FLASH FLOOD!!!!!!
…of blessings, but mostly of water.
Yes, so remember how I'm supposed to be
in the desert? Well it's been raining for almost an entire 24 hours
straight, which makes driving quite the adventure. Here is my postcard to you.
Imagine it with a super cute stamp, and red cursive-y letters saying
"Greetings from California"
Yes. Needless to say, we vetoed driving a
half hour to dinner last night so.....frozen pizza it was!
Also, this Friday was the ward
"talent show," which basically everyone attended because
basically everyone was in it.
Imagine: endless tables of food meet
three talent numbers per class/quorum/relief society... and old men who love to
tell jokes about Mexico. It was great!
My favorite was all the primary kids
dancing to "Gangnam Style" mainly because I was an English speaking
girl watching Spanish speaking kids dance to a song sung in
Korean.
.........Yes, I know what you're
thinking, and the missionaries DID do a talent. Some random white girl who
speaks the least Spanish out of anyone (oh wait, that's me)
was put in charge of re-writing all the
SPANISH words of a shiny-shirt, poofy-hair, 14-year-old-heart-throb
80's pop song into SPANISH lyrics about being a missionary. I
will hold for applause. If you would like to see what I had to work with, my
mother will kindly put a link to the song "soy un desastre" (thanks
mom) below
yeah. One of the members recorded us
doing it and uploaded the video to Youtube. So if you happen upon our
version....so be it.
And try to keep at least some degree of
respect for me.
Continued WIWTK (What I Wish They Knew):
So as I was saying (7 days ago) I have learned that repentance is a blessing. Most people think of the word
"repentance," and imagine some huge process of guilt and shame and
delving into the depths of despair, only to emerge and never sin again. Another
common misconception is that repentance is a one-time thing, or a one-time a year
thing, or an “I'm-on-my-deathbed-so-I-should-probably-ask-forgiveness thing.”
These are some of the slipperiest lies the devil tells us to get us to put off
repentance and therefore postpone or totally miss the grand blessings that accompany
it.
Repentance is this: A change of heart,
and a sincere resolve to stop doing the thing for which you are repenting. That
being said, we should recognize the gift of repentance as an opportunity to
forsake that which we know is ultimately holding us back from being the happiest
we possibly can.
When you're doing something wrong, and
you know it, whether you recognize it or not, it's adding a weight to your
conscience and thus impeding your progression toward happiness. Have you ever
done something to a person, and felt so badly about it that you couldn’t' feel better until you apologized? How great was your peace after you finally
made things right?! Repentance isn't
supposed to be a punishment, it's actually a huge gift! Because of Jesus Christ’s perfect sacrifice
for us He has given us the opportunity to repent, be made clean and experience
the resulting peace and happiness!
The hardest part of repenting is deciding
to do it.
What if you do the same thing again?
Well, notice that in the above
definition, it is a change of heart and a SINCERE resolve to stop
doing whatever you’re repenting for. When you repent, you should
never think "I can repent for this now, and then do it later and just keep
repenting." That is not repentance. It is neither a change of heart nor a
sincere resolve to stop. But, if you DO sincerely repent, and then
slip up again, my guess is that your conscience will drive you to repent (i.e.
sincerely try your hardest to change) again. To me, repentance is
less about your actions and more about your heart and sincere desires.
So, How do I repent?
Well, let me preface this by saying that
I repent daily. I always see the need for change in my life, and I sincerely
want to try to become the best person I can be and have the most joy possible.
I usually repent in my prayers at the end of the day.
1. Review in your mind what you want to
repent of.
2. Feel a sincere desire to change that
behavior, and resolve to do so.
3. Ask for forgiveness from God.
4. (Optional step) Ask for His help in
changing that specific challenge.
5. Stop doing it.
Easier than you thought?
Repentance is one of my favorite things
to talk about because it is such a merciful gift, and many people's perceptions
of it can be so distorted. If you have any questions, or just want to talk
about it....write me!!!!!!
Also, I thought you might like a picture
from this morning. This is me brushing Hermana Sudweeks's teeth. Long
story. Enjoy the photo.
I pretty much
love you!!!!!
-Hermana Thomas
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