The Road Less Travelled

You are stuck at a crossroads. You have messed up, you have been hurt, you don't know which way to go from here. You feel utterly alone. You want to scream out as Christ did while He was hanging on the cross, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46).

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

You see the left road. It has been trodden down. It has been beaten to the ground. It seems easy. But for some reason everyone takes it. There must be some reason people take that road. It is the easy way out of where we are now. Follow the crowd. Just go where everyone else is going. It looks so easy. You see that many must have traveled which means that many are at the final destination. But there is an uneasiness as you see the debris scattered down that path. Objects, things you are wanting to escape. You gaze down it for a moment. Then look down the right one.

Then took the other, just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim

Because it was grassy and wanted wear,

Though as that for the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

But then you realize that soft, dewy grass is calling to you. There is a peaceful feeling that comes over you. You feel as if you are unworthy of the peace you see in that the right path. The sun is shining through the trees so perfectly and the beauty of the light hitting the dew on the grass overwhelms you. Ivy grows up the trees in a magnificent maze. You are overwhelmed. You get down on your knees and pray to your God to know where you must go.

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way

I doubted if I should ever come back.

As you head down the untrodden path, your feet get caught as you walk. They get caught in the overgrowth. You have to step over fallen trees. It's not as easy as the path you decided against. You fall down and have to get back up. It seems never ending, when at last you see what appears to be a small clearing. You have to overcome the biggest obstacle you have faced, an old oak that is probable ten feet in diameter. You begin to use the knobs and holes in the tree to climb over it. 

I shall be telling this with a sigh.

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,

I took the one less travelled by,

And that has made all the difference.

You have made it. You see the clearing. There is a beautiful brook running through. You feel the peace and the serenity that is found in such a place as this. You look around, only to discover you are not alone. You see a man and look into His eyes. You realize He is Jesus Christ, your Savior, your Redeemer. His arms are open to you and He calls you by your name and says, "My Child, I love you."

Christ loves each and everyone of us. He wants us all to return to live with Him in a place of peace and eternal happiness. He has provided a way for us. It may not be the road that many people will take, but it is open to all that will come, believe on His name, have a change of heart which is repentance, and come unto Him through following His example. His atonement is what makes all of us able to be forgiven, healed, comforted, and know that we will never be utterly alone as He was. He walked the path alone, so we wouldn't have to. His atonement is the reason for the Easter season. It is the reason we can find peace in this life. The Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us our purpose in this life. I have learned this and felt it, I know each and every one of you can too. 

There are certain verses in the Book of Mormon that I would like to end with. This is in the book of Alma, 7:11-12. It reads,

 "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."

This means that if you have felt it, suffered it, sinned any sin, He has felt the pains and afflictions brought with that. He knows you and knows you perfectly. Don't let your own stubbornness stop your conversion to become more like your Savior. Use the atonement of Jesus Christ every day and you will see it will make all the difference. I know this is true. I know He loves you so much that He did this. I want every person in the world to know that God is looking out for you.

I love you all!
Love,

Sister Mackenzie Esmond

(The poem is The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost)