I Saw Him....

Last Thursday evening was a special reflecting moment for me. I had the unique experience of listening to to a man speak by the name of Brother Allen. He lives here in Queen Creek and had agreed to speak to us this special evening to the sisters in our ward's Relief Society. He is asked often to speak but very seldom does so because he feels like he must be so careful in his portrayal of Christ. For some reason we were the lucky ones. He feels a great responsibility and feels honored as he has had the approval to portray this role. He has been in many of thepageants and most recently the "Reflections of Christ"  series. 

But when he spoke he didn't talk about his unique, lengthy resume or really any of the amazing things he's been able to do or people he has met. No.  The evening went a lot different than I had expected..... I Saw Him.

Here's my view of how the evening went:

He sat in the back of the room as he waited for us RS women to walk into that the last house for our Progressive Dinner. Upon walking into the room, I glanced over at him and my heart skipped a beat. Such a striking resemblance to how I envision my Savior to look...or maybe how my Spirit remembers He looked. 

We began with my friend Crystal & I performing a musical number called "What Mary Felt." It spoke of a mother who was asked to have her baby play the Baby Jesus in the Nativity. The song went through her emotions: At first she felt honored, then nervous for her precious baby in the cold. Then she was overcome with emotion as she realized a glimpse of what Mary really might have felt having had to sacrifice her son so that others could benefit from it. This song invited the spirit in the room.

{So we finish performing the song and walk to our seats. Brother Allen stands up to then speak.} 

With tears in his eyes he tells me Thank you and Good Job. He begins to speak in front of our group of Relief Society ladies and says "I know how the mother in this song felt."  {Chills.}

He went on to speak vaguely but powerfully of his experience representing Christ. We know he had been given special permission to portray Christ in this magnificent way & you can see why.} His demeanor is extremely humble but powerful-Just as I know my Savior really is. Holding his scriptures tightly in hand, Brother Allen spoke quietly and boldly. Dressed in a suit, with his dark long hair tied back, his piercing eyes that you felt could see through you and know everything about you. He talked for a good half hour and I tried to blink as little as possible. Every couple of minutes my heart would literally skip a beat as for a split second...I Saw Him. 

What a marvelous Christmas Gift this was for me.

You can view Him in these, his latest beautiful pictures:

AnotherTestamentofChrist.com

This tells the story of Christ appearing to the People long ago on this the American continent.

**These framed pieces of art are on display for 2 more nights (Friday & Saturday)

 at my Stake Center on Ocotillo between Sossaman & Hawes. 5-9pm**

Come if you can. You will be glad you did.

It is open to the Public & you can spend as little or as long as you want there. There is a behind the scenes video you can watch that shows the photographer, Mark Mabry as he takes the pictures. 

{The most moving thing is to see the people getting photographed with him & FEEL what I FELT! They felt our Savior, Jesus Christ's spirit through Him. It captures many of them breaking down in tears.  Moving.}

May we all See Him this Christmas.

And Pres. Uchtdorf said just recently: May we see the "Christ in Christmas."