When in Orlando

 Large Plates

Being a tourist in a tourist town and some of my thoughts about my favorite people:)

This week was a busy one! We had so. many. lessons. 

Pday was a day well spent! We went over to Universal CityWalk, which is just right outside of Universal Studios! We walked around and got some fun pictures and yummy donuts! We pretty much spent the rest of the day at the church hanging out, which I was content with because I got to spend some quality time with my friends:)

The next day we had Zone conference! Of course I saw lots of old friends which has good. And our training was very beneficial. We talked a lot about the power of role plays. They're so awkward and inconvenient sometimes, but I feel like I definitely learn a lot when I do them consistently with my companion. Me and Hermana Jackson have really been cracking down on role plays, which has been super good for her because it has helped her learn how to teach!

Which leads me to my next point. We had so many lessons this week. I loved it. Lessons are my favorite part of missionary work. I love talking to the people I love and helping them progress and understand God's plan. 

We have lots of really golden people right now. Rocio and her daughter Victoria are the CUTEST. I don't even know how to explain the love I have for them. They're so sweet and open hearted and Rocio had a friend in her country who was a member of the church so she's familiar with a lot of the things we're teaching. And she quit drinking coffee years ago so, in her own words, she's "ready to be a Mormon!" And her daughter really loves us and gets excited every time we're coming over. Some of my favorite people in all of Orlando.

Liduvi has also been progressing! She should be really close to committing to a baptismal date here soon. She has so much faith and she said she doesn't want to commit to a baptismal date until after she bears her testimony on fast Sunday because she knows God has a plan for her and she wants to thank Him publicly first. She's so sweet!

Also! Wendy, Andres, and Carmen are all preparing this week to go to the temple! That means we'll get to go do baptisms for the dead with our recent converts very soon. I'm really excited!

We had ward conference this week too! Our stake president, president Scherer is INCREDIBLE. I want to be like him. He's just so full of love and so well spoken and inspiring. Elder Amato, our area seventy was also there! We got to be a part of the ward leadership meeting before sacrament and it's so baffling to see everything that goes into keeping a ward functioning. Especially in a place like Orlando. I don't know how our Stake President does it. There's members who speak English, Spanish, Portuguese, Creole, etc. And not only are there members from other states moving in. There are members who are refugees moving into Orlando from other countries! I have so much respect for the leadership of the church.

Small Plates 

Why the Atonement is like a good steak.

I've always loved studying the Atonement, but I've never dove very deep into the topic before. It's just such an abstract concept and it is literally impossible for our human mind to understand.

But in preparation for Easter, and as a response to counsel from my leaders, both mission-wide and church-wide, I've tried to increase my understanding and application of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

I've been reading a couple of books (thanks, mom!) in addition to my regular scripture study in an attempt to better understand what the Atonement is and what it should mean to me. I've learned a lot! But one of the things I've come to realize is that the more I understand about the Atonement, the more I will understand that there is so much I will never understand. Because 1) I'm human. I'm imperfect and relatively unintelligent in comparison to an exalted being like our Heavenly Father or His Son. And 2) because I will never perform the Atonement. Christ already did all He could do. And all He could do was everything. 

Everything you have and love and cherish exists and has meaning because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Nothing in this world would be worth anything without His Sacrifice. Every birth would just be a reminder of yet another person who was destined to an infinite death. Every sunrise would just be a reminder that we have one day less left to exist. Every beautiful thing would just be a reminder of the indeterminable end of all beautiful things. 

But it isn't so. 

Because of Him, no death is permanent.

Because of Him, every sunrise is a reminder of the chance we have to try again.

Because of Him, every beautiful thing is a sign of the love God has for His children. 

As poetic as all that is, it still doesn't even come close to illustrating the magnitude and the magnificence of the Atonement. 

Today in church, Bishop Cajas shared his take on the Atonement in a way I had definitely never heard or thought of before. Though funny, it touched my heart.

Bishop loves grilling. He's always trying new ways of cooking meat, because he wants to perfect the craft. 

He's spent a lot of time learning how to do it. And when he grills up some steak, it can be quite the process. He never knows how a steak is going to take to the seasonings he uses. He never knows how the grill is going to behave. And when you live in Florida, trying to plan according to the weather is frivolous. Sometimes he feels like it isn't worth it. It's just so much work. 

But at the end, he chops up his masterpiece and gives it to everyone to try. And then it becomes worth it. He sees the light in the eyes of his friends. He sees the joy it brings them. 

Christ feels the same way when we taste the fruits of repentance. When we partake of the joy that comes in and through His Atonement. The difference is that he never felt like it wasn't worth it. 

You were worth every second of agony, pain, despair. 

Because He knew of the joy it would bring you. And He loves you so much that He would have suffered all of the pain He endured in the Garden of Gethsemane just for you. He loves you so much. 

Although I still have much to learn about the Atonement, this I do know: Christ did it because He loves us. He loves us more than we can even begin to comprehend. 

The doctrine of the Atonement is mind-boggling and arguably incomprehensible. So rather than inviting you to understand the ununderstandable, my invitation to you is to come unto Christ and partake of the joy of the Atonement. Let Him heal you. Let Him change you. Understand what the Atonement means for you.