Mexicali Week 3

umm.. . .
last week we contacted someone called a* j* in the street. he told us that he was looking for a church to join because he wanted to change his life. we visited him and he was pedal-to-the-metal. His mom, M*, told us that she was catholic but was going to listen for courtesy. his older brother, martin, has severe problems with his legs and has had them almost since he was born. he never went to school or did almost anything. he told us he didn't like the whole church thing. his mom made him take off his earbuds and listen anyway. we taught a little bit about the gospel of Jesus Christ, about how we can change and progress in life through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end (AKA repeat). each one of them ended fascinated with the message. you could almost see them drooling. ;) The Spirit really can touch and soften any heart if we let it.

next, i shared a little thought on the atonement the other day. someone asked me to write it down and give it to them, so i like to think it was something special:

We all remember being a kid, whether we like it or not. and when I mention it, we'll all remember this experience:

You were sitting down at the table after have bravely stomached you serving of green beans, peas, or whatever other nasty vegetable you had to eat. you see your mom go to the freezer and pull out a box of ice cream and realize that those green beans (or whatever vegetable it was) was worth it. your joy and victory is utterly crushed by the fact that your mom gave 1/12 a scoop of ice cream more to your sister.

"that's not fair" you whine to your mom, "Why does she get more than me?!"

I've done the same thing MANY times in MANY things. be it wages, tv time, recognition, or even vacations. One day I heard the thought, "No, it's NOT fair. But you don't want fair." I realized that I did nothing for my Mom to deserve the gift of the body given me through birth. What did I do to pay her back? begged for attention, food, water, sleep, and whatever I wanted at the time. I did nothing to deserve the education and love they offered me. Fair is that for every hamburger I ate I gave one back. Then I remembered a verse somewhere in the bible that says that the wage of sin is death. Thus, supposing that I miraculously survived until the age of eight, I was already toast the first time I told my brother he was stupid... Oops!! or even thought of insulting him.. . . No. I really dont want the fair thing, I promise. I don't want Justice.

The wonderful thing is that I dont have to have it! :) There's another law, the law of Mercy. In the Law of Justice, my weaknesses threaten the destruction of EVERYTHING I hold dear. in Mercy, my weakness is what MAKES them dear. Mercy is what gave my mom an INFINITE love for a baby that lived off her for nine months and then proved to be life-threatening coming out, instead of resentment.

Mercy provides a process of growth. justice requires instant satisfaction in all expectations. The beauty of mercy is that every law of justice has its reflection in mercy, allowing us to learn and experience in trial mode the ropes of an eternal life.

How is this possible? I think this is where the atonement fits in. I think of the Atonement like a pregnancy. Maybe you've already heard it, maybe not. Why? there are more parallels, but mostly:

Christ suffered intense pain to place us under his care and protection. The atonement was the BEGINNING of his care, not the end. read alma 7 11-13 carefully. to what end is all this succoring? it is that we come to be like Him.