As
the subject line says, this week I learned a lesson on repentance. I
don't know if this is happening in the States but here in Canada for the
month of November Wendy's was having this promotion where if you bought
a sheet of coupons for $2 you would get $10 worth of coupons. At the
beginning of this transfer we walked into Wendy's and this really nice
lady I have never met before was so happy to see us. She gave us a stack
of 11 coupon booklets and told us to give it to other missionaries. We
were grateful and gave a sheet of coupons to one companionship. We then
promptly forgot about them. Then this week we went into Wendy's. She
asked us what we had done with the coupons and we felt really bad. They
expired at the end of November and she didn't seem too happy. We felt so
bad. So we left and carried on with our day. Then the next day we got a
text from the elders asking us about the coupons. Apparently they went
to Wendy's and the lady asked if they had them and they said no. The
elders informed us that the lady was pretty mad. We felt so bad so we
went and pulled out some money to pay her for the coupons. We walked
into Wendy's pretty embarrassed and apologized to the lady and tried to
pay her back. We thought she was going to yell at us. Instead she
refused to accept our money, but did accept our apology. She said she
was so happy we came back and that it showed a lot about our character.
We didn't know what to say. She walked around the counter and gave us
both hugs and then gave us 2 free frosty's. I was so surprised! I didn't
even know what to say!
It reminded me of a
scripture in Mosiah. It's in Mosiah 2:23-24 and says "And now, in the
first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for
which you are indebted unto Him. And secondly, he doth require that ye
should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth
immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still
indebted unto Him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of
what have ye to boast?" When that lady gave us those coupons, we were
indebted to her. And when we messed up and came back to apologize to her
she rewarded us for the simple act of apologizing. Therefor we were
more indebted to her. That's a lot like Christ. He has given us
everything and sacrificed Himself for us. Because of that we are always
indebted to Him. But anytime we do anything good or come to Him, He
rewards us despite our previous debt. So we are always indebted to Him.
It is impossible to pay Him back. Because Christ is loving, He doesn't
expect us to pay Him back and doesn't hold our debt over our head. If we
come with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, He immediately accepts
us and to Him it's as if we never sinned at all. His hand is always
outstretched and He is quick to forgive.
At
General Conference President Nelson challenged us to read the Book of
Mormon by the end of the year focusing on Jesus Christ. As I've done so
one main message has stuck out to me: Christ is merciful. Even though we
mess up hundreds of times if we just come back and express a desire to
change He accepts us and helps us to become better. Jeffry R Holland
once said "come as you are, but don't expect to stay as you are." In His
mercy, Christ accepts us and helps us to change and overcome our sins.
I'm so grateful for the gospel and my knowledge of a loving God!
This
has been such a good week! We have seen some amazing miracles and met
some amazing people! One of the happiest moments of this week was this
last Saturday. We were standing in a huge crowd of people when we
received a text from one of our people telling us who they wanted to
have baptize them. It was a moment of pure joy for 2 sister
missionaries, standing among a crowd of people who were clueless. It was
pure joy because it was a sign that this person was truly taking
another step closer to God. I'm so grateful! This type of joy transcends
everything. Any sorry or difficulty we face is swallowed up in the joy
of Christ.
I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Sister Bloomfield
