2017-03-15 Getting to Know You

Some amazing things happened this Sunday and I'm so stoked to see them
come to fruition throughout the week. Those experiences are amazing
but they're not the ones I want to share. I just wanted to say that we
just had a lesson with a girl, who's a member, and we asked her life
and about how she met the missionaries. This is just a normal girl,
about 24 but looks a little bit older, Peruvian, a few inches shorter
than me, not skinny but not fat, just like, a normal Peruvian girl on
the streets of Italy (there are a lot of Peruvians in Italy). But
talking to her was just a reminder to me of how NOBODY is just a face
on the street. She talked about her friends when she was 13 and how
one of them was Mormon and she always saw him with a Book of Mormon.
She talked about how her parents split up and her mom went into a
depression which left her to play the role of mom and dad at that same
time. She talked about how her relationship got much better with her
mom after she got baptized and how she's the only member of her
family. She talked about the shock of coming here with her 14-year old
brother and finding out that her dad had started a family here. Out of
all of this she talked about how she has felt her Heavenly Father's
arms around her through the trials since she got converted.
The thing I wanted to say out of all of this though is that I had this
impression after the lesson about Jesus Christ. He is our example
which means we're supposed to become more like Him. I think one of the
most amazing things about the mission is when people just bare their
souls to you and you get to teach them about their Heavenly Father's
love and how that love fixes everything. But I think when people let
you in on their lives and the things they've been through, you become
a little more like Christ. I believe that. Because Christ, in the
Garden of Gethsemane, came to know every single one of our lives
personally. For this pain He has infinite empathy towards us and this
is why He is our Advocate. He feels for us. So I think that when
people tell you about their lives, even though is nothing like atoning
for their suffering, you still sort of feel a little bit of their pain
and you emphasize with them. And that makes you a little bit like
Jesus Christ. And I think that that's so humbling.

So I guess the lesson to learn is get to know people. And if you can,
go on a mission! Because then everyone tells you their life story! But
if you can't, then get to know people to understand them. You'll feel
the Spirit and be able to feel closer to Jesus Christ a little more,
too.