Easter - Atonement, A lesson from #5

This is an email sent from by Brother who is on a mission and I think that how it relates to Easter and his laying forth of the doctrine are immensely clear and liberating, so I thought I'd share them with you all.  This is a great message and I bolded and underlined some things that stood out to me.


************************************************STARTQUOTATION**********************************************************



"""""""I wish I hadn't already used up an hour of my email time, so I could explain the inpiration I've felt, but here's a little bit of my search / what I've found.  I would suggest rather than just reading my thoughts- do your own study, based on your own questions and your own search. My thoughts may be of help to you, or maybe not.
 
I started with the question:  How do I know if I'm receiving the blessings of the Atonement?  I decided to read about the doctrine of Christ (I thought "The Doctrine of Christ is about receiving the Atonement, right?"  I read in 3 Nephi 27, and there it talks about how after faith, repentance, and baptism, the Holy Ghost sanctifies us (3rd Nephi 27: 19 - 20.  I realized that the blessings of the Atonement come from the Spirit.
 
I started my personal study this morning studying about "the law" mentioned in 2 Nephi 2 verse 5.  I had read a talk that mentions how the law condemns us,  (I just emailed you the talk).  During a companionship study with Elder Larsen when we talked about the Atonement, he talked about how Jesus satisfied the demands of Justice.  There is a law (see D & C 130) and we are condemned by the law, because of our disobedience.  There is a penalty / punishment for disobedience.  Jesus Christ paid that penalty, and satisfied the demands of Justice.
    So after thinking about the law, and all of the things I mentioned above, and pondering about the Atonement, I realized somethign profound!  Jesus Christ paid the demands of Justice.  He bore the penalty.  I really don't understand that very well, but I understand it enough to trust it.  But anyway, I realized that Jesus Christ satisfied the demands of Justice - He bore the punishment that comes from disobedience from the law.  (As I write, I don't know what words to use - I don't understand it fully. . .  and I'm struggling to think of the words to describe it.   I guess what I'm thinking is this:  There is a law.  Our disobedience to the law brings consequences.  There is a condemnation that comes with breaking the law.  Because of justice, a penalty must be paid.  And somehow, in a way I don't understand, Jesus Christ bore that penalty.  Which means that if we accept his Atonement, then we dont' have to bear that weight!   We don't have to bear that condemnation, that penalty, that punishment!!!  (Which punishment, I don't fully understand.  But I know that when I feel condemnation, which is often, it's a really uncomfortable, burdensome feeling!  To think, that Jesus Christ has borne that, is amazing!  That means I can let go of so many things that burden me!  I was describing all these things to my companion, Elder Larsen, who I've talked to quite a bit about things I think about, etc.  Anyway, when I said that, he said "Not only are you able to let go of those things, you are required to let go of those things."  Profound!  
    We talked about what is required to receive the Atonement (First of all, the first steps in the gospel- faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost).  Then when you're on the gospel path, you simply need to continue in faithfulness, with faith, and an attitude of repentance.  Then as you partake of the sacrament each week, you can receive a forgiveness of your sins each week.  You are able to receive the companionship of the Holy Ghost, which changes you.  It sanctifies you!  (See 3 Nephi 27: 19 - 20)
       I realized that I've kind of believed I have to overcome all my sins and weaknesses on my own.  I thought that is what is required, to trutly repent.  and then I can receive the Atonement.  But that's all backwards!
 
Anyway, that's my exciting realization about the Atonement!  I hope it helps you, and I hope you can learn about the Atonement by the power of the Spirit.
 
Love,
Elder (#5)"""""""

*****************************************************ENDQUOTATION********************************************************




I have also been interested in the doctrine of christ and the atonement recently, so I have found some of these points recently as well, but i thought it was marvelous for him to connect like that. And since it's easter, I thought it would in well with everything.

Love, #7

Integrity. Honesty. No Self-Deception.

Last Sunday in church, both speakers were from the stake and both talked about Integrity. I've been making a conscious effort in my life to maintain deeper integrity, because I have found that I have the tendency to start things and never finish.  I realize that there are roots in other problems inherent to that symptom, but I know this is the main place to start.  One of the speakers spoke of a man advising another man that his wife would rather lose the house and have to rent an apartment than live with a man who didn't keep his agreements (lacking integrity).

I once read an article online about Radical Honesty (oh wait here is the link to the guy's website) and it's definitely a true principle. I don't know if I have to courage to go all the way there, but I HAVE noticed that when I've been completely honest with my friends (girls or dudes) life is a lot more REAL.

Here's the connect:  Honesty is a basic moral principle that underlies EVERYTHING (especially integrity).  If God were a liar, we would not exist. Integrity is 100% truthful living and 100% effort to fulfill your words.  I don't even know how to express this fully.  Courage is doing the right thing.  Integrity is the doing the right thing all the time the right way.  Christ had perfect integrity because he was perfect, but since we aren't perfect, we won't have perfect integrity.  However, the more integrity we have, the more perfect we will be. And that is one of the most important doctrines of the gospel.

"Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right, decide on what you think is right and stick to it."

— George Eliot

Extra Reading:

Honesty—a Moral Compass

JAMES E. FAUST

We all need to know what it means to be honest. Honesty is more than not lying. It is truth telling, truth speaking, truth living, and truth loving. 
...
I wish to speak to you frankly about being honest. Honesty is a moral compass to guide us in our lives. You young men are under great pressure to learn the technology that is expanding and will continue to expand so rapidly. However, the tremendous push to excel in secular learning sometimes tempts people to compromise that which is more important—their honesty and integrity.
...
Cheating in school is a form of self-deception. We go to school to learn. We cheat ourselves when we coast on the efforts and scholarship of someone else.
...
A friend related this experience her husband had while attending medical school. “Getting into medical school is pretty competitive, and the desire to do well and be successful puts a great deal of pressure on the new incoming freshmen. My husband had worked hard on his studies and went to attend his first examination. The honor system was expected behavior at the medical school. The professor passed out the examination and left the room. Within a short time, students started to pull little cheat papers out from under their papers or from their pockets. My husband recalled his heart beginning to pound as he realized it is pretty hard to compete against cheaters. About that time a tall, lanky student stood up in the back of the room and stated: ‘I left my hometown and put my wife and three little babies in an upstairs apartment and worked very hard to get into medical school. And I’ll turn in the first one of you who cheats, and you better believe it!’ They believed it. There were many sheepish expressions, and those cheat papers started to disappear as fast as they had appeared. He set a standard for the class which eventually graduated the largest group in the school’s history.” ²
...
In reality, we are only in competition with ourselves. Others can challenge and motivate us, but we must reach down deep into our souls and call forth our God-given intelligence and capabilities. We cannot do this when we depend on the efforts of someone else.


http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1996/10/honesty-a-moral-compass?lang=eng

We're friends, Right?

Hello person out there. (*New Kid Effect*). So obviously this is my first blog post, but let's face it. We're friends already and if we're not, then I'm going to pretend we are, because I'm a selfish brat and this blog is mostly for me and you can stand to profit ("prophet" XD ) if you want.  I'm an 18 year old dude in the US and I'm preparing for an LDS 2-year mission, so I'm going to practice organizing spiritual concepts in my head and putting them out there in a coherent manner. If you care to listen, go ahead!

Among other things, I like to make music with my little home studio, so I might pleasure your ears with candy. I'm also the 7th child in my family of 8 kids, hence my pen name, #7. I really want to anonymous or at least stay un-google-searchable for several reasons:

1) I don't expect anything out of this blog, but I'll receive any readers with a full heart :D

2) If I'm especially incoherent one day and maybe I spell a lot of words wrong one day, then I don't want future employers to judge me for that. (in the next sentence, I used 3 commas =??)

3) I would label myself as a spotlight-hogger, so if anything good does come out of this, I don't want the glory, I want the glory be given to God.

4) Let's face it. I'm a wimp and I don't really want to become a target. If I stay anonymous, I won't be afraid to say what I mean.

Code Names: I will refer to my parents as 'Ma' and 'Pa' and to my siblings numerically according to birth order (hence I'm #7)(and that's not just because I think I'm lucky :D)

I'm not making any commitments for how often I'll post, but we'll see how this goes :D