Guess what I learned today!
Alma24:13 Behold, I say unto you, Nay, let us retain our swords that they be not stained with the blood of our brethren; for perhaps, if we should stain our swords again they can no more be washed bright through the blood of the Son of our great God, which shall be shed for the atonement of our sins.
The blood of their brethren stains their swords but the blood of Christ washes them clean. The swords are obviously a metaphor for their souls. So how come the blood of their brethren stains them but the blood of Christ washes them clean? Christ willingly gave his life to atone for our sins. No one else has that power. So no matter how much we blame others or become angry or jealous or however else we can hurt other people it will not solve our problems. The only way our problems can be solved is by relying on the sacrifice of the only person who is perfect and able to help us overcome all things. It makes me think of how Christ described his own mission to the Nephites:
3Nephi27:14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
3Nephi27:14 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—
15 And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
16 And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world.
It's Christ's greatest desire to be able to hold us guiltless at the last day.
This week was pretty good. I'm a little stressed about stuff. It's this weird combination of wanting to be prepared to come home and wanting to work diligently to bring souls unto Christ, but not really being able to control either one. I set a goal to read the Book of Mormon this transfer, so I've had a lot of things try to block me from accomplishing my goal. I've been asked to give two trainings in two weeks. I'm not mad. I love giving trainings. This past week I gave a training on developing Christlike attributes in zone training meeting. Tomorrow I'm giving one on finding in district meeting.
In the process of trying to study so diligently I am falling behind on my journal which means I try to catch up on that when I have spare time. Therefore I am falling behind on cleaning the apartment. So that is stressing me out. ALSO today I got an email about being enrolled in My Plan. Which means I need to set goals for when I go home. On top of that I made a goal to finish applying to BYU. So basically! I have a lot of responsibilities and I'm not a very responsible person so it's stressful.
Furthermore! I don't know how to help the people I'm supposed to be helping. I get super sad and cry at night because I don't know how to share the gospel with someone I'm not allowed to share the gospel with unless he requests it, but he's like shy so I don't know if he will be upfront enough.
We went to the temple this week. It was so nice. I love the temple. I'm really glad Sister Gage is a diligent missionary and the people she works with progress and go to the temple because it means her companion gets opportunities to go with her.
Another good thing that's happening is that all my fasting and prayers have payed off because I can feel the spirit way more AND I can bear testimony more powerfully.
God is still a God of miracles!
Here's some quotes:
"We need to email Elders!" -Elder Gee
"Why do you need to email you'll be home tomorrow?" -Elder Gunn
"He needs to set appointments!" -Elder Lichtenberg
"I have lofty weekly goals!" -Elder Gee
"The Elder's Quorum does this stuff too except we have plastic table cloths and throw them away afterwards." -Elder Gunn
"We hate decorating which is why we mostly just go shooting together." -Elder Ball
"You have to get in touch with your feminine side!" -Sister Kammerman
"That's a really slim side for these two." -me
"Yeah" *puts flow in hair* -Elder Ball
"I turned 91 and next I'll be close to probably 100" -Felima
"I just like to have sassy moments with Sister Atchley." -Elder Powell
"Every moment is sassy with Sister Atchley" -Sister Gage
"NO guys! Come on!" -me
"eeeehhhhhh......" -Elder Dayton
"Bye see you at BYU!" -me
"Sister Atchley... I'll probably never see you again..... wait you're going to BYU!?" -Elder Dayton
"uh.... maybe..." -me
"oh ok! See you!" -Elder Dayton
"hey how's it going?" -Elder Gunn
"uh good." -me
"We found a box!" -Elder Gunn
"Why is everything you say so gruesome!?" -Patrick
"That's how you tell the difference between me and someone who's not emo." -me
"I have a headache." -Peter
"Oh no! Sister Atchley's sass gave you a headache!" -Sister Gage
"Hey watch it. Of the two of you she's actually much more quiet." -Peter
"Believe it or not she's over 25." -Elder Ball
"Oh stop it! You're too nice!" -Sister Matsen
"Yes well.. I'm not fooled... In fact I know that Sister Matsen is indeed 26 years old." -Brother Scott
"Guys!" -Sister Matsen
"Why don't you all have books!? We sing every week!" -Bishop Flora
"I felt like when I was serving in Mission Viejo God was not looking in my direction." -Me
"To be fair I feel the same way about Mission Viejo." -Jimmy
"Sometimes decisions between good and good can be hard like when you're looking at schools, or jobs." -Brother Morse
"OR FOOD!" -a youth
"You can grow closer to God through your trials or you can get farther away from him or you can turn to drugs I don't know. It's up to you." -Brother Morse
Here's a reading assignment:
The power of positive thinking!
They were practicing roping the table legs.
Hot
Basic
So Basic
Ironic
Companion inventory by pictionary
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