Coming Home to Recover

You are probably stressed and anxious to hear my news this week.  That´s kind of a bummer because what I have to tell you is probably going to make you more stressed and anxious, but please remain calm for the duration of this letter.  EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE FINE.

So, normally if your missionary needs more than 2 weeks to recover from an injury or illness you should send them home to recover.  At home, they can focus on getting healthy, in the field they start getting depressed and stressed because they can´t work and the clock is ticking…Then after they get all healthy at home they come back to the mission and are super studly again.  I talked to President and the doctor and there is a high probability of me coming home for a little while to get better.  Obviously then the bad news is that I am going to need more than 2 weeks to get better.  The good news is I will get better faster at home then I can come back to work!  Coming home would probably be the best thing for me at this point but the only reason I am open to the idea is because I want to work and not die and I can´t work if I am dying...right?

So now you are probably all stressed out and worried.  Honestly...I've been better...but actually I've been worse so it´s okay.  I tell people every day that the gospel of Jesus Christ can heal our troubled hearts.  What kind of missionary would I be if I didn't believe that?  My problems are pretty non-threatening but I have still been blessed to experience the healing power of the Atonement.  It is amazing.  I have been sick on and off a lot the past few years but this time I didn't experience the frustration and anger that I had before.  I am kind of sad obviously because I don´t want to come home, but I really am fine.  I hope you are all fine.  Don´t stress out, don´t worry about me, don´t be frustrated or upset.  Heavenly Father wants me to learn a few things and this time I am finally starting to learn them.  Life is good.

Anyway, I've been indoors all week basically, but that has given me lots of thinking time and I have the GREATEST ANALOGY EVER!  It is how laundry applies to the gospel...

Picture your favorite T shirt.  It is new and clean and fresh.  Absolutely spotless.  But what happens to our clothes when we wear them?  They get dirty!  What do we do to make them clean again?  We wash them!  We take the favorite shirt, put it in the washing machine with soap and water and we wash out the stains.  We are like the T shirt.  We come to this earth clean and spotless, but with life´s experiences and the choices we make we become stained.  We are impure, we are unclean, and we need washing.

God has given us the washing machine:  It is Christ´s Atonement.  Through Christ and His Atonement we can be cleansed from sin.  How do we run the cycle?  Through the gospel of Jesus Christ which is faith, repentance, baptism, and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Baptism is like the water, the Holy Ghost is like the soap.  We need both to wash out the stains.  But what happens if I forget to plug in the washing machine? Without electrical power I can´t start the cycle, and no matter how many times I try the shirt will still be dirty.  Without the Priesthood power of God, we cannot be cleansed through baptism.  The proper power and authority of God is essential for the cleansing process to work.  Without it we cannot fully apply the Atonement because we do not receive the baptism or confirmation in Christ´s name. 

Now, after the cycle has been run and the shirt has been washed, it´s still probably going to get dirty and stained.  So what can we do to keep the shirt clean?  We wash it again.  Who does laundry once in their lifetime?  When we are baptized we make a covenant with God to keep His commandments, to take Christ´s name upon us and to always remember Him.  We renew our promise every week by partaking of the Sacrament.  In return we are renewed and sanctified week by week, we are cleansed, we receive forgiveness of our sins and we have the promise of God´s constant companionship through the Holy Ghost.

Remember that this is your favorite shirt.  Don´t you want to keep it clean?  As children of our Heavenly father He wants us to be clean.  He knows we've been stained and marked, but He has given us a very sacred, very special, and very specific cleansing process through Jesus Christ.  "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."  (Isaiah1:18).  No stain is too deep for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  Now all we have to do is run the cycle. 

Isn't that the greatest analogy EVER?  I think so.

Well...I need to go now but someone will contact you this week to talk to you about me...sorry I am a problem child...oops:)

I LOVE YOU!

Love,

Lexie