Soap and Water

Today is Pday (preparation day), so naturally we do really fun things like... 
wash clothes, take naps (maybe once a year), buy groceries, and clean the house. 
This week, I had to clean the things out of the fridge and wash the dirty dishes. 
As I was washing them, it kind of grossed me out (some of the things 
might have been in the fridge for quite a while) but  I got to a point that  I just sucked 
it up and washed them as fast as I could. The reason it grossed me out was because the old food touched my hands and it smelled and looked pretty yuck. 
Anyways you are probably wondering why i am telling you about my experience washing dishes. As you should know by now, being in the mission has taught me to understand the life lessons that Heavenly Father teaches me through daily activities:

As I was washing, I didn't like that the old food was dirtying my hands,  

but the thing that gave me the strength to finish with my task was---

 that although my hands would be dirty for a few minutes--- 

I knew that  I could wash them with soap and water and they would be clean again. 

That's us. 
Many times in our lives we make decisions that cause us to be figuratively "dirty" 
and the only way we can become clean again is through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (the "soap and water" in this analogy). Much like I had soap and water at my fingers reach, the cleansing effects of the Atonement of the Savior 
are available to all who make the effort to reach out 
and accept His offer of salvation. 

If I had not wanted to be clean, I could have just gone on in my other daily tasks, 

but this would have undoubtedly dirtied everything else that I was to touch after. 

Our Heavenly Father respects very much our ability to choose. 

If we do not want to be cleaned we will not be forced, 

but we must remember that the filthiness of disobedience and sinful actions 

will always affect all other aspects of our lives. 

Sometimes we may be tempted to think 

that we are far too dirty to ever be cleaned again. This is not true. 

Although my hands had been dirtied for a little while, 

the filth could not change the nature of my hands. 

After making the effort to accept and apply the Atonement in our lives, 

we can be cleaned completely. 

We may not forget what it felt like to be dirty, but we will no longer feel 

the shame and sorrow that comes from disobedient actions.

By divine nature we are special beings 

and we should never be tricked into thinking 

that we are so lost that He cannot save us.

The process of becoming clean again is not easy. 

Sometimes it requires much scrubbing and a little bit of time, 

but it is always possible. 

I know this is true. I know that His love is far more powerful than any other force 

and that through this love - - - we can be forgiven. 

 "..though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18, The Holy Bible)

Con amor, Hermana Jones