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Blossoming in the Atonement

Each April Provo’s trees blossom, arrayed in white and pink flowers. And BYU’s diligent grounds crew prepares lush gardens of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. The bursting color is a welcome farewell to winter and a hardy hello to spring.

I love this time of year. It means the return of warmth and some nine months before leafless branches and grayscale landscapes again become the norm. Yet, every year I am caught off guard by the pear and plum blossoms. They’re the first arrival of spring, and I’m never quite prepared for their sudden appearance. When winter blankets the world with snow, it’s as though we forget the vitality of the earth. Those tree buds always awaken me, serving as a reminder of new life, new growth, and new hope.

I don’t believe it is a coincidence that the seasons serve as a reminder of new life and of Him who provides new beginnings to us all. Alma taught that “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 [and the seasons created by its motion]” (Alma 30:44). In his 2015 devotional address, Todd B. Parker, a teaching professor in the Department of Ancient Scripture, seconded Alma’s words:

The universe was designed to testify of Christ. Consider hibernation. Every creature—every squirrel, insect, snake, or bear—that hibernates and lies dormant during the winter appears to be dead. Each one that comes alive again in the spring testifies of Christ and His Resurrection. Every tree, every plant, every leaf that becomes green each spring—all testify of Christ. Do you think it was by chance that all of these things come to life after appearing to be dead at the same time of year when Jesus came alive again? I don’t think so. All things testify of Christ.

Recently while on a sun-warmed drive through Provo Canyon, I couldn’t help but blurt out the feeling pulsing through my veins: “This weather makes me feel full of goals!” I take that feeling as a gift of the Atonement—that with the reminder of spring, I don’t need to remain dormant but can change and progress and blossom through Christ.

The universe was designed to testify of Christ. -Todd B. Parker (designed quote)

Amanda Kae Fronk

Amanda Kae Fronk is the communications manager for BYU Speeches. She is an avid collector of hobbies with book buying, nature watching, and food sampling being among the most enduring. She aspires to one day be called a master wordsmith, a woman of grace, and an owner of a devoted heart.

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