Soap

One of the marvelous parts of being a missionary is that you rarely get to wash your hands...well that's not entirely true...where there is a will there is a way.  I wash my hands every chance I have which accumulates to about twice a day...three times if I'm suuuuper lucky.  Now there are three vital ingredients to this process: Water, Time, and Soap.  Without water, you have a film of sticky stuff on your hands, without soap you simply have wet hands.  And any process takes time to be truly effective.  Every night when we get home I wash my hands very thoroughly with all three because I understand what happens.  Not because my parents taught me (which they did :) but because I have experimented with it myself.  Do you want to know what color the water is which runs off of my hands with the soapy suds?  It's black.  Pretty great, huh?  And I have to wash frequently, it's not a one time thing.  I like to compare this to the atonement of Jesus Christ and the repentance process.  We have some tools that help in the process - we control whether or not we choose to accept the blessings of the atonement.  We do what we can to get rid of whatever sin or weakness we have.  Just like I have to make a conscious effort to wash my hands, walk  to the sink, turn on the water, and submerse my hands.  It takes faith to go to the Lord and ask Him for help and submerse ourselves in His will.  Next we have the soap.  It is this key ingredient that makes the small effort we make to walk to the sink worth our time.  The soap cleanses us and we are left with a sense of peace and security knowing that our health is protected (side note - here in Argentina there are many brands of soap that don't do anything - I like to call them "trucho" - which basically means counterfeit, fake, invalid) Christ is the cleaning agent for our sins, weaknesses, and trials.  We cannot go to just anyone to receive forgiveness - that can only come through preparing for and partaking of the sacrament each Sunday which is how we use the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that is how we apply the sacrifice that He made for each of us individually.  The final ingredient is time. I feel that it's probably the hardest part of the process.  My parents taught me when I was little to sing twinkle twinkle little star, or the abc's as I washed and that would ensure that my hands were in the soap and water long enough.  It's hard to stand still that long as a little kid.  We are like children spiritually, and it's hard to truly give enough of our time to the Savior as He helps us become clean.  And it gets frustrating because we seem to need His help over and over and over again.  Similarly, we have a  constant need to wash our hands, the bacteria sometimes is the same, but varies regularly I'm sure (I'm not a Doctor so don't be too hard on my analogy:)  It's ok to mess up, that is why Christ came, but it's vital that we know to whom we must turn and do it quickly.  He is waiting.  I invite you all to read Enos chapter 1 and ponder in your hearts how you can apply this incredible gift  that your older brother has given to you.  I love you all.  Think good thoughts and good acts will follow.

Smile - Hermana Milmont