Baptism

 

"I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain

And ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again. "

 

 

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.

I want to be the best I can and live with God again.

 

I know when I am baptized my wrongs are washed away

And I can be forgiven and improve myself each day.

 

I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain.

I want to be the best I can and live with God again."

--Nita Dale Milner

 

"When I Am Baptized" is one of my favorite children's songs. I have always loved the reminder it gives me whenever it rains to remember my baptismal covenants.

 

God is our father and he loves each one of us. He sent us to this earth so that we could learn and grow, but he knew that we wouldn't make it through life without making a few mistakes. Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" So he provided a way for us to be clean. He sent his son Jesus Christ to show, and make possible, the way.

 

Jesus went to John the Baptist and was baptized to "fulfill all righteousness" and set the example for us. He invites all of us to follow him and to do as he did. He suffered for all of our sins to make this possible. I love that my purpose as a missionary is to help others to follow the example of Jesus Christ and to access the fullness of the atonement. I am so grateful that I can help others to feel the same cleansing power that I have felt in my life. I know that because of Jesus Christ, his example and his atonement, I can be clean.



Alarm Clock

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP*

Yep, you guessed right! It's the annoying alarm clock. Every morning I have a Cinderella moment where I am comfortable in my bed and I'm singing to little birds when I hear the clock telling me it's time to get up and start another day . . . okay so maybe there are no little birds involved (I'm not quite that cool yet) either way,  the alarm clock is not usually labeled as a tender mercy, but today God answered my prayer through the alarm clock.

As a missionary each morning we exercise for about 30 minutes. This morning I was extra tired as we headed to our usual exercise place. I was wondering how in the world I was going to NOT fall asleep and actually work out like I am supposed to.

Now picture this, I am in the basement starting to do Yoga and my alarm clock (which I thought I had turned off when I got up) is two floors upstairs in my companions and my bedroom. There are multiple closed doors and my alarm clock really is just loud enough to wake me up every day.

As I am in one of the poses I said a short silent prayer saying, "Heavenly Father, if you really want me to exercise, I am going to need some help". Right as I closed the prayer I heard that wonderfully annoying sound. *beep beep beep beep* I quickly realized that I had just left it on snooze and hadn't fully turned it off. Not wanting to disturb anyone else around I RAN up the two flights of stairs to turn it off. If that isn't going to wake somebody up, I don't know what will.

I went back downstairs and had one of the best workouts I have had in a while and my testimony of how much God really does care about everything we are doing was strengthened.

I wonder how many small things there are just like this that happen every day that I miss, just because I am not looking specifically for the tender mercies that are all around me. What do we all miss as we get caught up in the busy details of our lives? We probably miss a lot, so I have a challenge for YOU today. Will you look for a small tender mercy of the Lord and then share your experience with how the Lord is working in your life?

I know that as you do you will realize, just like I did this morning, that God really is in your life and he cares about everything you are doing!