On the eve of the Atonement, Jesus told His apostles that following His death, the world would hate them, just as it had hated Him. Because they had been chosen to represent Christ, they could not “hope to escape the world’s hatred”(Talmage). They were trusted to stand out, to be different. But, Jesus also told them to embody the love that He had for people. And to let that love for others be the defining mark of their discipleship, even in the face of hatred.

That same hate Jesus spoke of feels more present and accessible today than ever before. We live in a world full of opinions, we will spend the rest of our lives hearing peoples opinions about us and our church. But what carries more power than an opinion? An experience. When we seek out and cling to personal experiences with this His Gospel, specifically with Christ and His Atonement, our testimonies become undeniable. By personally experiencing the healing power of the Atonement, our testimonies can be held with such higher regard than the opinions of others. 

These personal experiences allow us to say I may not know everything, but I know Jesus is my Savior and that is enough. It is enough for me to stay, to keep learning, and to stand up for this church. On that same divine night, Jesus promised His disciples “that [through Him] their sorrow be turned into joy. [And that such joy] would be beyond the power of man to take away” (Talmage).