 3am, I find myself turning to prayer.
The Savior has also helped my patience and tolerance of other people. This year I've been asked to face some pretty difficult people on a daily basis...especially at my work. And it's not to say that these people are bad or abrasive or anything like that, it's just in some instances they are very different from myself and that causes friction sometimes. Especially if you know me because I tend to snap really easy...and a lot of the time I don't even realize I'm doing it. For a while instead of just voicing my opinion to the individual I would turn to Dave as my sounding board. I would just rant to him which was pretty easy to do because he is so mellow and rarely gets riled up about anything whereas I get riled up all the time. But, talking to him one day he made some good points. A. getting mad only makes me feel bad, not the other person. B. chances are my getting mad isn't going to do anything to change the situation so it's kind of a waste of energy. C. getting mad is a choice, there are things that I can do to find a way to not become irritated with someone and even find a way to love them. That being said I started praying that I would find a way to love people the way the Lord does and see in them the good qualities that He sees. It has helped me so much and I know that it is because the Savior really can do amazing things with our hearts if we come to him and are sincerely willing to be changed.
So in a nutshell he has had the biggest impact on my life because he has changed my life. He's change my heart and my prospects and for that I am eternally thankful! :)
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