Dear, dear family and friends,
If you thought I could escape my HP obsession as a
missionary in the NYUM, you (and I) were wrong.
Just this morning as I was studying I realized that healing from our
disobedience is like healing your soul after you've made a horcrux. It requires absolute remorse--godly sorrow is
what we call it. I was reading Alma
15:3-11, and it hit me--disobedience, sin, wickedness, iniquity, hard
heartedness, pride, all of these things rip us up. Zeezrom was in intense suffering (he was
"scorched with a burning heat") because all the wickedness he'd done
in trying to defame the truth that Alma and Amulek were sharing, and he asked
the priesthood leaders, Alma and Amulek, to come see him because he had felt
that absolute remorse, which is what was SO painful to him (v. 3). He "besought them that they would heal
him" (v. 5). HEAL him. Zeezrom knew that in order to be healed by
the Atonement of Christ, and be forgiven of his sins, he needed to talk to his
priesthood leaders, and that those righteous men would have the tools to help
him overcome his sickness that was put on by extreme guilt over his
wrongdoing. He went to the doctors to
receive the healing he needed, and...Alma was able to help Zeezrom access the
mercy of the Lord and therefore BE HEALED.
Good grief. I love the
scriptures! They make things so
clear! The words "beginneth to
enlighten my understanding" (Alma 32: 28)!
So, in relation to horcruxes--killing rips the soul apart according to
JK Rowling, and it can only be healed and made right by the exercise of
remorse...Disobedience tears us up, causes sickness, grief, sorrow, guilt--it's
not happy. We NEED the Atonement of
Christ to become WHOLE! And as we access
and use the Atonement through godly sorrow for and repentance of our sins, we
can have a hope of becoming "perfect even as [Christ], or your Father who
is in heaven is perfect" (3 Ne. 12:48).
Woah, woah, woah. You mean to say
that we can become perfect through repentance and change? You bet that's what
I'm saying. Because being perfect really
means becoming whole and complete?
Absolutely. Yes, so my week is
starting off really well.
We had a really good week last week--we were able to meet a
lot of new people which is always exciting.
I've found that it's really easy to start talking with someone when
he/she has a pet. Last week we were
walking around and we saw this really cute kitten that was acting like a jungle
cat and trying to claw its way up the fence--the owner of the kitten(/cub)
appeared and we were able to start a normal conversation about her cat which
grew into her inviting us to come and talk with her teenage daughter as
well! It turns out that she wants to
become a church-goer, and that she and her daughter haven't ever been affiliated
with any church before. But I was just
amazed at how easily the conversation flowed because we showed that we were
interested in something that she obviously was interested in (her cat). So even though I have to keep reminding
myself that I'm not just a member of the church who's moved here for a little
while (rather, I'm a missionary and representative of the Lord Jesus Christ),
it has been neat to learn how to have normal conversations with people and
introduce topics that I'm very passionate about--the Gospel of Christ. You'd think it wouldn't have taken me this
long to figure this out, but I can be kind of intense, I don't know if you
remember. Another instance when we've
met people by talking about their pet: we were waiting for a member of the
Church to pick us up from outside the library to go to her house for dinner
(she and her family are converts of a couple years and are pretty awesome) and
I noticed a beautiful, big dog right there by a bench and what seemed to be his
owners. :) We went over and petted the
one-year-old pit bull/German shepherd/rottweiler named Brosco and struck up a
conversation. The woman who owns him
also has a few other pets, apparently, and a young daughter! Well, you bet we told her who we are and what
we do, and we asked if we could come visit her-->we got her number and
turned around to find out ride parked at the curb. Anyway, it's been pretty fun to see how
universal the message of Christ is, and how equalizing the Spirit is. I love being a missionary.
Well, it sounds like the summer holds marvelous plans! More barbecues, service projects, birthdays,
vacations, and enjoyment to come! I love
you so so much! I'm glad you're able to
enjoy nicer weather. We are, too! I've been getting pretty sweaty, but that was
to be expected, eh? Sweatiness is a
natural thing. Too bad I wasn't okay with it in my teenage years. Ha!
I'm learning little by little how to better share this wonderful
message, and I can't wait til it's all just a natural part of me, this
sharing. We're keeping on, always
keeping on. :) Hey, happy belated
birthday, Dust!! I hope Olive didn't
dampen your day...okay, so I already know she kind of did....haha. Oh family--I love you!
Love for always,
Sister Smith
No comments:
Post a Comment