The Keystone of Our Religion

One of the most sacred and important gifts the Lord has given me is the Book of Mormon. It was written for me. If I want to get closer to Heavenly Father, I need to read this book. It is His word.
         "There are three ways in which the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. It is the keystone in our witness of Christ. It is the keystone of our doctrine. It is the keystone of testimony."           -Pres. Ezra Taft Benson
I have a desire to grow closer to the Lord. Someone once showed me the relationship that Joseph Smith had with Heavenly Father. In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord first addresses Joseph as His servant, He then goes on to call him son, and by the end of the book, Joseph is referred to as friend. This is the relationship I want in the end. I need to first start out as a servant to the Lord and follow all His commandments "with exactness". I am His daughter, and I hope I please Him enough for Him to refer to me as such. In the end, it is my desire that when I am standing before Him, He will not only call me servant and daughter, but friend.
How do I become His friend? "...[rely] wholly upon the merits of Him who is mighty to save, press foward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and love of God and of all men, feasting  upon the word of Christ, and enduring to the end. This is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven wherby man can be saved in the kingdom of God."
            -2 Nephi 31:19-21
There is a promise with reading the Book of Mormon. "...there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God."
            -Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley
Pres. Ezra Taft Benson-The Keystone of Our Religion
Pres. Ezra Taft Benson-The Book of Mormon is the Word of God
Elder Russell M. Nelson-A Testimony of the Book of Mormon

My Savior, My Redeemer

Helaman 14:15-17

For the last couple years and especially these last couple months, I questioned why Christ had to die. I knew that He had to suffer through the atonement for our sins but I did not understand why He had to die if the atonement had already taken place. I of course was not seeing the whole picture. While reading in Helaman chapter 14, I came upon the 15th verse and I then received the answer. the Lord Christ suffered death because with His resurrection, He made it possible for us all to become united with our bodies after we die. without the Lord's death, we would not get our bodies back. the resurrection of the Savior was a part of the atonement. Through it all we are saved spiritually and physically. suffering in the Garden enables us to live eternally and the Resurrection enables us to live immortally. there is both a spiritual and physical aspect to the Atonement.
i am so eternally grateful to the Lord Jesus Christ for not only suffering through my pains and sins but for also dieing for me. there is no greater love! I want to live my life for the Savior. I want to give Him my life. It is His.