He does more...

Today I want to talk about how my love for the Lord has grown for two reasons.

Reason One:

Elder Johnson left. HE LEFT! He got His Visa and he went to Brazil. WHAT?? For those who don't know, a district is a group of missionaries in the same area. In the MTC (missionary training center) we spend all day every day with them, studying the gospel and studying Portuguese. I know the Lord loves me because He gave me this district of missionaries. I can't even explain how much I love them. I love each of them SO SO SO much. I am not a crier normally. The night before Elder Johnson left we sang "God be with you till we meet again." And I couldn't even sing because I was weeping openly. Ha! It was pretty pathetic. I didn't even know what we were singing because it was in Portuguese. HA HA! I can't believe how close our district is already. I LOVE God so much for blessing me with the opportunity to serve with them. I cannot even express it.

Reason Two:

As a refresher, here in the MTC we teach people who pretend to be investigators (people taking missionary lessons and learning about the church). They pretend to be people that they taught on their mission, and we take it really seriously. The experiences that I have had while teaching are amazing. I feel so much love and help from the Lord, it's almost hard to believe, but it's real. One of our "investigators” is named “Maria”. She had committed some very serious sins in her past and she was so weighed down with guilt. So weighed down. I have studied a lot of scriptures that describe how real the despair and bondage of sin is and how glorious and real the saving power of Christ is. I'm not perfect by any means, but I've never committed any super serious sins, so I had never really thought about how strong the power of sin is. Sin was weighing Maria down for years and years and years. Sin makes it impossible for us to return to God. Impossible. Unless – we have a Savior. I love the Savior. I love God's plan. I love God.

So in Summary:

We would be lost, helpless, and basically damned without the Savior. We all sin, therefore, we are all separated from God. We would be separated forever if we did not have a savior. We would be lost forever. But we aren't. Christ suffered and died an INFINITE amount so we can be saved. Isn't that enough for us to love Him forever with everything we have- to serve Him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength? But He did more than suffer for our salvation, He suffered for our pains, sorrows, and sicknesses- everything we feel, He felt. He suffered for it so we don't have to do it alone. But He does even more than that!! He blesses us with amazing opportunities and blessings. For example: the opportunity to live in an MTC with missionaries that I love more than life. He blesses their families while their gone. He answers their prayers. He answers my prayers. He blesses my family. He blessed me with the best family there is on the earth. There is no end to his goodness and mercy. I love Him. How could I ever love anyone more than I love Him.

te amo,

Sister Larrabee