PROVO, Utah — Young Women General President Emily Bell Freeman recently visited the new Temple Square Visitors Center with members of her extended family. While there, her four-year-old grandson approached the statue of Christus and asked how the Savior had made the marks on his hands and feet.
There, President Freeman told the story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Given this new information, her grandson’s questions changed. “Why did he score?”
“That’s what I want to talk about tonight,” President Freeman said, adding, “One of the most important questions we’re going to answer in the next 18 months or two years is that question: ‘Why did he score?'” This will be an opportunity to witness this all over the world. ”
President Freeman spoke about the Savior’s condescension, ascension, and redemptive power during a devotional meeting at the Provo Missionary Training Center on Tuesday, June 30th.
Her husband, brother Greg Freeman, also spoke before her.
Brother Freeman encouraged the missionaries with the story of Joshua, an Old Testament prophet who came shortly after Moses. Brother Freeman said Joshua likely felt overwhelmed by his new role, just as a new missionary might be overwhelmed by his role. But God’s promise to Joshua also applies to missionaries. “Do not be afraid, nor be disheartened, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).
“That’s very interesting to me,” Brother Freeman said. “For all of us who have served a mission, that is a great joy, because even after the mission is over, he will be with us. He will always be with us.”
“He got into their story.”
President Freeman taught from the Preach My Gospel manual and said that mortality gives individuals a physical body and an opportunity to use agency wisely and walk by faith.
Therefore, Christ’s contempt refers to Christ’s choice to experience mortality. President Freeman noted 1 Nephi 11, where an angel teaches Nephi about the contempt of Christ through visions of the Savior’s birth, baptism, ministry, and death.
President Freeman said part of what the Savior does is “to meet us where we are, as we are. So the King was not born in a palace. He was born in a stable. He experienced humanity at its lowest point.”
President Freeman also invited several missionaries to share their favorite New Testament stories, from the woman who touched Christ’s garments (see Matthew 9) to the man waiting for healing in Bethesda’s pool (see John 5).
In each of those stories, President Freeman said, the Savior is within reach of sinners, lepers, and all other outcasts.
“He entered into their stories,” she said. “You should expect the same to be true for you. When we talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we are talking about His ability to reach our level and help us overcome.”
But the Savior’s goal is not just to meet people as they are, where they are. It is to lift them up to where the Lord is, President Freeman said. And through sacred ordinances and covenants, individuals can experience the Ascension of Christ.
“These ordinances and covenants help us become more like God,” President Freeman said. “Every time we partake of the sacrament, every time we enter the temple, we are in the process of learning to become more like the Lord.”
Consider how Mary Magdalene felt after the Savior’s death, President Freeman continued. She probably experienced sadness and disappointment. She, too, probably wondered why Christ had to bear wounds on his hands and feet. But when she went to the tomb of the Lord, something amazing happened. She turned and saw the Lord (see John 20).
“It’s going to happen in our lifetime,” President Freeman said. “There are moments when life feels hard, there are moments when mortality feels hard. This is mortality. We expected things to be difficult here.
“But we must also expect to encounter Jesus here. That applies to our story. It applies to God’s plan as well.”
‘for you’
Returning to his young grandson, President Freeman gave a simple two-word answer to the question: “For you.”
“He scored for you,” President Freeman said. “So that God can meet you where you are, as you are, and so that He can lift you up to where He is, just as you are, so that He can take you home.”
“The Lord is with you and for you, and never forget why He hurt you.”
