Atonement of Jesus Christ

Hola Familia

President came this week. It was a great learning experience for all.
We had a training for the leaders of all the branches and practically
President  "burned" all of them for not working 100%.  He used the
scriptures in Alma 4:18-20 to tell the presidents to leave their
¨judicial seat¨and get out and work with the people.  Attendance is
low here, and we are trying to break the barrier between ¨church¨ and
¨missionary work¨so that the work can move forward with more speed
and efficiency.  Church and missionary work go hand in hand and now I
think the members understand a little more of how to work together
with us.  We had our FIRST branch council this Sunday.  You gotta
start somewhere!  My companion and I made a really great missionary
plan that we shared with them and I think if we work hard to get it
started and keep it moving it can really help us and the branch be
much stronger.

But President also "burned" all of us missionaries for not working 100%
because right now we are all being mediocre missionaries and we have a
lot more to give.  Its true.  Guess it must be the heat.  I don``t
know, but the area is wonderful and the members are so great and we
are finding people, just that there is a better way to do all of this
and it is to work together with the members.  He taught us that the
way to work efficiently may not bring immediate results, but if done
correctly will bring continuous results later.  Then he listened to
all of our ëxcuses¨for why we didn´t have great results this month and
he taught us one of the greatest lessons I have had about the
Atonement of Jesus Christ.  In PMG it says that äs your understanding
of the Atonement increases, your desire to share the gospèl will grow¨
I have always pondered on that statement.  I always understood and
knew that Jesus Christ suffered and died for each one of us, but my
understanding deepened incredibly after this experience.

Hna Calderon brought in a giant delicious looking cake for us to eat
after the conference but one of the assistants, Elder Bush, wrote on the
board "only those who have had perfect numbers of excellence in their
entire mission can eat the cake"  Well, none of us.  Then he wrote on
the board "Elder Parra (the other assistant) will do 15 push ups for
every missionary so they can eat the cake."  Already I guessed what the
lesson was, but I didn`t expect to learn as much as I did-
Elder Bush said " Hermana Lindsey, do you want to eat the cake?"
"Yes" I said.  Then he turned to Elder Parra "Elder, are you willing
to do 15 push ups for Hermana Lindsey?"  Emphathetically he said YES.
So I got cake.

One by one he followed the same process.  At first the elders were all
laughing and cheering..but after about 4 missionaries got cake we
started to notice that Elder Parra was in pain.  So one of the Elders
proudly responded to the question "I will do my own push ups for the
cake"  But Elder Bush responded "I am sorry but the only way you can
have cake is if Elder Parra does the push ups."  Another missionary
later said "NO I don't want cake!!  I don´t want him to be in pain
anymore" but then elder Parra turned to this missionary and very
gently said " Elder, you may not want the cake right now, but some day
you might be hungry and will want it, and so even if you don´t want it
right now, I will do the push ups for you."  Silence filled the room,
as we watched him do 15 push ups for every missionary, now that our
appetite for the cake was completely gone.  Elder Parra began to shed
a few tears in pain, and his smile was gone.  We opened our scriptures
and read the account of the atonement in Luke 22 and it says that an
angel came to help Christ during this time.  So one of the
missionaries came to help elder Parra do his push ups.  5 more
missionaries were missing cake.  But it also says in Luke that the
angel could not help him for the whole time, so he left and Elder Parra was left alone again to do the push ups.  And he did them for
every single missionary (12)

Then we read 2 Nephi 2:8.
I learned from this experience and felt a little more of what Christ
has done for me, but even more is what He did for those who don´t want
to learn the gospel or who will never accept it.  He gave us ALL the
opportunity.  And how truly great it is to make this known unto ALL
the inhabitants of the earth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  EVERYONE has a
chance.  I was very humbled, especially reflected on those times at
the beginning of my mission when I didn´t contact people because I was
scared.  How prideful I am and how much I need to change...because I
have to work 100% NOW to receive 100% of the blessings the Lord has in
store.  And the Lord has made it very clear to me in many occasions.  He
intends to bless me and the people I teach immensely in the time of my
mission.  Now I understand why when I understand the atonement more,
my desire to share increased 10 times more.  I don´t understand how it
was done, or how it works, but I KNOW it was done and that it DOES
work.  We ALL have a chance, a second, and  a third and as many as we
need to come back.  And as it says in Mosiah, all He requires is that
we keep the commandments.

Henry B Eyring said  that "whenever I am tempted to say that I have
worked and I need a vacation, or I need rest after a long and hard day
of work, I always say these words " Remember Him" and I receive the
strength necessary to continue.

We have been called in this time to come to Him, to remember Him, and
to bring others with us.  Salvation is not a cheap experience.  It
will be hard.  Elder Holland said that " A missionary must be prepared
to walk a little of the path that He walked in order to bring
salvation to His sons and daughters.  We will have to pay a portion of
that price.  But we have the promise that we don´t have to do it
ALONE.
When I am tempted to wonder "why don´t people just GET BAPTIZED and
why is it so frustrating and hard to help people understand...I will
Remember my Savior and my Redeemer-- and I think he will teach me to
love each one of His children, as he has loved every single one of us.
I don´t want to give up my name tag with Jesus Christ, but I know one
day I will, and I don´t want it to just be a memory but I want it to
be a part of me.

Ha, well, I learned so much that I might not be able to write it all
here but I hope you all got a feel of what I experienced this weekend.
I love the people here with all my heart, I love the gospel, and I
love my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

All my love

Hermana ;Lindsey