President Slaughter and Thoughts on Salvation

Missionary Selfie!

There are some weeks that I just have so much that I want to tell you that I can't even choose! ... This happens to be one of those weeks! ... There's so much! There's no way that I'll ever be able to type it all out, so I decided to send a bunch of pictures and let y'all see what kind of craziness happens here in the TSAM! :) I hope you enjoy it! 

Chasing Geoff's Runaway Dog

Having a little fun with a shopping cart we found outside Geoff's apartment.

We had zone meeting this week which is always really great, but we also had interviews with President! I love those! Because he was at the meeting, he taught us for an hour and it was glorious! I love learning from President Slaughter! He knows the scriptures so well and shared with us an insight from 2 Nephi 2:8. 

How are we saved? According to Lehi, "...there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah..." 

• Men can only be saved through the merits of Christ, or the Atonement (D&C 19:16-19). Nothing that we ever do will ever save us. On Judgment Day, Christ will act as our Advocate, but will plead our cause by His own merits (D&C 45:3-5). No matter how good we are in this life, without the merits of Christ, we are nothing! We cannot rely on our own righteousness (Romans 10:1-3). 
• Men can only be saved through the mercy of Christ. We've all come short of the glory of God and in doing so, broken His law, allowing justice to have claim over us. Without the mercy of Christ, we would never be able to escape that justice. Christ acts as the Intercessor, standing between us & justice. Because of His suffering and resurrection, Christ has satisfied the demands of justice and therefore has the power to grant mercy and save us from ourselves (Mosiah 15:8-9).
• Men can only be saved through the grace of Christ. Through this grace, or power, we can do things that we cannot do ourselves (including overcoming sin). If we see our weakness, or fallen state, and humble ourselves, we will be strengthened, or saved, by the grace of God (Ether 12:27). 

Sunrise behind our apartment

In our fallen state, we've fallen into a pit. Christ has provided us a ladder. We can't just "accept" the ladder. We cannot suppose that it is our efforts in climbing the ladder which save us. It's Christ. Christ gives us the ladder, and in so doing, saves us! 

This is so watered down and I wish I could share everything that President said with you! I'm learning so much out here, and it only serves to help me help others learn, too! 

I love you all! 

Sister Waite