My Personal Role Model

     Firstly, I want to apologize for not posting for a couple of days. I have been transferred to downtown Nashville. It is pretty intense going into a new area, but so far it is turning out to be one of the best experiences on my mission thus far, and I've only been here for a couple of days! Today, as I was looking over earlier posts, I decided to modify one of my them ("I'm trying to be like Jesus") that had a real impact on my life.

     As always, I have found myself pondering about life and its deeper meanings. As I was pondering, the words of a favorite primary song came to mind called, "I'm Trying to be like Jesus". Here's the song:



                       I'm Trying to Be like Jesus

1. I’m trying to be like Jesus;
I’m following in his ways.
I’m trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say.
At times I am tempted to make a wrong choice,
But I try to listen as the still small voice whispers,

2. I’m trying to love my neighbor;
I’m learning to serve my friends.
I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again.
I try to remember the lessons he taught.
Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts, saying:

Chorus
“Love one another as Jesus loves you.
Try to show kindness in all that you do.
Be gentle and loving in deed and in thought,
For these are the things Jesus taught.”

     Although I had sung this song many times in my life, this time it really hit me. As I repeated the words in my mind, I thought about treating others the way I would want to be treated, but even moreso, being the kind of person to others that I would want others be to me. As I thought about that, I realized that I am a lot different than others, and that things that don't bother me, bother others, and visa versa, so using myself as a reference point for how to treat others probably wasn't going to work too well. Also, when I tried to use myself as a reference point, I found myself thinking about me too often, which kind of defeated the purpose of trying to think more about others and what not. So, I then asked myself, "What would be a good reference point to use then, if not myself?" Then the answer came with clarity as kind of one of those "duh" moments. Jesus is the PERFECT reference point in how I should act, and who I should BE.




      I then remembered a talk during General Conference and decided to go read it with my companion. "What Manner of Men and Women Ought Ye to Be?", by Lynn G. Robbins. The majority of the talk is focusing on BEING like Jesus. It was perfect.
     As I continue to learn more about my Savior and all He did for me, I continually find myself rededicating myself to truly becoming like Jesus in not only all I do, but all I AM. I want to strive each day to follow Christ's admonition to be even as He is, and to treat others as He would. I know there is great happiness and in that. Truly the Savior is my own personal role model.

Snakebites and Peroxide

       As is often the case, I have been wanting to post this for a few days now, but I had to let it stew for a little while, so it comes out just right. So, this last Friday, I was out visiting that one house with the snakes again that we visited about a a couple of weeks ago. For now on, we will refer to her as the "Snake Lady". So, we had actually just helped bring over a new tank to their house for the snakes when naturally we started playing with them. And then, all of a sudden (drum roll please) one of the snakes lunged and latched on to my hand. It was pretty intense. It took about half a minute or so before Snake Lady skillfully forced the snake to let go. It actually wasn't terribly painful since it was only a Burmese (no fangs, thank goodness), although it did bruise a little bit. Probably the coolest thing about it all, besides the fact that I am the ONLY person that has been bitten by that snake, is the fact that it left a scar in the shape of a smiley face on my hand. Afterwards, I was sure to clean it out thoroughly, just in case.



        
      I liken this unto someone who decides to walk on the very edge of a cliff, someone who goes to a party not intending to drink, or in my case, someone who played with a snake that was hungry. It's all the same. If we are to keep from getting hurt, the best way to do so is to do our best to avoid situations where it is likely we will get hurt.
      The same thing applies to sin. If we are to do our best to keep from committing sin, it's not enough to say we won't do it. It also becomes imperative that we stay as far away from it as we can. A saying I have heard multiple times comes to mind. "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien. As to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." (John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations, Boston: Little Brown and Co., 1968, p. 409). Even if we aren't "doing" the sin, it's important to completely avoid sin to the best of our ability, lest unawares we find ourselves ensnared.
     The other realization came to me that if I hadn't cleaned my wound thoroughly, I would've risked it getting infected. If we do commit sin, which happens in all our lives at one point or another, it is important to get rid of it immediately and clean the wound. If don't take care of, it will become infected 100%. There is no such thing as a clean sin. And, the longer we leave sin there, the more time it will have to fester, and become worse. In my case, I used Hydrogen Peroxide to clean my snakebite. In the case of sin, there is truly only one thing that can clean us - the Atonement, which was Christ's sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane, His dieing on the cross, and His Resurrection. We access the power of the Atonement in our lives through repentance, and become clean as we repent and are baptized.


     

         Just as the best way to avoid getting bitten by snakes, is to avoid snakes, I know that the surest way to keep from sinning, is to avoid sin. And even though there still might be sin around us, if we are doing our best to stand in holy places, away from sin, God will give us aid. I also know that the healing power of the Atonement is real and that when we are baptized by one having Christ's authority, we can become clean again, and have all our sins washed away. And, as we continually repent thereafter, we can again become clean, and remove the presence of sin in our lives.