Here are some of those people:
This is the Castro Family!!!! I love them so so much. They are from El Salvador and have been here forever in Italy. They're just awesome and I love them. The man and woman next to me are Bro. and Sis. Castro and the next two are Sis. Casto's sister and her husband, who we've been teaching. The last one is the Castro's daughter Vanessa. They rock.
Then there's Mahesh Rai. :) He's the absolute greatest human being on Earth. He's from Nepal. He's just ridiculously awesome. He was baptized about a year ago and absolute adores missionaries. He is incredible and I love love him.
And then there is Michele. He's from Sicilia (Sicily). He is insane and I love that about him. He is definitely one of the first people I want to visit if I come back to Italy after my mission. He has taught me how to cook and just be awesome. He's not baptized BUT HE WILL BE! One day... in a long long time hahhaa. After he gets over a lot of bad habits. But yeah he's fantastic.
So yeah I'm leaving Cimiano and headed to Gorizia! It's super small and super cold, right near the mountains. And Slovenia. It'll be fun and I'm pumped. :)
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| via google maps |
I wanted to share a little of what I studied today about Christ and the Atonement. It's easily the best topic to study. First I want to start with a couple of scriptures about the Atonement and basically the kind of person that Christ is.
--Christ said this in John 17:19
19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.This is true Christlike love and charity. For their sakes. Not for his sake, not for God's sake, for OUR sakes. He did this all for us, for no one else but us.
--Then in Mosiah 13:28, it reads:
28 And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses.This says that literally without the Atonement, we would unavoidably perish. Therefore it literally is necessary and I'm incredibly grateful for that.
-- And I want to share my FAVORITE scripture about the Atonement, Alma:7:11-13, which says:
11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.(He literally suffered pains, affliction, temptations, and sicknesses of every kind. Literally every thing terrible you can possibly imagine and worse, he felt it all.)
12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.(He sacrificed himself so that he could overcome the bands of death, so that we could all be resurrected and live again. He did it so that he could feel Godly mercy for all of us when we sin and that he may know how to help us in any hole we find ourselves it.)
(When I read this verse, I always think of a story told in the TV show West Wing. I won't tell the whole back story but this is how the story goes. There was a man walking down the road and he somehow fell in a hole. He was yelling for help when a priest walked by. He yelled up for the priest's help and the priest said okay and wrote a prayer on paper and threw it down to him and walked away. Then a doctor walked by and this man caught the doctor's attention. The doctor wrote a prescription and threw it in the hole and walked away. Last, one of this man's friends walked by and the man yelled up at him. "Help me get out of here" he said. So his friend jumped down in the hole and the man yelled at him saying, "WHY DID YOU JUMP DOWN HERE!!!! How are we supposed to get out now????" His friend smiled and calmly said, "Hey don't worry! I've been down here before and I know how to get out." This is what Christ has done for us. He took every pain, sickness, and sadness upon himself, going down into every single hole possible, so that when we find ourselves down in those holes, he can know exactly how to help us get out.)
13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.I have this same testimony as Alma does. Christ took all the sins of the world upon himself so that who could help us. Because of this Atonement, Christ can blot out our transgressions. The verb used for blot in the verse in Italian is "cancellare." He will CANCEL out our sins. They won't be there anymore. That's what the Atonement does.
There's more that I want to add, but I'm kind of out of time so I'll end with this. I suggest you all watch this video:
"It was unthinkable. Impossible. Unfathomable. Unprecedented. A single act that changed history. Possibility. Destiny. He was a carpenter, a teacher, an outcast, a leader. Yet he did what no carpenter, teacher, outcast,l eader had ever done. Like all who preceded him, he lived and he died. But unlike all who preced him, he rose from the dead. He lived again.
He lives and because he lives all will live again. Because of Him death has no sting, the grave has no victory. We can start again and again and again. Because of Him, guilt becomes peace, regret becomes relief, despair becomes hope. Because of Him we have second chances. Clean slates. New beginnings. There is no such thing as the end."Because of Him, anything is possible. There is on such thing as the end. Jesus Christ died for each and every one of us. He knows us perfectly. I love him so much and am unendingly grateful for all He has done for me. I am spending my life now changing as much as I can to be like Him and to repay Him for all he has done for me and for those I love.
This is my testimony of Jesus Christ.
Anziano Benjamin Guthrie
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