Saturday was a crazy day! First thing in the morning we drove to Bremerton for a baptism of a lady I had been privileged to work with. Her name is Lian Digiovani, she's been taught by missionaries on and off for the past five years and she got baptized on Saturday! It was such a sweet baptism. After Lian's baptism we returned to Elma to prepare for Tyler's baptism. Tyler is an outstanding kid who referred himself on mormon.org and within 13 days of us teaching him was baptized! He leaves for basic training in a week and had a testimony of the restoration before we even taught him about it so he didn't want to wait a day longer than he had to. His baptism was packed full of members! He had the bishop baptize him, the stake president and ward mission leader speaking, as well as President and Sister Blatter in attendance. There were so many people there weren't enough chairs so we had to pull more out and line them against the walls in crammed spots. It was great! He was beaming! Such a young kid and he found the truth with nothing but his faith and the spirit's guidance. Such a beautiful gift to be able to witness this miracle. The following day Tyler was confirmed a member and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. On top of that Tyler was ordained to the Aaronic priesthood and got his temple recommend all within less than 24 hours of being baptized. He really is outstanding! By the grace of God he found the truth.
Sunday afternoon I held snakes at a members house! It was a lot of fun. I couldn't stop laughing at Sister Brewster freaking out! It was just the funniest thing ever! But she conquered her fear and held them! She hasn't yet held his tarantula but I think she'll get there.
Sunday night we had a Why I Believe Fireside! It was so fun! It was in OLYMPIA!!! I got to see my family! It was so wonderful. The wonderful Christina spoke at the fireside about grace and its amazing power. She continues to change my life every day! There aren't words to express what she means to me. It was such a gift to see her. On top of seeing the wonderful Christina I saw even more of my OLY family! The Libbys, Sister Burnette, Sister Moe, Makayla Snyder, so many people that own my heart! Ah! It just made my week!
Well that's about it for the happenings of the week so let me share with you my insight for the week :) It goes right along with Christina's talk at the fireside. Its about grace and the atonement of Jesus Christ. A thought someone shared with me in an email was "the atonement isn't about instant perfection, its about constant progression" We all fall short at various moments in our lives. It isn't about the fall at all its about the rise.
"It isn't about the fall at all its about the rise." Lets look at this sentence for a minute. We are all here on the Earth as a result of Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit and "falling". We can focus on that if we want but what does that do for us? It creates resentment and bitterness. But if instead of focusing on the fall of our first parents we put our sights on the Resurrection of our Savior we can fill our lives with hope and joy. Its the same within our personal lives. If we focus on our fall we develop emotions of bitterness and resentment towards ourselves. As an alternative we can focus on our rise. Through our Lord and Savior we can rise above our stumbling blocks and overcome the frailties of being human. Our Savior atoned for all our sins. He has paid the price in full with His blood and life. Through His mercy and grace we are set free. BUT we all have the tendency to hold fast to our sins and chains. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ our chains can be removed but He won't rip them out of our arms. We must focus on the rise to overcome the fall. THAT's what it means in 2 Nephi 25:23 when it says, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." All we must do is live the best lives we can, keep the commandments, LOVE our brothers and sisters, LOVE our Heavenly Father and Savior, and LOVE ourselves enough to let our chains fall to the ground and rise above the fall. As one of my favorite songs says, "My chains are gone, I've been set free. My God my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy reigns. Unending love, amazing grace." The price has been paid in full why try to pay for it again. Its a life long process of letting go of our chains but its worth it. I know we can all access God's grace and as we open our eyes we'll realize its right in front of us, there for the taking.
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23
Until Next week my you feel grace in everyday and KNOW that our Redeemer lives.
Love,
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