Hi!
So, first things first. I have THE best family in the world!
Thank you Briggs and Becca for the lil' package you dropped off for me. I love
you both so much! I attached a pic of Sister Campelo and me with all our
goodies. :)
I can't believe next Tuesday is the last day of this transfer.
Sister Campelo is going out bound which makes me a little sad but I'm so
excited for her! She's going to the Georgia Macon mission.
It's kind of
crazy because Sister Campelo is in her 5th transfer so her whole class (all the
sisters she came to the mission with) are leaving and almost all the sisters in
their 4th transfer are going, too. That means next transfer (March 4th) I will
most likely go!! Either March 4th or the transfer after that.
This week I have learned so much. It's been pretty slow on
the Square since the lights turned off, but I love it. The few people who come
to the Square are so ready for the gospel!
The biggest thing I have learned
this week is about grace and works. There are soooo many anti's that come onto
Temple Square or come on chat debating this issue.
I should probably have
studied this earlier, but this week I felt desperate to understand the Church's stance on it.
We meet with an amazing lady who has been less-active
for the last 8 years and her issues with the church are really, really deep.
Her main struggle is that she feels that unless she does all of these things
(works), she cannot receive Jesus Christ's atonement and be saved. She doesn't
have any problem with works it's just that she says the Jesus she believes in,
gives his grace freely to all men.
When she said that I decided I really needed
to understand this for myself, the ongoing issue of grace and works. So, I've
been thinking/reading about it a lot and I think I finally understand.
Jesus
Christ came into the world to atone for the sins of ALL mankind. Not just those
who accept him as their Savior. He suffered for every single person who has
ever lived. His atonement is there, in full, for us.
So why do we need works if
Jesus Christ has taken care of everything?
Why did God even give us
commandments?
These are the questions I kept asking myself. What I have learned
is that Jesus Christ has done everything for us to be able to live with God
again. Everything.
The reason he had to suffer is so we can change. Through our
works, we choose to change ourselves and can become more like our Savior, more like the
person we want to be.
The reason we need works, is not so we can receive the
blessings of Christ's atonement, it is because through our works, our nature is
changed. Our purpose in life is to return to live with our Father in Heaven
again. We fulfill that purpose by continually striving to become like our
Savior (works).
Jesus Christ is full of mercy and grace. He did not sacrifice
himself for us because He had to, He did it so we could grow and change and
become perfect through Him. No unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God
and so Christ has given us a way to be cleansed of our sins every single day.
It is the most amazing thing.
I've read Brad Wilcox's talk, "His Grace is
Sufficient," once before this but we read it again this morning in our
companionship study. If any of you have not read it yet, read it today!!
I think one of the reasons it is sometimes difficult to
explain Christ's atonement is because it is an individual thing. Yes, Christ
suffered for the sins of the world, but that means he suffered for my sins and
your sins as an individual. I think the application of Christ's atonement
varies from person to person because obviously, not all people commit the same
sins. What I think is so beautiful is that no matter who you are, no matter
what you have done, the result of Christ's atonement for each one of us is the
same. Jesus Christ's atonement provides every single one of us with lasting
peace, happiness, cleanliness, hope and strength. It's perfectly individual and
perfectly equal. I love it so much.
I love you all so much and I miss you everyday. I am so
happy I'm here though. It's already going way too fast, I can't believe I've
been gone for almost 5 months. Everything is so great. I LOVE TEMPLE SQUARE.
Talk to you soon!
xoxox,
Sister Helton
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