This Looks Like A Nice Place

My dad drives truck for a living.  When I was younger I went on a trip with him.  He happened to be going to Los Angeles, California.  I am sure that I annoyed him as I every 2 hours or so had to stop and go to the bathroom.  I'm sure he was more ready to be there than I was by the time we got to our destination.  As we drove into Los Angeles this is what I saw (the above picture).  I loved it.  I am from a small town and so this was something that I had never really seen before.  I couldn't help but love the sky-scrapers and beauty of all the buildings.  I said to my dad, "This is so cool!  Can we live here?  I really want to!"  My dad just chuckled.  He knew what the city was really like and what I was soon going to be seeing.  In not very long the scenery changed from beauty to something else.  This is what I was now seeing (well as close as I could find!) :

I didn't like what I was seeing now.  I immediately changed my mind from what I thought before.  I now, no longer wanted to live in Los Angeles.  I turned to my dad and told him never mind.  He laughed some more, a little harder this time.  I'm sure he figured that I would say that once we really got into the city.  

Satan does this to us sometimes, but by the time we get into the city it's hard to get out.  Just as there's tons of traffic in L.A. and it doesn't just take 2 seconds to turn around and get out of there.  Satan is deceptive and makes things look nice until we get into them.  Just as he makes us accept behavior that is far outside of what Heavenly Father wants for us.  We don't need to be deceived as we listen to the prophets and follow the counsel of our church leaders.  Let us all live where we truly want to and not where Satan has deceptively conned us into living.  

Spilt Water

I had an experience the other week at church that has really had me thinking the last little while.  We were at church in Ronan, MT and it was time for the sacrament to be passed.  The bread came and the water came, but something happened when the water came... I picked up the cup and then immediately dropped it.  Water of course went spilling all over me.  I felt foolish at first and thought that only a two year old would do something like that, but as I've thought about this embarrassing experience it has had much greater meaning than simply doing something and feeling dumb.  What does the water represent?  It represents our Savior's blood he freely spilt for us.  Exactly the point that has hit me:  He gave his blood for me and I can either use the Atonement and make his suffering worth it, or I can ignore his gift to me and simply spill the water cup.  I know that what I did was an innocent mistake and I thankfully took another water glass, and was able to partake of the sacrament.  I know that our Savior was willing and ready to perform the act of the Atonement for each one of us.  He loves us that much!  He wanted to make it possible for each of us to return to live with our Heavenly Father.  None of us has ever done anything too bad to use the Atonement and be forgiven of our mistakes!  Through the Atonement we can be completely forgiven of our sins and be pure and clean!  It is never too late!  Our Savior is there waiting for us with open arms, he is waiting to welcome us back to the fold!  The choice is ours-  We can spill the water cup or we can partake and be cleansed!  I, for one, would much rather partake of the Atonement and allow him to cleanse me.