Remembering to Remember

This week in my Book of Mormon reading I got to Jarom. I was looking at verses 11 and 12 and thinking about a pattern that we often see in the Book of Mormon.

11 Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was. And after this manner did they teach them.

12 And it came to pass that by so doing they kept them from being destroyed upon the face of the land; for they did prick their hearts with the word, continually stirring them up unto repentance.

We often struggle to remember, it seems, and it’s something I’m certainly worried about. It isn’t easy to remember God and Christ. In some ways I do miss the mission because it was so much easier to remember when that’s all I had to think about every day. I definitely don’t want to fall into the Nephites’ same mistakes here. We know what the consequences are like.

I was thinking about how we can remember Christ today, since we don’t have the law of Moses, and I made a very simple connection that I’m sure you’ve probably already made. The Sacrament is how we remember Christ every week! Although it’s hardly anything novel, making that connection was very meaningful to me. It took the Sacrament from a conceptual level to something that I can actually apply. Now I understand how we must prepare ourselves for the Sacrament every week. Now I understand how that helps us stay on the right path and, ultimately, get back to Heavenly Father’s presence.