Springtime is one of my absolute favoritest times of the year! The world that has been so covered and dormant for so long begins to emerge and with it the beautiful colors of nature. The grass with its vibrant green, the sun with its much needed light backed by the most beautiful sky of blue, and the flower’s added variety of shape and color begin to blossom and bloom. The earth’s rebirth coinciding with the celebration of our most beloved Savior’s resurrection is an absolute perfect typifying metaphor. Because of Christ you and I too can experience that same rebirth and new life. The glorious message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is just this. Christ has overcome the world and through Him, we can too.
It is in the spring that I am reminded about the testimony that the Earth itself offers of God our Father and his Son, the Creator of the Earth. Alma, one of my heros in the Book of Mormon, is asked to produce signs that some might believe in the Christ. “But Alma said unto him: Thou has had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do wintess that there is a Supreme Creator.” (Alma 30:44) 
I know that God lives! There is an order and a plan to our lives and to this existence. We are children of the Most High and because He loves us He gave his only begotten Son that you and I might not perish because of death or because of sin, but have everlasting life! (John 3:16) I love my Savior! I testify that Christ did come to this earth. He walked and talked among men. He healed the sick and raised the dead. He fell on His face in a garden called Gethsemane where He suffered incomprehensibly for you and for me. He was arrested and shouldered a heavy cross that He might be lifted up and experience mortal death. Though the thought of the sight of His cruel death tears at every part of my heart, I can most joyfully proclaim that Christ rose from the grave! He lives and because He does, we also can overcome sin and death. We too, like the Earth, can emerge from the gloomy cold of heartache, despair, sin, or death and experience that rebirth of joy and light! I invite each of you to look around you at the very world upon which you stand. I promise that if you open your heart and look for Him, you will find that you too can “[see] God moving in his majesty and power” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:41-47). This has been true in my life and has brought me a peace and joy that surpasses my words to express it! The words of one of my favorite hymns says it beautifully:
“Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder
Thy power throughout the Universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!” (LDS Hymn #86)
To Know the Shepherd 