We got to do some more working with cows this week! Last night we were eating dinner with one of our ward mission leaders and his wife (the Penrod's - awesome family!) and he invited us to come over this morning and milk with him. So, we woke up early, got geared up and went over to milk ol' "Bessie" - that's really her name! We had fun (it was Sister Emrazian's first time), and to finish we went in and had home-made granola with fresh milk (from the day before so it would be cold) for breakfast! Last night at dinner we got to try the cheese Sister Penrod had made from the milk, and everything we had was just delicious! I love country life!
I just have a few other funny things I have to mention from this week. Both of them are funny things children have said to us...
Our apartment is right behind a family that has 10 kids, and often when we leave in the morning and walk through their yard there are children out there playing. They are always excited to see us, and say "Hi Sisters!" every time. One boy who is about 2, has started asking us where we are going, and every time we tell him we're going to work. Yesterday as we were leaving he asked us the same question and we gave him the same response and he just said "Again?!" We laughed and responded, "yes again!"... this is what we do all day every day! He told us he is going to be a missionary when he grows up... so I guess some day he'll understand.
The other situation was in a lesson with a less-active family with 3 kids - we were talking about the gospel of Jesus Christ and had taught them the first principles and ordinances with a bottle and a hard boiled egg - you have to get the egg (a person) into the bottle (the kingdom of God) through faith, repentance (peeling the egg), baptism by water (rinsing it off) and by fire (lighting a match and putting it into the bottle which sucks the egg in). Anyway, the kids loved it as they always do, and as we were reviewing the steps at the end of the lesson they answered faith... repentance... and then they got stuck so I started to prompt them with "ba...." and the four year old shouts "BATH PRISON!" Usually I can contain myself when something funny happens in a lesson, but I really just had to laugh for a good minute before I could pull myself together... it didn't help that my companion and the parents were laughing just as hard!
Well, enough of the funny things... onto the spiritual, I had some of those experiences this week too (just a few ;) that I wanted to share with you.
I have been thinking so much about the power of the Atonement, and some things happened on Sunday that make me think, and really helped me to understand some important principles of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
First of all, in Sacrament Meeting in the Spanish branch there was only one person there (apart from us, the American counselor, and the other English speakers who come as support... but for the sake of the example, ONE). Still the bread and water were still blessed and passed for this one man to partake. I thought about the significance of the Atonement, and how even if there were only one person that had lived on the earth, Christ would have still come to redeem that person's sins.
His love for us is infinite. I have come to love so many people here - our investigators, active and inactive members, and even people I talk to for a few small moments on the street. But the love that I have for each of them does not even compare to that of our Savior's for each of us. It is eternal, all-encompassing and literally incomprehensible.
As missionaries, we work so hard to help people come to understand the idea of His love. As Christ's representatives we become instruments in His hands to do His work on the earth. As such I believe we take upon ourselves some of the characteristics and feelings that he has for His children. I don't think people understand how much we care about them or more importantly how much our Savior cares about them, but the pain that we feel when someone rejects our (His) message is only a fraction of the pain He feels when someone rejects Him.
This is the second thing I learned this week as I thought about all the things we go through to bring the restored gospel to the lives of the people in this area. We labor so diligently all week, teaching, serving, helping, and inviting people closer to Christ. Sometimes, much of our effort is simply focused on the weekly goal of getting our investigators to church on Sunday. Each week it seems we work harder and harder to meet this goal, but again in the end each person has their agency and the decision to act is up to them. At the end of the week, I often feel how I imagine the Savior feels when His own children reject the invitation He offers to "come unto me". It hurts us to see the people who choose not to come (to Church, or more importantly unto Christ), but our suffering is NOTHING compared to His suffering. Having an idea of what He feels makes me want to work even harder to bring souls to Him.
To my family and friends and loved ones: I know that Jesus Christ has suffered infinitely for our sins, our afflictions, our pains, suffering and temptations, but we have to do our part to accept His help. We have to come and take His outstretched hand. The Atonement has already been performed and can be a very real power in our lives if we will only use it.
It is not enough to believe in Christ, but we have to believe Him. We have to follow His example, learn His words, and keep His commandments. I know that as we do these things we come closer to Him and can learn of the power of the Atonement and apply it in our lives; by so doing we are blessed. Believe in Christ, and believe Him.
Love always,
Hermana Richelle Ouellette
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