Monday, after emailing we went back to the apartment to do a spring cleaning. Elder Cranford cleaned the floor Argentina style (soapy water with a squeegee type broom) and I cleaned out the fridge, scrubbing it and removing all the ice. It started raining in the afternoon so we didn’t do much after. I didn’t feel like writing so I fixed a couple buttons on my pants, a shirt pocket, and stitched my name on the inside of the funda por mi biblia, the protective cover for my bible. After that we left and started the work.
Oh the weather here. If it’s hot for a couple days, its sure to rain the 3rd or 4th day. Its a good 30 degrees Celsius and then it rains. And every time it rains I tell myself I need to buy an umbrella (the three I have bought have broken within a week.... maybe I should spend more money and get better quality....) but afterwards I always forget... Ooops.
Tuesday through Saturday we spent a good deal of time preparing the two baptisms we had planned this weekend, Wanda and Lautaro. We ran into a bit of trouble with Lautaro and his father so his baptism has been postponed for a bit... (hopefully this weekend). But we finished teaching them the things they needed to know before baptism. We held the baptismal service for Wanda right after Church on Sunday and it was awesome. A ton of members were there and as well as some family members of Wanda. Overall it was a great baptism. :D
Well, my mind just blanked out so I guess I am going to end this letter… I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He loves us. He’s always ready to help us get up when we fall, that’s why He suffered and died for us. Without the Atonement that He suffered for us, we couldn’t return to our Father’s presence again. Our Father commands us to be perfect, but as we can’t be, He has provided a plan of mercy. The only way to receive His mercy includes the Atonement of Jesus Christ as well as His Gospel. We cannot receive mercy freely, but only through faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, and Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins by the proper authority, receive the baptism of fire or the Gift of the Holy Ghost and Enduring to the end. All the Father asks us is to keep the commandments. Yes, we will fall and make mistakes, but that’s why we can repent and get better. It’s like riding a bike. When we fall, we have to get back up and keep on going. And if we try to learn from our mistakes, we won’t fall as much. This process of showing our faith by keeping the commandments, reading the scriptures and praying daily, going to church - (even when we are in the most difficult times) will lead us to feel sorrow for our actions and we will repent. Repenting leads us to baptism and after baptism leads us back to church to partake of the sacrament, renew our baptismal covenants and leave the heavy backpack of sin behind. We don’t just go to church to learn, but to be free from sin. The learning helps us to not sin as much as we gain spiritual strength and knowledge. Being clean helps us to have the Holy Ghost with us so that we can make the right decisions and press forward with steadfast faith in Christ. As we fulfill our part, God will help us to do what is right, but we have to act first. Without action there are no responses. Action = blessings = more action = more blessings, and it keeps on going. We just have to keep going. Love you all. Be safe. Be good. Always remember our Heavenly Father and His expectations for us. Psalms 85:6 and Romans 8:16-17… He’ll never command us to accomplish something we can’t do.
Gotta go, Love you,
Elder Michael C. Watson
No comments:
Post a Comment